PCs are very likely to ride in, drive, or pilot a vehicle at some point. This chapter offers rules for how to handle the situation, from a wagon to a starship and everything in between. It’s important to note that vehicles are not mounts, and vice versa. Mounts are creatures and are handled as such.
Vehicle maneuvering and vehicle combat are meant to be part of the story, but not the focus. The rules here are to make it so the action fits into what else is going on. As a subsystem, honestly, it’s not extremely compelling on its own. As part of the story, with the characters in the vehicles doing interesting things, it offers a dynamic backdrop.
Things like GM intrusions and the other tools at your disposal are what will make scenes involving vehicles interesting. This subsystem doesn’t have rules for special bulletproof tires on a car or electronic countermeasures or cloaking technology for starships, but a GM intrusion, an artifact, or any other aspect of turning the game into a fun story can easily provide that and more.
Remember too that any aspect of combat (or any action-based encounter) that applies to person-to-person fights can be made to apply to vehicular combat. For example, if there are two gunners in different turrets of a starship firing on an enemy ship, one could ease the attacks of the other by using their action to assist. If a character has a hamper foe cypher and exchanges gunfire with another car while racing down the highway, that cypher is just as useful as it would be in a more conventional melee.
Vehicles are objects or, in many cases, a collection of objects. A pushcart, a hang glider, a rowboat, or a bicycle, for example, is likely just a single object, but anything larger is treated as at least two objects.
Operating a vehicle in most situations is a routine task. Parking a car, backing a van up to a loading dock, or simply driving to the grocery store involve no die rolls.
If a vehicle is attacked, the driver or pilot makes a defense roll, using their driving or piloting skill, if any, to modify the difficulty. This is just like a character making a dodge defense roll in personal combat.
Beyond normal operations, a driver or pilot can do any of the following maneuvers.
Fast-moving vehicles (relative to the specific vehicle) that are out of control move in a direction determined by you, and they might crash if there’s something to collide with. The driver or pilot has one chance (on their next action) to regain control, which is a task with a difficulty of 6. Failure to regain control means the vehicle crashes, flips over, or does something equally dramatic and dangerous.
The speed of a vehicle depends on its specifics and the environment. A vehicle’s speed is important for travel times when moving from point A to point B. In an encounter, however, the actual speed is likely not an issue. Instead, what’s important is how fast it’s moving based on its typical speed (as determined by you) and how smoothly it’s moving. If a vehicle in an encounter is moving very fast (as determined by you), the driver or pilot might need to make a roll to keep the motion steady and stable. Failure means that actions taken by those in the vehicle are hindered.
Don’t overpenalize characters who do stuff while racing down the freeway in a bus or dodging antiaircraft attacks in a B-52 bomber. In a moving vehicle, hindering actions by a step probably covers it, and even then only if the movement actively affects the action. Shooting a gun when hanging out of the window of a weaving, fast-moving car or tending to a friend’s wounds in the back of said car should be hindered. Simply charming an NPC while on a speedboat or hacking a computer while on a plane (unless the plane is, say, hitting really bad turbulence) needs no modifier.
Further, don’t hesitate to ease actions appropriately. It might be easier to shoot a gun at a target on the ground from a helicopter hovering above, for example.
Last, actions involving the operation of a vehicle shouldn’t be hindered by the vehicle’s movement unless it’s out of control. It might be harder to pilot a starfighter while it’s blasting through space at incredible speeds, but penalizing the action doesn’t feel right. Being able to control the vehicle while it’s moving at a speed it’s designed to handle is assumed in the task.
As noted earlier, vehicles are objects or, in many cases, a collection of objects. Typically, when attacking a vehicle, the attacker specifies what part of the vehicle they are targeting. If they don’t, the default is that they are attacking its body.
Since vehicles are not creatures, their level doesn’t matter when determining the difficulty of an attack (unless they’re being driven by an intelligent computer, in which case it might be best to treat them as creatures). The level of the driver determines the difficulty.
Targeting a character in the vehicle, if they are exposed, uses the level of the target character, as normal. The attack is hindered by one or perhaps two steps based on the relative speed of the vehicle and the amount of cover it provides. As an optional rule, you could allow some vehicles to have Armor, working very much like the Armor of an NPC. It would subtract directly from incoming damage and makes a lot of sense for military vehicles of any era. Having 1 or 2 points of Armor will be quite significant.
Attacks aren’t the only thing that can damage vehicles. Vehicles can crash. Usually, this happens when a driver or pilot loses control, but it may happen if a vehicle is badly damaged from an attack or if another vehicle intentionally crashes into it.
If possible, a driver can attempt to avoid the collision, but the task difficulty is the same as avoiding an obstacle (and if the vehicle is out of control, that task is hindered). If the collision is with another moving vehicle, the task to avoid it is hindered by two steps—or by three steps if the other vehicle is intentionally trying to collide.
A vehicle in a crash suffers one of its parts becoming broken; you choose which part is appropriate. Remember that an object (or in this case, a part of a vehicle) reduces incoming damage by its level, but damage above and beyond that reduces the level by an equal amount, making it more vulnerable to further attacks. A part of a vehicle, like any object, is “broken” if its level is reduced to 0. If it is further damaged by an amount equal to its original level, it is destroyed.
A vehicle has a level, like anything in the game. Unless mentioned otherwise, each part of the vehicle has the same level as the vehicle itself.
This is the main chassis or structure of the vehicle. If the body is damaged to the point of being broken, the vehicle is inoperable, and if it is moving, it is now out of control. Further, anyone inside must make a Might roll (difficulty 5). Those who fail the roll suffer a moderate wound, and those who succeed suffer a minor wound.
If the body is destroyed, the entire vehicle is destroyed and everyone inside suffers a major wound. If a vehicle (such as an airliner) has multiple body parts, all of them must be destroyed to destroy the vehicle, but if one part is destroyed, it likely still makes the vehicle inoperable, depending on the vehicle and the environment.
This is the part of the vehicle that allows a driver to make maneuvers. The most basic form of control on a vehicle like a wagon or a car is the wheels. On an ship or airplane, it would likely be a wing or the rudder. If the control is broken, the vehicle automatically goes out of control and there is nothing the driver or pilot can do to maneuver it (including making defense rolls against further attacks).
Some vehicles have more than one control part. In this case, all must be broken for the vehicle to lose all control, but the loss of one hinders control by two steps.
An eighteen-wheel truck, for example, has two “control parts,” each representing many wheels. An airliner can still attempt a little control with just one wing, but losing both results in a nosedive.
This makes the vehicle go. On a carriage, this would be the horse that pulls it (or, more accurately, the harness that connects the horse to the carriage, as the horse is a creature and has its own stats and rules). A car’s power source is the engine. An airliner probably has at least two engines. A starship might have a large number of them.
If the power source is broken, the vehicle cannot move. If the vehicle is moving when this happens, it goes out of control.
A car or van probably doesn’t have weapons, but a tank does. Similarly, a fighter jet or many advanced spaceships have missiles, gun turrets, or more.
Typically, a vehicle’s main weapons are the same level as the vehicle itself, with backup weaponry being a level or two lower. A big starcruiser might have a main weapon and then a few smaller guns on the sides to deal with smaller attack craft in a big battle.
If a weapon is broken, it cannot be used. The gunner in that situation—if appropriate—must make a Might roll (difficulty 5). Those who fail suffer a moderate wound and those who are successful suffer a minor wound. For example, the gunner in a B-52’s machine gun cupola or one inside the laser turret of a starship would face this risk.
Many advanced vehicles, from fighter planes to spaceships, have computerized systems for radar or navigation. On a spaceship, a computer likely has a wide variety of uses, from data to scanners to life support. A targeting computer eases attacks the vehicle makes. A broken computer no longer provides its function, which can be inconvenient or—in the case of life support—deadly.
Shields are a special part of certain futuristic craft. The shields of such a vehicle must be broken before an attacker can attempt to damage any other part of the ship.
A van with a hole blown in its side is damaged, but a ship with a hole (if it’s below the water line) will sink, and a spaceship with damage resulting in a breach will lose its atmosphere. Both of these situations are extremely dangerous, but many vehicles have ways to seal off breached sections so the whole vehicle is not in jeopardy.
Typically, either someone has to operate those seals, or the spaceship’s computer has to deal with it.
You can use any of the following sample vehicles or create your own based on them. Each set of characteristics includes the vehicle’s overall level and indicates all the parts the vehicle has for purposes of attacking.
Level 3
Body: Wagon bed
Control: Wheels
Power Source: Block and tackle
Level 4
Body: Chassis
Control: Wheels
Power Source: Engine
Level 5
Body: Chassis
Control: Wheels
Power Source: Engine
Level 5
Body: Cab
Body: Trailer
Control: Wheels
Control: Wheels
Power Source: Engine
Level 4
Body: Hull
Power Source: Engine
Level 6
Body: Hull
Body: Lower Hull
Body: Deck
Control: Rudder
Power Source: Engine
Power Source: Engine
Level 4
Body: Main fuselage
Control: Wings/flaps
Power Source: Engine
Level 5
Body: Main fuselage
Body: Cockpit
Control: Wing/flaps
Control: Wing/flaps
Power Source: Engine
Power Source: Engine
Power Source: Engine
Level 5
Body: Main fuselage
Body: Cockpit
Control: Wings/flaps
Weapons: Guns/missiles (level 5)
Computer: Navigation and radar
Power Source: Engine
Power Source: Engine
Level 6
Body: Cockpit
Control: Thrusters
Weapons: Lasers/missiles (level 6)
Computer: Navigation and sensors
Power Source: Engine
Level 6
Shields: Must be broken before any other portion can be attacked
Body: Main structure
Body: Cargo hold
Body: Cockpit
Control: Thrusters
Weapons: Main gun (level 6)
Weapons: Turret cupola (level 5)
Computer: Navigation
Computer: Sensors
Power Source: Sublight engine
Power Source: Hyperdrive
Level 7
Shields: Must be broken before any other portion can be attacked
Body: Main structure
Body: Cargo hold
Body: Cockpit
Control: Starboard thrusters
Control: Port thrusters
Weapons: Main gun (level 7)
Weapons: Main gun (level 6)
Weapons: Turret (level 5)
Weapons: Turret (level 5)
Weapons: Turret (level 5)
Weapons: Turret (level 5)
Computer: Navigation
Computer: Sensors
Power Source: Sublight engine
Power Source: Hyperdrive
Sometimes, a vehicle like an aircraft carrier or a mile-long starship is hardly a vehicle anymore. It’s really a location. You can have a series of encounters or entire adventures on or in such a vehicle, just like you could within a very large structure that didn’t happen to be able to move.
With such vehicles, it might be best to ignore the rules in this chapter and treat them more like locations. That doesn’t mean they can’t be part of a battle or other exciting situation, but the experience might be better handled though narrative and the occasional GM intrusion.
Stories seed recursions into the Strange. Good stories focus on characters, setting, and plot, and those elements are usually reflected, at least in some form, in a related recursion. Sometimes a recursion includes vehicles, like flying carpets or starfighters, for the characters to use for travel. Other times, those vehicles are so central to the story that they almost become characters themselves. That's especially true if the vehicles are large enough to host the PCs through the bulk of their adventures. Those sorts of vehicles are especially likely to be seeded into the Strange.
This fractal brings you a small sampling of vehicles presented as artifacts, both minor and major. In no way is this resource meant to be comprehensive. There are literally hundreds of famous fictional starships, dragon mounts, magic beds, and other kinds of impossible craft. We won't attempt to give Cypher System game mechanics to all of them. Instead, we've provided representative vehicles that PCs might encounter and, better yet, get a chance to ride in or even pilot themselves.
Of course, any time characters ride in vehicles, there's a chance for a chase or a fight, so we've also included rules for vehicle combat.
Much of the time, a fight between foes in cars, boats, or other vehicles is just like any other combat situation. The combatants probably have cover and are moving fast. Attacks to disable a vehicle or a portion of it are based on the level of the vehicle. If the vehicle is an armored car or a tank, all attacks are likely aimed at the vehicle, which has a level and probably an appropriate Armor rating, not unlike a creature. The only time this isn't true is with battles where only vehicles and not characters are involved. Thus, if the PCs are in a firefight with Imperium troopers and both groups are on hover bikes, use the standard rules. If the PCs are in a starfighter, a missile strider, or some other kind of enclosing vehicle and they are fighting opponents who are likewise in a vehicle, special rules are needed.
Battles between starships of various kinds- from gigantic capital ships to single-pilot fighters-are a frequent occurrence in far-future science fiction settings. A submarine battle between two deep sea craft could be quite exciting. Characters in a modern-day game might find themselves in a tank fight. If PCs are involved in combat in which they are entirely enclosed in vehicles (so that it's not really the characters fighting, but the vehicles), use the following quick and easy guidelines.
On this scale, combat between vehicles isn't like traditional combat. Don't worry about health, Armor, or anything like that. Instead, just compare the levels of the vehicles involved. If the PCs' vehicle has the higher level, the difference in levels becomes a reduction in the difficulty of attack and defense rolls involved. If the PCs' vehicle has the lower level, the difference is an increase in difficulty. If the levels are the same, there is no modification.
| Targeting Task | Modification | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Disable weapons | Two steps | One or more of the vehicle's weapons no longer function |
| Disable defenses (if applicable) | Two steps | Difficulty of attacks against the vehicle are reduced by one step |
| Disable engine/drive | Three steps | Vehicle cannot move, or movement is hampered |
| Disable maneuverability | Two steps | Vehicle cannot alter its present course |
| Strike power core or vital spot | Five steps | Vehicle is completely destroyed |
These attack and defense rolls are mosdified by skill and Effort, as usual. Some vehicles also have superior weapons, which reduce the difficulty of the attack (since there is no "damage" amount to worry about), but this circumstance is probably uncommon in this abstract system and should not affect the difficulty by more than one or maybe two steps. Further, if two vehicles coordinate their attack against one vehicle, the difficulty of the attack is reduced by one step. If three or more vehicles coordinate, the difficulty is reduced by two steps.
The attacker must try to target a specific system on or portion of an enemy vehicle. This modifies the attack in the defender's favor based on the system or portion targeted:
That's a lot of modifications. But it's not really that hard. Let's look at an example. A PC in a small level 2 starfighter attacks a level 4 transport ship. Since the transport ship is level 4, the difficulty of the attack starts at 4. But the attacking craft is weaker than the defender, so the difference in their levels (2) is added to the difficulty. The starfighter pilot must make a difficulty 6 attack on the transport ship. However, the starfighter is trying to swoop in and damage the transport ship's drive, which modifies the attack by another three steps, for a total difficulty of 9. If the starfighter pilot is trained in space combat, she reduces the difficulty to 8, but it's still impossible without help. So let's say that two other PCs-also in level 2 starfighters-join in and coordinate their attack. Three ships coordinating an attack on one target reduces the difficulty by two steps, resulting in a final difficulty of 6. Still, the attacking PC would be wise to use Effort.
Then the transport ship (which had lasers installed, unlike the base model) retaliates and the PC in the starfighter needs to make a defense roll. The level difference between the ships is a two-step modification in the transport ship's favor, so the difficulty of the defense roll starts out at 6. But the transport ship tries to take out the starfighter's weapons, reducing the difficulty of the defense roll by two steps. Thus, the PC needs to succeed at a difficulty 4 task or lose her main weapons systems.
It's important to remember that a failed attack doesn't always mean a miss. The target ship might rock and reel from the hit, but the bulk of the damage was absorbed by the shields, so there's no significant damage.
This bare-bones system should allow the GM and players to flesh out exciting encounters involving the whole group. For example, perhaps while one PC pilots a ship, another mans the guns, and another frantically attempts to repair damage to the maneuvering thrusters before they crash into the space station they're trying to defend.
In some cases, the GM may wish to use the level of an NPC pilot or driver rather than the level of the vehicle, but this is only for special circumstances, such as a very skilled or very inept pilot.