ATE: Surveying scavenge sites

[mlangsdorf]

ATE2 provides rules for exploring ruined buildings and scavenging loot from them on p 34-38. They're good as far as they go, but does anyone have any suggestions for surveying potential scavenge sites for danger and loot? It's probably not worth the time it takes to search a looted transport site in a building that's falling apart (structural integrity modifier -6 or worse), but it'd be good to know that before you start.

I'm thinking of using these rules:
* Danger Survey: takes an hour per six areas (ATE2 p 35). GM secretly rolls against the surveyor's Architecture, with a +2 bonus for every 3 points of positive or negative structural integrity modifier (SIM) of the area: it's easy to spot a solidly built or nearly destroyed building. On success, the GM reveals each area's approximate SIM, or exact sim on a critical success. Failure means no information and on critical failure the GM lies.

* Scrounging Survey: takes an hour per six areas. GM secretly rolls against the surveyor's Scrounging and provides each area's scavenging type (as per the table on ATE2 p 37) on success; critical success gives a +1 on subsequent tests to scavenge any of those areas. On failure, the surveyor learns nothing and on a critical failure, the GM lies about the areas and there is a -1 on subsequent tests to scavenge any of those areas.

Do those rules seem sensible?

[PK]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

ATE2 provides rules for exploring ruined buildings and scavenging loot from them on p 34-38. They're good as far as they go, but does anyone have any suggestions for surveying potential scavenge sites for danger and loot? It's probably not worth the time it takes to search a looted transport site in a building that's falling apart (structural integrity modifier -6 or worse), but it'd be good to know that before you start.

Good point. Also, sorry that I missed this until I caught it on your blog via the GURPSday collation -- you were right about it getting buried beneath silliness.

I'm thinking of using these rules:
* Danger Survey: takes an hour per six areas (ATE2 p 35). GM secretly rolls against the surveyor's Architecture, with a +2 bonus for every 3 points of positive or negative structural integrity modifier (SIM) of the area: it's easy to spot a solidly built or nearly destroyed building. On success, the GM reveals each area's approximate SIM, or exact sim on a critical success. Failure means no information and on critical failure the GM lies.

Looks reasonable, so I'll just suggest simplifications:

Is "an hour per six areas" meant to suggest that there's a one-hour minimum? Because otherwise, that would be more simply phrased as "12 minutes per area." I'd probably suggest a flat 15 minutes per area, with the understanding that you have to survey no less than an entire building at a time -- so if it's a three-area building, you're taking 45 minutes.

And it might be simplest just to go with "a bonus equal in size to the structural integrity modifier," just because obvious things should be obvious. In my own ATE games, I don't even call for a roll unless there's a reason structural damage would be hidden. I give my players a rough description of the danger: "The place is falling apart even worse than usual; expect a harsh penalty."

* Scrounging Survey: takes an hour per six areas. GM secretly rolls against the surveyor's Scrounging and provides each area's scavenging type (as per the table on ATE2 p 37) on success; critical success gives a +1 on subsequent tests to scavenge any of those areas. On failure, the surveyor learns nothing and on a critical failure, the GM lies about the areas and there is a -1 on subsequent tests to scavenge any of those areas.

Again, this is the kind of info I've just been telling the players, so I'd make this even easier. Maybe something like:

Roll against the better of Anthropology or Scrounging at +2, or +4 if you know both skills. Success tells you the area's scavenging type, success by 5+ also reveals the specific scavenging penalty, and a critical success gives +1 on all subsequent scavenging rolls here. Failure provides no information, while critical failure gives false details that give -1 on all subsequent scavenging rolls here.

The note about time taken applies here as well.