Post by Axlotl on Jul 18, 2019 15:03:22 GMT -5
Vehicles are a key part of the Terminator films entirely unrepresented in the card game so far. They are far more important for Terminator than they are for AvP, so they are a logical addition for an expansion - however, I think Vehicles are by far the weakest mechanic in AvP, being extremely cumbersome with far too many rules.
Here are my grievances with the vehicle mechanics in AvP:
Ramming: Ramming works differently depending on the target. It just has far too many rules.
Enclosed: Some aspects of this resource are fine, but others are very niche, like modifying ramming.
Vehicle Items: Niche. Having to search for Vehicles and then also the Items is a lot of legwork and potential for dead draws. Also requires Vehicle Item locations, which is just more generic Item search locations. Very bland. Dilutes card pools and decks.
Vehicle restriction: See above. Requires new locations to find Vehicles, bland. This combined with Vehicle Items makes building a vehicle centric deck very inconsistent - need to find both the matching locations for the Vehicle and Items.
Capacity: Mostly pointless. Waste of card space.
Vehicle Destruction Table: Awful. I don't want to have to look up a resolution table in a rulebook to resolve an effect. Needs streamlining. (Trap resolution table isn't great either, but isn't as bad.)
Vehicle Armor: Having two kinds of Armor is bad terminology.
Vehicle Modifiers being Vehicle specific. More niche cards taking up space in a set design.
A pass at Vehicle rules for Terminator:
Playing Vehicles: Vehicles have unique restrictions on where they can be found, similar to Supporting Characters. Vehicles can be searched for directly from your Reserves.
Vehicle Attributes: Speed, Plating, Hull (Plating is AvP's Armor). Speed, Plating, Hull function just like Speed, Armor, Hull do in AvP. Capacity exists as a rules concept, not an Attribute. Capacity is defaulted as 5 (maybe 6?). Different Capacity values maybe be present in CARD TEXT for Vehicles with explicit limits like motorcycles.
Enclosed: Characters in a Driven and Enclosed Vehicle cannot be directly attacked from outside the Vehicle.
Vehicle Weapons: Some (mostly Future Vehicles) Vehicles have the Vehicle Weapon resource (and short/long ranged), which means the vehicle has a built-in weapon that a passenger can fire (Taking a page from my old Halo game). The Weapon damage will likely just be listed in the game text - not having a dedicated box on the template like in Halo, as this would imply/require it is reduced by damage tokens, which is not intended here. Vehicle Weapons can be used regardless of if the Vehicle is Driven, and can be used by any character that can regularly use Items - so no dogs, drones, or HKs. Only one character can use the Vehicle Weapon each combat round, and the Vehicle Weapon cannot attack characters inside the Vehicle.
Entering/Exiting Vehicles: Costs 1 MP. Cannot enter Driven Vehicles. Vehicles are NOT considered a separate "location", but the distinction of being inside vs outside the vehicle is relevant even if the Vehicle is not Driven.
Driving Vehicles: Any Resistance, Marine, Police, or Terminator character can rotate and be declared as a DRIVER if the vehicle has Speed > 0. A Vehicle's Speed is considered zero while not being driven. Characters inside a Driven Vehicle replace their defense with the Vehicle's versus attacks from outside the Vehicle, and are -1 to hit in Ranged, and cannot declare Close Combat attacks on characters outside the Vehicle. Other Characters cannot enter a Vehicle once it is declared Driven. A Driver can remain rotated during the Ready round to keep a Vehicle in the Driven state. When the vehicle's Speed reaches zero it is immediately no longer considered Driven.
Vehicle Movement: Vehicles cannot enter Interior locations.
Ramming: When a Vehicle enters a location, the Vehicle's Driver may declare a free Close Combat attack against a target without Flight at the same location (Barrier, Vehicle, or Character). This is a standard Close Combat attack, so it may be modified the same as any Close Combat attack. Attack damage is Hull+Plating, and any damage modifiers. If the attack hits, the vehicle also takes damage equivalent to the target's Power or Barrier rating, the Vehicle's movement ends, and the target cannot move this turn.
Damaging Vehicles: Damage is applied to Plating first, with no negative effects. Gain damage tokens = to Damage - Plating, until Plating is zero. Remaining damage is then applied to Hull in the same way it is applied to Power, reducing Speed and Hull accordingly until the Vehicle is destroyed.
Vehicle Destruction: When a Vehicle is destroyed, all characters gain damage tokens equal to half of their maximum Power attribute, rounded up, and are moved to the location were the Vehicle was destroyed. The location gains Damaged. Terminators and Cyborgs apply their armor to this damage.
Here are my grievances with the vehicle mechanics in AvP:
Ramming: Ramming works differently depending on the target. It just has far too many rules.
Enclosed: Some aspects of this resource are fine, but others are very niche, like modifying ramming.
Vehicle Items: Niche. Having to search for Vehicles and then also the Items is a lot of legwork and potential for dead draws. Also requires Vehicle Item locations, which is just more generic Item search locations. Very bland. Dilutes card pools and decks.
Vehicle restriction: See above. Requires new locations to find Vehicles, bland. This combined with Vehicle Items makes building a vehicle centric deck very inconsistent - need to find both the matching locations for the Vehicle and Items.
Capacity: Mostly pointless. Waste of card space.
Vehicle Destruction Table: Awful. I don't want to have to look up a resolution table in a rulebook to resolve an effect. Needs streamlining. (Trap resolution table isn't great either, but isn't as bad.)
Vehicle Armor: Having two kinds of Armor is bad terminology.
Vehicle Modifiers being Vehicle specific. More niche cards taking up space in a set design.
A pass at Vehicle rules for Terminator:
Playing Vehicles: Vehicles have unique restrictions on where they can be found, similar to Supporting Characters. Vehicles can be searched for directly from your Reserves.
Vehicle Attributes: Speed, Plating, Hull (Plating is AvP's Armor). Speed, Plating, Hull function just like Speed, Armor, Hull do in AvP. Capacity exists as a rules concept, not an Attribute. Capacity is defaulted as 5 (maybe 6?). Different Capacity values maybe be present in CARD TEXT for Vehicles with explicit limits like motorcycles.
Enclosed: Characters in a Driven and Enclosed Vehicle cannot be directly attacked from outside the Vehicle.
Vehicle Weapons: Some (mostly Future Vehicles) Vehicles have the Vehicle Weapon resource (and short/long ranged), which means the vehicle has a built-in weapon that a passenger can fire (Taking a page from my old Halo game). The Weapon damage will likely just be listed in the game text - not having a dedicated box on the template like in Halo, as this would imply/require it is reduced by damage tokens, which is not intended here. Vehicle Weapons can be used regardless of if the Vehicle is Driven, and can be used by any character that can regularly use Items - so no dogs, drones, or HKs. Only one character can use the Vehicle Weapon each combat round, and the Vehicle Weapon cannot attack characters inside the Vehicle.
Entering/Exiting Vehicles: Costs 1 MP. Cannot enter Driven Vehicles. Vehicles are NOT considered a separate "location", but the distinction of being inside vs outside the vehicle is relevant even if the Vehicle is not Driven.
Driving Vehicles: Any Resistance, Marine, Police, or Terminator character can rotate and be declared as a DRIVER if the vehicle has Speed > 0. A Vehicle's Speed is considered zero while not being driven. Characters inside a Driven Vehicle replace their defense with the Vehicle's versus attacks from outside the Vehicle, and are -1 to hit in Ranged, and cannot declare Close Combat attacks on characters outside the Vehicle. Other Characters cannot enter a Vehicle once it is declared Driven. A Driver can remain rotated during the Ready round to keep a Vehicle in the Driven state. When the vehicle's Speed reaches zero it is immediately no longer considered Driven.
Vehicle Movement: Vehicles cannot enter Interior locations.
Ramming: When a Vehicle enters a location, the Vehicle's Driver may declare a free Close Combat attack against a target without Flight at the same location (Barrier, Vehicle, or Character). This is a standard Close Combat attack, so it may be modified the same as any Close Combat attack. Attack damage is Hull+Plating, and any damage modifiers. If the attack hits, the vehicle also takes damage equivalent to the target's Power or Barrier rating, the Vehicle's movement ends, and the target cannot move this turn.
Damaging Vehicles: Damage is applied to Plating first, with no negative effects. Gain damage tokens = to Damage - Plating, until Plating is zero. Remaining damage is then applied to Hull in the same way it is applied to Power, reducing Speed and Hull accordingly until the Vehicle is destroyed.
Vehicle Destruction: When a Vehicle is destroyed, all characters gain damage tokens equal to half of their maximum Power attribute, rounded up, and are moved to the location were the Vehicle was destroyed. The location gains Damaged. Terminators and Cyborgs apply their armor to this damage.
