Ground Vehicles

The following page covering **Ground Vehicles** provides simple rules for building, running, and operating combat vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, mecha, and walkers commonly found in militaries both real and fictional.

## Template

### Code

```
{{ Ground Vehicle

<!-- BASIC INFORMATION -->

<!-- STATS -->

<!-- Options:
      Wheeled
      Tracked
      Legs -->

<!-- Options:
      No Armor
      Lightly Armored
      Armored
      Heavily Armored -->

<!-- Options:
      Small
      Medium
      Large -->

<!-- MOUNTS -->

}}
```

## Basic Stats

### Hitpoints

Hitpoints **❤ (HP)** represents the amount of punishment a vehicle can take before being knocked out. If this reaches 0, the vehicle is knocked out and is rendered inoperable. When relevant, roll a 1d3; on a 1, the passengers inside are dead. On a 2, 1/2 of the characters are alive. On a 3, all of the passengers manage to exit the vehicle.

### Armor

**Armor ❖** represents the thickness of the vehicle's armor at different parts of the vehicle. Vehicle armor (marked with a ❖) is immune to small arms fire, meaning that the occupants are protected from being attacked by normal weapons while inside the vehicle. Vehicles can be attacked only with vehicle-attack weapons. Vehicle attacks use a red ❖ symbol. Vehicle attacks are made using cogent rolls and must overcome the vehicle's armor, which is a fixed number. For example, in order to beat a vehicle with an armor of 3, the weapon must roll 4 or above.

Armor is distributed unevenly across different parts of the vehicle:

* **Front Armor** faces forward and is usually the strongest.
* **Side Armor** protects the sides of the vehicle and is usually weaker than the front armor.
* **Rear Armor** protects the rear of the vehicle and is usually among the weakest.
* **Top Armor** protects the top of the vehicle from top-attack weapons and is usually the weakest.

When creating a vehicle, different armor classes (see below) grant different amounts of front, side, rear, and top armor. Some armor classes are available to some locomotion options (see below) but not others.

### Speed

Speed is an abstraction of how fast a vehicle is going. A vehicle's speed is its maximum speed level. What this corresponds to is explained on the following table.

### Turning speed

A vehicle can spend half of its movement points to turn 90 degrees in one turn.

### Stealth

Stealth refers to the ability of a vehicle to remain unseen. All vehicles are assumed to have environment-appropriate camouflage. If they do not, they cannot roll stealth. In a combat situation, a player with a vehicle may ask to roll stealth to prevent their vehicle from being observed by the enemy. This is a cogent roll against another vehicle's spotting or another character's perception.

Vehicles which have not been spotted cannot be attacked. Once spotted, the vehicle cannot roll stealth again until line of sight has been broken.

Stealth is increased with certain locomotion options (wheels) and by choosing a smaller vehicle.

### Spotting

Spotting refers to the quality and sophistication of the vehicle's sensors. Better spotting allows vehicles to detect other vehicles more reliably. In order to reveal another vehicle, vehicles may roll spotting (a cogent roll) against the adversary vehicle or character's stealth. If the spotting roll defeats the stealth roll, the vehicle spots the vehicle or character. Ties go to the person attempting stealth.

Spotting is increased through optics.

When a vehicle or character spots another vehicle or character, it is spotted for all vehicles and characters in that vehicle or character's unit/vicinity, and for any artillery units providing support.

## Map, Play, and Distances

Vehicles can be run in a character map or a vehicle map. The character map is zoomed in, and vehicles occupy multiple squares. Vehicle maps are zoomed out and multiple vehicles can occupy a single square regardless of size. Theater of the mind can also be used.

A single square on the vehicle map represents 10x10 squares on the character map. Players should zoom in or out based on the judgement of the DM, the needs of the encounter, and the agreement of the players.

The ranges used by vehicles are as follows:

* **Short Range:** 1 to 3 squares away from the character (within the vehicle square)
* **Medium Range:** 4 to 8 squares away from the character (within the vehicle square)
* **Long Range:** 9 to 20 squares away from the character (1 vehicle squares away)
* **Extreme Range:** 21 to 30 squares away from the character (2 vehicle squares away)
* **Standoff Range:** 31 to 50 squares away from the character (3 vehicle squares away)

### Conditions

* **Attacking a moving target:** -1 penalty to accuracy
* **Firing while moving:** -1 penalty to accuracy
* **Hull-down position:** +1 front armor

## Building a vehicle

Creators can use the following rules to build their own vehicles from scratch. The first choices to make are the vehicle's flag (the flag denoting the allegiance of the vehicle), the vehicle's name (i.e. M1 Abrams, Leopard 2), and the vehicle type, (i.e. Main Battle Tank, Armored Personnel Carrier). These choices are all cosmetic and simply help to identify your vehicle.

After these fields have been filled out, it is time to make mechanical decisions for your vehicle.

### Locomotion Profile

Locomotion Profile refers to how the vehicle gets around. Does it use wheels? Tracks? Legs? Advanced hovering technology? Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks. The options are:

* **Wheeled:** (+2 Stealth, +1 Road Speed, enables No Armor and Lightly Armored)
* **Tracked:** (Enables No Armor, Lightly Armored, Armored and Heavily Armored)
* **Legs:** (-1 Road Speed; -1 Off-Road Speed; Enables No Armor, Lightly Armored, Armored, and Heavily Armored; may climb over difficult obstacles)
* **Hover:** (+1 Road Speed; +1 Off-Road Speed; Enables No Armor, Lightly Armored, and Armored; may not climb over obstacles and restricted to flat terrain; limited to ult-tech factions)

### Chassis size

Chassis size determines how large the vehicle is. Is it a large tank? A small jeep? Size determines the number of weapons which can be mounted on the vehicle, how large it is to transport, how many squares it occupies, and how easy it is to hide.

The sizes are as follows:

* **Small**
	+ 2x2 squares
	+ 2 mount slots
	+ Takes up 50 inventory slots when transported
	+ +4 Stealth
* **Medium**
	+ 2x3 Squares
	+ 4 mount slots
	+ Takes up 100 inventory slots when transported
	+ +2 Stealth
	+ HP: +1
* **Large**
	+ 3x4 Squares
	+ 6 mount slots
	+ Takes up 200 inventory slots when transported
	+ HP: +3

### Armor classes

Armor class describes how armored the vehicle is, ranging from being unarmored to being as heavily armored as a tank. Vehicles with more armor are harder to kill, but move more slowly.

The armor classes are as follows:

* **No Armor**
	+ +1 Speed
	+ Characters inside can be targeted by small arms.
* **Lightly Armored**
	+ No effect
* **Armored**
	+ +2 Front Armor
	+ +1 Side Armor
	+ +1 Top Armor
	+ -1 Max Speed
* **Heavily Armored**
	+ +3 Front Armor
	+ +2 Side Armor
	+ +1 Rear Armor
	+ +1 Top Armor
	+ -2 Max Speed

### Mounts

Mounts provide a vehicle with its weapons or utility. Weapons cost slots. Every chassis size has a certain number of slots, and this determines how many weapons or utility modules can be mounted on the vehicle.

## Using vehicles on Aoshtai

Vehicles can be carried inside the cargo slots of shuttles and small ships by factions with nation stat blocks. If deployed through that method, they can be used in roleplay and marine battles.

Vehicles may also be used by the creators of locations and by the dungeon masters of campaigns. They can also be made available to players through unique mechanics by location owners with consultation with Etzan.