Table of 
Contents

Basics

Characters

Attributes
& Skills

Psionics

Actions &
Combat

Space Travel

Allies & Enemies
   Terrans
   Protoss
   Zerg

Resources

Equipment

Cybernetics

Gamemaster's
Section

Links

Email

Guestbook

• Taking Actions
• Ranged Combat
• Scale
• Combat Modifiers
• Melee Combat
• Mass Combat
• Healing

TAKING ACTIONS

Time
 For much of the game, Game Masters can inform characters as to how much time has passed between events.  But for certain actions, such as combat or a skill used under timed conditions, a more accurate method is required.

• Melee Rounds:  Melee Rounds are about 5 seconds long.  In general, a character can take one action per round without accruing penalties.
• Individual Initiative:  Characters may act in the order of their Instincts scores (from highest to lowest).  A character with a higher Instincts may choose to Hold his Action, letting someone with a lower Instincts act first before he decides what to do.
• Mass Rounds:  Mass rounds are about 30 seconds long and are used to resolve combat between units (see Mass Combat below).
• Mass Combat Initiative:  Opposing forces may act in the order of their Tactics score (from highest to lowest).  The commander with a higher Instincts may choose to Hold his Action, letting another commander act first before he decides what to do. 

Multiple Actions in a Round
For every additional action, the character suffers a -1D to all actions taken that round.  Under normal conditions, a character can take a maximum of 5 actions per round (with a cumulative penalty of -5D to all actions).  Some spells allow for more actions per round with reduced penalties.

Any additional actions are considered to be taken in the second segment of the round.  Thus, all first actions (by everyone acting in the round) are resolved in the first part of a round and any extra actions are resolved afterwards.  Who acts first in a round depends upon Initiative (see above).

Example:  Cullen is in combat again.  He decides he will take two actions:  he will attack and Dodge.  He will be -1D to both actions.

Dodge, Melee Parry and Brawling/Martial Arts are commonly used as Reaction Skills to avoid damage.

If a Reaction Skill is used while defending from an attack, the dice roll becomes the difficulty the attacker must overcome to be successful, even if the reaction skill roll is lower than the original difficulty of the attack!

Example:  Cullen is in combat and has already acted once this round.  Suddenly, someone shoots at him and he attempts to Dodge.  His Dodge skill is normally 4D, but since he has already acted, it is now 2D (-1D for having already acted and -1D for being a Reaction Skill).  The shooter's base difficulty was 10.  Cullen rolls 2 dice and gets a result of 7.  The shooter only needs a 7 or better to hit Cullen.

Example:  Karine knows someone is shooting at her from a rooftop.  She decides that all she will do this round is Dodge.  She rolls her full 4D for Dodge gets 15.  The shooter must now roll higher than 10 (standard difficulty) + 15 = 25 in order to hit her!

Applying Reactions to the Entire Round
Dodge rolls apply to all ranged attacks in a round.  Thus a character need only Dodge once to attempt to avoid attackers using guns, thrown weapons or grenades.

Parry rolls must be made for every attack!  Thus, in close combat, if a character is punched four times, he must either attempt four parries using his Brawling or Martial Arts skill or be take the damage!
 

RANGED COMBAT

Ranged combat difficulty targets:
 

Shooting at Multiple Targets
Characters may choose to aim at more than one target in a given round.  If they do so, they suffer a cumulative -1D when shooting at each target beyond the first.

Example 1:  Karine is cornered by two drooling zerglings.  She is armed with a Gauss Rifle that can shoot up to 5 shots per round.  She can either shoot at one without a penalty or attempt to shoot at both.  She decides to fire once at both of her attackers.  Her total dice penalty is -1D to the first shot (the penalty for taking multiple actions) and -2D to the second shot (the penalty for multiple actions + the second target penalty).

Example 2:  Karine is cornered again, this time by three Protoss Zealots.  She decides to fire once at each (3 actions, 2 additional targets).  She suffers a -2D to her first shot (for the two additional actions), a -3D to the second, and a -4D to the third!

Spraying Bullets
Some weapons, such as fully automatic machine guns, allow the bearer to spray bullets at an enemy.  This has a variety of advantages and disadvantages:
 

Using two guns at once:

SCALE
Starcraft D6 does not use Scale to modify attack attempts or damage as some other D6  games do.  Frankly, it just adds more math and chart-checking.  It is assumed that technology is sufficient to provide adequate targeting for larger scale weapons to hit smaller scale ones.  Furthermore, the loss of the smaller unit's bonus to hit the larger may be seen as an indication that the smaller unit is less likely to harm the larger, even if the blow lands.

I've left in references to Scale in certain parts of the game to illustrate the relative size of different units.
 

COMBAT MODIFIERS

A number of factors can affect a character's chances to succeed in combat.  Smoke may obstruct a target, oil on the floor may make dodging more difficult, etc.  Following are a number of modifiers Game Masters may choose to apply in the game.

• Drawing Weapons:  Drawing a weapon counts as an action in a round (all other actions are at -1D this round).
• Reloading Weapons:  The time required to reload a weapon varies depending on the type.  Most require 1 action to reload.  See the weapon descriptions in the Equipment section.
• Targeting Systems:  Some weapons, usually in aircraft or tanks, have targeting systems that help the gunner.  These depend on the weapon type and quality.
• Rate of Fire (ROF):  This statistic is given for each weapon.  A weapon cannot be fired more times than its ROF in a round, regardless of the number of actions the character takes.
• Called Shots:  Attackers can make a "called shot" against a specific target, such as a particular part of a target's body (a hand, head, etc) or a small item.  Add +1D to the difficulty for a target 10-50 cm (approximately 3-18 inches) long.  Add +4D to the difficulty for a target 1-10 cm long.  Add +8D to the difficulty for a target less than a centimeter long.
• Cover:  Provides a target with some protection from detection and attack.  Add the following modifiers to attempts to detect or hit a target, when appropriate

Characters can also hide behind objects, such as walls and vehicles, which provide protection against attack.  Add the following modifiers depending on how much of the target is covered.

Protection:  Inanimate objects have a strength rating to resist damage.  If the attacker rolls well enough to overcome the Armor Value, reduce the the object's Body Strength by the remainder.  When the object has no Body Points left, the characters hiding behind them take any additional damage.

Sample Protection	Armor Value	Body Strength
Flimsy wooden door	10	10
Standard wooden door	15	15
Standard metal door	20	25
Reinforced door	30	50
Blast door	45	100

If the damage roll is lower than the Armor Value, the protection is not damaged at all and the target character suffers no damage.  If the damage roll is equal to or greather than the protection's Armor Value roll, find the difference on the chart below to see how badly the protection is damage.  Furthermore, its Armor Value is reduced by 1.

Remaining Body Points	Protection is:
3/4 to all	Not seriously damaged
1/2-3/4	Lightly damaged
1/4-1/2	Heavily damaged
1 point to 1/4	Severely damaged
0	Destroyed

A character behind protection may suffer some damaged depending upon how badly his protection is damaged.  Subtract dice from the attack's damage based on the chart below.

Protection is:	Reduce weapon's damage by:
Not seriously damaged	Character is completely protected
Lightly damaged	-4D
Heavily damaged	-2D
Severely damaged	-1D
Destroyed	Character suffers full damage.

Armor:  Armor protects the wearer from damage.  In the game, add the value of the armor to the Constitution roll of the character suffering damage.  See the Equipment section for different armor types.

MELEE COMBAT
 

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Striking:
The standard difficulty to hit with Brawling roll is Very Easy (5).  Damage is equal to the character's Strength roll + 1D per Effect Value (see Effect Value).

The standard difficulty to hit with Martial Arts is Easy (10), resulting in damage equal to the character's Strength.  A fighter skilled in Martial Arts may attempt more complicated maneuvers to render more damage, but must roll against a higher difficulty number to hit.

Blocking:
Character's may attempt to block an attack using their Brawling or Martial Arts skills.  Players must declare they will be attempting to block before the attack occurs. If they do not, they suffer an additional -1D when attempting to block.

Example:  Cullen is in a fight with another Terran.  He decides to strike but forgets to "hold an action" in case he needs to block.  The Terran takes a swing and Cullen decides he had better try to block.  He must roll Brawling at -2D.  If his blocking roll is higher than the Terran's attack roll, he will have parried the blow. If not, he may take damage.

Example:  Somewhat bruised from last round, Cullen decides he will hold an action this round in case he needs to block.  This means he is -1D to both his attack and blocking roll.

Melee Combat
Melee Combat is handled much the same way Unarmed Combat is, except that the characters involved use Melee Combat and are armed with handheld weapons.

A character armed with a weapon may use it to block an unarmed assailant.
Damage
When an attacker successfully hits his target, he rolls the appropriate number of dice to designate damage (see the weapons list in the Equipment section).  Ranged weapons do a set amount (e.g. a Heavy Pistol does 5D damage).  Melee weapons do a the bearer's STR + additional dice for the weapon type + 1D for every 2 EV points.

The targeted character then rolls his Strength dice and adds any armor value, if armor is worn.  If the target's strength roll is greater than the attacker's roll, the she had resisted the damage.  If not, consult the table below for results:
 

Armor
Characters may choose to wear Armor to provide them with some protection against damage.  The Armor Value of the protection is deducted from any damage rolls against the character.  Every time a character wearing armor takes damage above his armor, the armor's value is reduced by 1.  Different types of armor are listed in the Equipment section.
 

Example:  Cullen is wearing leather clothing, which provides 6 points of Armor against damage.  A Confederate soldier shoots and hits him for 10 points of damage.  Cullen takes only  4 points of damage and his leather armor loses one point of its Armor Value.  The next time he is hit, it will only provide him with 5 points of protection.

Time in Mass combat:
Mass Combat Actions are broken into Mass Combat Rounds of approximately 30 seconds, which is divided into two segments.  Units may choose to move or attack in either segment (but it may only do each action once per round).  All attacks that occur in the same segment are resolved simultaneously (the effects of casualties do not manifest until the next segment begins.

Units:
The ground troops of each race may be split into small groups that act as a single unit for combat purposes.  The number of individuals at that construe a unit depends on the race and the trooper type.  For simplicity's sake, only one type of creature may be in a unit.

Race:  The race of the acting unit.
# Individuals Per Unit:  the number of individuals that compose the unit.
Casualty Categories:  As the unit is reduced it's efficacy also declines.  Reduce Damage and Resistance Dice by the amount indicated for each category.  When necessary, break the appropriate dice into pips (1D=3 pips).
Damage Dice:  amount of Dice added to to the Damage roll for the attacking force.
Resistance Dice:  amount of Dice added to the Defense roll for an attacked force.
Movement: speed at which a unit may move in Mass Combat Round Segment.
 

Race	# Individuals  perUnit	Casualty Categories	Damage Dice	Resistance Dice	Movement
Protoss	10 Zealots	10-8=Full Dice   7-4=2/3 Dice   1-3=1/3 Dice	2D/unit	2D/Unit if plasma shields are powered up. 1D/Unit if only armor is worn.	20m/segment
Terran	10 Marines 10 Firebats	10-8=Full Dice   7-4=2/3 Dice   1-3=1/3 Dice	1D/Marine Unit 2D/Firebat Unit	1D/Unit	20m/segment for Marines 10m/segment for Firebats
Zerg	20 Zerglings 10 Hydralisks	20-15=Full Dice   8-14=2/3 Dice   1-7=1/3 Dice	1D/Zergling Unit 2D/Hydralisk Unit	0D/Zerg Unit 2D/Hydralisk Unit	25m/segment for Zerglings 20m/segment for Hydralisks.

Example 1:  Cullen is commanding 1 unit of Terran marines into battle.  His Damage Dice will be 1D (1D/unit) and Resistance Dice will also be 1D (1D/unit) the first round.  After one round of fighting, he has lost 3 marines.  His Damage Dice and Resistance Dice will both be reduced to 2/3 normal, or +2 (1D = 3 pips) .  If he were to lose another 2 marines, he will have 5 soldiers left and his Damage and Resistance Dice will be remain at +2.  If he were to lose 2 more marines (3 left in the unit), his Dice would be reduced to +1.

 
Example 2:  Dan is commanding 1 unit of Hydralisks in a raid.  His Damage Dice will be 2D and his Resistance Dice will be 2D.  After one round of fighting, he has lost 3 Hydralisks.  His Damage and Resistance Dice will both be reduced to 2/3 normal, or 1D+1 (2D = 6 pips, and 1/3 of 6 is 2.  Subtract 2 pips from 2D and you get 1D+1).  If he were to lose another 4 Hydralisks (3 left), he would only have Damage and Resistance Dice = +2.

 

Example:  Terrans vs. Zerg on open ground. 1st Segment Terran Actions:  Cullen has 2 units of marines (20 troopers) and is leading them into battle against 2 units of Zerglings (40 Zerglings).  Because the Terrans have their Guass Rifles, they need not move in order to attack this round.  So, Cullen will attack by  rolling his Tactics (4D) + Unit Size (2D) for 6D (he has no bonuses).  His units are at Short Range (Difficulty=10) and he rolls a 22.  To establish the amount of damage done, he will roll 1D +2D (1D/unit) +1D for Effect Value=4D. Cullen rolls a 4, 3, 6, and 2 for 15 points of damage, or killing 15 Zerglings.  Zerg actions:  Because the Zerg must spend this Mass Round closing in on the Terrans, they will take damage before they may attack in the second segment.  Zerglings have no Resistance Dice naturally, so they will take full damage, reducing their numbers to 25. 2nd Segment Terran Actions:  Since Cullen attacked in the first segment, he may only move in this segment.  He decides his forces will fall back a bit, to higher ground (+1D to Resistance Dice). Zerg Actions: This segment, the Zerg on on the marines.  The Zerg commander rolls its Tactics (3D) + Unit Size (1D for 1 full unit and  + 1 for the extra 5 remaining after the Terran attack) = 4D+1 with a Difficulty of 5.  The Zerg manage a 15.  For damage, they will roll 1D + 1D+1 +1D (for Effect Value)=3D+1.  The Zerg get a 4, 5, and 3 +1 for 13 points of damage to the Terran units. The Terrans roll their Automatic Defensive Check, which will be 2D (1D per unit) +1D for Higher Ground, for a 2, 3, and 5=10.  Thus, the Terrans only take 3 points of damage, losing 3 marines to the Zerg onslaught.  Casualties may be reduced by Medics.

Defensive Roll
Automatic:
Most units and individual soldiers will take some action to avoid damage from an attack.  So all units have an Automatic Defensive Roll, reducing their chances for casualties slightly.
Automatic Defensive Dice Pool:  Units' Resistance Dice.
Result:  Subtract sum from the Attacker's Damage result.

Defensive Manuevers: 
Rather than order an attack, a commander may have a unit (or multiple units) dig in and take a defensive position.  During that Mass Combat round, the unit will not attack but will benefit from greater protection against enemy assaults. If Defensive Manuevers are taken, the unit does not make an Automatic Defensive roll.
Defensive Dice Pool:  Commander's Tactics + Resistance Dice + Cover Bonuses (for terrain, fortifications, etc.)
Result:  The Defensive Manuevers result becomes the new Base Difficulty for the attacking forces.
 

HEALING
Characters can heal in a variety of ways, but the three most common methods are natural healing, first aid kits, and medical bays (or medlabs).

Natural Healing:
A character can heal naturally, but this process is both slower and riskier than getting medical care.  The character must rest a specified amount of time and then can make a healing roll:  the character's full Constiution to see if the character heals.

Healing characters can do virtually nothing but rest.  A character who tried to work, exercise or adventure must subtract -1D from his Constitution  when he makes his healing roll.  Any character who opts to "take it easy" and do virtually nothing for twice the necessary time may add +1D to his Constitution to heal.

A wounded character may roll once per day for healing:
 
 

First Aid Kits/Medpacs
First Aid kits usually have bandages, antiseptics, anti-inflammatories, painkillers and other lightweight medical supplies.  A standard kit can be used two times before needing to be restocked.

A First Aid roll is required to use a First Aid kit (or medpac).  The difficulty depends on the severity of the patient's injury:
 

If the First Aid roll is unsuccessful, the character's condition remains the same.  If the First Aid roll misses the difficulty by more than 10 points, the patient remains the same and another First Aid roll cannot be made for another 24 hours.

Multiple First Aid attempts can be made on a patient within a single day, but the First Aid difficulty increases one level for each additional use.

Medical Bays/Medlabs/Emergency Rooms
Most colonies and bases have fairly advanced medical facilities, though some of the far-flung outposts approach medieval standards with their medical care.  Aliens may have far different concepts of medical care as well (Zerg may simply be killed and their biological matter reincorporated into the Creep; Protoss may permit their bodies to be discarded and their minds transplanted in other machines).

To use these facilities, a character must have the Medicine (A) skill.