From: rorice@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu (rosalyn rice) This section of my rules includes my alternate critical miss/failure tables for various sorts of weapons. I think that they're more logical and slightly less dangerous than the standard critical miss/failure tables. Combat Rules 12 - Critical Miss and Critical Failure Charts GRENADE CRITICAL MISSES (2D6) 2 EXPLODES LATE - The grenade explodes 1d6 seconds later than you expect it to. Low-tech or improvised grenades that have match fuses explode in 1d6 x 10 seconds. 3 THROW 1D6 HEXES AWAY - The armed grenade lands 1d6 hexes away in a random direction. 4-5 DROP GRENADE (ARMED OR UNARMED) - Roll randomly to see if you armed it before you dropped it. It lands at your feet in your hex. 6-7 OFF-BALANCE/FALL - You Slip. Roll vs. DX or fall. Roll randomly to see if you armed the grenade before you fell. Roll vs. DX to see if you hung onto it if you fall. If you didn't it lands in an adjacent hex. 8 WRONG TYPE THROWN - If you have 2 or more types of grenades, you arm and throw the wrong type. Otherwise you Slip, as above. 9 DUD - The grenade doesn't work. It is indistinguishable from a grenade that will explode late. 10-11 DIDN'T ARM - You threw an unarmed grenade. 12 EXPLODES TOO SOON - The grenade explodes 1d6 seconds too soon (minimum of 1 second). If it was in your hand you take double explosive damage from contact. EXPLOSIVE CRITICAL FAILURE (2D6) 2-3 EXPLODES LATE - The explosive explodes later than you expect it to, in 1d6 x 10 seconds. This identical to a bad fuse or a dud in appearance. Be very careful. 4-6 DOESN'T EXPLODE - The fuse or trigger mechanism is faulty. It must be replaced for the explosive to go off. A second roll vs. OED or Demolitions might be allowed to get the explosive to go off without having to replace the fuse. 7 INSUFFICIENT EXPLOSIVE - The explosion doesn't do what you want it to do. The target might be damaged but it is still functional. Another explosive charge is required to complete the job. If it matters, the explosive does half normal damage to people and things in the blast area. 8 TOO MUCH EXPLOSIVE - The explosion was more powerful than you wanted it to be or the blast was directed in the wrong way. This may or may not be a problem. The explosion does 25% more damage to people and things in the blast area. The blast area is also increased. Unless the blaster is in a covered position or is very far away he will have to dodge some shrapnel. 9 DUD - The explosive doesn't work. It is indentical in appearance to an explosive that will explode late. Either the explosive is no good, or extensive repairs must be done to prepare the explosive for a second try. 10-12 BOOM! - The explosive explodes sooner than you expected it to. It will explode 1d6 seconds after you attach the fuse the the explosive, probably catching you in the blast. FIRE ARMS CRITICAL MISSES (3D6) 3 SHOOT SELF - Roll randomly for location or use common sense. 4 SHOOT FRIEND - Roll randomly for target to front or side of firer. If there is no possible victim, the firer shoots himself. 5 BREAKS - On a 1-4 it takes 1d6 minutes and a Gunsmith roll to fix the problem. On a 5-6 it takes 1d6 hours, a gunsmith roll and parts to fix the problem. The problem isn't obvious until immediate action is taken for 2d6 seconds. 6 CLIP FALLS OUT - Take immediate action to replace the clip. A single shot weapon misfires. 7 DUD ROUND - The round doesn't fire. It can be ejected normally. 8 JAMS - The gun must be cleared by immediate action. 9 DROP WEAPON - The gun falls at the shooter's feet. 10-11 OFF-BALANCE - The character Slips and is off-balance. Roll vs. DX to see if the character falls. Roll vs. DX to hang onto the weapon if you fall. Otherwise it end up in an adjacent hex. 12-13 SIGHTS OFF - The ACC modifier is halved (round down). 14 SELECTOR SWITCH JAMS - The gun can't change its RoF if it is an automatic or semi-automatic weapon. If it is a single shot weapon it jams. This problem takes 3d6 seconds of immediate action to fix. 15 SAFETY JAMS - The gun won't fire. If the weapon doesn't have a safety, it jams. The problem takes 3d6 seconds of immediate action to fix. 16 BAD CLIP/DOESN'T WORK - The clip doesn't want to feed ammunition into the chamber. Replace the clip or spend 3d6 seconds of immediate action to fix the problem. Weapons without clips jam. 17 OBSTRUCTED BARREL - The gun will explode for 1/2 damage (as 18) when it is next fired. Roll vs. Guns skill to catch the problem in time. Spend 3d6 seconds of immediate action cleaning the barrel. 18 GUN EXPLODES - The breech of the gun explodes back into the firer's face, doing 1/2 Damage to his Face. VEHICLE CRITICAL MISS (4d6) 4 WEAPON EXPLODES - The weapon explodes, destroying itself and doing 1/2 damage to any crewmen within range. 5 WEAPON HITS OWN VEHICLE - The weapon hits the vehicle somehow, doing 1/4 normal damage. If this is impossible, the weapon jams instead. 6 WEAPON BREAKS - On a 1-4 this can be fixed in 1d6 minutes with an Armory roll. On a 5-6 this takes 1d6 hours, parts and an Armory roll. The weapon can't be fixed unless the crew has access to the breech of the gun and time to fix it. 7 ENGINE STALLS - The engine stalls for whatever reason. Roll vs. Control Skill each turn to restart it. If this is impossible a weapon jams. 8 WEAPON JAMS - The weapon jams. If the crew has access to the breech of the gun, the weapon can be cleared in 2d6 turns. Otherwise the gun is out of action. 9-10 MAKE A CONTROL ROLL - Make a roll vs. Control skill or lose control. 11-12 SIGHTS OFF - Halve the ACC of the weapon until the sights are repaired. Roll vs. Gunner skill to notice the problem. A roll vs. Armory and 1d6 hours are required to fix the problem. 13 DUD ROUND - The round doesn't fire (1-3) or explode (4-6). A dud round can be ejected in 1 turn. 14 CREW HURT BY MACHINERY - A random crewman takes 1d6-3 points of damage from the vehicle. Roll randomly for hit location. The damage done is crushing. 15-16 WILD SHOT - The shot goes wildly down range. Roll randomly to see where it goes. 17-18 FIRE WRONG ROUND - You fire the wrong weapon or the wrong sort of round. If this isn't possible the shot is a dud. 19 COMPONENT BREAKS - A random component breaks. 20 SHORT ROUND - The round explodes 2d6 hexes from the vehicle doing normal damage. 21 SHOOT FRIEND - If there is a friendly character or vehicle down-range you shoot at it instead of your target. Roll again as if the friendly target was an enemy. 22 BARREL OBSTRUCTED - If the gun is fired before the obstruction is cleared it will explode for 1/2 normal damage. Roll vs. Gunner skill to catch the problem. It will take 4d6 seconds to clear the obstruction. 23 ON FIRE - The vehicle catches fire somehow. Roll randomly for location. The initial fire won't be very large, but has the potential to spread. 24 EXPLOSION - The vehicle explodes somehow. Roll randomly for location. If this is impossible, a weapon jams. CRITICAL HEAD BLOW TABLE (3D6) 3 INSTANT DEATH - The foe dies immediately. 4-5 KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS - Foe is knocked out. Roll vs. HT every 30 minutes to recover. 6 BLINDED - Foe is hit across both eyes and blinded. Use "crippling" rules to determine whether eyes can heal (roll separately for each). Foe is stunned and fights at -10 for the rest of the battle. 7 BLIND IN ONE EYE - Foe is blinded in one eye. Use "crippling" rules to determine if it heals. Foes is stunned; will fight at -3 for the rest of the battle. 8 OFF-BALANCE - Foe is knocked off balance; he may defend normally next turn but may do nothing else. The blow also does normal head-blow damage. 9-11 MAXIMUM DAMAGE - Normal maximum damage only. 12 DEAFENED - If the attack was a bullet, cutting, crushing blow, it does normal head-blow damage and the foe will be deaf for the next 24 hours. It was an impaling blow it does normal maximum damage. 13 DEAFENED - If the attack was a bullet, cutting, crushing blow, it does normal head-blow damage and the foe will be permanently deaf. It was an impaling blow it does normal maximum damage. 14 DROP WEAPON - Normal maximum damage. Foe drops he weapon. If has 2 weapons roll randomly to see which one he drops. 15-18 STUNNED - Normal maximum damage and the foe is Stunned. Roll vs. HT every 10 seconds to recover. CRITICAL HITS (3D6) 3 INSTANT KILL - The victim is immediately incapacitated and dies within 1d6 minutes. 4 TRIPLE DAMAGE - Triple damage which penetrates DR. 5 SEVERE BLEEDING - The victim immediately suffers from severe bleeding and will lose 1 HP per minute per die of damage inflicted. 6 DOUBLE DAMAGE - Double damage which penetrates DR. 7 BLEEDING - The victim begins to bleed severely and will lose 1 HP per die of damage inflicted per 10 minutes. 8 WEAPON KNOCKED AWAY - The victim's weapon is knocked 1d6 hexes away in a random direction. If the victim is unarmed, the attack does Double Damage. 9 DOUBLE STUN - The Stun and Pain effects of damage which penetrates DR are doubled. 10 OFF-BALANCE/FALLS - The victim must roll vs. DX or fall. If the character makes the roll, then he is off-balance and attacks and defends at -2 next turn. 11 KNOCKED BACK - The victim is knocked back 2 hexes or double the amount of distance that he normally would be knocked back whichever is greater. 12 ARMOR KNOCKED OFF/MALADJUSTED - The armor on one part of the victim's body falls off or is maladjusted, whichever is more inconvenient or plausible. Maladjusted armor has 1/2 normal DR and -1 PD. If the armor is on the limb it will give -2 to DX and skills based off of DX if it is maladjusted. If it is a helmet it will either fall off, or turn to blind the wearer. Armor that is maladjusted will stay maladjusted until fixed. This is a long action. 13 STUNNED - The victim is immediately stunned. He may make a HT roll each turn to return to normal. 14 KNOCKED DOWN - The victim immediately falls down. 15 TEMPORARY CRIPPLING - The area hit is immediately crippled (roll randomly if more than one sort of crippling could occur). This is a "funny bone" injury and wears off in 1d6 minutes. If the torso was hit the blow does double damage instead. 16 CRIPPLED - The area hit is immediately crippled, even if it would not normally have taken enough damage to cripple it. This is treated as a normal crippling injury and must heal normally. If the torso was hit the blow does double damage instead. 17 KNOCKED UNCONCIOUS - If the blow was to the torso the victim is immediately knocked unconcious. He may roll vs. HT every minute in order to wake up. If the blow was to a limb it does triple damage. 18 SLOW DEATH - The victim takes normal damage but is immediately incapacitated and will die in 2d6 hours. At least 1 point of damage is done. MELEE WEAPON CRITICAL MISSES (3D6) 3 HIT COMRADE/SELF - You manage to hit yourself or a friend for normal damage. If there are allies near you who you could concievably hit, roll randomly to see if you hit yourself or a friend. 4 WEAPON BREAKS - Your weapon breaks. Good or better quality weapons get a saving throw. 5 FALL DOWN - You fall to your knees. 6 WEAPON FLIES AWAY - Your weapon flies 1d6 hexes away in a random direction. Pole arms and thrusting weapons fall to the ground at your feet. If you had your weapon on a leash, it doesn't fly away and you may retrieve it next turn. If you were unarmed you do 1d6-3 (minimum 1) point of damage to your attacking limb. 7 DROP WEAPON - You drop your weapon at your feet. If you had your weapon on a lease it doesn't fall and you may retrieve it next turn. If you were unarmed you do 1 point of damage to your attacking limb. 8 WEAPON TURNS - Your weapon turns in your hand. Spend next turn readying it. You may defend normally, but you may not attack. 9 SWEAT/BLOOD IN EYES - Sweat or blood gets in your eyes. You are at -2 to Vision and -1 to all ranged weapon skills until you wipe your face. 10-11 OFF-BALANCE - You are off-balance. You attack and defend at -2 next turn. 12 WEAPON/SHIELD TANGLED - Your weapon or shield gets tangled up somehow, either with a friend's armor or weapon or with an enemy's armor or weapon. Roll randomly for which weapon is affected and who it's tangled up with. Roll vs. ST each turn to get your weapon untangled. You may defend normally, but you may not attack. 13 EQUIPMENT GETS LOOSE/IN WAY - You armor or equipment comes loose. It gives you -1 to DX and combat skills until it is shifted back into place. This takes 1 turn. While doing this you may not attack and you defend at -2. 14 ARMOR FAILURE - Your armor comes loose or breaks. Maladjusted armor has 1/2 normal DR and -1 PD. If the armor is on the limb it will give -2 to DX and skills based off of DX if it is maladjusted. If it is a helmet it will either fall off, or turn to blind the wearer. Armor that is maladjusted will stay maladjusted until fixed. This is a long action. 15 SPRAIN - You sprain some part of your body. Roll randomly for hit location. You suffer a -2 Pain penalty whenever you try to use that body part. 16 TURNED AROUND/TO SIDE - You are turned around 1d6 hexes. You may end up facing any hex but the one you were originally facing. On the turn that you get turned around you are at -2 to attack and defense. 17 RANDOM DAMAGE - You take damage from some logical, random source. If you are in a battle you are hit by a stray missile, if you are in a melee then a friend or foe accidently hits you. If you are in a single combat you twist your ankle or step on a nail. Damage done should be no more than 1d6 points of damage. 18 HIT SELF - You hit yourself for half damage. If this is impossible, you fall to your knees. UNARMED CRITICAL MISSES (2D6) 2 HURT YOURSELF - You do 1d3-1 points of damage to your attacking limb. If this is impossible you take damage from some logical, random source. 3 TURNED AROUND/TO SIDE - You are turned around 1d6 hexes. You may end up facing any hex but the one you were originally facing. On the turn that you get turned around you are at -2 to attack and defense. 4 FALL DOWN - You fall to your knees. 5-7 OFF-BALANCE - You are off-balance. Roll vs. DX or fall to your knees. Even if you make the roll, you attack and defend at -2 next turn. 8 SWEAT/BLOOD IN EYES - Sweat or blood gets in your eyes. You are at -2 to Vision and -1 to all ranged weapon skills until you wipe your face. 9 TANGLED - Your get tangled up somehow with a friend or enemy. Roll vs. ST each turn to get untangled. You may defend normally, but you may not attack. 10 EQUIPMENT GETS LOOSE/IN WAY - You armor or equipment comes loose. It gives you -1 to DX and combat skills until it is shifted back into place. This takes 1 turn. While doing this you may not attack and you defend at -2. 11 ARMOR FAILURE - Your armor comes loose or breaks. Maladjusted armor has 1/2 normal DR and -1 PD. If the armor is on the limb it will give -2 to DX and skills based off of DX if it is maladjusted. If it is a helmet it will either fall off, or turn to blind the wearer. Armor that is maladjusted will stay maladjusted until fixed. This is a long action. 12 SPRAIN - You sprain some part of your body. Roll randomly for hit location. You suffer a -2 Pain penalty whenever you try to use that body part. BOW/CROSS-BOW CRITICAL MISSES (3D6) 3 BREAK BOW/STRING - Roll 1d6, 1-4 Bowstring breaks. 5-6 Bow breaks. Good weapons or better get a saving throw. 4 HIT COMRADE - You hit a random comrade. The GM will choose the most logical victim or roll randomly. 5 SPILL - Roll 1d6: 1-2 Drop bow at your feet, 3-4 Drop arrow at your feet, 5-6 Spill quiver at your feet, 2d6 turns to pick up arrows. 6-7 SWEAT/BLOOD IN EYES - Sweat or blood gets in your eyes. You are at -2 to Vision and -1 to all ranged weapon skills until you wipe your face. 8 FIRE WRONG ROUND/WILD SHOT - If you had a choice of missiles to fire, you fire exactly the wrong missile. If you didn't have a choice of missiles, your shot goes wildly astray possibly in a dangerous or embarrassing way. 9 WEAPON TURNS IN HAND - Your weapon turns in your hand. You must spend a turn re-readying your weapon before you may fire again. 10-11 OFF-BALANCE/FALL - You must roll vs. DX or fall. If you make your DX roll you are off balance and attack and defend at -2. 12 WILD SHOT/WRONG TARGET - If you had a choice of targets then you shoot the wrong one. If you didn't have a choice of targets, your shot goes wildly astray, possibly in a dangerous or embarrassing way. 13 TURNED TO SIDE - You get turned 1 hex to your left or right. 14 ARMOR FAILURE - Your armor comes loose or breaks. Maladjusted armor has 1/2 normal DR and -1 PD. If the armor is on the limb it will give -2 to DX and skills based off of DX if it is maladjusted. If it is a helmet it will either fall off, or turn to blind the wearer. Armor that is maladjusted will stay maladjusted until fixed. This is a long action. 15 TANGLED - You get tangled up with yourself somehow. Make a DX roll each turn to get untangled. While tangled you may not fire but may defend at -2. 16 SPRAIN - You sprain some part of your body. Roll randomly for hit location. You suffer a -2 Pain penalty whenever you try to use that body part. 17 RANDOM DAMAGE - You take damage from some logical, random source. If you are in a battle you are hit by a stray missile, if you are in a melee then a friend or foe accidently hits you. If you are in a single combat you twist your ankle or step on a nail. Damage done should be no more than 1d6 points of damage. 18 DAMAGE SELF - You either shoot yourself in the foot or arm or hurt your hand somehow, whichever is more probably or inconvenient. Damage should be no more than 1d6 points. MELEE CRITICAL MISSES (2D6) 2 RANDOM DAMAGE - You take damage from some logical, random source. If you are in a battle you are hit by a stray missile, if you are in a melee then a friend or foe accidently hits you. If you are in a single combat you twist your ankle or step on a nail. Damage done should be no more than 1d6 points of damage. 3-4 WEAPON BOUND WITH OPPONENT - Your weapon or shield gets tangled up somehow, either with a friend's armor or weapon or with an enemy's armor or weapon. Roll randomly for which weapon is affected and who it's tangled up with. Roll vs. ST each turn to get your weapon untangled. You may defend normally, but you may not attack. 5-6 BEHIND/IN ENEMY LINES - The battle lines shift so that you are in or behind enemy lines, whichever puts you at greater risk. 7 DYING FOE - A dying foe falls on you, or else you trip on a body. You are at -2 to attack or defend this turn. 8-9 SEPARATED FROM COMRADES - The battle line shifts and you are separated from your comrades by 1d3 hexes in a plausible direction. 10-11 CRUSHED BY MASS OF PEOPLE - Your friends and foes crush in on you. You can only move at 1/2 normal Move this turn, and are at -1 to attack and defend. 12 HIT BY FRIEND - A friend accidently hits you. Roll randomly to see who it is. BLACK POWDER CRITICAL MISSES (4D6) 4 EXPLOSION - You gun explodes doing half the damage the load would have done to your face and hands. Good quality guns or better get a saving throw. 5 BARREL OBSTRUCTED - The gun must make an immediate saving throw to see if it explodes. 6 MATCH GETS INTO POWDER/BAD CARTRIDGE - If you are using a matchlock gun, a match gets into the powder and causes an explosion. This does 1d6 points of burn damage. Other guns misfire. 7 CHARGE NOT TAMPED RIGHT - You will be at -4 to hit. You must also roll to see if the gun explodes. 8 RAM ROD LEFT IN BARREL - You will be at -2 to hit. The ramrod is at -10 to hit, but does the same damage as the ball if it hits. Now you don't have a way of loading your weapon. 9 TOO MUCH POWDER LOADED/DOUBLE LOADED CARTRIDGE - You will be at -4 to hit and must roll vs. Black Powder skill or take 1 point of damage to your shoulder. You must also roll for the gun to see if it is damaged. If the load actually hits it will do 1d6 extra points of damage. 10 SPILL - You drop something at your feet. Roll 1d6: 1-2 powder, cap or cartridge pouch, 3-4 ramrod, 5-6 cap, flints, priming powder or match. A match will go out on 1 (1D6), a pouch will spill. A dropped item takes 2d6 seconds to retrieve. 11 DROP WEAPON - You drop your weapon at your feet. 12 MISFIRE - The gun misfires. Take immediate action and try refiring the load. 13 WEAK LOAD - You are at -4 to hit. If the ball hits it will do 1/2 damage. 14 BAD LOAD - The load will have to be drawn. Go through immediate action before you realize this. 15 HANG-FIRE - The load seems like a dud load, but it will fire 2d6 seconds after you pulled the trigger. Roll vs. Guns skill to avoid shooting yourself or a friend. 16 NO BALL LOADED/BLANK CARTRIDGE - The load automatically misses. 17 FAULTY MECHANISM - You are at -2 to hit until the gun is fixed by a gunsmith. 18 MATCH GOES OUT/WHEEL DOESN'T WORK/HAMMER FAILS - If you're firing a matchlock, the match goes out. If you're firing a flintlock or a wheelock, the mechanism is broken until repaired by a gunsmith. 19 GUN BREAKS - Roll 1D6. On a 1-4 The problem will take 1d6 minutes and a Gunsmith roll to fix. On a 5-6, the problem takes 1d6 hours and a Gunsmith roll. 20 WILD SHOT - The shot goes wild in the most embarrassing or dangerous way that the GM can imagine. 21 SWEAT IN EYES - Sweat gets in your eyes, you are at -2 to hit until you wipe your face. 22 EQUIPMENT TANGLED/LOOSE - You get tangled up with yourself, roll vs. DX each turn to get untangled. 23 SHOOT SELF/FRIEND - Roll randomly for damage location and victim. 24 OFF-BALANCE/FALL - You must roll vs. DX or fall. If you make your DX roll you're off balance and your shot is at -2 to hit. ULTRA TECH CRITICAL MISSES 3-4 WEAPON BREAKS OR SHORTS OUT - It can be repaired (with the proper tools and parts) in 1d6-1 hours, by a successful Armory or Electronics skill roll. If the attack is with a grenade or explosive device, it simply fails to go off. 5-6 FIRING MECHANISM FAILS - An armorer can repair it; each attempt requires 3d6 minutes with the proper tools and parts. 7 FEEDING MECHANISM FAILS - Solid projectile weapons can be used for single shots (reload time 5 seconds). Other weapons will not fire again until repaired (Armorer roll; each attempt requires 1d6-1 hours, minimum 1.) 8 DUD ROUND, MAGAZINE, OR POWER CELL - Roll randomly if more than one might apply. It must be replaced, but the weapon is unharmed. 9-11 WEAPON JAMS OR SHORTS OUT COMPLETELY - It will take a successful skill roll (Weapon skill-4, Armory or Electronics) to unjam or reconnect the circuit. If the weapon is cheap, the skill is at a -3 penalty. Time required will be 2d6 seconds. 12 SIGHTS OUT OF ALIGNMENT - The weapon's sights, firing mechanism or optics are out of alignment. All subsequent aimed shots will be at -3 to hit. All subsequent snap shots will be at -1 to hit. These penalties are doubled at long range. 13-14 POWER SUPPLY INTERMITTENT - The weapon's power supply is intermittent or weak. The weapon will fire, but at -2 to hit and half damage and range. The weapon is also likely to misfire. It will misfire on a 16+. 15 FIRING MECHANISM FAULTY - The weapon's firing mechanism is faulty. The weapon will fire only 50% of the time. Autofire weapons will be at -2 to hit and do half damage (range is unaffected). 16-17 HURT YOURSELF - You accidently shoot or shock yourself in a random location. You do normal damage to the affected part. 18 WEAPON EXPLODES - You take the damage amount of the weapon in crushing damage, with the following additions: If you were aiming, you are also blinded for 5 minutes (unless you were wearing anti-glare, shatterproof goggles).