Page 143 - World of Darkness

Window: Durability 1, Size 3, Structure 4 three extra Durability requires 5 Resources. Reinforcing
Targeting a window specifically imposes a -1 penalty only part of a vehicle — say, windows and/or tires — can
to the attacker’s dice pool. reduce the Resources dots required by one. So, protecting
Door: Durability 3, Size 3, Structure 6 only the tires and windows of a car with +2 Durability
Targeting a door specifically imposes a -1 penalty to demands only 3 Resources.
the attacker’s dice pool. When a door’s Structure rating A car can endure only so much abuse before it mal-
has been exceeded, it’s blasted off or is so battered as to functions and makes driving a challenge. Whenever ac-
offer no more protection. Passengers’ protection is dimin- cumulated Structure damage exceeds Durability, a -1 pen-
ished when doors are lost. Passengers who previously had alty is imposed to Drive rolls thereafter. So, if your
full cover in a car become substantially concealed when a character’s car has a Durability of 3 and it’s accumulated
door is removed. Whereas shots fired had to hit and pen- four points of damage, all Drive rolls suffer a -1 penalty.
etrate metal before, they now simply suffer a -3 penalty In general, damage done specifically to a vehicle’s
(see “Cover in a Vehicle,” below). Each additional door “vulnerable parts” — tires, windows, doors and/or gas tank
lost diminishes concealment by one, so a second missing — are not counted against the car’s overall Durability,
door makes targets partially concealed (-2 penalty to be Size or Structure ratings. Attacks staged against those parts
hit). Missing doors can diminish the penalties that out- simply invoke their own special rules and opportunities
side attackers suffer, but they do not offer bonuses to hit. to impede a vehicle.
That is, passengers’ protection can be reduced to zero at
best; pedestrians firing guns never get bonuses to hit due Cover in a Vehicle
to missing doors. A car’s driver and passengers are considered under
Of course, for a gunman to benefit from a missing full cover (unless windows are open, in which case they’re
door, he has to be firing at the correct side of the vehicle. substantially concealed; -3 to be hit). Shots aimed at a
A gunman on the opposite side still fires at targets under passenger must first penetrate a window or door. The
full cover. former applies if the target sits upright or drives the ve-
Tire: Durability 1, Size 2, Structure 3 hicle. The latter applies if the intended target hides in
Targeting a tire specifically imposes a -3 penalty to the back seat or on the floor.
the attacker’s dice pool. Attacks must inflict lethal dam- Shots fired must pass through the window or door
age in order to damage a tire; attacks that inflict bashing before the target can be hurt. A typical vehicle window
damage have no effect. Each blown tire imposes a -2 pen- has Durability 1, Size 3 and Structure 4, and an attack to
alty on Drive rolls, and decreases speed by one-half. Thus, hit a window specifically suffers a -1 penalty. A typical
a car can no longer travel (faster than a crawl, anyway) door has Durability 3, Size 3 and Structure 6, and target-
with two blown tires. ing it also imposes a -1 penalty. Any successes rolled in
Gas Tank: Durability 6, Size 2, Structure 8 excess of the window or door’s Durability are then rolled
Shooting a gas tank imposes a -3 penalty to the at- as a new dice pool to hit a hiding target.
tack roll, and involves penetrating the vehicle’s frame and See above for the affects of cover when doors are
the tank itself, which is addressed with a Durability of 6. blown off. For full rules on “Concealment” and “Cover,”
Even one point of damage done in excess of that might see pp. 162-164.
trigger an explosion in the tank, assuming there’s an open
flame or spark. If you want a cinematic game, go for it. Acceleration
Rate an exploding car as a likely entry on the Explosives
Chart (p. 179). Just assign a blast area and damage rating Vehicles can accumulate or lose speed over time (as
— say, six yards and four lethal damage. If you’re telling a opposed to people who generally walk or run at constant
more realistic story, you might stipulate that at least three speeds). Acceleration is measured in yards per turn, as is a
Structure must be lost by a gas tank in a single attack for character’s Speed. Each turn, add a vehicle’s present Ac-
an explosion to occur. celeration to last turn’s Acceleration until the driver stops
accelerating and cruises at his present speed. A vehicle’s
Durability Maximum Speed depends on its model. Sports cars can
go faster than station wagons, for example.
As with objects, successes achieved on attacks against A vehicle can typically slow down safely at up to triple
a vehicle must exceed the vehicle’s Durability trait to do its Acceleration in one turn. Trying to stop more quickly
damage. So, if a vehicle has 3 Durability, four or more calls for a Dexterity + Drive roll. Modify the roll by -1 for
successes must be rolled in an attack to do any Structure every full 10 yards per turn over the vehicle’s Accelera-
damage. Vehicles can be reinforced and armored. Doing tion for which the driver seeks to stop.
so essentially adds points to Durability based on the de- For Example: A SUV has an Acceleration of 13 yards
gree of extra protection sought. Reinforcing adds one to per turn, it currently travels 39 yards per turn, and the
three points to Durability rating. Cost for this extra pro- driver tries to stop. He can do so safely. But if the vehicle
tection is a number of Resource dots equal to the Durabil- was traveling 59 yards per turn, a Dexterity + Drive roll
ity added, plus two. Thus, one extra Durability requires 3 would be required at a -2 penalty. A failed roll or dramatic
Resources. Two extra Durability requires 4 Resources. And

142
Chapter 6- DRAMATIC SYSTEMS