GURPS Heavy Gear

[Mark Skarr]

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?