Deviation Rules for thrown/AOE weapons

[Stan Shinn]

(3) Deviation Rules

There are no deviation rules in MgT 2e, so throwing a grenade into a room and 'missing' doesn't work as you'd expect. Not sure if there will be thrown weapons or area of attack weapons that could deviate, but be aware Traveller doesn't handle these well.

[Albiegamer]

Yes, deviation on a thrown/AoE weapon rules (or lack there of) typically are lacking.

I'm trying to remember if there are any in MGT - too many things going on in my head right now (and leaving for dinner).

Could you post the page references of any rules that apply to this?

thank you!
Al

[Stan Shinn]

Yes, deviation on a thrown/AoE weapon rules (or lack there of) typically are lacking.

I'm trying to remember if there are any in MGT - too many things going on in my head right now (and leaving for dinner).

Could you post the page references of any rules that apply to this?

thank you!
Al

In the MgT core rules pp. 123-126 you'll see lots of grenade type weapons and grenade launchers plus weapons like the ACR/Advanced Combat Rifle (p. 118) that fire grenades. If you toss one of these weapons into a room, you roll to hit. Rules as written don't really make sense -- if I toss a grenade into a crowded room, and 'miss', nothing happens? Most systems I've seen have some sort of deviation rules for these sorts of circumstances.

Not sure if you'll even have any thrown weapons with blast / area effects like this in Prime Directive to worry about, but if you do, be aware of this issue.

Below are the deviation rules I came up with to use in Traveller to address this issue.

[Stan Shinn]

I looked an in GURPS Prime Directive 4e, page 150, you have grenades, so just be aware that this is an example of where (in my opinion) you might want to add deviation rules to layer on to the MgT rules, which don't really deal with what happens if you 'miss' a target.

[Sgt Major Al Beddow]

Stan,
That image is just HUGE - in your face like HUGE. Would you mind resizing that image down to like 30 percent of its current size (or just type in the text and give a small image of the 'directions')

The directions diagram could be explained like

Roll 1d6 for direction of drift (aka 'north'). a '1' drift is in the direction thrown aka 'North'.
For Hexes: a '1' is N, '2' is NE, '3' is SE, '4' is S, '5' is SW, and '6' is NW
For Squares: a '2' is NE, '3' is E, '4' is S, '5' is W, and '6' is NW

[Stan Shinn]

Image size reduced.

I suppose you could explain the directions like that, but most RPGs I know of (Savage Worlds, Star Wars WEG D6, FrontierSpace, etc.) that use deviation rules have a diagram instead of just a text description.

[Albiegamer]

Thanks for reducing the image size.

I didn't communicate well, I suggested giving your idea in text so at least we could read if (if you couldn't reduce the size of you chart).
AL

[Stan Shinn]

Here's the text from that image (custom rules text I wrote):

"Grenades and Area Effect Weapons

Grenades, flasks of oil, mortars and other area effect weapons do damage to an area designated by the weapon's blast radius. Targets within the blast radius who are aware of the incoming projectile and are not already behind cover cannot dodge but can use a reaction to dive for cover (if there is adjacent terrain that can provide cover). Targets behind partial cover take only half (rounded down) the damage inflicted by the area effect weapon. Targets behind 100% cover do not suffer damage assuming the cover is of a type sufficient to fully absorb the damage; cover which can be easily destroyed serves as only partial cover.

If a character fails when throwing an explosive such as a grenade, the device deviates from the initial intended target location. Roll 1D and refer to the scatter diagram to see the direction in which the device deviates relative to the thrower and the target. Then, roll 1D (for thrown weapons such as grenades) or 2D (for fired projectiles, such as a grenade launched from an ACR). The number rolled is the number of meters the grenade had deviated."

[Steve Cole]

Al, being in the office next to you and a registered engineer, I can whip up simple RPG graphics in a few minutes any time you can draw what you want on a convenient napkin.

[kehrer1701]

I like that description