GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I sat down to try, once again, to convert Heavy Gear to GURPS. I am aware that, hopefully, in the near future we’ll hear something about the new edition of SILCore. But, me, I’m anxious.

I discovered, and I don’t know why I never saw this before, that Heavy Gear’s armor rating is based off of a measurable number: Base Armor Value = Square Root (mm of Armor Grade Steel). Heyyyyyyy, we have a value for that in GURPS. Checking their weapons, they also list the weapons Maximum Effective Range (sounds like our ½D range) and a penetration value (how many mm of armor grade steel they can regularly penetrate).

So, a Gear’s frontal armor rating would be DR (((AV²)/25.4)×70). So, an HACS-01MG-MP Hunter’s frontal armor value of 15 would be a DR of 620.

Alright, the Hunter also masses 6,627 kg, so that would give it a ST/HP of 98. I'd wind up calling it 100, but that's just me.

Weapons become a bit more problematic:

The M222 Autocannon Rifle (LAC) that the Hunter carries as its primary weapon has an armor penetration of 65mm. That means that an average hit will only penetrate 179 points of DR (it’s roughly a 5dx10 pi++ weapon). That’s not nearly as problematic in Heavy Gear as it is in GURPS, since damage in Heavy Gear is a multiplier that is based on your Margin of Success.

The LAC in Heavy Gear has a Damage of x8. So, a hit by 1 means you plink off the Hunter’s armor, but a hit by 2 does a light damage roll to it. But, no matter how much damage you roll, you’ll never hurt a Hunter with its own gun in GURPS.

If you consider the RP-109 Pepperbox (LRP/24) the Hunter primary weapon, things get slightly better. It has a penetration of 140mm which allows it to penetrate DR 386 on an average hit (fundamentally, it’s a 5dx22 cr ex weapon). That’s better, but it would still require a phenomenal hit to do much more than scratch the paint on a Hunter.

Also, in Heavy Gear, you can buy Armor Piercing ammo for a weapon. This trait halves the armor value of the target (much like a GURPS Armor Divisor of (2)). However, it prevents the ability to overkill a vehicle, the best you can do is get a heavy damage, as the attack will over-penetrate.

So, my problem becomes: do I tack a (2) to each weapon, even though this would cause heavier weapons to obliterate the Hunter (like the Junglemower-10 which has a Damage Value of x15 [230mm armor pen], and does 6dx30 pi++)? Or does anyone else have any suggestions?

The reason I chose an HACS-01MG-MP Hunter, is that it is the ubiquitous Gear.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Well, I don't know much about Heavy Gear rules, but wouldn't it be possible to compare "succeeding by 2" with "critical hit"? Assuming the gunner has a good skill, he'd get that fairly often?

Just my 2cents. :)

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Perhaps the Hunter had Hardened Armor to protect itself from the armor piercing weapons?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I appreciate the input, any suggestions might help.

Succeeding by 2, while challenging for regulars or greens, is dirt simple for veterans and/or deulists. It would be like succeeding by 4 for a person will a skill of 12 and a person with a skill of 16.

Also, in Heavy Gear while you make a to-hit roll, your opponents make an active dodge roll. And the Damage is multiplied by that margin. So, if you're lucky and your opponent is not, you can get some decent margins.

In theory, all Gears would have some level of hardening. However, this is not normally the case. Specifically, the Hunter is no more special than a stock HMMWV (other than having a special place in the hearts of Terra Novans). That's why I chose it.

Also, this would defeat the purpose of putting an armor divisor on all weapons since we're back at square one.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Having thought about this in the past, I'd recommend calculating armor penetration base on an MoS 2 hit. That would give the LAC an armor penetration of 256mm, sufficient to penetrate a Hunter/Jaeger's armor but not good enough to reliably damage the bits inside. The LRP would have an armor penetration of 676mm, more than sufficient to blow through a Hunter's armor and damage stuff inside.

The other thing to consider is that a Junglemower VHAC can and should obliterate a Hunter. Even the most minimal hit has something like a 10% chance of blowing up something critical (Fire Control or Structure Hit that kills the gear); a solid (MoS2+) hit will either kill the pilot or destroy the gear outright.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

That’s a very good idea, I wish I'd thought of it. However, we do run into the problem that, in GURPS a Gear would have Hit Points. A Hunter only has 100 HP. That LRP hit would do an average of 1,863 points of damage (based on its armor penetration). That would smoke through the Hunter’s DR of 620 and reduce the vehicle to -10xHP from a single rocket.

Go directly to bits. Do not pass go. Do not collect two-hundred marks.

Mmmmm. Junglemower-10. Sorry, that weapon just moves me.

Actually, a MoS2 would potentially cripple a Hunter (damage of x30), but according to the GURPS math, that hit would grey-mist a Hunter.

It’s a one-in-thirty-six chance, a light damage results in a pilot being killed (they have to roll a 2, then a 6). It’s not possible to “destroy” a gear on one light damage hit. And, while there is actually a chance of blowing the vehicle up with a heavy damage, there is also a chance that the crew survives that.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Okay, the problem with GURPS Heavy Gear keeps coming to me as Hammer+Eggshell. A weapon that, in Heavy Gear, can average some light damage on a Hunter is simply not going to be able to get through its DR. A weapon that can average some heavy damage is going to smoke the Hunter outright.

I think, this is an artifact of DP9 stating (and providing numbers that “prove”) the armor/damage values are exponential, while the game rules make them linear. A x19 weapon is not, fundamentally, scarier than a x15 weapon to someone in a Hunter (though a x23 weapon is). However, according to the math they give us, a x16 weapon should make someone with an Armor Value of 15 tremble: a x15 weapon/AV 15 would average 620 points of damage/DR, and a x16 weapon would average 706; that Hunter has 14 hit points left. Gentle Prophet forbid that x16 weapon rolls slightly above average damage.

In Heavy Gear a LAC, MAC and HAC won’t hurt a Hunter on an MoS of 1, will do light damage on an MoS of 2, and heavy damage on an MoS of 3 (4 for a LAC). A MoS 4 will destroy a Hunter from a HAC, a MoS 5 for a MAC, and a MoS 6 for a LAC.

In GURPS a LAC does ~51d of damage (x8 in HG), a MAC does ~79d of damage (x10 in HG), and a HAC does ~114d of damage (x12 in HG).

So . . . in my finite wisdom, how does this sound:

DR =2x(AV²)

Taking mlangsdorf's suggestion:
Damage = 2x average damage to penetrate equal AV's DR (3)

This means that a Hunter would have a DR of 450 and it’s LAC would do 6dx5 (3) pi++. A spectacular hit would get some damage through the Hunter’s DR. A MAC would do 5x9 (3) pi++, just barely enough on an average hit to get a little bit through. A HAC would do 6dx11 (3) pi++, which would seriously damage a Hunter.

I'll deal with shaped charge/special weapons a bit later.

Questions, comments, suggestions . . . anvils to the codpiece.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Just tossing an idea out:

Why not treat all attacks as triplex rounds? That way the damage can be very high against weak targets but still bounce off large ones.

3d vs DR5 = 5 damage
3d vs DR0 = 10 damage
1d+1d+1d vs DR5 = 0 damage
1d+1d+1d vs DR0 = 10 damage

You can even adjust recoil as needed to get the MoS effect you want.

Of course I don't know much about Heavy Gear and my math skills aren't up to snuff with most people around here so this might cause a serious problem somewhere else.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

lexington,

I appreciate the input. However, our problem is, actually, the opposite of your suggestion: We need a weapon that can damage heavily armored targets, but not obliterate lesser armored targets (a common GURPS conundrum) in the same hit.

Exacerbating the problem is how few Hit Points the Hunter has, in comparison to its DR. And, honestly, I'd rather not just increase its Hit Points.

Your suggestion actually gives me an idea of how to make small pulse lasers work better in my GURPS BattleTech conversion. I’ll have to check that out when I get home.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Well now I feel silly.

No offense but, why not? If you want to maintain the feel of the game you should slide around DR and HP values until they're close to what you want. It seems to me that Heavy Gear and GURPS make a few key assumptions differently and that is preventing a direct conversion from working. I guess this is why I got confused, if some things need to be more durable just make them more durable.

I have to say I'm curious where you got this equation for DR: (((AV²)/25.4)×70)

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Have some of the DR be Ablative. Adjust amount to taste.

Add a sprinkling of basil.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Because then it won't mesh up with other GURPS vehicles. Other Dream Pod 9 games, like Gear Kreig use the same system, with the same values. Eventually, I'd like to have a plug-and-play formula that I can use to convert any Dream Pod 9 game into GURPS.

BattleTech was actually this easy. I know Heavy Gear isn't, but I'm hoping that I can simplify it to where it is.

You are very correct: Heavy Gear is much more abstract than GURPS. The funny part of it is that Heavy Gear actually gives us the information we would need to convert it into GURPS, but the numbers don't mesh with the way the game plays.

Armor Value in Heavy Gear is equal to the square root of the equivelant thickness in mm of armor grade steel (Heavy Gear Technical Manual, 2nd Edition, pg 74). One inch of armor-grade steel is DR 60-70. Since this Heavy Gear takes place in the 62nd century, I went with DR 70.

So, it's the Armor Value squared, divided by 25.4 to turn it into inches, then multiplied by 70.

While I like this idea, and was looking at it, until all the ADR is gone, the vehicle still won't take any "damage."

I'd rather add bacon.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

If you keep increasing the Armor Divisor on the weapons, while reducing damage, I think you'll find the 'sweet spot' you're looking for.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Although I don't know much about the specifics of Heavy Gear, I'd also use at least a good portion of ablative DR. Did this once in a GURPS Starcraft campaign and it worked quite good.

Though you're right that the loss of armor, is not "real damage" yet.
Basically I'd try making it possible to destroy secondary systems like sensors more easily!
The classic idea would be something like: "The missile hits your vehicle and blows up a part of your front armor. Apparently the optical sensors on the front are also damaged by this attack, though your radar system is still working."

A possible option would be something like "Surge" from Powers p102, a weapon enhancement that forces damaged electronic systems to make HT checks against malfunctions or generally an Affliction Attack against electrical systems...

And/or the systems that could likely be damaged, e.g. the Hyperspectral Vision advantage as a sensor array, could be bought with something like the "Breakable"-limitation...

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Well, the problem I run into with this, is that they have weapons that cover all sorts of armor divisors to begin with: Autocannons, Lasers, Anti-Tank Missiles, Railguns, Particle Beams.

So, generally, what I'm looking for is the Unified Theory of Heavy Gear.

After having slept on it, I'm considering a rule where all weapons that do at least 20d damage treat armor as semi-ablative. That way, while you're not hurting them with direct hits, you are wearing their armor down.

I was going to try to use the GURPS Vehicular Combat System from Campaigns, and the to-hit tables. Which may or may not work out.

That's, um, actually a feature of the Haywire weapons from Heavy Gear

I'm thinking of just having all their aux systems protected by a lower armor value.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

When converting many systems to GURPS (and, from what I remember, Heavy Gear is no exception), you'll have the problem that in GURPS, the difference between 'target slightly damaged' and 'target obliterated' is quite small -- for armored vehicles, it might be as little as 50% more damage. In many other games, this difference is much larger; IIRC in heavy gear (been a long time) it takes about 4x as much damage (16x as much penetration) to obliterate a target as to slightly damage it. In Starcraft, to give another example, the difference between 'damage a battleship' (3 armor, so 4 points) and 'obliterate a battleship' (503 points) is more than a factor of 100.

Ablative DR or damage divisors are usually the easiest way to manage this.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

A layer of Ablative DR, then Semi-Ablative DR and regular DR. Each one may have various levels of Hardened, depending on the suit itself.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Hmm, wouldn't that mean a bit too much calculation and keeping track of the different changing values during combat? I'd be afraid that it could noticeable reduce the game speed... Though it could work, didn't try it with several layers myself.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Exactly. My goal isn’t to accurately reflect the numbers of Heavy Gear, but the feel. And, I would want the rules to mesh with the rest of GURPS. I don’t want to shoehorn GURPS into Heavy Gear, I am, however, willing to shoehorn Heavy Gear into GURPS. The two, huge, problems I’m running into with Heavy Gear is A, their math doesn’t jibe with their results and B, it’s way too abstract.

And, I agree with OldSam: extra bookkeeping = bad. I’m a huge fan of KISS (the concept, not the band).

They’re already unliving machines (and if Word changes that to “unloving” again, I’m going to go smack IT), but most of the weapons hitting them are going to be cr ex, burn or pi++. I’ve been strongly considering a damage divisor of /2 or /3 to represent the ruggedness of how Gears are assembled. But, that feels like a shoehorn.

Another idea I’d had, and it’s probably a bad idea, is basing the Gear’s DR/HP off of it’s Overkill value (AV x 3). But, that strikes me as a bad idea.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

This may be a silly question, but why not approach it from the GURPS side first? That is, use GURPS's guidelines for equipment ratings, and match them to the flavor descriptions in Heavy Gear.


My Heavy Gear books are in a box, at the moment, but working off the top of my head from shady memory:

A Hunter mecha had armor roughly equivalent to a good armored car, didn't it? Or an old light tank? So, just for eyeballing, we grab the Cold War Armored Car stats from GURPS High-Tech: DR 40 front, DR 20 flanks. The armored car's HP are even close to your 100 HP estimate.

It's armed with a Light Autocannon, you say? Well, let's pick… hmm. The Hughes M242 Bushmaster, same book. That's a 25mm autocannon, usually firing SAPHE-SD-T, for 6dx4 pi++ follow-up 3d+2 [1d+1] cr ex; RoF 3, 30 shots; 1/2D 2400 yards, Max 3300 yards.



So, one Hunter fires a burst at the other, and scores one hit. Crack! An average hit on the front does… 84, minus 40 for 44, x1 for huge piercing, plus the follow-up explosion for 12 more. He's down to 44 hit points, damaged but not seriously so, yet. But if the piercing damage had done a few points more, this would have been "major damage", causing a vehicle system to malfunction.

A near miss would do only the explosive burst damage and fragmentation—which this armor can shrug off easily.

A lucky hit on the flank with all three rounds could do around 350 damage, knocking him to -250. HT roll or it's wrecked, major damage even if you make the roll, and from now on, HT rolls each second in operation to resist malfunction. (Eyeballing the tank cannon stats, I'd say a good tank could do this from the front in a single shot. Wham.)

And a critical hit, of course, could blow it sky high.

I note that there's no way you could really harm a proper tank with this armament… unless you fought like a Gear, using cover, getting close, and aiming for vulnerable points. Or used bombs or a Panzerfaust.



I am probably way off on my memories of the Heavy Gear stats and descriptions, but that all feels pretty right to me for a one-on-one heavy gear duel, about the right level of risk to fit my mental image. Whether I've got the numbers right or not, the point is that doing it this way means you don't have to grind your way through some weapons formula unless there's some weapon that doesn't have a direct equivalent; you just start with work GURPS has already done for you, and tweak it to match.



Another reason I say this is that some of your estimated numbers break my suspension of disbelief. A "light" autocannon that does damage like a 75mm tank gun carried by a mere 7-ton mecha with more armor protection than a WWII tank with five times its mass… well, no wonder they're either shrugging off all harm, or getting splattered like eggs! :)

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

This is usually solved with heavy use of armor divisors. So an attack that can do 6d to a human but also penetrate a tank with DR2000 would have 6d(100).

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I was not concerned about perceived laboriousness (this is apparently a problem with some gamers that has become especially popularized with the advent of a certain system's edition. It's not a problem with me and many others), just accuracy.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Nope. A Hunter has an Armor Value of 15, and a T-72 has an Armor Value of 16. So, its only slightly less-well armored than a T-72.

A T-72 has an AV of 16, a Challenger has a 22, and an M1A1DU has a 25.

That that AV of 16 would be DR 1,155. However, Heavy Gear math would say that it has a DR of 706.

See, there not my numbers, they're Heavy Gear's numbers. Also Keep in mind that they've had over four-thousand years of technological evolution to make their vehicles tougher. WWII was in the 1940s and Heavy Gear takes place in the 6130s.

And how do you explain this? I have a 25mm round that can damage both a tank and a person, where does this (100) come from? That's superior to Shaped-Charge weapons that also exist in the setting.

However, that devastates the feel of Heavy Gear. HG is a fast, simple combat system, so it didn't bog down play (that screaming that you hear is MonkeyFist disagreeing with me). A gear's stats could be put on a tiny playing card and you'd have everything you needed to play.

You are, but I won't hold that against you ;-)

I've got some ideas that I'm playing around with.

My goals:

#1, It needs to be fun.
#2, It needs to feel like Heavy Gear even if the numbers don't quite match up.
#3, It need to be compatible with the rest of the rules from GURPS

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I don't explain it at all. In "the real world" a 25mm shell will paste a person and scratch a tank. Something that has enough kinetic energy to punch through a T72 will turn a person into pink mist.

If you want a type of damage that lances through armor but won't turn the contents of that armor into jelly, Armor Divisor is the way to go.

If you're looking for real world physics, well, penetration is proportional to sqrt(KE), and that's hard to edit around.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

You are correct sir! Hence the problems. However, I may have found a solution. It ain't Heavy Gear math, but it's a conversion, and I think it'll keep the feel of the game:

Once again, I’m trying too hard. Someone else has already done a double-butt-load of work in keeping GURPS vehicles simple.

Ladies and Gentlemen: David L. Pulver. A round of applause, please.

Once again, looking at what he’s done, makes my life easier. Thank you, David, for GURPS Spaceships for a place to get inspiration from.

First of all, I’m going to make them Decade-scale constructs.

A Gear’s dDR = 2x its AV.
So, a Hunter’s AV of 15 would be a dDR of 30.
A Cheetah’s AV of 10 would be dDR of 20
A Grizzly’s AV of 18 would be a dDR of 36.

A Weapon’s dice of d-damage = its Damage Multiplier, factoring in Armor Divisor (give or take a die)
So, a Hunter’s LAC (a x8 weapon) would be 4d (2) pi++.
The Cheetah’s DPG (also a x8 weapon) would also be 4d(2) pi++. Also, the Grizzly caries one of these to add insult to injury.
The Hunter’s and Cheetah’s LRP/24 (a x12 weapon) would be 4d (3) cr ex.
The Grizzly’s HAC (a x12 weapon) would be 6d(2) pi++.
The Grizzly’s two MRP/18s (x18 weapons) would be 6d(3) cr ex.
The Grizzly’s HGM (a x20 weapon) would be 4d (5) cr ex.
(fighting a Grizzly is usually a Bad Thing™, unless you’re also in something brutally tough, say a Spitting Cobra, Kodiak, King Cobra or Agamemnon.)

A Gear’s dHP = 2x its HP based on mass (from Campaigns pg 558).
So, a Hunter’s dHP would be 20. The doubling is reflecting the redundancy and sturdiness of Gear construction.
The Cheetah’s dHP would be 18 as it’s mass is 5,230 kg.
The massive Grizzly, massing a whooping 9,210 kg would have . . . 22 dHP.

So, the Cheetah is pretty much toast when someone hits it (much like the actual, tactical game). A Hunter can take a hit or two and the Grizzly makes everyone run to their mommy. Hopefully, mommy isn’t a Mammoth.

Comments, critiques, suggestions, vibroaxes to tender places.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Yeah, but absent some fantasy materials, we pretty much know how to make vehicles tougher. Make the armour thicker.

And that's insufficient for the kind of weapons that modern technology can engineer, mostly.

It's been a long time since defence could hold a candle to offence, technologically speaking. We've gotten used to things that are visible being eminiently killable.

If that has changed in a particular setting, we need to postulate some miracle in materials science that somehow does not carry over to offence. And since energy shields are voodoo and superdense materials would realistically mean superdense penetrators, it pretty much needs to be a furious handwave, scientifically speaking.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Not exactly helpful, but you've made me curious about Heavy Gear.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

In today's US Army the Bradley AFV uses a 25mm Bushmaster cannon. It's devistating vs troops and can destroy some Tanks. It accomplishes this by switching ammunition types. 25mm HE for those pesky troops and then AP for those nasty tanks.

During the events of 2003 in Iraq, US Army Bradley IFVs were recorded killing t-72s with their 25s.

Just attempting to bring a little Real World comparison.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Well, and what about unnarmed strikes? If I remeber well, in Heavy Gear there is some mechs with melee weapons and, in Gurps, they will be night invulnerable to these attacks...

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

In Heavy Gear, melee attacks were generally useless, except for the infamous "give a guy a grenade from behind" trick. Actually hitting someone with a vibroblade meant you were out of ranged weapons and grenades, which never happened in the games I played.

If you wanted to roughly eyeball it, I'd probably make the vibroblade an 8d weapon, so it carves up Cheetahs pretty well but is useless against real gears. Grenades would be a 5d (3) weapon. It'll wreck a Cheetah if it hits and put the hurt on most other Gears.

Mark - I think the d-scale version works pretty well, though I'd probably base dHP on Heavy Gear scale Gear size and comments on toughness. ie, a Hunter might be 18 HP to a Cheetah's 14 and a Grizzly's 22 or more. I think Grizzlys should take a lot more damage than a Hunter, not 10%. But that's just a quibble, the rest looks good.

The other thing is I don't see an HGM as a heavily armor piercing weapon. I'd reserve that for the ATGM and AGM, at 5d (5) and 3d (5), respectively. The HGM is just a big hammer, so make it 6d+2 (3).

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I doubt the Brad killed the T72s from the frontal arc, though. When I say "kill tanks," that's usually shorthand for "penetrate the frontal arc," since that's where tanks are famous for being hard targets.

The T-62 is the only one I have data for, but it Hull Side is only 80mm (DR220). That's vs 6dx8(2) that's the DU round (penetrates DR336 or 122mm RHA).

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

don't know what house rules you have,but here are some concepts i use:
-blow through for hyper velocity solid kenectic armor peircing rounds
-reactive armor
-sandwiched chobham armor
-angle of strike(incidence angle) the steeper the angle or tanget the less armor penetration you'll have for a given type of ordnance.i use a clock face or a 360 degree circumphrance circle to quickly conduct and compute easy firing angles.it's a commen tactic of armor to present not the front of the vehicle to the enemy.but the front corner so sharp incidence angles are presented to the enemy gunners.this was regularly used by ww-11 german armor units.
-target size modifiers
-defensive systems,chaff,smoke,diffusers,jamming,blow off armor,and so on.
-i balance out the battles where both forces have heavy assault vehicles by using dedicated scout cavalry units and forward edge battle area anti-tank/vehicular units that are trained to deal with the heavier units.also infantry hunter-killer teams armed with anti-armor weapons.
-scatterable artillery delivered mine systems.
-i have a integrated light,medium,heavy force structures that are trained to operate as a combined arms team.combined land air concept.
this usually balances out problems and makes the battlefield a very very dangerous place to be.a heavy armoured unit that advances w/o proper support will be dogmeat as they are targeted by specialized weapon systems designed to deal with just such a unit.
a modern 3-d assymetrical battlefield is a nasty place,even more so when you have t.l-9/9.1/9.2/9.3 and so on that have superior capabilities than what we have today.
also a unit can only carry so much ammunition and ordnance,they must have resupply and if the opfor targets the rear echelon supporting elements then those heavier units that need regular resupply & maintainance/repair will be in a bad way.when they run out of ammo/ordnance they are a liability.
just my thoughts.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Reb: I don't see how that post has anything to do with Heavy Gear. What are you replying to? How to make generic armored warfare eggshells armed with sledgehammers? If so, you should really realize that almost none of your advice is applicable here since we're talking about mechanics and the fluff is already taken care of.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

The short answer is: you may be right. However, that's why we have the conversion. A Hunter's ST of 100 is good for an 11d thrust, which turns into a 1d thrust . . . plink. But, their weapons have a damage value, so we can convert it. Covered a little lower.

I ran into a number of duels that all ended with melee weapons. A lot of people never understood melee weapons, so didn't use them much.

A Vibroblade is a x8 weapon so it would be 4d (2) cut (or 1d+1 (5) cut, depending on taste), according to my conversion. A Hand Grenade (a x15 weapon) would be a 15d cr ex attack (doesn't really have an armor divisor). It's a scary thing.

Here, I'm going to default to GURPS. I'd almost say that all size 6 Gears have 20 dHP and all size 7 Gears have 22, and leave their mass out of it. But, I also think it's kinda neat to have the Gear's dHP value differ slightly.

Keep in mind, the T-72A listed in High Tech only has 176 hit points, which would be dHP 18. A Cheetah is just as robust and both a Hunter and Grizzly are tougher.

Again, the damage conversion is going for ease of conversion and play.

If you were using Guided Mortars as hammers you were doing it wrong. LGMs and HGMs are firing guided missiles, so they have armor divisors. Sneak an Iguanas over there and rain surgical hell-fire down upon your enemies. Field Mortars, with their AOE damage, would just have high damage and no armor divisor. Those were hammers. The ATM (a x25 weapon), I would probably go with 5d (5) cr ex and the HATM (a x30 weapon) as 6d (5) cr ex.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Not sure where the t-72s were hit. However it still remains that a 25mm bushmaster (w/ the right type of ammo) can kill a t-72.

Just a little background. I am a current active duty Abn Infantry Senior NCO. During one of my trips to the wonderful sandbox we linked up with some Brads and of course discussions occured. During the course of our discussions the PSG of the platoon we linked up with told me that his platoon had killed a couple of t-72s with their main gun. I remember this discussion becuase I was checking out their thermal sights and asking questions about the 25.

Anyway, no hijacking of threads.

Thanks

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Well, that's good, then. :D


Though I hadn't realized Gears were indeed that tough.


As a long-time convertor myself, I like the look of this system you've worked out. (As we've established, my Heavy Gear lore is currently quite weak, but I've done a few conversions of other systems before…)

The fact that it's fast while still being reasonably in-keeping with the feel is, I think, one of the best things in its favor. If something unexpected comes up in play, you can pull out your Heavy Gear book and do the basic conversion in your head, on the fly, rather than having to sit down and generate an entire set of stats! Being able to do that is very handy, I can say from experience.

…I'm not sure how to convert the weapon attack modifiers into GURPS Acc, though, other than simply picking something to be the zero-point and applying the modifiers. Does the zero-average bell curve map across well to GURPS's?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

That's been very important to me. I want it to be, at worst, having to do a quick look-up on a chart. I want to keep the math as simple as possible. I want to spend time playing the game, not converting stuff while I’m playing.

I've been toying with an idea, so here's the rough draft:

First thing: a Heavy Gear hex is 50 meters. I’m not really going to quibble over the differences between a meter and a yard for weapon ranges. It’s just not worth it.

The weapons BR (base range) will be its 0 penalty. So, for a LAC, with a BR of 2 (100 meters), that's a -10 penalty in GURPS, so the ACC would be 10.

For each Accuracy bonus that a Gear or its weapon has is just a doubling of the value. So, a weapons ACC +1, would increase its GURPS Acc by 2.

So, a FC (Frag Cannon) with a BR of 1 and a ACC of +1, would have a GURPS Acc of 10.
That’s an Acc of 8 for the Base Range of 1 being 50 yards, and a +2 for the weapon’s Acc.

A weapons ½D would be its Extreme Range. It’s max would be, I don’t know, Gun Experts? What would be a good multiplier? I’m going to say x3, just for giggles.

So, a LAC would have a Range of 800/2400.

The Black Mamba, which has a Fire Control of +1, has a +2 targeting system in GURPS.

RoF is pretty simple, they state that, for simplicity sake, a non-missile weapon’s RoF is in increments of 10. So, a RoF of +1 would be RoF 10, RoF +2 = RoF 20. No need to re-invent the wheel. A missile weapon’s RoF is just a doubling, RoF is RoF 2, RoF 2 is RoF 4, 3 is 8, 4 is 16, et cetera.

Now, I’m going to try to tackle the Attenuating Damage for Energy Weapons. I think they’ll be a bit hinky.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Those GURPS Acc numbers are pretty extreme. The range numbers sound about right, but an Acc of 10 is really high for a ballistic weapon. I'd consider dropping those Acc figures by either 2 or 4 or so so that things built using the Heavy Gear rules aren't ridiculously overpowered compared to things built on the normal rules. As-is, your LAC is very nearly as accurate as a laser cannon.

The weapon damages seem about right, though. An M242 Bushmaster, which is probably roughly equivalent to an LAC or MAC, does 48 dice of damage with a (2) armor divisor when equipped with its most devestating ammunition, though its range is significantly longer than that LAC.

Wish I still had some Heavy Gear rulebooks lying around so I could actually look up some other stats and such. Ah well.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Again, as I said, it was a rough draft.

I hadn’t taken into account the fact that Gears are generally SM+2 (for size 6) and SM+3 (for size 7). That’ll drop the Acc by 2 right there. I could drop the Acc a further 3 by saying that the Gears targeting computer gives a base +3 for aimed shots. That means that, instead of an Acc 10, a LAC would have an Acc 5. A MAC/HAC would have an Acc 6.

[edit]
Upon further reflection, I'm going to reduce the Acc by a further 1. The answer will be that the Gear's targeting system is treated like a Scanning Sense with Targeting, and if they lock on a target, and make an aimed attack, they get a +3 bonus instead of +2.
[/edit]

So, a Sniper Laser cannon with a BR of 5 (250 meters) and an ACC of +1, would have an Acc of (13 +2 -5) 10. (There’ll be a quiz on this later)

If we need to explain it: the Bushmaster also has a longer barrel and is in a better mount. The LAC the Hunter carries is a rifle. Also, these numbers are just for a quick & dirty conversion that keeps the feel of Heavy Gear and has come out to be pretty darned effective (if I do say so myself). If you want an actual conversion, feel free to use the real-world numbers, but keep in mind you’ll be dealing with ridiculously high numbers (see previous posts).

Well, you can get the PDFs from e23! (Hint, Hint, Nudge, Nudge)

My rough draft quick & dirty conversion for Range Diffusion for Beam Weapons:
A SLC (Sniper Laser Cannon) has a DAM of x12 with -1 per range band. So, at short range it’s x12, medium it’s x11, long is x10 and extreme is x9. It has an extreme range of 2,000 meters/yards.

So, base information the SLC is a 6d (2) weapon. Each point of range penalty not offset by a point of Acc counts as another dDR of 2x, where x is the absolute value of the –x per range band. So, at a maximum effective range of 2,000 yd, the SLC would be dealing with an additional dDR of 14 on the target (-18 for 2,000 yds + 11 from Acc = 7 * 2 = 14). (see, pop quiz!) The doubling is only important since it has the (2) on its damage. It’s functionally dealing with a dDR of 7. If you wanted to say that the dDR is hardened or isn’t subject to the armor divisor, I’m okay with that. Just the doubling is pretty easy.

Further comments, critiques, observations?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I wouldn't bother doing that. The damage loss you're talking about is there for the same exact reason a 1/2D range is there in GURPS - as range increases, damage decreases. The difference is that in GURPS, the damage decrease happens abruptly and at only two points (1/2D range, where it's half damage, and maximum range, where it's no damage at all), where in Heavy Gear it occurs gradually (like it should in real-life).

So, what I'm trying to say is just stick a 1/2D range on that laser and it'll work fine. I'd probably make it the Extreme range like you did with the ballistic weapons.

It won't have the same 'feel' as in Heavy Gear, but it won't involve complicated mechanics and will streamline it in relation to all other GURPS weapons.

Also: I rather like the way you handled the high-acc problem I pointed out.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

My issue is that, while it works okay for the SLC, the other high-energy weapons would brutalize the converted game. So, my, tentative solution:

Apply a single hit of range diffusion on the front end, and factoring damage from there. So, the SLC (a x12 weapon) would be a x11 weapon, and do 5d+2 (2) damage. Also, instead of using their Extreme range, I’ll use their Long Range to calculate their ½D, but their extreme to calculate their Max. So, it would have a ½D of 1,000 instead of 2,000, but a Max Range of like 6,000.

So, instead of a 10d (2) burn weapon, a HLC would be 8d+2 (2) burn out to 1,000 yards. That’s a bit easier to swallow. It’ll still crease your shorts, but not as bad.

Yep. Gotta be streamlined. Want it to be simple.

I’m glad you like it. I knew there were problems with my basic idea, but I hadn’t had the time to think on them. Having slept and taken a shower (where I do a lot of thinking) I figured out some errors I’d made. So when you posted your problem, I was able to do some mental gymnastics (the only kind I’m allowed to do) to come up with a, hopefully, good solution.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

So, here’s a consolidation of information. How to get stats for a GURPS vehicle stat line!

TL: Heavy Gear deals with multiple Tech Levels, so I just call this TL:HG.

Vehicle: This is the Gear’s name.

ST/HP: A Gears ST/HP value depends on it’s Size. Size 6 Gears have ST of 100 and HP of 200. Size 7 Gears have ST of 110 and HP of 220. These values are divided by 10 to calculate their dST and dHP. You could also calculate a Gear’s ST/HP from its mass. If you do calculate it yourself, double the ST to get a Gear’s HP.

Hnd/SR: The Gear’s Hnd is equal to its Maneuver score, either positive or negative. The Gear’s SR is equal to its SM+1. So, if it’s a SM+2 vehicle, its SR is 3.

HT: Gears are reasonably robust vehicles. The normal Heavy Gear will have a HT of 11. The Perk: Easy to Modify gives a +1 while the Flaw: Difficult to Modify gives a -1.

Move: Most Gears have two forms of movement. While reasonably interchangeable, it’s important to differentiate between the two. A gear will have two move stats, the first, for its legs, will be gathered from its primary movement top speed, and the second, its rollers, will be taken from its secondary movement top speed. Both, work the same way. The Gears acceleration is equal to its Top Speed in hexes and its move is equal to the kmph x .62 rounded conveniently, then halved.

LWt.: This is how heavy the Gear is, fully decked out. This value can be found in most of their description blocks.

Load: This is a good question. The only real value I can provide is 0.1 tons for the pilot. It varies.

SM: A Gear’s Size Modifier is based on its Heavy Gear size. A Size 6 Gear is SM+2 a Size 7 Gear is SM+3.

Occ.: From the Gear’s Crew slot, this is the Occupancy. For almost all Gears, the value is 1.

DR: A Gear’s DR is equal to 20 times its Armor Value. This is divided by 10 (or the AV is multiplied by 2) to determine the Gear’s dDR.

Range: This is the Gear’s Deployment Range in kilometers multiplied by .62 and rounded to a convenient number.

Cost: I’m still trying to find my conversion from marks/dinars into dollars. But, most Gear’s have their cost in Heavy Gear money listed.

Loc.: All Gears have 2A2Lt, Size 6 Gears will have 2W and Size 7 Gears will have 2C. A Gear will have an X for each weapon it carries.

Notes: Obviously, this is where you’d put information about your Fire Control, weapons, communications and anything else relevant.

More stuff:
Electronics: Sensors
The sensor value is how good the Gear’s sensors are, and what their effective range in kilometers. The first value, their quality value, can be either a positive or negative. This translates straight across into a bonus or penalty to the Electronics Operations (Sensors) roll to use the sensors.
Instead of any fancy conversion of kilometers into miles, the easiest way to handle the sensor range is simply to treat them as a meter-to-yard conversion. A Hunter, with a Sensor of 0/2km would have sensors that can see 2,000 yards with neither a bonus nor a penalty to function at that range.

Electronics: Communications
Much like Sensors, this is a reflection of how good the Gear’s communication system is as well as its range. The quality value, either positive or negative, translates straight across into a bonus or penalty to the Electronics Operation (Communication) roll to send/receive messages.
Again, instead of a fancy conversion of kilometers into miles, the Gear has an effective communications range of converted meters to yards. So, a Hunter with a Communications system of 0/10km would have a 10,000 yard range, with no bonus or penalty to function.

Electronics: Fire Control
This value tells you how advanced the Gear’s targeting system is. As a general GURPS rule, all Gears have a +3 targeting system bonus. The Fire Control value is applied as a bonus or penalty equal to twice its Heavy Gear rating. So, a Black Mamba’s Fire Control of +1 would be a total targeting system bonus of +5 (+2 from the Gear’s Fire Control stat of +1 and +3 from the basic GURPS targeting system bonus).


How does this sound to everyone?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Now, the conversion for a GURPS Weapons line.

TL: Once again, I’d just call this HG.

Weapon: This is the name of the weapon. Congratulations. Don’t need to reinvent the wheel. “Light Autocannon” (LAC)

Damage: This is the weapons Heavy Gear damage multiplier converted to dice, and divided by the armor divisor.
Ballistic weapons have an armor divisor of (2) and do pi++ damage.
Laser weapons will have an armor divisor of (2) and do burn damage.
Melee weapons will have an armor divisor of (2) and do cut damage.
Railgun weapons will have an armor divisor of (3) and do pi++ damage.
Rocket weapons will have an armor divisor of (3) and do cr ex damage.
Guided Missiles will have an armor divisor of (5) and do cr ex damage.
Particle Beams will have an armor divisor of (5) and do burn sur damage.
So, a LAC with its damage of x8, would be 4d (2) pi++.

Energy weapons (Lasers and Particle Beams) are subject to change as I get better ideas on how to implement their range diffusion.

Acc: This is the absolute value of the penalty on the range table for the weapon’s short range band (or base range), reduced by 5. So, a LAC, with its short range of 2 (100m) would be 5.

[edit]
Upon further reflection, I'm going to reduce the Acc by a further 1. The answer will be that the Gear's targeting system is treated like a Scanning Sense with Targeting, and if they lock on a target, and make an aimed attack, they get a +3 bonus instead of +2.
[/edit]

Range:
½D is the weapon’s Extreme Range Band, in meters.
Max is the three times the weapon’s Extreme Range Band, in meters.
The LAC’s Range would be 800/2,400.

Weight: This isn’t a stat that Heavy Gear uses, but, I’m sure I’ll figure something out based off the weapon’s min size.

RoF: If the ROF score in Heavy Gear is 0, then the RoF is 1. If the weapon is not a rocket/missile weapon and has an ROF of +1 or greater, the RoF value is equal to ten-times the ROF value. So, a LAC’s ROF of +2 would be a RoF of 20.

For rocket/missile weapons, the RoF is a doubling exercise. ROF +1 is RoF 2, ROF +2 is RoF 4, +3 is 8, +4 is 16, +5 is 32, et cetera.

Shots: This value is irrelevant as the Gear’s size compared to the weapon’s size tells you how much ammo it can carry.

ST: Again, I’ll have to do some math, but this’ll be based on the weapons min size.

Bulk: I’m really tempted to just call this the Weapon’s Min Size and go from there.

Rcl: Autocannons would have Rcl 3, pretty much everything else will have a Rcl of 1.

Cost: I’d start crying now . . .. Heavy Gear bases the cost of the Gear and weapons based on the final threat value.

LC: I’m betting most will be 0.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

GURPS doesn't technically use dollars it uses $s which are each about the value of a loaf of bread or one 2004(?) USD.

Which sort of mark or dinar are you using and from what year?

For big numbers the difference between yards and meters becomes noticeable. 11,000 yards would be a closer value in this case.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

A CNCS (Confederated Northern City States) Mark or an AST (Allied Southern Territories) Dinar from TN1936-45: Heavy Gear money.

It really doesn’t matter. If everything suffers the same degradation, then it’s an even playing field. I’m basing my meters off the Game Metric listed in Characters on pg 9. I’m not saying that you can’t convert everything as close as possible, but you really don’t need to.

If I knew how to make it look pretty, I’d post tables for common Heavy Gear values converted to what they “need” to be converted to in GURPS.

The goal of the conversion is to make it easy and fast to convert. If you can convert meters to yards in your head, or km to miles, then, feel free. But, I’m providing simple values to make people’s lives easier.

It’s just a game.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I see.

Well I guess the question would be are they ever used to price things that exist in the real world?

I just asked Google to do the math for me, but I do see your point.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

In some of the horrifyingly bad D20 conversions, they list a dollar value for Gears. I just need to look at the concepts surrounding that and go from there. I just can’t do that at work.

As an exercise, it may be fun to do. But, to facilitate gaming, I’m going for easy.

I want to be able to grab any Heavy Gear book, find a Gear, and make notes in a few seconds, as opposed to having to sit down and convert stuff. I'm certain I could program a spreadsheet to convert Gears into GURPS, but that's not my goal.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Gears have had price values in the original DP9 books since... the Tech Manual? The original rulebook? Long time, that's for sure. All of the vehicle catalogs gave prices for the gears.

As I remember, it's roughly proportional to threat value divided by size, multiplied by a fudge factor based on the production class: mass produced Hunters are cheap (~$200K), limited production Black Mambas are more expensive (~$1M, I think?), and experimental single built prototype systems like the upgunned heavy armor Double Black Gold Cheetah A3 or whatever cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I can :) ...no seriously, for game terms it's more than easy to convert yards to meters or meters to yards - they are (roughly) just the same. 1 yd = 1 m.
On the other hand 1 mile is roughly 1.5 km.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Oh, yeah, they've had a price (in Marks/Dinars) since the first book. And it's TVx1,000.

Congrats. I usually can as well (don't ask about the night I forgot how to divide by 6).
That's my point. It really isn't that big a deal. If you want to, feel free. But, my conversion is for people who are less concerned with the math and more concerned with playing.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Perks (and their GURPS effect) will be Multiple Posts.

Ablative Armor – This Perk adds twice its rating in semi-ablative dDR to the Gear’s dDR.

Acceleration Protection – Aircraft/Spacecraft only. Adds +1 to HT rolls for acceleration rolls.

Acrobatic Handling – Increases the Gear’s Hnd by the Perk’s rating. Adds levels of Enhanced Dodge (melee) equal to the Perk’s rating. Increases the pilot’s Drive (Gear) skill by the rating for making melee attacks.

Advanced Controls – Gives the Gear the Extra Attack advantage.

Advanced Neural Net – Whew boy. Okay, this makes your Gear sentient. It becomes a learning Neural Net so it can learn skills. It’ll basically become an Ally with the ANNet template . . . when I get around to writing it up. Also, by taking only a Move action (as opposed to a Move and Attack action) the Gear gets +1 to its Hnd and +1 Enhanced Dodge.

Airdroppable – The Gear is equipped with airdrop equipment. It’s reinforced to survive parachute landings.

Airlift Ready – The Gear takes half as long to prep for an airlift.

Airlift Winch – Aircraft/VTOLs only. You can perform airlifts (duh).

Ammo/Fuel Containment System – Allows a Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect either Ammo or Fuel. The Perk is lost until repaired.

Ammo Storage – Fancy name for extra ammo.

Amphibious – Allows a Gear to traverse water. Not submersible, just capable of fording rivers and such.

Anti-Missile System – This is a short-ranged machinegun or pulse laser that inflicts 5d pi+ or 5d (2) burn damage (both are 1d-2 d-damage). It’s ranged attack values are 1/2D 20, Max 100, Acc 4, RoF 10!, Shots (10xcharges), Recoil 1. It has a Skill of 12 and additional levels of Enhanced Parry equal to its Rating. The AMS performs a ranged Parry (functionally a Power Parry) against non-bullet missile attacks. It will shoot down one missile for every point of success. Also, it will use a number of charges equal to the margin of success, with a minimum of one charge, even if the Parry fails.

Anti-Personnel Charges – The Gear is equipped with directional fragmentation mines. These do 1d+2 (2) dDam, and are designed for chewing up infantry. They have an AoE of 8 yards. Each time the Gear is hit by weapons fire 1d6 charges are destroyed. If the Gear’s armor is pierced, all the charges are destroyed.

Aquatic Sensors – When submerged, the Gear’s sensors work fine underwater.

Artificial Intelligence – This is basically an advanced expert system. It replaces a crew and gives the Gear the AI Meta-Trait.

Audio System – It’s a car stereo for your Gear. While not terribly tactical, it’s just plain awesome.

Automation – Gives the gear an extra action for performing a specific extra action.

Autopilot – Gives the Gear Drive (Gear) – 10. Can follow simple instructions.

Backup Communications System – Exactly what it says on the tin. Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the communications system. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Backup Fire Control – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the Fire-Control system. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Backup Life Support – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the Life Support system. Perk is then lost until repaired. Gear must have the Life Support Perk to begin with before taking this one.

Backup Sensors – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the Sensor system. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Battle Arm – Weapon-mount arm. Can still be equipped to punch/strike.

Camo Netting – Advanced Camouflage. Gives the Gear Chameleon (Visual, Infrared) 1.

Cargo Bay – A big, empty space that you can fill with stuff. Not usually found on Gears, but the sheet would tell you how big it is.

Catapult Hook – Aircraft/crazy Ferrets only. Let’s you take off from a carrier with the help of a catapult. You become a ballistic projectile if you don’t have a flight system. (Ferret pilots are the Locust pilots of the Heavy Gear universe)

Chaff/Flare Dispenser – Usually only found on aircraft. Adds levels of Enhanced Dodge (missiles, Limited Use X) equal to the launcher’s rating. Has Limited Use equal to the ammo for the dispenser.

Climbing Apparatus – Allows the Gear to climb cliffs and the like. Allows them to cling securely so they can fire back at a -3 penalty.

Counter-Battery Sensor – Sensors to help you find artillery. If I remember correctly, rules for them are in High Tech.

Crew Accommodations – Not something found on Gears. These are actual sleeping quarters.

Diving Wings – Aircraft only. These wings give a +1 on piloting skill rolls for diving-based maneuvers.

Easy to Modify – The Gear is built in direct violation to military standards of being horrifyingly complex and difficult to work on. The Gear is so easy to maintain and work on (and uses standard parts) that its HT is increased by 1. Also, all rolls to actually work on or repair the Gear have a +2 bonus.

Ejection System – Not usually found on Gears, but, exactly what it says on the tin.

Electronic Countermeasures – Until I decide to change them, the rules are simple: Sensors/Communications that want to go into/out of/through the ECM area must win a quick contest between their Skill + Quality versus the ECM pilot’s Electronics Operation (Electronics Warfare) skill + Rating. The ECM’s range is equal to the Gear’s Sensor Range.

Electronic Counter-Countermeasures – With a successful Electronics Operation (Electronics Warfare) + Rating roll this gives Friendly Gears a bonus equal to the ECCM’s rating when trying to defeat ECM.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

i was trying to give some examples on how to balance it out so the mech type units would not overpower the setting from a tactics veiwpoint.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Perks, part deux:

Emergency Medical – While this has a lot of potential, I’m going to settle, for now, for something simple. This unit automatically performs First Aid on the pilot with a Skill of 12. It does not interfere with the pilot’s ability to control the Gear.

Emergency Power Surge – Eep! I don’t think any stock Gear has this, but I’m going to include because, well, it’s awesome.
The unit has a number of points equal to its Rating. It spends these points to do one of the following until the unit’s next turn:

Increase Hnd by 1
Increase Move by 2
Have an Extra Attack
Add 1d to a weapon’s damage
Gain a to-hit bonus of +1

Each increase may be taken up to three times a turn (meaning the maximum number of points that can be spent is 15).
It is possible to “overburn” the system. By overburning, each point does double effect, but permanently lowers the base ability by the number of points spent in it.

Increase Hnd by 2, but permanently decrease it by -1.
Increase Move by 4, but permanently decrease it by -2.
Gain two Extra Attacks, but all attacks gain “Takes Extra Time.”
Add 2d to a weapon’s damage, but the weapon’s damage is permanently reduced by 1d.
Gain a to-hit bonus of +2, but gain a permanent penalty of -1 to all attack rolls.
All penalties are cumulative.

EPS do not regenerate their Points. The vehicle must undergo a complete overhaul to get these points back. Any penalties must be repaired individually, with a penalty equal to the number of overburn points spent to create the penalties.

Fire Resistant – The Gear is gains Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction /2 (heat/fire only).

Fuel Efficient – As long as the Gear doesn’t travel at top speed, it gets more miles to the gallon. The Gear’s sheet will tell you what its range multiplier is. Usually 1.5, 2 or 3.

Geological Sensor – Sensors for geological surveys.

Glider – Aircraft only. Lets you function as a glider.

Grapple Launchers – This gives the a grapnel launcher. It has a range of 250 yards. It’s fired with either Driving (Gear) or Gunner (any Gear Weapon) at -2. It can support as much weight as its Rating in Heavy Gear sizes. The Cable has a dDR of 1 and dHP equal to its rating. It can strike a target for 2d dDam.

Gun Ports – Passengers (not something found in Gears) can shoot from inside. The Description will tell you how many are there.

Haywire Resistant – The Gear is no longer Electrical. Surge causes no additional problems for the Gear.

Heat Resistant Armor – The Gear adds 2x the Rating of this Perk to their dDR when attacked by High-Energy Anti-Tank weapons: Bazookas, Mortars, Rockets/Grenades, Missiles, Lasers, Particle Beams, Torpedos.

High Capacity Computer – Just like a High-Capacity Computer from UltraTech.

High Towing Capacity – A Gear with this perk doubles or triples their towing capacity.

Hostile Environment Protection – Allows the vehicle to be unaffected by long-term exposure to various environments.

Desert
Extreme Heat
Extreme Cold
High/Extreme Pressure
Underwater
High Gravity
Vacuum
Radiation
All (doesn’t come with Radiation or Extreme Pressure)

Improved Off-Road Ability – Gears reduce all penalties for bad-footing conditions by 2.

Improved Rear Defense – The Gear gains peripheral vision and its rear dDR is not reduced.

Jump Jets – These give a Gear a Flight Move equal to one-tenth their distance in meters. The Gear may remain aloft for up to six seconds before they must land again.

Laboratories – General purpose “areas” for using various skills. The Lab gives a bonus equal to its rating for the skill.

Large Doors – Makes it easier to get in and out.

Life Support – Provides either limited or full life support, as listed on the sheet. Limited support lasts for a week, full lasts indefinitely.

Lighter-Than-Air – An Aircraft perk. Lets you fly by being lighter than air. Only works on Ferrets, and then, only with GM approval. ;-)

Low Profile – The Gear is shaped in such a way that it is easier for it to hide. Gains a bonus of 2 points to any other penalties for being visually obscured.

Loud Speakers – While not quite something that Disaster Area would be proud of, they give the Gear the Penetrating Voice Perk.

Manipulator Arms – Arms! The Gear has Arms. The rating should be equal to the Size of the Gear.

Micro-Labs – Workbench sized mini-labs. Counts as minimum equipment for the relevant skill.

Mine Detectors – Sensors to help detect hidden mines.

Minelaying Equipment – Equipment to lay mines.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Perks, 3rd and Final:

Minesweeping Equipment – Equipment to clear mine fields. It has a rating, but be darned if the Heavy Gear rules say what it’s used for.

Mining Equipment – Light or Heavy Duty earth mining equipment.

NOE Flyer – Again, an aircraft Perk. Lets you fly Nap-of-the-Earth.

No Fuel Required – What it says on the Tin. You don’t ever have to refuel. Description will tell you if it’s beamed power or some other source.

Passenger Accommodations – Like Crew Accommodations previously. It’s rooms for passengers to occupy.

Passenger Seating – Places for passengers to park their butts for less long-term occupancy vehicles. Not usually something found on Gears.

Pintle Mount – A weapon mounted on a swivel mount, usually outside a hatch or door. Not something found on Gears. Does not include a weapon, it's just the mount.

Ram Plate – A series of armor plates and shock absorbers built into the chassis of the Gear. The Gear suffers one-half damage from all charges and slams if they occur in the protected arc.

Reactive Armor – This is complex in Heavy Gear, but I think I can make it easier here.

Gears can only mount a Rating 1 in this, but other vehicles can have more. This works against all HEAT weapons as listed in HEAT Resistant Armor. Any HEAT attack triggers the Reactive Armor.

Reactive Armor reduces the Armor Divisor for any HEAT attack by a number of steps equal to its rating. This can reduce a HEAT armor divisor to the (.5), (.2) and (.1) zones for well-protected, non-Gear vehicles.

After an attack has been stopped roll to see if the Reactive Armor has run out of charges. Roll 1d6 versus the Ammo Threshold. If the roll is equal to or less than the threshold, the unit is out of charges, if it is more, then there are sufficient charges to protect against another attack. The Ammo Threshold starts at 0 (meaning there is always enough charges for 2 uses). If the Ammo Threshold check is successful, increase the Ammo Threshold by one.

Any time the Gear takes HP damage, increase the Ammo Threshold by 1. If this takes the Ammo Threshold to 6 or more, the unit is out of charges.

Reduced G-Effects – Predominantly an Aircraft Perk, this gives a +1 to all HT rolls to fight the effect of high-g maneuvers.

Refueling Equipment – The Gear can be refueled on the go. Usually only found on aircraft.

Reinforced Armor – A specific facing of the Gear’s armor is reinforced. Add 2x the Rating of the Perk to the Gear’s dDR from attacks that originate from the protected direction.

Reinforced Chassis – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the general structure of the Gear. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Reinforced Crew Compartment – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the crew of the Gear. Perk is then lost until repaired. Alternatively, this Perk can reduce the damage a pilot takes by 50%.

Reinforced Location Armor – Adds 2x the Rating of the Perk to the Gear’s dDR versus called shots to the protected Location.

Rugged Movement Systems– Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect the movement system of the Gear. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Satellite Uplink – Allows the Gear to communicate with Satellites in orbit.

Scoring Sensors – Basically a set of LaserTag detection equipment for the Gear.

Searchlight – A big, bright light. Range and capability would be listed on the sheet.

Shield – A giant, Gear-sized shield. It provides a DB equal to its Rating and (in the spirit of Heavy Gear) can be used against any, known, attack. If the DB causes an attack to miss, the shield takes the hit and may be damaged. The shield has a dDR equal to 2x its Rating, and dHP equal to its Rating. As the dHP goes down, so does the DB.

Shielded Weapons – Allows the Gear to ignore the first critical hit/internal damage that would affect a weapon system on the Gear. Perk is then lost until repaired.

Sick Bay – A sickbay or infirmary. Not something that Gears have.

Smoke Launchers – An Obscure 4 attack with a Range of 75, Area Effect 3 and Limited Use equal to the number of charges on the sheet. One charge is lost for every four points of damage the Gear suffers.

Sniper Systems – Telescopic Vision 2 for a specific Weapon system.

Sporting Weapons – LaserTag guns for the Gear.

Stabilizer Mount – Allows the Gear to mount heavier weapons than its size would normally suggest. The Gear must take a ready action to deploy the Stabilizer before they can fire the stabilized weapon.

Stealth – Gives the Gear Chameleon (Sensors, Infrared) at a level equal to the Perk’s rating.

Stratospheric Flight – Aircraft perk. Not found on Gears, not even Ferrets.

Streamlining – Sleek and sexy! The Gear gains a +3 bonus to Move when moving at its maximum speed.

Target Designator – Used to illuminate targets for guided attacks. Its range will be listed on the sheet.

Tool Arm – A less-than-manipulator arm. Could be anything that manipulates but isn’t a manipulator arm (forklift, backhoe bucket, pincers).

Urban Friendly – The Gear is equipped with devices to make a lower impact on an urban center.
Trideo Link-Up – Lets you transmit TV shows from your Gear.

Vehicle Bay – A bay to hold another vehicle. Usually specific in the type of vehicle, but sometimes not. Will list maximum size and mass of vehicles.

Weapon Link – What it says on the Tin. It allows linked weapons to be fired with a single Attack Action.

Yay! Perks are done! Up next: FLAWS!

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Defects/Flaws and their GURPS effects. Only one post:

Annoyance – Very minor issues with the Gear, some examples:

Cramped Crew Compartment (Max Pilot ST/HP of 10)
Instruments are hard to read (-1 penalty to all non-combat tasks)
Loud Engine Noises (+1 to Per rolls to track audibly)
Small Entry Hatches (takes twice as long to enter)
Stale Smell (Smell BAD!)
Uncomfortable Seats (-1 penalty to all non-combat tasks after X hours)

Brittle Armor – Any Penetrating hit reduces the Gear’s dDR by 1.

Cannot Glide – Aircraft ONLY. No bonus points for putting it on a Ferret.

Decreased Maneuverability – One of the Gear’s two movement modes is less agile than the other. Subtract the Rating from the Hnd of the Gear when using that movement mode.

Defective Active Sensors – Roll 1d6, if less than or equal to the Flaw’s rating, apply the Rating as a Penalty to any Electronics Warfare (Sensors) rolls made that turn.

Defective Fire Control – Roll 1d6, if less than or equal to the Flaw’s rating, apply the Rating as a Penalty to any Gunnery rolls made that turn.

Difficult to Modify – The Gear makes normal military vehicles look easy to maintain. In addition to a -1 penalty to all repair or modification rolls, the Gear’s HT is reduced by 1.

Exposed Auxiliary Systems – Avoiding exhibitionism pervert-based jokes . . .. Treat the Gear as +1 SM when targeting any Auxiliary Systems.

Exposed Crew Compartment – The Crew is only partially covered by the armor. They take full fragmentation damage from attacks and take full damage from cr ex attacks. Yep, it is the suck.

Exposed Fire Control System – Treat the Gear as +1 SM when targeting any weapon or targeting systems.

Exposed Movement System – Treat the Gear as +1 SM when targeting any movement system.

External Power – Either beamed or wired power.

Extreme Overheating – If the Gear Moves and Attacks, makes more than one Attack Action, or uses Jump Jets for two turns in a row, the Gear suffers 1 point of injury. If it does it for three or more consecutive turns, it suffers 1d6 injury for each turn.

Fragile Chassis – The Gear takes double injury in all slams or crashes.

Fuel Inefficient – Other than being an indicator that a Munchkin probably built this Gear, each mile travelled is counted as if it were 1+the Rating of this flaw.

Hazardous Ammo/Fuel Storage – Adds the “x” code to the Gear’s HT, making it Explosive.

Heat Vulnerable – Reduce the dDR of the Gear’s armor by 2x the Rating of this Flaw when struck by a HEAT weapon (as listed for Heat Resistant Armor)

Highly Flammable – Adds the “f” code to the Gear’s HT, making it Flammable.

Inefficient Combat Computer – The Gear’s computer suffers a -1 penalty on all attacks if the Gear makes more than one attack a round, or does not wait at least two turns between attacks.

Inefficient Controls – Not something that a Gear can have, as it requires multiple crew. But, it basically removes a crew member from helping to provide extra actions.

Large Sensor Profile – Increase the Gear’s SM by the Rating for sensor detection purposes.

Maximum Ceiling – Aircraft-Only Flaw, Ferrets cannot take it. Limits the vehicle’s ceiling.

Maximum Climbing Angle – Again, aircraft-only flaw. Restricts how sharply a vehicle can climb.

No Communication, Engine, or Sensors – Exactly what it says on the tin.

One Way Communication – Much like the Mods wish communication with me was, A Gear can either transmit or receive communications, not both.

Overheating – If the Gear Moves and Attacks, makes more than one Attack Action, or uses Jump Jets for three or more turns in a row, the Gear suffers 1 point of injury.

Partially Exposed Crew – Some of the crew is protected by the armor, some is treated as having Exposed Crew Compartment. The sheet will have the information.

Problem Prone – Not much in GURPS. It gives an additional Lemon Roll.

Poor-Off-Road Ability – All off-road penalties are increased by 1.

Poor Towing Capacity – More evidence the Gear was constructed by Munchkins. This reduces the Gear’s towing ability by half.

Random Shutdown – Each combat turn (yikes!) or 15 minutes at top speed, the Gear must make a HT roll with a penalty equal to 1 plus the Flaw’s Rating. If it fails the HT roll, the Gear shuts down for a number of turns equal to the Margin of Failure.

Requires Airstrip – Aircraft-only flaw. Needs a smooth, surfaced airstrip. Nothing less will do.

Sensor Dependent – The pilot has no ability to look outside. If the sensors go down or out, they’re pretty much driving blind. The hatch can be open, giving Partially Exposed Crew (pilot), but negating the Sensor Dependent.

Traceable Emissions – Homing weapons that track the vehicles emissions gain a bonus to-hit equal to the Rating of this Flaw.

Unstable – The Gear has a -1 penalty to its Hnd and SR at Top Speed.

Vulnerable to Haywire Effects – This Gear suffers greatly when struck by surge-inducing weapons. The Gear has a -2 penalty to its HT to resist surge effects.

Weak Facing – The Gear’s dDR is halved for attacks coming from the Facing.

Weak Point – The Gear’s dDR is halved for attacks hitting the targeted location on a called shot.

Weak Underbelly – The Gear’s underside dDR is halved for attacks from below, like from a minefield.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I apologize for how horrifying this looks, but I can't figure how to make the columns pretty here.

[PHP]Weapon Damage Acc Range RoF Bulk Rcl Notes
VLMG 1d (2) pi+ 3 400/1200 30 -2 2 [1]
LMG 1d+2 (2) pi+ 3 400/1200 40 -3 2 [1]
HMG 2d (2) pi+ 3 400/1200 30 -3 2 [1]
FGC 3d+2 (2) imp 5 400/1200 1 -5 2 [1][2]
VLRF 3d (2) pi++ 5 800/2400 1 -3 2
LRF 4d (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 1 -4 2
MRF 5d (2) pi++ 6 1600/6400 1 -4 2
HRF 6d (2) pi++ 6 1600/6400 1 -5 2
DPG 4d (2) pi++ 3 800/2400 20 -3 2 [3]
LAAC 4d (2) pi++ 5 800/2400 60 -4 2
MAAC 5d (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 40 -4 2
HAAC 6d (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 30 -5 2
VLAC 3d (2) pi++ 5 800/2400 20 -3 2
LAC 4d (2) pi++ 5 800/2400 20 -4 2
MAC 5d (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 10 -4 2
HAC 6d (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 10 -5 2
VHAC 7d+2 (2) pi++ 6 1200/3600 10 -5 2
LAG 12d cr ex 8 10000/30000 10 -8 2 [5][8]500yd
VLFG 6d+1 (3) pi++ 6 2000/6000 1 -6 2 [5]
LFG 7d+1 (3) pi++ 8 2000/6000 1 -8 2 [5]
HFG 9d+1 (3) pi++ 9 3200/9600 1 -10 2 [5]
VHFG 11d (3) pi++ 9 4000/12000 1 -12 2 [5]
SC 14d (2) pi++ 1 400/1200 1 -6 2

VLRP/8 3d-1 (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 8 -3 1 [5]
VLRP/32 3d-1 (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 16 -3 1 [5]
VLRP/128 3d-1 (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 64 -3 1 [5]
LRP/8 4d (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 2 -3 1 [5]
LRP/16 4d (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 4 -3 1 [5]
LRP/24 4d (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 8 -3 1 [5]
LRP/32 4d (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 16 -3 1 [5]
MRP/9 6d (3) cr ex 3 800/2400 2 -4 1 [5]
MRP/18 6d (3) cr ex 3 800/2400 8 -4 1 [5]
MRP/36 6d (3) cr ex 3 800/2400 16 -4 1 [5]
IRP/10 4d+1 (3) cr ex inc 1 400/1200 2 -4 1 [4][5]
IRP/20 4d+1 (3) cr ex inc 1 400/1200 4 -4 1 [4][5]
IRP/30 4d+1 (3) cr ex inc 1 400/1200 8 -4 1 [4][5]
HRP/24 7d-1 (3) cr ex 4 1200/3600 8 -5 1 [5]
HRP/48 7d-1 (3) cr ex 4 1200/3600 16 -5 1 [5]
HIRP/24 5d+1 (3) cr ex inc 4 1200/3600 8 -5 1 [4][5]
HIRP/48 5d+1 (3) cr ex inc 4 1200/3600 16 -5 1 [4][5]
AAM 2d (5) cr ex 11 3200/9600 1 -7 1 [8]500yd[9]
ABM 10d cr ex 6 1200/3600 1 -6 1 [6]
AGM 3d (5) cr ex 8 1200/3600 1 -4 1 [5][9]
ATM 5d (5) cr ex 8 1200/3600 1 -6 1 [5][9]
HATM 6d (5) cr ex 9 2000/6000 1 -9 1 [5][9]

LPZ 2d (5) cr ex 1 400/1200 1 -2 1 [3]
MPZ 3d (5) cr ex 1 400/1200 1 -2 1 [3]
HPZ 4d (5) cr ex 3 800/2400 1 -3 1 [3]
RFB 3d-1 (5) cr ex 3 400/1200 20 -4 2
LBZK 3d (5) cr ex 5 800/2400 1 -4 2
MBZK 4d (5) cr ex 5 800/2400 1 -4 2
HBZK 5d (5) cr ex 5 800/2400 1 -5 2

LFL 5d burn 5 25/75 1 -2 1 [4]
MFL 7d burn 7 50/150 10 -2 1 [4][5]
HFL 9d burn 7 100/300 20 -3 1 [4][5]
APM 4d cr ex 5 800/1200 1 -3 2 [1][5][8]100yd
LGM 5d (3) cr ex 4 1200/3600 1 -4 2 [5][8]150yd[9]
HGM 7d-1 (3) cr ex 6 2000/6000 1 -5 2 [5][8][250yd[9]
LFM 15d cr ex 5 1600/4800 1 -5 2 [5][8]200yd
MFM 20d cr ex 6 2000/6000 1 -6 2 [5][8]250yd
HFM 25d cr ex 6 2400/7200 1 -7 2 [5][8]300m
APGL 3d cr ex 1 400/1200 1 -2 2 [1][5]
LGL 5d (3) cr ex 1 400/1200 20 -4 2 [5]
HGL 7d-1 (3) cr ex 3 800/2400 10 -5 2 [5]

LPA 3d (3) burn sur 7 400/2400 1 -6 1
HPA 5d-1 (3) burn sur 8 600/3600 1 -8 1
LRG 5d-1 (3) pi++ 8 2000/6000 20 -7 2
HRG 11d+2 (3) pi++ 9 4000/12000 1 -12 2
SLC 5d+2 (2) burn 12 1000/6000 1 -4 1
GLC 6d+2 (2) burn 7 400/2400 10 -4 1
LLC 7d (2) burn 12 1000/6000 1 -5 1
HLC 8d+2 (2) burn 12 1000/6000 1 -5 1
LPLC 8d+2 (2) burn 8 600/3600 1 -5 1
HPLC 10d (2) burn 8 600/3600 1 -5 1

CR Size + 1d cr Reach C [10]
MF 9d cr Reach C [10][11][15]
HWP 3d+2 (2) burn sur Reach 1-4 [10][14][15]
CS 4d+2 (2) cut Reach 1-2 [10]
VB 4d (2) cut "Reach C,1" [10]
VR 3d (3) imp "Reach 1,2" [10][12][15]
VA 5d (2) cut "Reach 1,2" [10][11][16]
SKG 4d (3) pi++ Reach 1 [10][16]
HSKG 5d (5) pi++ Reach 1 [10][12][16]
HWG 10d burn ex sur N/A [13]
HG 15d cr ex N/A [1][13]
HHG 25d cr ex N/A [13]
SDG 30d cr ex N/A [6][13]
[/php]
[edit]
Upon further reflection, I'm going to reduce the Acc by a further 1. The answer will be that the Gear's targeting system is treated like a Scanning Sense with Targeting, and if they lock on a target, and make an aimed attack, they get a +3 bonus instead of +2.
[/edit]

Notes:
[1] This is an Anti-Infantry Weapon. There is no bonus or penalty as GURPS deals with this as a SM issue.

[2] This weapon can use Fragmentation Ammo. If used, it reduces the damage to 1d+1 pi+, changes the RoF to 1x20, and reduces the Rcl to 1.

[3] Disposable, what this actually means for the game . . . you got me.

[4] This weapon is a slow-burn incendiary. It continues to inflict its damage for a number of turns equal to the margin of success it hit by.

[5] This weapon may be fired indirectly

[6] The explosive damage for this weapon is divided by 2 per hex instead of 3.

[7] The explosive damage for this weapon is divided by 1 per hex instead of 3.

[8] The weapon has a minimum range, listed next to the note.

[9] These weapons are guided to their target. They can be used as either Guided or Homing. If a friendly unit has painted the target with a Designator it functions using the Guided rules: in addition the unit gets it’s full Acc bonus and an additional +4 bonus to hit the target. If a friendly unit has not illuminated the target with a Designator, the regular Homing rules are used (on pg 412-413).

[10] This is a melee-only weapon

[11] If the weapon causes any penetrating damage, the dDR of the target is permanently reduced by 1.

[12] This weapon’s penetrating damage is halved.

[13] This weapon can be thrown, following standard GURPS Rules.

[14] This weapon can grapple with a ST equal to the Gear’s.

[15] This weapon has a +2 to-hit bonus in Melee.

[16] This weapon has a -2 to-hit penalty in melee.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

I've updated previous posts to reflect a change that struck me:

In Heavy Gear you suffer a penalty to-hit if you haven't "locked" on a target. GURPS has a mechanic for that: Targeting in Scanning Sense. It gives a +3 for ranged, aimed, attacks.

Updated weapons list. It's still ugly, though.

Also, I just added rules for the Anti-Missile System.

Any comments, suggestions, disagreements?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

Do you care whether these weapons are compatible at all with other GURPS weapons?

Because it seems strange (well, actually, it seems downright wrong) for vehicle-mounted machine guns in the future to have Acc equal to TL 6 open-bolt submachine guns. That's like designing the weapons to be deliberately useless at anything more than a hundred yards or so and it becomes very hard to justify such a decision unless the campaign world is not supposed to make coherent sense.

Vehicle-mounted MGs are Acc 5 or 6 in GURPS.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear
 

The short answer is: machine guns simply aren't useful against Gears. They're low-priority weapons that most vehicles have simply to make infantry keep their heads down. And Gears, agile enough to dodge missiles, don't really need to worry about infantry as much. Gears usually carry Anti-Personnel Grenade Launchers (APGLs), and those do a number on infantry.

Also, most modern, medium-high acc weapons are either coax to the main gun, are the main gun, or have dedicated systems to help fire them. Most Gear machine guns are mounted on the side of the torso, off the centerline.

Okay, that really wasn't that short.

Some weapons, like the Snub Cannon (SC), are designed to be short-ranged anti-structure/tank-killing weapons. If you're using it at ranges in excess of 100 yards you're wasting ammunition.

All that said, I don't see that increasing the Acc of most of the weapons up to 4-6 (except for the disposable weapons, which are supposed to suck) would cause many problems. However, there are some weapons in Heavy Gear that simply aren't very accurate (rockets, disposables, snub cannons).

Any one have a problem with raising the Acc of a chunk of the weapons to between 4 and 6?