[HoE] Black Hat Malfunction Table

[DarrinBrig@aol.com]

I need you all to take a look at this and let me know what you think. I may be
putting this up on my web site or sending it in to PEG to put up in the HOE
library (which is looking a little sparse right now).

Well, I took a look at the description of EMP, and it says "Doomsayers with
this power are pure trouble for Throckmorton's goons", so it *must* work on
the Black Hats.  After looking at the table, I decided that Black Hat chips
would be a TN of 11 (Strain 4) to knock out with EMP, with some Black Hat
equipment like vehicles as high as 13 or more. Marshal's call to what kind of
shielding a chip has, but brain and weapon chips ought to be around 11 or so.

In my mind, knocking out the electronics on the Black Hat chips would cause
them immediately to explode, but since I don't want to give my players an easy
way to take out rows upon rows of Black Hats, I figured a table would be more
appropriate.  The chips don't have to be completely fried, but just "confused"
enough so they don't explode.  That's what the shielding is for, right?  I'll
assume the chips all have back-up circuits, quadruple redundancies, and other
things like that.  So I decided that an EMP blast would "knock out" the chips
for whatever the duration is, but a malfunction table would determine the
extent of the damage.

A Black Hat naturally has a lot of chips... one in his head, one on each
weapon, and one on whatever vehicle he may be driving.  So to keep things
simple, the Doomsayer has to pick which device he wants to disable and make
the roll.  If successful, then the GM rolls for a malfunction (2d6).

2-5 Major
6-10 Minor
11-12 Catastrophe

_Minor_
Weapons
Signal blocked.  Weapon refuses to fire for duration of the EMP power.

Vehicles
Signal Blocked.  Vehicle powers down and refuses to start for the duration.
Not actually dangerous unless the vehicle is airborne.

Brain Chips
Signal Blocked.  The Black Hat can't use any weapons, vehicles, or other
devices that require chips for the duration.  This does not cause any of these
devices to explode, however.

_Major_
Weapons
Feedback Loop. As a minor malfunction above, but the weapon malfunctions in a
major way as well. It fires uncontrollably on full-auto, backfires, or jams
(whatever the Marshal feels is appropriate).  Anyone trying to use the weapon
during this time makes another malfunction roll on this table for each
attempt.  Jammed weapons require a Fair (5) Tinkering roll to clear, but the
weapon won't fire until the duration of the EMP power expires.

Vehicles
Feedback Loop.  As a minor malfunction above, but other electronic systems in
the vehicle might have gotten hit as well.  The vehicle swerves wildly out of
control, suddenly accelerates, or refuses to respond to the controls.  An
Onerous (7) Driving roll is required to bring the vehicle safely to a stop
(more rolls may be required if the vehicle is airborne), but any attempt to
restart the vehicle during this time means another roll on the malfunction
table.  The vehicle can't actually operate, but it may suddenly accelerate out
of control or explode.

Brain Chip
Feedback Loop. As a minor malfunction above, but the malfunctioning chip
shocks the Black Hat, who must immediately make an Onerous (7) Vigor check or
be stunned.

_Catastrophe_

Kaboom!  Whatever it is, it explodes/melts.  In addition, roll another 2d6 and
add them together. If the result is an 11 or 12, any other Black Hat chips
within 5 yards goes up as well. Repeat as necessary.


Disarming Chips

Letting Black Hat equipment get into PC hands might be a big no-no for the
sake of game balance, so Marshal's call on this, but by using this power it
might be possible to disarm the booby-traps on Black Hat equipment.  If a chip
suffered a minor or major malfuction, and providing the PCs have enough time,
they can try and disarm the chips.  First, a Hard (9) Demolitions roll is
required to disarm the explosives/thermite charges. Failure means either the
PC didn't have enough time before the chip reactivates or he disarmed a dummy
circuit.  Any further attempts on the same piece of equipment increases the TN
by 2. Going bust means kablooie. After the charges have been disarmed, a Hard
(9) Tinkering or Trade: Electronics roll must be made to rig a bypass for the
ignition circuits. Failure means the PC doesn't have enough electronic
components, and can try again after buying or scrounging for more parts. Going
bust means he ruins whatever electronic components were in the equipment,
rendering it completely useless.

At the Marshal's option, the PCs could try this without using the EMP power.
In this case, the Demolitions TN is 13, and failure means the charges explode.