Wyvern
Explorer
Here's my revision of the take-off and landing rules which attempt to address the concerns I had about the current version. I've also uploaded them to http://msu.edu/~reesmatt/landing.txt to facilitate cutting and pasting.
To save you the trouble of doing a sentence-by-sentence comparison, here's a summary of the significant (i.e. not typographical) changes:
- Changed the DCs to 15 for landing and 10 for take-off (a compromise between BlackJaw's values and barsoomcore's).
- Added a comment about the consequences of a failed water landing.
- Added rules to deal with landing vessels that aren't meant to land (or landing them on the wrong surface).
- Tweaked the rules regarding vessels with a minimum speed of 0.
- Fiddled with the landing rules to clarify when they touch down and how far they have to move after touching down (in regular and extended landings).
- Broadened the aborted landing rule to apply to regular as well as extended landings, and added a rule for stopping the vessel prematurely during an extended landing.
- Changed the rule for lifting off prematurely during an extended take-off (the previous version was unclear and seemed overly harsh to me), and added a rule for aborting a take-off.
Landing: Landing is the first stunt all new pilots are taught. While flying a vessel already in the sky is easy enough, genuine skill is required to land it safely. The base DC for this Piloting skill check is DC 15. Outside of combat, a pilot can take 10 on this check. If the pilot fails this check, then the vessel crashes and takes double collision damage (or, in the case of a water landing, the vessel sinks). Attempting to land a vessel that is not designed for it automatically results in a collision or sinking of the vessel. This also applies when landing a vessel on an inappropriate surface (i.e. water or land, depending on the vessel).
In order to land, a vessel must start the pilot's action at Low altitude. The pilot must end his action by dropping another altitude category in order to touch down. On the following action, the vessel must travel its Minimum Speed in a straight line. Any attempt to turn or stop the vessel before that point will cause the vessel to crash unless the pilot makes a Piloting skill check against DC 25. If during a landing, a pilot loses control, the vessel is considered to crash at the end of the round unless control is regained before then, such as by a co-pilot.
Extended Landing: Having a longer runway can make landing much easier on a pilot. If the runway is twice as long as the vessel's minimum speed, the pilot could choose to land slowly over two rounds, and if the runway was three times as long, over three rounds, out to a maximum of four rounds. For every round spent landing past the first, the skill check gains a +2 circumstance bonus for landing. This does take longer to complete, and the pilot can take no other actions during these rounds. The landing vessel touches down at the end of the first round, and must then travel its Minimum Speed in a straight line for the remaining rounds just as described above. Vessels with a Minimum Speed of zero cannot gain this bonus, but the pilot gains a +5 bonus to the Piloting check if he spends a full round landing. (Otherwise, the landing only takes a single move-equivalent action.)
If, before the vessel touches down, the pilot changes his mind and wishes to abandon the landing attempt, he must succeed at a collision check to avoid crashing. If he succeeds, the vessel rises to Low altitude and the pilot may continue flying the vessel as normal. On the other hand, if a pilot making an extended landing attempts to bring the vessel to a halt prematurely, he forfeits any bonus he might have gained to the Piloting check from the extended landing. If the runway is blocked (or not as long as the pilot thought), a failed check results in a collision with whatever is blocking it.
This stunt does not make use of the Turn Modifier.
Taking Off: To take off from a landing, a vessel must be fully powered, and have space equal to its Minimum Speed. The DC for a Take-Off is 10. A pilot can take 10 on this check. A failed Take-Off check results in the vessel remaining on the ground despite moving its minimum speed down the runway.
Extended Take-Off: Having a longer runway can make taking off much easier on a pilot. If the runway is twice as long as the vessel's minimum speed, the pilot could chose to accelerate slowly over two rounds, and if the runway was three times as long, over three rounds, out to a maximum of 5 rounds. For every round spent taking-off past the first, the pilot gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the Take-Off check. This does take longer to complete, and the pilot can take no other actions during these rounds. The vessel lifts off at the end of the last round and rises to Low altitude. Vessels with a Minimum Speed of 0 cannot gain this bonus, but the pilot gains a +5 bonus to the Piloting check if he spends a full round taking off rather than a single move-equivalent action.
If at any point during an extended take-off, the pilot changes his mind and wishes to lift off immediately, he gains no bonus to the Piloting check from the first round of the take-off (so if he attempts to lift off after the second round, he gains no bonus at all). The vessel must have travelled at least its Minimum Speed before Take-Off is possible. If a pilot chooses to abort a take-off, he can do so without any check, but he must continue moving down the runway for a distance equal to the vessel's Minimum Speed.
This stunt does not make use of the Turn Modifier.
Wyvern
To save you the trouble of doing a sentence-by-sentence comparison, here's a summary of the significant (i.e. not typographical) changes:
- Changed the DCs to 15 for landing and 10 for take-off (a compromise between BlackJaw's values and barsoomcore's).
- Added a comment about the consequences of a failed water landing.
- Added rules to deal with landing vessels that aren't meant to land (or landing them on the wrong surface).
- Tweaked the rules regarding vessels with a minimum speed of 0.
- Fiddled with the landing rules to clarify when they touch down and how far they have to move after touching down (in regular and extended landings).
- Broadened the aborted landing rule to apply to regular as well as extended landings, and added a rule for stopping the vessel prematurely during an extended landing.
- Changed the rule for lifting off prematurely during an extended take-off (the previous version was unclear and seemed overly harsh to me), and added a rule for aborting a take-off.
Landing: Landing is the first stunt all new pilots are taught. While flying a vessel already in the sky is easy enough, genuine skill is required to land it safely. The base DC for this Piloting skill check is DC 15. Outside of combat, a pilot can take 10 on this check. If the pilot fails this check, then the vessel crashes and takes double collision damage (or, in the case of a water landing, the vessel sinks). Attempting to land a vessel that is not designed for it automatically results in a collision or sinking of the vessel. This also applies when landing a vessel on an inappropriate surface (i.e. water or land, depending on the vessel).
In order to land, a vessel must start the pilot's action at Low altitude. The pilot must end his action by dropping another altitude category in order to touch down. On the following action, the vessel must travel its Minimum Speed in a straight line. Any attempt to turn or stop the vessel before that point will cause the vessel to crash unless the pilot makes a Piloting skill check against DC 25. If during a landing, a pilot loses control, the vessel is considered to crash at the end of the round unless control is regained before then, such as by a co-pilot.
Extended Landing: Having a longer runway can make landing much easier on a pilot. If the runway is twice as long as the vessel's minimum speed, the pilot could choose to land slowly over two rounds, and if the runway was three times as long, over three rounds, out to a maximum of four rounds. For every round spent landing past the first, the skill check gains a +2 circumstance bonus for landing. This does take longer to complete, and the pilot can take no other actions during these rounds. The landing vessel touches down at the end of the first round, and must then travel its Minimum Speed in a straight line for the remaining rounds just as described above. Vessels with a Minimum Speed of zero cannot gain this bonus, but the pilot gains a +5 bonus to the Piloting check if he spends a full round landing. (Otherwise, the landing only takes a single move-equivalent action.)
If, before the vessel touches down, the pilot changes his mind and wishes to abandon the landing attempt, he must succeed at a collision check to avoid crashing. If he succeeds, the vessel rises to Low altitude and the pilot may continue flying the vessel as normal. On the other hand, if a pilot making an extended landing attempts to bring the vessel to a halt prematurely, he forfeits any bonus he might have gained to the Piloting check from the extended landing. If the runway is blocked (or not as long as the pilot thought), a failed check results in a collision with whatever is blocking it.
This stunt does not make use of the Turn Modifier.
Taking Off: To take off from a landing, a vessel must be fully powered, and have space equal to its Minimum Speed. The DC for a Take-Off is 10. A pilot can take 10 on this check. A failed Take-Off check results in the vessel remaining on the ground despite moving its minimum speed down the runway.
Extended Take-Off: Having a longer runway can make taking off much easier on a pilot. If the runway is twice as long as the vessel's minimum speed, the pilot could chose to accelerate slowly over two rounds, and if the runway was three times as long, over three rounds, out to a maximum of 5 rounds. For every round spent taking-off past the first, the pilot gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the Take-Off check. This does take longer to complete, and the pilot can take no other actions during these rounds. The vessel lifts off at the end of the last round and rises to Low altitude. Vessels with a Minimum Speed of 0 cannot gain this bonus, but the pilot gains a +5 bonus to the Piloting check if he spends a full round taking off rather than a single move-equivalent action.
If at any point during an extended take-off, the pilot changes his mind and wishes to lift off immediately, he gains no bonus to the Piloting check from the first round of the take-off (so if he attempts to lift off after the second round, he gains no bonus at all). The vessel must have travelled at least its Minimum Speed before Take-Off is possible. If a pilot chooses to abort a take-off, he can do so without any check, but he must continue moving down the runway for a distance equal to the vessel's Minimum Speed.
This stunt does not make use of the Turn Modifier.
Wyvern
