Current opinions on Five Klicks from the Zone?

[iDreamofMinis]

The great part about playing solo is that you can change/bend rules to your liking.  If you don't like the short maximum range, I would suggest using a range system similar to Spectre Operations.  In those rules, you use range intervals.  So, the weapon may have 6" range intervals and then have no penalty in the first interval, +1 at 6"-12", +2 at 12"-18", and so on.

This is a little more realistic and doesn't take too much time to figure out.  It also really forces people to think about walking in the open when you've got bullets/lasers flying around!

[War Monkey]

I like 5P very much, I will have to get 5K. I am very much a solo gamer and been wanting to play a P.A. a game based on an old book series "The Guardians"



The main premise of the series is, that a specialized team based out of secret US base are to go out and recover top Scientists, Engineers and so forth. The list of these people to recover is cell based the president has the first three names those named each have a list of three additional name so 1 becomes 3 and 3 becomes 9. The problem is the president didn't make it. So, by aid of computers at the base they have come up with their own list. So now are these names on the original the list? Are they still alive? Are they still located at their last known location? What are they going to face as they venture forward to recover these individuals on their new list? What are they going to encounter on their return trip? Can they get these people back to their secret base alive?

So yes, I think this would be great game to play out! Make a US map or one of what country you live in and divided into a 20D or large Dice number. Roll the D20 to see where on the map you have to go from your base location and any sections of your D20 map you have to cross are the number of game session you have to play out getting to that location to include encounters in that location and the numbers you have to play out getting back. So, you may plot out your travels to minimize the number of encounters and looking at your map and think of things you may have to cross along the way, like major rivers are the bridges still there? Are these bridges being controlled by some Gang or Militia?

Yeah, I have been thinking about this kind of scenarios for a long time.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Wow! That brings back some memories! Ha! I recall a lot of writing about specifics on the vehicles (Air Force Security armored cars?) and each of the team members being from a different branch… with the Navy guy surprisingly not being a SEAL. Am I remembering that right? Writing style kind of along the lines of the Mack Bolan books?

I do not remember enough of the books but from what you have said and what little I remember…. Yeah that would be a great premise to post-apoc game.

[Kikuchiyo]

I like 5P very much, I will have to get 5K. I am very much a solo gamer and been wanting to play a P.A. a game based on an old book series "The Guardians"



The main premise of the series is, that a specialized team based out of secret US base are to go out and recover top Scientists, Engineers and so forth. The list of these people to recover is cell based the president has the first three names those named each have a list of three additional name so 1 becomes 3 and 3 becomes 9. The problem is the president didn't make it. So, by aid of computers at the base they have come up with their own list. So now are these names on the original the list? Are they still alive? Are they still located at their last known location? What are they going to face as they venture forward to recover these individuals on their new list? What are they going to encounter on their return trip? Can they get these people back to their secret base alive?

So yes, I think this would be great game to play out! Make a US map or one of what country you live in and divided into a 20D or large Dice number. Roll the D20 to see where on the map you have to go from your base location and any sections of your D20 map you have to cross are the number of game session you have to play out getting to that location to include encounters in that location and the numbers you have to play out getting back. So, you may plot out your travels to minimize the number of encounters and looking at your map and think of things you may have to cross along the way, like major rivers are the bridges still there? Are these bridges being controlled by some Gang or Militia?

Yeah, I have been thinking about this kind of scenarios for a long time.

Thats a great concept of a campaign you could use almost any sysyem to play out

[Kikuchiyo]

The great part about playing solo is that you can change/bend rules to your liking.  If you don't like the short maximum range, I would suggest using a range system similar to Spectre Operations.  In those rules, you use range intervals.  So, the weapon may have 6" range intervals and then have no penalty in the first interval, +1 at 6"-12", +2 at 12"-18", and so on.

This is a little more realistic and doesn't take too much time to figure out.  It also really forces people to think about walking in the open when you've got bullets/lasers flying around!

That is a sound option

[Spinal Tap]

The great part about playing solo is that you can change/bend rules to your liking.  If you don't like the short maximum range, I would suggest using a range system similar to Spectre Operations.  In those rules, you use range intervals.  So, the weapon may have 6" range intervals and then have no penalty in the first interval, +1 at 6"-12", +2 at 12"-18", and so on.

This is a little more realistic and doesn't take too much time to figure out.  It also really forces people to think about walking in the open when you've got bullets/lasers flying around!

Sellswords and Spellslingers solo fantasy game does similar with a penalty to your shoot for every extra 2 inches above a certain limit- so the weapon works fine but your ability to be accurate decreases. There are also positive modifiers based on your skill with the weapon and if you choose to use an extra action to aim.

I changed the weapon limits when I converted the game to sci fi scenarios.

Works well.

[War Monkey]

Wow! That brings back some memories! Ha! I recall a lot of writing about specifics on the vehicles (Air Force Security armored cars?) and each of the team members being from a different branch… with the Navy guy surprisingly not being a SEAL. Am I remembering that right? Writing style kind of along the lines of the Mack Bolan books?

I do not remember enough of the books but from what you have said and what little I remember…. Yeah that would be a great premise to post-apoc game.

Yes, those are the ones, I love that series. Lost my whole set many years ago and working to recover the whole set to re-read them all again. Yes, I think it would great to play this out. I like the idea of a greater mission rather than trying to hunt down supplies. It would make your team a larger target for their supplies.
I would want to use two vehicles instead of the one in the books and expand the team from 4, to a large 8-man group, technically 12, leaving a 2-man crew in each vehicle, (driver and gunner). the vehicles would act out as single players. At the end of each game, all the after actions would then be divided by all 12.
Anyhow I just think it would be a lot of fun.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Yes, those are the ones, I love that series. Lost my whole set many years ago and working to recover the whole set to re-read them all again. Yes, I think it would great to play this out. I like the idea of a greater mission rather than trying to hunt down supplies. It would make your team a larger target for their supplies.
I would want to use two vehicles instead of the one in the books and expand the team from 4, to a large 8-man group, technically 12, leaving a 2-man crew in each vehicle, (driver and gunner). the vehicles would act out as single players. At the end of each game, all the after actions would then be divided by all 12.
Anyhow I just think it would be a lot of fun.

Two vehicles and a larger team sounds good. I agree, the greater mission has a certain appeal to it over just scrounging.

[CookAndrewB]

I don't want to give too much of the rules away here, but a few things to note:
1) Range may be extended by 4" if the character chooses to not move in a turn.
2) Characters may shoot FURTHER than the max range, but only hit on a natural 6 regardless of skill modifiers, etc.
3) The target number (roll above) does adjust if the target is within 8" (easiest to hit) beyond 8" but within range, and then target in cover (hardest to hit) and target beyond range (natural 6 to hit without modifiers)
4) Natural 1's result in an enemy being pinned, though they are rarely also hit when this occurs. The pinned mechanism has been really fun as it has allowed my team to pin a target in cover and then flank it for the kill, and it has caused me to "lose" an objective as my team gets pinned trying to storm down a hallway and can never get themselves to push forward.

Brawling combat is also pretty awesome as it isn't the same combat mechanism as shooting. You can get into a situation where the attacker takes damage, the two fighters are knocked apart, and even where multiple hits occur. It can be a bit more swingy in this way, but also creates some unique benefit as brawls can be very lethal and quick.

As for the advantage of a hunting/sharpshooter's rifle over a military rifle? Penetration. Penetration reduces the ability of armor to eliminate the damage from a successful hit. So, the range is only one factor to consider. What the bullet does when it gets there is something else. Sharp Shooter's rifle has the range and penetration of the hunting rifle, but also adds one damage (d6+1).

Ultimately, you would really need to read through how combat works. The sequence for ranged combat is something like this:
1. Did the attack hit? If Yes...
2. Does the target have armor? If Yes, successful armor roll to eliminate the incoming damage. (armor 1 means you would need to roll a 1 on D6 to eliminate damage, 2 means 1-2 on D6, etc)
3. Roll damage. Did damage exceed the target's toughness score? If yes = Casualty. If equal = wound (2nd wound = unconscious). If No, the target is staggered.

The rules do include both a detailed explanation of how this all works and a summary sheet that can give you the flow of things in a compact manner. I primarily use a handful of summary sheets to get through games.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Ah, that sounds much better.

[CookAndrewB]

Ah, that sounds much better.

Yes. The talk about range is only part of the weapon stats. Maybe an important first stat, but the weapons do all differentiate themselves by way of a number of stats, and then even some characteristics like multiple shots, area effects, greater tendency to break/jam, etc.