Zero Gravity?

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

I'm toying with having one of my encounters in an upcoming session be in zero gravity. Are there any good d20 sources out there for zero g combat? I know that I could just consider everyone to be flying, or somesuch, but I think it'd be cool if there were some other environmental factors.

If there aren't any solid Zero G rules out there, does anybody have good ideas for what the effects would be?

Thanks!
NCSUCodeMonkey

 

[Conaill]

Well, for one, the combatants would have essentially no control over their own movement in zero-G. They may be able to push themselves off from other objects (including allies and opponents), or learn to flap a cloak to "swim' through the air, but rotation is going to be hard to deal with.

Physically hitting something hard enough to do damage would be very hard. Swings are bound to miss and/or do little damage. Stabs may work a little better. Archers would be much better off, although they would need to learn to control the rotation caused by firing an arrow which is not aligned with their center of gravity. Spellcasters are probably best off in zero gravity (may need a concentration check for tumbling and/or simply for being in zero-G).

 

[blargney the second]

I seem to remember something similar to zero-G in the rules for levitate.
-blarg

 

[Jim Hague]

Both d20 Future and Spycraft 2.0 have good zero-g rules. Me, I prefer Spycraft.

 

[Rel]

You could probably do worse than simply using your best judgement and a crapload of Balance checks. I say this because you in particular have good GM judgement about running cinematic scenes.

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

You could probably do worse than simply using your best judgement and a crapload of Balance checks. I say this because you in particular have good GM judgement about running cinematic scenes.

Hah, thanks. I just sent you an e-mail about this (sort of). Let me know what you think.

And thanks for the tips on Future and Spycraft. I may thumb through those in the gaming store tomorrow.

NCSUCodeMonkey

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

So, I found a really cool hosted setting right here on ENWorld, The Cosmonomicon (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=121951), that had some pretty spiffy rules for Zero G combat. I've taken that, along with blargney II's suggestion of levitate, to produce the following simplified ruleset:

BTW, this list is for a Grimm based game (one of the Horizon books from Fantasy Flight Games). In d20 terms, Nimbleness is Tumble and Athletics is Jump.

• You can move along the walls of the craft by making an Athletics check DC 10 or a Nimbleness check DC 20.
• All movement that is not along a wall occurs in a straight line and you continue to move the same distance each round until you interact with another object.
• You can push off a wall by making an Athletics/Nimbleness check. The distance moved is equal to the result of the check (rounded down to the nearest 5ft.).
• You can always move 5ft. This is as a 5ft. step that consumes your move action.
• You can move by throwing objects in the opposite direction. Throwing an object of your size causes you to move your speed. Throwing an object one size category smaller moves you at half speed and throwing objects larger than you causes you to move at double speed.
• Attacking with a melee or ranged weapon causes you to become increasingly unstable; the first attack has a -1 penalty on attack rolls, the second -2, and so on, to a maximum penalty of -5. A full round spent stabilizing allows you to begin again at -1.
• Range increments of projectile weapons or abilities are doubled.
• You can not be tripped or knocked prone.

It fits on half a page and it makes sense to me, what do you think?

 

[blargney the second]

If flight is a possibility, I'd suggest the following:
- extraordinary flight (flapping) has reduced maneuverability
- supernatural & magical flight still works the same
- levitation requires that you specify an axis as up & down

Hope this helps!
-blarg

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

If flight is a possibility, I'd suggest the following:
- extraordinary flight (flapping) has reduced maneuverability
- supernatural & magical flight still works the same
- levitation requires that you specify an axis as up & down

Hope this helps!
-blarg

Excellent ideas, and I'm going to tack them on in case I ever use this in a more fantasy setting. For this weekend, the game is a superheroes adventure, so the only one that applies here is supernatural flight. It will indeed work the same (and I should probably mention it).

Thanks!
NCSUCodeMonkey