Arms of the UNSC
Wow, a lot has happened since my last post! A new FATE game has just been published, and I funded its Kickstarter. It’s called Bulldogs!, and is a Scifi game with some really awesome stuff in it! It was written by @brennanrtaylor.
One of the things that I love the most is the weapon and ship rules, so I’m going to be adopting them for Halo.
What’s Changed?
Ok, so now that we know that Bulldogs! has altered my ideas for weapons, what are those changes? I’m not going to go into all of the stuff, you need to get the game for that, but I’ll tell you the important parts.
Damage: All weapons have a damage rating. Unlike other FATE games, the damage rating is the minimum stress done with a successful hit. For example, if the damage is 3, a 0-, 1-, 2-, or 3-shift attack deals 3 stress. This alleviates some of my issues with damage adding to stress done, but also the fact that some weapons should be nastier than others.
Accuracy: Accuracy, not surprisingly enough, is a modifier to your attack roll.
Range: Range is how many zones away you can attack with the weapon.
Improvements: Not all weapons are built the same. Improvements are the cool stuff that sets this weapon apart from others like it.
Cost: In Bulldogs! everything costs something. I’m going to include the prices here in case anyone wants to use these in their home games.
Changes from Bulldogs! Assumptions
In Bulldogs! ballistic weapons deal less damage against armoured targets, and energy weapons deal less damage against shielded targets. However, in Halo, plasma weapons are more effective against shields, and ballistic weapons are better against armour. So keep that in mind for all your lucky ones who own Bulldogs!
Weapons
Magnum Pistol
The standard side-arm of the UNSC, this pistol is found all over the galaxy, in pretty much every UNSC ship. It’s not fancy or spectacular, but it is reliable.
Damage: 3 (1 vs. shields)
Accuracy: 1
Range: 2
Improvements: Accurate
Cost: Average (+1)
Assault Rifle
The assault rifle is another staple of the UNSC forces. It has a high rate of fire, but limited range. Note that the Autofire improvement gives you the option between +1 damage or attack a second target. Both attacks suffer a -1 accuracy. Note that this damage increase is not taken into account because you have the option of either the damage increase or the second target.
Damage: 3 (1 vs. shields)
Accuracy: 1
Range: 3
Improvements: Longarm, Autofire, Aspect: Wall of lead
Cost: Good (+3)
Dedicated Marksman Rifle (DMR)
The DMR is the middle step between the magnum and the sniper rifle. It’s the preferred weapon of those who want to be able to pick off ranged opponents while keeping the ability to defend up close.
Damage: 4 (2 vs. shields)
Accuracy: 2
Range: 4
Improvements: Longarm, accurate, long range, powerful
Cost: Great (+4)
Sniper Rifle
The sniper rifle is a long range, fire support weapon. Designed to take out targets before they know your there, it’s the ultimate weapon for one-shot kills.
Damage: 4 (2 vs. shields)
Accuracy: 2
Range: 5
Improvements: Longarm, accurate, long range, powerful, specialized (+2 damage when you take advantage of an aiming aspect)
Cost: Superb (+5)
Shotgun
The UNSC shotgun is designed to project a wall of pellets, in the attempt to shred targets at close range. Note that the scattershot improvement increased the accuracy by 1 (already taken into account), but the damage is reduced by 1 per zone.
Damage: 3 (1 vs. shields)
Accuracy: 2
Range: 3
Improvements: Longarm, scattershot, specialized (+2 damage vs. organic targets)
Cost: Good (+3)
Spartan Laser1
This is the ultimate in anti-vehicular weapons. It fires a concentrated beam of light that incinerates armour and flesh alike.
Damage: 5
Accuracy: 0
Range: 4
Improvements: Unconventional, heavy weapon, long range, specialized (+2 damage vs. vehicles)
Cost: Superb (+5)
Grenade Launcher
This is my personal favorite weapon in the game, but I promise to be fair! The grenade launcher is a duel-purpose weapon that can fire either explosive or EMP rounds. The EMP is used to disable vehicles for a short time or deplete the shields of a group of elites. Also, the high explosive improvement means that it attacks everything in the zone, not just one target.
Damage: 4
Accuracy: 0
Range: 2
Improvements: Additional capability (EMP attack as a maneuver), high explosive, indirect fire
Cost: Superb (+5)
Rocket Launcher
The UNSC rocket launcher is a formidable weapon, capable of destroying all but the heaviest of armoured targets. With an impressive blast radius, it’s not too bad at taking out infantry, either.
Damage: 5
Accuracy: 1
Range: 4
Improvements: Heavy weapon, accurate high explosive, long range, specialized (+2 damage vs. vehicles)
Cost: Fantastic (+6)
Well, that was fun! And I must say, the Bulldogs! weapon creation system is pretty easy! It took me longer to link the pics and size them right than to stat up the weapons! Longer post than I’ve had in a while, but that’s what you get with an armoury entry, right? Loads of things that make other things go boom!
1 While an energy weapon, it’s equally nasty against anything, so I based it off of the damage and price of an explosive type, rather than laser. Also, it’s really the only “laser” weapon in Halo, so I categorized it as unconventional.
All pictures above are ©Bungie.net, all rights reserved. Used without permission.
