Return to Dracula's America, Part 3- Louder Than Words

Here we are with the last in this little 'mini-series' of Posts giving you new rules to try out in your games of Dracula's America.
This time we will be looking at some new rules for Actions, to give your models some additional, dynamic options during play.

The usual disclaimer applies here- these are not yet 'official' amendments to the rules, so you should always agree to their use with your opponents beforehand. Please do give them a go, though, and see what you think- any feedback can be shared with me either here or on the Lead Adventure Forum (I don't have Facebook so won't be able to keep track of things on the Player's Page!).

Let's get to it:


SPRINT.
Once per Activation, an unengaged model that is on foot may Sprint instead of making a normal Move Action.
For the duration of that Move, the model adds +2" to it's Move Rate (so typically giving a total movement of 6"). However, this Move must be made in a straight line- choose the direction you will Sprint before making the Action.
You can use Sprint to Charge or engage an enemy.


SNAP-FIRE.
Once per Activation, a model may Snap-Fire instead of making a normal Shoot Action.
This Action must always be made against the closest visible Target, and the Shooter makes a 1 Die Shooting Test that can never be modified in any way.
If a Hit is scored, then the Target must make a 1 Die Nerve Test- if Successful, they are unaffected. If they Fail this Test they are marked as Done (think of them as pinned-down by the wild incoming fire).
As soon as the Snap-Fire is resolved, the Shooter's Action ends immediately- using a Skill or Weapon (such as a Repeater Rifle) does not allow you to make any additional shots in the same Action!


BLIND-FIRE.
Once per Activation, a model may Blind-Fire instead of making a normal Shoot Action.
Resolve a Snap-Fire attack using the rules above (this counts as your Snap-Fire for that Activation), but treat the shot as being made from a position 1" away and in LOS of the Shooter. This must be a position that would be accessible to the Shooter, and allows you to represent things like a model quickly ducking from around a corner to get in a hasty shot, before ducking back into cover.
In this way, you can potentially avoid triggering an enemy model on Lookout.


LIE PRONE.
An unengaged model on foot may Lie Prone at the end of any Move Action. Lie the model on it's side and give it a Prone marker to show this (and to differentiate it from Downed models).
A Prone model can stand back up, but this takes up an entire Action. Until then it may be harder to see, counts as being in Cover against Shooting (even if in the open), may Move up to 2", may not Charge or otherwise engage an enemy, cannot hold a Bystander and suffers a -1 Die Modifier in a Fight. It may still Shoot or Cast Arcane Powers.


So far I've found these options to be good fun, and that they serve to make the game even more cinematic; but let me know what you think after giving them a go!

I'll be back in the near future with some more Drac.Am painting...

Return to Dracula's America, Part 2- Regarding Summoning, and the Gentle Art of Hitting Things.

Hello, folks!

Here is the second batch of optional rules for Drac.Am for you to take a look at- as before, please give them a try and let me know what you think, but remember that these aren't official new rules; simply some 'work in progress' options for you to try out ahead of a future errata/FAQ...

Don't forget to spread the word- the more people we have testing them out, the better!


First up, Fighting- I know that some people find this a little underwhelming compared to shooting, and this was deliberate since I wanted this to be a game about close-range fire-fights rather than a face-to-face slugging match! But for those who favour fisticuffs, here are some new rules to try out:


FIGHTING.

• When you Strike your opponent, their Save is determined by the total Successes you scored, rather than the difference between your totals.
• Shoving works exactly as before- you push your opponent away a number of inches equal to the difference between totals.
• If the Defender wins the Fight, they will not Strike their Attacker. Instead, they may either remain engaged or Shove their opponent away.

Now here's an alternate idea for Summoning in the game- some players feel that this can get a little out of control (especially with an optimised Crossroads Cult Posse!), so here is one possible solution to this:


SUMMONING.
If your Posse has the ability to Summon other models during play, you will generate a 'Pool' of 4 Summoning Points (SP) at the start of each game.

SP are expended whenever you Summon a model during that game- whenever you successfully Summon a creature, reduce your Pool by the corresponding amount of SP shown below.

Use a piece of spare paper to track the number of Points you have available during play, and ensure you keep your opponents updated on how many SP you have remaining as the game progresses!

• Lesser Entities cost 1/2 an SP each.
• Minor Entities cost 1 SP each.
• Major Entities cost 2 SP each.

For example, I successfully Summon a Behemoth- this costs me 2 SP. I now have 2 SP remaining in my Pool. Later that game, I Summon a Lesser Entity- this costs me 1/2 an SP. I now have 1 and-a-half SP remaining in my Pool!

Return to Dracula's America. Part 1- 'Tis But A Scratch!

Time to blow the cobwebs off this Blog...

While my gaming time has been limited due to me taking advantage of the dry weather (though my Church of Dagon Posse is coming along nicely), I haven't been idle behind the scenes- between myself, Northstar Miniatures and Osprey Games you will hopefully start to see a gradual release of additional material for players of Drac.Am over the coming months!
While I can't give too much away right now, expect new rules for Twilight Order and Red Hand players, new Factions, new Hired Guns and Mercenary Drifters, rules for setting your games and campaigns in a new environment, and extended background dealing with the aftermath of Forbidden Power- even a look into the origins of Dracula and vampirism. I'm also working on a 'choose your own adventure' style 'branching narrative campaign' to tie it all together...

Hopefully we can round it all off with an Errata/FAQ, and a few optional or updated rules- in that spirit, I thought I'd share an idea for new Injury Tables with you here, so you can have a crack at them and maybe even give me some feedback! I intended the existing Injury system to be pretty unforgiving, to represent the dangers of living in a world populated by monsters (human and otherwise), but I'm aware that it can be a little too 'rich' for some- here, then, are a set of (slightly) more forgiving Injury Tables for the faint of heart!


INJURY TABLE.

1 = Dead!

2-4 = Lasting Injury. Roll a D5 on the Table below.

5-9 = Close Call. No effect; the model is unharmed.

10 = True Grit!

LASTING INJURY TABLE.

1 = Old Wound.
2 = One-Eyed.
3 = Limp.
4 = Weakened.
5 = Laid-Up. You may pay $5 for medical treatment at this point to treat this as a Close Call.


Please feel free to share this on the Players Facebook Page, or discuss it with me via the Lead Adventure Forum- the more folks that give it a try, the better! Let me also just reiterate that these are still WIP and are not 'official' amendments to the existing rules- as usual, both you and your opponent/s must agree to their use beforehand!


Next up, some options for Summoning...