Rules of the Damned Human Race (DHR)
Overview
I've been sculpting my set of home rules over the last 17 years keeping elements of game play that I liked from other systems, so I'm telling you up front: my rules are a patch work of what I like from other sets. My main goal is to keep things as simple as you want them to be, so there is a base mechanic and then if you want you can add in optional rules as you see fit. If you have questions or suggestions drop me an email to gabriel_landowski AT yahoo.com and I will gladly respond in kind.
Base Mechanics
Initiative
There are endless methods for determining who goes when but the most important thing as a host is to make sure the person who is currently up in not being overly influenced or pressured by the other players - let that person do what they're going to do without others trying to control everything! Here are my top 3 favorite:
Rating
Whether you decide to track game play at the individual figure or unit level (I use unit level for convention play) you will need to know the Rating or overall effectiveness of your forces:
To Hex or not to Hex
You can choose to play DHR using free-form measuring in inches or you can use hexes which tends to be cleaner. If you play with free-form then try to keep any one unit grouped together for continuity, and if figures are getting too far from center mass then have them make a Rating check or do nothing that round. More recently I have found that playing on hexes is cleaner and easier for convention play, so I will favor that method for this write up. Just know what your hex size represents so that you weapon ranges and movement distances are reasonable for your scenario.
Movement
Base Movement Points for different types of troops (assuming 6 inch hexes):
Terrain can slow your figures or units down and a check is made BEFORE you attempt to enter or cross it. If you fail your check and still have sufficient Movement Points left then you can pay the required points again and automatically succeed in crossing (unless you have a piece of terrain that you really want to make a challenge to cross like fortress walls, barbed wire, etc. in which case the unit or figure has to keep making checks and spending points until they actually pass). You can only auto pass a terrain check in the same turn, so don't bother keeping track of failures if you have no Movement Points left.
Be careful in laying out your terrain so that it compliments game play. It is far too easy to just toss stuff down only to have it cause issues later on. So make sure that the terrain encourages easy of placement and navigation and adjust unclear terrain situations where possible. Keep in mind that a road leading through woods allow units and figures traveling on it the benefit of the lesser terrain DV value, in this case 0 (open road) vs 4 (thick woods).
Firing
When you have the option for a unit to fire at a target the basic method is to roll a D6 for each figure firing and if their result is equal to or less than (this is a running theme) then they have scored a possible hit. So if I have 10 Seasoned (3) troops firing I roll 10D6, and for each 3 or less I have scored a possible hit on my enemy.
There are a few factors which can effect a firing die roll:
Range
The weapon you are firing should have a range value (in inches or number of hexes) and you suffer no penalty out to this distance. For each additional range value the target is away you subtract 1 from your firing roll. So if I have a Seasoned (3) soldier firing a rifle with a Range of 6 hexes at a target I would need to roll on 1D6:
Rate of Fire
Some weapons allow you to increase your rate of fire which degrades your accuracy. For example RoF 1|1|1 means you can roll 1D6 per firer at no penalty, 2D6 at a -1 penalty, and 3D6 a -2 penalty. So a Seasoned (3) soldier firing three times with no Range penalty would roll 3D6 and score possible hits for any 1 or less. Rates of Fire can vary from weapon to weapon:
Rather than come up with all weapon system Rates of Fire right here and right now, I'll just let you come up with them on your own. In general no Rate of Fire should be longer than #|#|#|#|# or a -4 to the firing roll. The amount of ammo the weapon has readily available can dictate the length of the RoF, so if I have a Thompson SMG my RoF might be 2|2|2 but a similar weapon with an endless magazine capacity would be 2|2|2|2|2. Some weapons might have more rounds up front but fewer as you keep firing such as 3|2|1. A general guideline I use for anything automatic like machine guns is to find the cyclic rate of fire and divide that number by 100. So a German MG 42 from WW2 might have a 1200 RPM cyclic rate of fire, and thus I would have 12D6 to work with and give it a RoF of 3|3|2|2|2 (first I gave all slots and equal die value then started from left to right with the remainder). So I could fire 6D6 and be at a -1 for all shots due to Rate of Fire. For multiple targets the machine gunner can either lay a Line of Sight and attack all figures within an inch of it up to max dice, or if traversing fire attack a number of figures equal to the firepower which are ALSO within the same distance of each other in inches (free-form) or same hex. Use what works best and seems to make the most sense - don't be afraid to test fire prior to a full game to see if something is not balanced correctly - it'll become obviously rather quickly.
Terrain Saves
As the target of being fired at you can attempt to eliminate possible hits. For every possible hit roll a D6 equal to or less than the Defensive Value for each terrain along the line of sight. For example, if I received 6 possible hits across a field of crops (DV 1) and I am hiding behind a wall (DV 3) then I simply roll 6D6 and any result of 1 or less negates the possible hit. Any surviving shots then roll vs 3 or less with any survivng shots hitting the target. If I am fired at across three separate walls, all of DV 3, then my target number is still 3 or less to negate the hits, I would just roll for each eliminating shots as they are absorbed by the terrain before moving on to the next. Ultimately you can get as fancy as you would like with this, but I like to keep it simple. If you are using hexes then trace line of sight from center-to-center of each hex. If your line of sight falls along a hex edge, then use the LESSER of the two Defensive values. So if I am firing at a target two hexes away across a hex spine (vs an edge) and the hex to my left is a tilled field (DV 1) and the hex to the right of the spine is heavy woods (DV 4) then I can choose the lesser DV value for my Line of sight.
Armor Saves
Once you have determined how many possible hits remain a unit can still save if they have appropriate armor protection. Let's say that my unit of men-at-arms were fired upon with 8 possible hits due to arrows. My men are hiding behind a wall and are able to negate 3 hits leaving 5 possible hits. We decided that my men have chain armor giving them a DV 2 vs arrows, so I roll 5D6 and unfortunately 3 of my men still are eliminated. Don't make this too complicated. Typically I rule that modern body armor stops modern small arms and fragments with a DV 2. For my fantasy games I generally go with:
Melee
Melee works pretty much just like Firing except Rate of Fire is always 1 (unless you want to get creative or make special characters) and that you enemy gets to attack you AT THE SAME TIME. So just because you run into a group of pikes don't think that it can't go terribly wrong for you. Terrain and armor saves work the same as with firing except that only the defender of a melee gets the benefit of terrain saves.
Morale
Contrary to popular belief, most battles are primarily men hiding and running away as much as they are firing and taking ground. Whenever your unit is attacked they have to make a Morale check equal to or less than their Rating plus their DV minus any casualties just taken. If they fail, then they run away from the attacker equal to the 1D6 inches each for free-form or that # of hexes (max equal to the number of casualties taken that instant) ignoring terrain hindrance. For example, I have a unit of Veteran (4) WW2 infantry sneaking up along a wall (DV 3) and they receive machine gun fire from the other side but take no casualties, they would have to roll a (4+3-0=7) or less on a D6 which means they automatically save. If that same group then takes another round of fire and loses 2 men, they would then have to roll a (4+3-2=5) or less. If they happened to roll a 6 then they would have failed by 1, which means they would retreat 1D6 inches free-form or 1 hex away from the shooters. And finally, let's say I have a unit of 20 Napoleonic soldiers Rating 2 in the open (DV 0) and I take 3 casualties. I would need to roll a -1 but instead I rolled a 6. The math says I would retreat 7 hexes or 7D6 inches, but as I only took 3 casualties my 7 result becomes a 3 instead.
Morale checks for hand-to-hand or melee fights are only slightly more complicated. It is assumed that only the defender will use the DV # of the terrain in which they are being attacked or are currently behind such as a wall. So if a unit of my infantry charge your men hiding behind a wall, then your men would get the benefit of the wall DV and mine would not (the idea is I'm crawling over the thing to get at you). IF, however, the next round you melee me back, then I am considered the Defender and I get the DV bonus, not you (the same idea, you're trying to claw your way over the wall to me). I would still benefit from any terrain DV in which I was attacking from, but I would not get the DV value of the location I was attacking.
Your unit of swordsmen (Seasoned 3) is holed up in a farm house (DV 4) and is attacked by my infantry (Rating 4) from across an open yard (DV 0). We both roll our attacks and I eliminate 3 of your men and you get 2 of mine. So your Morale check would be a (Seasoned 3 + Farm House DV 4 - 3 Casualties) 4 or less to remain in the house. My check would be a (Veteran 4 + Open ground 0 - 2 Casualties) 2 or less to remain. If your unit does not flee and my does not as well, then my guys will remain just outside the house. If you happen to flee and I do not, then I can stay in the house.
Optional Rules
There are a bunch of optional rules I have used on and off over the years, but contact me with the genre you want to fight and I will update these here as they are discussed. gabriel_landowski AT yahoo.com
Area Effect
Explosives, shells, flame throwers, mines, or a sweeping attack from a giant with a club can hit a whole hex space. So the attacker fires or swings (1D6) to hit the target hex if at a distance, if melee it is automatic hit. Then every defending figure in that hex makes a terrain save based on DV # and if applicable an armored save (because only sci-fi save you from flame throwers). Treat morale checks the same as you would any other attack except if the terrain is untenable (on fire, poison gas) in which case you would not add the DV # to the roll. If the attack is area-effect but light in nature (like a 60mm mortar round) consider allowing an appropriate save due to a weaker charge. By example, if a modern infantry patrol is walking down the street and an IED goes off, I might decide that the whole squad is attacked, but there is only a 3 in 6 chance they are hit to begin with due to the nature of the bomb. It is up to you and decide it ahead of time with your opponents.
Armored Vehicles & Heavy Weapons
Mixing in vehicles can be a challenge. One option is to allow a D6 for every half inch or 12.5mm of armor. In general I use several armored categories, and different angles of attack or parts could have different ratings, but again keep it simple and let the dice decide the details:
In general I use several armament categories. You can increase or decrease these values based on your knowledge of the type of armor rating they should be able to reasonably defeat. Note the "anti-tank grenade" in the 1D6 column - I try to make infantry somewhat dangerous vs armor at close range to keep the armor guys from just over running the whole board in a single go. In reality most armored veterans were not too keen about advancing close to enemy dismounts which is why the combined arms infantry/tank coordination was so important.
For convention play where I have 8 people and 35 plus units roaming the board I simply say a kill is a kill and leave it at that. The vehicle or walker becomes immobile cover, and I like to add smoke for effect (and a +1DV if you're shooting through it). You can make as detailed or complex a critical hits results table as you want, but I have been known to roll 1D6 for effect for each die which beat the defender to add flavor in private games:
Special Figures
If you want to make things more interesting or reflective to your genre then individual special figures may be something to consider. In general I allow individual figures to stick (moves with them) with any unit to which they attached themselves and they cannot switch to another unit until it is their turn. That being said, individuals can drop out of a unit as it is moving at any point.
Crew Served Weapons
Guns and artillery need crews to operate them and keep them fed so crew loss can mean loss of firing. If a crew is reduced then the player must make a Rating check for each crew member lost. So if I had a Veteran (4) MG-42 machine gun team of 5 and 2 were eliminated, the next time that gun would want to fire it would have to roll 2 dice and get a 4 or less on both or else lose that RoF.
© 2017, Gabriel Landowski