Scouting: This skill includes all the skill bonuses
listed under the Search skill and supersedes it on the list of military
skills. Everyone still starts with the
Search skill at 0, and they can still buy higher levels, but since the Scouting
skill includes the Search skill plus other skills it is a better buy. In addition to the search bonuses this skill
allows characters to set up and detect ambushes. Track people and animals, and avoid hazards
when searching ruins.
First, a distinction needs to be made between spotting and
detecting. Spotting is done during
combat and uses the rules as listed in Car Wars Tanks. The Scouting skill can be substituted for the
Search skill with no penalty. Detection
takes place before combat and covers such things as ambushes or standing
sentry. (See notes for why I make this
distinction.)
Detecting Ambushes: A
person without the Scout skill detects ambushes on a 12 or higher on 2 d6. Someone with the Scout skill detects ambushes
on a 9 or better +1 per level above 0. A
roll to detect an ambush is allowed once for every alert character as soon as
the group is within ambush range. If one
or more characters make their roll the ambush is detected. If they all miss they get no other chance to
detect the ambush and must walk into it.
When an ambush is detected it is spotted a certain number of
seconds before it is sprung, regardless
of distances between the ambusher and the ambushee. Non scouts will detect ambushes 1 to 3
seconds before it occurs. Scouts detect
ambushes 1 d6 seconds plus 2 seconds for every level above 0, before they
occur. These extra seconds can be used
by the character for whatever actions they chose before the ambushers have a
chance to fire. (At this point GM’s may require
the Scout and others to make search rolls to see the ambushers, or rule that
the Scout has automatically spotted several of them.) All ambushers are fired on at a -1 or -2
(GM’s choice). This represents cover and
concealment. The following modifiers
affect the detection roll and are cumulative.
Modifiers
+3 if no one in the ambushing group has the Scout skill.
+1 for every 5 people, rounded down, in the ambushing group
that don’t have the scout skill at any level.
+1 for every enemy vehicle or 2 riding animals in the
ambushing group.
+0 if ambushers in light cover. Small trees or shrubs, or minor hills. (This is what the starting detection roll is
based on, and is the minimum cover which must be available.)
-1 for each level above 0 of the single highest Scout skill
of the persons setting up the ambush.
(Example: If one ambusher had
Scout 1 and another Scout 2 only a -2 would be applied to the detection roll.)
-1 if trying to detect an ambush while in a moving vehicle.
-1 for every full 20 mph the vehicle is moving.
-1 if light rain or mist.
-1 if dawn or dusk.
-2 if heavy rain, snow or fog.
-3 if night.
-1 if night and have
light intensifying goggles.
-2 if trying to detect an ambush while driving (cumulative
with moving vehicle penalties).
-1 ambushers in medium cover. Like woods, boulders, and the occasional
building.
-2 ambushers in heavy cover.
Like buildings, lots of little hills, or dense jungle or forests.
Springing an ambush:
If an ambush is not detected it may be sprung by the ambushers with the
following benefits. All first shots may
be considered aimed, and braced, where appropriate. Cover and concealment provide an extra -2
penalty for the ambushers to be hit.
Scouts who are ambushed freeze for 1 second regardless of level. Non Scouts freeze for 1d6 seconds. Freezing means pedestrians or riders may not
react but must stand and get shot at.
Vehicles must continue traveling in the direction they were going the
second before the ambush was sprung and may not fire, but may slow down or
swerve to avoid hazards.
Sentry duty: When a
person is on sentry duty he will have one chance to detect each incoming
hostile. A 6 or higher must be rolled for a Scout. A 7 or higher for a non Scout. A 2 is always a failure to detect someone on
foot, but not if they’re in a vehicle.
This roll is only necessary if the hostile is making an effort to sneak
up on the area being guarded. Each
sentry covers one or more zones and only gets one roll to detect each person or
vehicle coming through a zone. A normal
compound will have at least 4 zones with large or odd shaped compounds having
more. A zone is approximately a 100 to
150 yard length of a compounds side and extends away from that side to the edge
of the sentries line of site. (Zones may
overlap.) The sentry can be moving no faster than 10 mph. The following modifiers apply to sentry
duty and are cumulative.
Modifiers
+3 if the in coming hostile does not have the Scouting
skill. (Either driving, riding, or on foot.)
+4 to detect a hostile vehicle.
+1 per level of Scout or Search skill above 0 the sentry
has.
+1 if a riding animal is being used by the hostile.
+1 if using binoculars or other detection optics.
+1 if using thermographs.
+1 if using radar.
Hostiles movement speed.
Use the spotting modifiers from the rules.
-1 to the roll for each level of Scout skill the hostile has
over 0.
-1 if the hostile is wearing camouflage.
-1 for every 4 full hours the sentry has been on duty.
-1 if raining or foggy.
-1 if watching a zone through video cameras rather than
being there in person.
-2 to detect a hostile if the sentry is moving. (Either on
foot or in a vehicle.)
-3 if night.
-1 if night and have light intensifying goggles.
-3 per zone covered by the sentry after the first. (Example:
A sentry covering 3 zones would be at -6 to all detection rolls for each
zone.)
Detection Distances
(This is the range at which the hostile has a chance to be detected and
if the roll is successful, the range at which he is first spotted.) Use only the best terrain that the sentry can
see into. Example: If a hostile must first cross through
buildings (heavy ground) and then across a parking lot (open terrain), the
detection roll would be made at the parking lot. These are rough numbers and the GM should
modify the detection distance on a case by case basis.
Open terrain:
Deserts, parking lots, roads, flat lands. 2d6 X 100 yards.
Light hills or ground cover:
Plains, scrub lands. 1d6 X 50 yards.
Medium ground cover:
Forests or hills. 1d6 +1 X 10
yards
Heavy ground cover:
Dense woods or jungles. Towns or
cities. 1d6 +1 X 5 yards.
Tracking
Tracking men or animals over terrain requires a 9 or higher
on 2 d6.
Modifiers
+1 for every level of the Scout skill or a hunting skill
above 0 of the tracker.
-1 for every level of the Scout skill or a hunting skill of
the person being tracked.
+2 for each person being tracked that doesn't have the Scout
skill, a hunting skill, or the Survival skill.
+3 if tracking a vehicle.
+2 if tracking in damp conditions, but not raining. If it is raining subtract 1 instead.
+3 if tracking in snow, but not snowing. If it is snowing subtract 2 instead.
-1 for every 4 hours the trail has lain cold.
A new tracking roll should be made every 10 to 30 minutes
depending on the conditions. In order to
make a tracking roll the scout must be on foot and take about 10 minutes to
survey the scene.
Avoiding hazards:
Finally this skill provides a bonus of +2 when attempting to avoid
injuries while searching dangerous places like ruins or caves. (See future article on post-apocalyptic
living for details on searching ruins.)
NOTES
Here’s why I decided to create the Scout skill. First, the Search skill doesn't have enough
options to make it worth spending points on.
My gaming group rarely used the skill and when we did it was usually for
tracking, or trying to detect ambushes.
Then there was the problem of setting ambushes. What skill did one use to set one
successfully? How did that affect
spotting rolls? How about covering ones
tracks when escaping? Could the Search
skill be used to detect hazards when searching abandon buildings? From all these questions the Scout skill was
created. Characters still receive the
Search skill at 0 level for free, and can buy higher levels in it, but now it
is more profitable to invest any starting points in the scout skill instead.
Detection versus spotting.
Under the Search rules when a character comes within spotting distance
of an ambush he would begin rolling his
Search skill for every single ambusher every second they were in the arc he was
searching. If the ambush was taking
place at long distances with several ambushers this could result in the
possibility of hundreds of search rolls.
The same thing goes for people sneaking up on a guarded area. Were the sentries looking in the direction of
the hostile every second? Did they use
binoculars or other detection devices every second? If they only used binoculars part of the time
the detection range would change continuously and dramatically from second to
second. Too much!
Thus search rolls are only conducted once combat is joined
to see other hostiles that were not originally detected. Detection is used before fighting starts to
find hostiles so combat can be initiated.
The detection roll tries to take into consideration all possibilities
and simplify it to one roll.
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