Evening everyone - We've just got back from a great trip down south to see Warren and the chaps at Beasts of War, who were very welcoming and gave us rather a lot of tea and chocolate!

They've very kindly done a rather large interview with us which should be going out quite soon.

Our game rules update today is all about the Dice and Stats, so lets get into it shall we:



DICE AND STATS

Before we can start to work with the initial game development we need to know how the basic dice rolling works, and how the stats of the models affect dice scores and game play. At this stage we do not need to flesh out the detail for dice roll modifiers, or restrictive qualifiers such as movement affecting whether a model can shoot or not. So, here’s the basics to get us started. This just leaves the descriptions of basic weapon stats, actions and reactions and we will have enough to play an outline game – sufficient to work with the overall dynamic and scope.

Types of Dice

D10s are used to make tests against stats, and this includes the basic rolls to hit a target, to resist damage, to undertake reactions to enemy actions, and to check combat status. A number of D10s are required and it is helpful to have a few distinctly coloured dice as this helps greatly with hit allocation from weapons with different strike qualities, for example where a unit shoots plasma carbines and a plasma cannon at the same target.

D4s, D6s, D8s and D12s are also used to generate random values, most commonly for weapons with blast effects. One of each will be enough – or values can be generated using D10s and working down, for example generate 1-8 by re-rolling 9s and 10s. We’ll also be using D3 (half D6 roll) and D5s (half D10 score) and such-like variations – but I’ll assume we are all familiar enough with that kind of thing.

Dice Tests

The D10 dice is also used to make tests against a model’s stat or the stat of an item of equipment or weapon. In most cases these stat values will also be affected by situational and unit status modifiers, but for purposes of explanation we can ignore those for now. The basis stat test works as follows:

To test against a stat value, roll a D10 and if the score is equal to or less than the value you are testing against the test is a success. We sometimes refer to this test as a ‘check’. For example, to make a check against a value of 5 simply roll 5 or less on a D10 for success. In this case a roll of 6 or more is a fail.

Regardless of any modifiers applied to the stat under test, a D10 dice roll of a 10 is always deemed a failure. If the score required is less that 1 then it is still possible to succeed if you roll a 1, in which case roll the dice again and if another 1 is rolled the test is a success anyway. So, to summarise, a roll of a 10 is always a failure regardless, and if you need to roll any number less than 1 to succeed you need a 1 followed by another 1 ( a 1% outside chance).

Another principle that will be applied throughout the rules is a dice roll of a 1 counts as a critical success. This rule doesn't apply if the score required is 1 or lower, in which case it is impossible to generate a critical success result, but so long as you are testing against a value of 2 or greater any roll of a 1 on the D10 is considered a critical success. A critical success affects the results of some tests, and this varies depending on the test that is being made. In the case of shooting it affects how casualties are allocated. Some tests are binary and critical success makes no difference, they either pass or fail, but in general look out for the 1s as they often mean something special.

GAMES VALUES AND STATS

Every model has a set of associated game values representing its own skills and abilities. In the case of most troopers, henchmen, drones and other ‘grunts’ these will be basic values for their species, whilst leaders and heroic individuals are likely to have enhanced values that separate them from their more ordinary fellows.

These values are commonly called ‘stats’ (statistics) and are written in a stat-line together with the description of the model and its designated type. For example, here is the work-in-progress stat-line for a standard human fighter – a Rever or basic Panhuman.

Unit Type Ag Acc Res Str Init Cou Tech Com Sp

Rever Inf 5 5 5 5 5 7 1 2 *

The unit column just lists the model – an ordinary Rever fighter in this case – and the Type is a basic definition for rules purposes – in this case ‘infantry’. Different types have different rules in respect to movement, damage effects, and so on but we are only concerned with the standard fighter types at this stage.

All of the stats are scored out of 10 with 1 being the lowest value possible and 10 the highest for this type. Values lower than 5 are relatively weak and values in excess of 5 are relatively powerful.

Agility (Ag). The Agility stat is a measure of an individual’s ability to traverse terrain, climb, and bounce about in an athletic fashion. It is used mostly for movement tests in demanding situations. It is used by some individuals with special skills for close combat.

Accuracy (Acc). The accuracy stat is a basic measure of how capable the individual is when it comes to handling and shooting a weapon. The higher the value the better shot the individual is. This stat is used for all shooting included ranged shooting, firefights and assaults.

Resist (Res). The resist stat indicates the individual’s ability to withstand a blow, weapon strike or physical trauma – the higher this value the tougher or ‘harder’ the individual is: the more easily the individual can resist damage. This value is affected by armour of various kinds as well as cover.

Strength (Str). This stat is a measure of brute strength. Brute strength is not an important consideration unless it comes down to grappling at close quarters when it is very important indeed! Strength is also important should it come to tasks requiring sheer power; such as lifting a heavy object or forcing open a heavy airlock seal.

Initiative (Init). The initiative stat is a measure of alertness and speed of reactions, and as such it is the key value that we test against when a unit reacts to an enemy’s action. Troops with high values will be more easily able to return enemy fire or go to ground quickly when shot at.

Courage (Cou). Courage is a measure of how cool the individual is under stress, how steady his nerves are, or how brave he is when things get tough. We test against this value when checking Combat Status, which means it affects a unit’s ability to fight in most situations. Courage is one of the most important stats in the whole game – because technology can compensate or augment other stats but there are few (safe) ways to bolster your courage!

Technology (Tech). This value is a measure of an individual’s technical skills – which may be innate or which may result from belonging to an IMTel Shard. This skill is used as a measure and test when it comes to operating some technological devices including some kinds of weapons.

Compute (Com). This stat is a measure of an individual’s facility with logical calculation, and it is far more important for machine intelligences than for living creatures. Although it is occasionally used where a test of pure intelligence is called for, the principle use is for WarDrones and other kinds of sentient machines, where compute is generally used instead of courage.

Special (Sp). This isn’t a stat – the column at the end of the stat-line is a placeholder used as a memory jogger for any special rules than might apply to that particular model.

Comment on Stats

This is a work in progress stat line and it is intended to establish a base level for purposes of game balance and working out variable parameters. It seems to be holding up quite well at the moment in our games, although bear in mind that modifiers do generally tend to take the probabilities down a bit, and all the more so for units that have suffered reduction of their combat status.