Physical Feats

Digging

Modifiers: Basic Lift: St*St/5, Quality of tools (Below assumes Iron tools, wood tools ½ effective, improvised tools ¼ effective)

• Loose Soil, Sand:  Shovel 2xBasic Load (BL) cubic feet / hour (cf/hr)

• Ordinary Soil: Shovel BL cf/hr,  or Pick can loosen dirt = 4*BL cf/hr

• Hard Soil, Clay: Pick 2*BL cf/hr, then Shovel 2*BL cf/hr

• Hard Rock: Pick BL cf/hr, Shovel BL cf/hr

Hiking

Basic Move modified by Encumbrance, Injury, and Exhaustion

Effective Basic Move * 3 + 5 this is the number of miles you can hike on foot in a day’s travel.

Terrain: 

• Very Bad: *0.20 - Deep snow, dense forest, jungle, mountains, soft sand, swamp

• Bad: *0.50 - Broken ground, Forest, Steep hills

• Average: *1.00 - Light forest, Rolling Hills

• Good: *1.25 - Hard-packed desert, Level plains

Weather: 

• Rain: ½ off-road speeds in any terrain.

• Snow: ½ speed if Ankle deep in any terrain, ¼ if deeper. 

  • Movement = average if using skis on snow, use Skiing Skill instead

• Ice: ½ speed in any terrain with Ice, frozen lakes and rivers are their own type of terrain

  • Treat frozen lakes as Average terrain if using Skates, use Skate Skill instead

Roads:

• Good Weather most roads = Average terrain

• Rain Roads: Crap Road = Very Bad terrain, Better road = Average terrain

Holding Your Breath

Concentration maneuver to take a breath before holding

No Exertion HTx10 seconds

Mild Exertion HTx4 seconds

Heavy Exertion HT seconds

Breath Control Skill: multiply these times by 1.5

With no Breath to prepare:  Multiply these times by 0.5

Jumping

• Standing High Jump = (Basic Move * 6 - 10) Inches vertical

• Standing Broad Jump = (Basic Move * 2 - 3) feet horizontal

Running jump: add yards you run before jumping to the Basic Move in these formulas. Maximum running High/Broad-jump distance is twice standing jump distance.

Jumping In Combat: 

A Knee High jump is Difficult Terrain, 

A Waist High jump is a whole move action.  

Actually going for a high jump or a long jump takes 1 Concentration actions to get in position before making the attempt

Jump skill:  If trained, replace Basic Move with Jump Skill / 2 in the above equations.

Lifting and Moving Things

Basic Lift (BL) = ST * ST /5 pounds (So a Strength of 10 grants a Basic Lift of 20 lbs.)

Governs the weight you can pick up and move. The GM may let multiple characters add their BL (not their ST) whenever it seems reasonable; e.g., to carry a stretcher or pull a wagon.

• One-Handed Lift: 2 * BL (takes two seconds).

• Two-Handed Lift: 8 * BL (takes four seconds).

• Shove and Knock Over: 12 * BL.  Double this if you have a running start. 

The GM can also make allowances for precariously balanced objects, to make them easier to tilt.

• Carry on Back: 15 * BL.   Thus, you can carry more than you can lift by yourself 

Every second that your encumbrance is over 10 * BL (that is, Extra-Heavy encumbrance), you lose 1 FP.

• Shift Slightly: Depending on your footing and the way you are braced, you could shift or rock 50 * BL.

Pulling and Dragging
When you pull a load behind you unassisted, use its full weight. Halve effective weight if you are pulling a sledge over snow or ice, divide effective weight by 10 for a two-wheeled cart, and divide effective weight by 20 for a four-wheeled wagon. (Remember to add the weight of the sledge, cart, or wagon to that of the load before dividing!)
In all cases, if the surface is smooth and relatively level – for instance, a concrete floor, a proper road, or a frozen lake – halve the effective weight of the load. This is cumulative with the effects of a sledge, cart, or wagon. Final effective weight pulled, after all modifiers, cannot exceed 15 * BL if you are to have any hope of moving the object at all. Determine your encumbrance level using effective weight, and work out Move normally. 

Lifting and Moving things during combat
In combat you can pick up an item that weighs no more than your Basic Lift by taking a one-second Ready maneuver.
To pick up anything heavier requires multiple, consecutive Ready maneuvers: two if using one hand, four if using two hands. To pick up an unwilling character, you must take a second to grapple him first (see Grappling). He may attempt to break free during the time it takes you to pick him up!

To kick, body-block, shove, or otherwise shift an obstacle in combat requires an Attack maneuver.
You can move or knock over up to 12 x BL this way. If you have enough space to run your full Move, you can knock over twice this weight (24 x BL) by slamming into it at a run. This requires a Move maneuver. These rules are for inanimate objects; see Slam for rules governing attempts to knock over someone who can actively resist. If using a combat map, be sure to mark the map or place a counter to indicate an object that has been knocked over. This is especially important for a feature that was drawn on the map! Likewise, objects picked up by fighters should be removed from the map.

In all cases, if an attempt seems reasonable, do not pause the battle to compare weight to BL. Use common sense. Make it fun!

Slam

You can deliberately collide with an opponent. 

• This requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. 

• Roll against DX, Brawling, or Sumo Wrestling to hit. 

Note that the -4 to hit and effective skill cap of 9 for a Move and Attack do not apply to slams.

Your foe may block, dodge, or parry but your body counts as a heavy weapon. 

• If your foe dodges, you must move at least two yards past him if you have enough movement. 

• If you would hit someone else, see Hitting the Wrong Target.

If you hit, you and your foe each inflict dice of crushing damage on the other equal to (HP x velocity)/100. 

• “Velocity” is usually just the number of yards you moved this turn – but in a head-on collision, add the distance your foe moved toward you on his last turn (that is, use relative velocity).  

• If damage is less than 1d, treat fractions up to 0.25 as 1d-3, fractions up to 0.5 as 1d-2, and any larger fraction as 1d-1. Otherwise, round fractions of 0.5 or more up to a full die. 

• You can use All-Out Attack (Strong) to increase your damage!

If your damage roll equals or exceeds that of your foe, he must make a DX roll or fall down. 

You knock him down automatically if you roll twice his damage or more. If he rolls twice your damage or more, though, you fall down instead! 

• If your opponent dodged and you went past him and hit a solid obstacle, apply your damage roll to yourself and to the obstacle, if it matters. 

• You can also slam with a vehicle or mount. Roll against your vehicle-operation skill to hit with a vehicle, or Riding skill to hit with a mount.

Figure damage based on the HP of your vehicle or mount. For additional rules and special cases, see Collisions and Falls.

Flying Tackle: As slam, but you must have at least two legs and one arm free – most animals and vehicles can’t do this! A flying tackle gives you +4 to hit and an extra yard of reach, and you may opt to roll against Jumping skill to hit. 

However, whether you succeed or fail, you end up lying down (in the same hex as your foe, if you are using a combat map). 

Pounce: As Flying Tackle, but you must have four or more legs. After you attack, make a DX, Acrobatics, or Jumping roll. On a success, you stay on your feet! This is how some animals attack, especially cats: they knock down their foe and then claw or bite. 

• If a mount tries this, the rider must roll vs. Riding -4 or fall off! 

Shield Rush:  As slam, but you must have a shield. Roll against Shield skill to hit, and add your shield’s Defense Bonus to your damage roll. Your shield takes damage instead of you, but you still fall down if your opponent rolls twice your basic damage or more.

Lifting Skill
A successful roll against Lifting skill increases your Basic Lift by 5% times your margin of success for the purpose of picking up heavy objects. For instance, if you have Lifting at 14, a roll of 9 lets you lift an extra 25%. Roll once per lift.

Running

Your running speed, or ground Move, is equal to your Basic Move score modified for encumbrance. 

In combat, running is just a series of Move maneuvers. Use the more detailed rules below when it is important to know whether the heroes catch the plane, escape the savage pygmies, or whatever. 

Sprinting

Sprinting is all-out running. It is very fast, but also fatiguing. 

You can sprint if you run forward for two or more seconds. Add 20% to your Move after one second. 

For instance, with a Move of 7, you could sprint at 8.4 yards/second after running for one second at 7 yards/second. 

On a battle map, where movement involves discrete one-yard hexes, drop all fractions to get a round Move score; in the example above, you would have Move 8. Assume that even the slowest sprinter gets +1 Move. Thus, sprinters with Move 9 or less can move one extra hex on a battle map. If you have Enhanced Move (Ground), you can accelerate by your Basic Move every second until you reach top speed. Use your Enhanced Move multiplier instead of the 20% bonus above. 

For instance, with Basic Move 7 and Enhanced Move 2, you run at Move 7 the first second, Move 14 the next second, Move 21 the third second, and your top speed of Move 28 in the fourth second.

You may only move at your maximum sprinting speed if the ground is good and you are running more or less straight at some goal. Any deviation from “forward” movement requires you to run at normal ground Move for one second before you can resume Sprinting.

Paced Running

If you need to run a long distance, you will want to pace yourself to avoid exhaustion. Paced running averages exactly half the sprinting speed calculated above. For instance, with a ground Move of 7, you would run at 4.2 yards/second on good ground; thus, you could run a 7-minute mile. 

Fatigue Cost

After every 15 seconds of sprinting or every minute of paced running, roll against the higher of HT or Running skill. On a failure, you lose 1 FP. Once you are reduced to less than 1/3 your FP, halve your Move for any kind of running.

Note that since paced running is half as fast as sprinting but burns FP at one-quarter the rate, you can run twice as far before you run out of energy.

Swimming

Unless you are Amphibious or Aquatic, you must roll against Swimming skill any time you enter water over your head. 

Swimming defaults to HT-4. Roll when you first enter the water, and again every five minutes. 

Modifiers:

• +3 if you entered the water intentionally

• -2 x encumbrance level (e.g., Heavy encumbrance gives -6); 

• +1 if you are Overweight, +3 if Fat, or +5 if Very Fat 

• On a failure, you inhale water!  Lose 1 FP and roll again in five seconds – and so on, until you drown, are rescued, or make a successful Swimming roll and get your head above water. 

If you successfully recover, roll again in one minute; if you succeed, go back to making rolls five minutes apart. 

Yes, you can shout for help!

You may try to get rid of armor, etc. after making your first successful Swimming roll. Roll vs. DX for each item you try to remove; roll at -4 to remove shields, helmets, or torso armor. A failed roll means you inhale water, with penalties as above.

Once you reach 0 FP, you must make a Will roll every second or fall unconscious, and are likely to die unless you are rescued. 

Suffocation Lose 1 FP / Second

If you completely lack air – you lose 1 FP per second.
If you are drowning after a failed Swimming roll, you can get some air, but you also inhale water: roll vs. Swimming every five seconds; Failure costs 1 FP.
At 0 FP, you must make a Will roll every second or fall unconscious.   You are likely to die unless rescued! 

Regardless of FP or HP, you die after four minutes without air. 

If you get clean air before you die, you stop losing FP and start to recover FP at the usual rate.
If you are unconscious, you awaken once you have 1 FP. If you were drowning, a rescuer must also make a First Aid roll to get the water out of your lungs in order to save you.
If you went without air for more than two minutes, roll vs. HT to avoid permanent brain damage: -1 to IQ.

Swimming Speed Swim Speed = Basic Move / 5 

Land-dwellers such as humans have water Move = Basic Move / 5 (round down)
Minimum water Move for such characters is 1 yard/second.

When swimming long distances, use a 10-second time scale. The number of yards you can swim in 10 seconds is equal to 10 times your water Move, modified downward for encumbrance. For instance, water Move 1 and Heavy encumbrance would let you swim four yards in 10 seconds.

Fatigue Cost 1 / Minute, roll on HT or Swimming Skill, Failure: Lose 1 FP

After every minute of top-speed swimming, roll against the higher of HT or Swimming skill. On a failure, you lose 1 FP. Once you are reduced to less than 1/3 your FP, halve your water Move.  If you are swimming slowly, or just staying afloat, make this roll every 30 Minutes. 

Lifesaving  Swimming Roll -5 (Modified by the Difference of ST)

You can use the Swimming skill to rescue a drowning person. Make a Swimming roll at -5, plus or minus the difference in ST between you and the person you are rescuing. If the players think of good lifesaving techniques, the GM may give them a bonus to this roll.

On a failure, you inhale water and lose 1 FP, but may try again after one minute. On a critical failure, the victim nearly drowned you! This costs 6 FP, and you must break off the rescue attempt.

Flying

When flying, use the Hiking and Running rules with these changes:

• Substitute “air Move” (equal to twice Basic Speed, dropping all fractions) for “ground Move” (equal to Basic Move). Apply modifiers for encumbrance, injury, and fatigue exactly as you would for ground Move.

• Substitute “Enhanced Move (Air)” for “Enhanced Move (Ground).” For high-speed flight (“running”), handle acceleration with Enhanced Move as described under Sprinting.

• Substitute “Flight skill” for “Hiking skill” and “Running skill.”

• Ignore terrain, but note that wind and other weather conditions can have comparable effects.

Throwing

You can throw anything you can pick up – that is, anything with a weight of 8 x BL or less. If the object you wish to throw is not already in your hands, you must take one or more Ready maneuvers to pick it up. See Lifting and Moving Things for details.

Throwing an object during combat – whether as an attack or not – requires an Attack maneuver.
You can throw objects that weigh up to 2 x BL using one hand; heavier objects require a two-handed throw.
Roll against DX-3 to hit a specific target, or against DX to lob something into a general area.
Apply the usual modifiers for target size, speed, and distance.

Throwing Distance

To avoid slowing down the game with math, the GM should allow any throw he deems reasonable . . . but when you need to know the exact distance you can throw an object, use the following procedure:

1. Divide the object’s weight in pounds by your Basic Lift to get the “weight ratio.”

2. Find the weight ratio in the Weight Ratio column of the table below. If it falls between two values, use the higher value.

3. Read across to the Distance Modifier column and find the “distance modifier.”

4. Multiply your ST by the distance modifier to find the distance in yards you can throw the object.

Example: You have ST 28, which gives you a BL of 157 lbs. and a thrust damage of 3d-1. You hit a foe with a hurled 50-lb. bag of cement. It is between BL/4 (39 lbs.) and BL/2 (78 lbs.). As shown on the table above, it does straight thrust damage, or 3d-1.

Throwing Skill and Throwing Art

When you throw an object that fits into the palm of your hand – such as a bottle, rock, or grenade – you may roll against Throwing skill to hit a target or a general area. Furthermore, if you know Throwing at DX +1 level, add +1 to ST before you multiply it by the distance modifier. Add +2 to ST if you know Throwing at DX+2 or better. 

If you have Throwing Art skill, you can use it to throw anything. Roll against the skill to hit. If you know Throwing Art at DX level, add +1 to ST before you multiply it by the distance modifier, and add +1 per die to thrust damage. These bonuses increase to +2 if you know Throwing Art at DX+1 or better. 

Thrown Weapons

The rules above are for throwing rocks, bodies, televisions, anything but weapons. Hurled weapons differ in three important ways:

1. Thrown weapons use Thrown Weapon skills to hit, not DX or Throwing (but Throwing Art does allow you to throw weapons).

2. Many throwing weapons travel significantly farther than “ordinary” objects due to streamlining and stabilization. Others have less range, due to the way they are thrown. For instance, you can hurl a throwing knife as far as these rules suggest, but the range at which it will hit point-first and inflict damage is considerably shorter.

3. Throwing weapons have points, edges, dense striking heads, etc. that focus the force of impact. They almost always do more damage than these rules would indicate.

Catching

If someone throws an object at you, you may make an active defense roll to avoid it. However, if he deliberately throws it to you – by successfully lobbing it into your general area – you can try to catch it. 

Roll against DX or a suitable Sports skill to make the catch, at -4 if you are not taking a Wait maneuver, but at +1 per two full points by which the thrower made his roll. This counts as a parry with your catching hand.

You can also attempt to intercept a thrown object en route to a catcher. Treat this as a parry against a thrown weapon.  On a success, you snatch the thrown object out of the air.