Hey Sean, fellow sean here,
I’m trying to start a quick and deadly playtest and pit my group against some hordes of swarm aliens. I just have a couple questions:
1. In the charts for weapon upgrades certain classification have included tags such as the +Knockdown tag for Large Melee. Does this included tag count towards the weapon’s total weapon class?
So if someone has a large weapon: +Knockdown +Sever is it a class 1 or class 2 weapon.
2. Are any of these weapons supposed to have a base damage? Or is damage handled by a mechanic that I’m missing?
3. Does it change the game too radically to have the players pick only one room on their starship from their careers and make them share a crew at the beginning? I feel like this would leave a long road for improvements that feel satisfying and give them a “rebel” feel but I wonder if it gimps their opportunities in the beginning.
Thank you for all your help and the wonderful content you’ve created and for being willing to share it while it is being fine tuned.
Swarm aliens. Oooh yes. Very nice.
1. Each Class 0 weapon, load-out, crew and vehicle type has “built in” properties. Those are default and don’t count towards a weapon’s class. So a Large Melee weapon with + Knockdown and + Sever would be a Class 1, because + Knockdown is in-built.
(Note that I’m currently updating/finalizing the Assets (weapons, load-outs, vehicles and crew) due to playtest feedback, so I’ll be posting their updated forms soon).
2. So the way combat works in UW is a bit unusual compared to other rpgs. It’s a lot more focused on the drama and awesome descriptions, not on the numbers. As such, enemies don’t have hit points, and player weapons don’t have damage numbers. I invite you to check out the preview of chapter 03 at http://www.tinyurl.com/uwpreview. Specifically the sections on Open Fire and Launch Assault. NPC death and injure are handled narratively, rather than numerically. It’s a pretty big departure, but once you’re comfortable with it, it’ll run quite smoothly.
3. Not at all! Go ahead and give the players a very basic ship. Or, to give them the same feel of being rebels but still give them options to use their skills, give them a single “room” where they live AND where that stuff is. Make it reeeealy cramped, dirty, scavenged stuff. Make it so that they can only use their tiny personal space for one thing at a time.