"Action Points for Necromunda?" Topic

I've been playing Necromunda off and on for quite some time. I've changed little things here and there over time, but It was never quite the game I wanted it to be.

After trying to find a good replacement and failing, I've decided to try some BIG changes to Necromunda.

I wanted to add in some more options for actions and rather than writing a bunch of rules for what you can and can't do together, I thought action points would help keep everything nice and clear. Having not played with action points in about 20 years, I thought I'd seek some input. My basic outline is below, input appreciated.

Each model gets 5 APs per turn.
-a "move" costs 2 (even if you don't use the full distance)
-"double move" (running) costs 4
-"shooting" costs 2
-"aiming" costs 2 (aiming adds +1 to a shot in the same turn)
-"charge" costs 4
-going on "overwatch" costs 3
-"jump" (3 inches) costs 2
-"long jump" (3 inches plus d6 inches) costs 3
-"climb" 1 inch (if there is sufficient surface texture and no scaffolding, ladders, or ropes) costs 1
-"hide" costs 1 (makes maximum use of cover, allows you to ignore the hiding models pose for determining line of sight)
-"pop up" costs 1 (if you are hiding or prone, you must "pop up" before you can take any other actions)
-"MSO" (manipulate simple object) costs 1 (draw a weapon, put a weapon away, open a door, pick up loot, pick up weapons, etc.)

I hope I haven't missed any important actions. I intentionally set it up to allow some actions you can't do together in regular Necromunda.

I've probably overlooked some serious consequence of this, so I'm hoping you can help me sort it.

Thanks

Seems like you could simplify it to 4 ap per turn, streamline a few of the things that take 3 APs.

Heck, even simplfy it to 2 AP and cost everything at 1 or 2. That's what I'd do, but it's your mod, so whatever feels right for the style of play you want.

It's been a long time since I played. Is Necromunda alternating activation? If not, that would be a nice mod as well.

No, it's strictly igougo, but I actually like that about Necromunda. I'm probably a minority, but alternating activations doesn't appeal to me.

I started with 4, but had to bump it to five so that you could do certain actions together, but not others.

Looks good so far. The only one that I would change would be Hide, by increasing it to 2. It just seems that people would be hiding too much. Depends on your style of play, though. Like most ideas playtesting usually turns up any flaws in logic.

Why not just make an action equal to x amount of movement and then base the action points on what they can do with that.

So if you have a move value of 4 you have 8 action points. With that you can move 8 inches and not shoot or move 4 inches and shoot, shooting costing 4 action points.

That way you could spend 2 action points and move, then 4 and shoot and 2 more and move again or whatever.

Going on overwatch is like shooting so it costs 4. So you can move and go on overwatch or maybe even shoot and then go on overwatch or shoot and shoot depending on how shooty you want it to be.

Sounds like you wanna play Combat Zone.
Not joking and not being snarky.

Funny Privateer, I thought of suggesting Combat Zone as well.

Yep. Other than the exact points costs, he's listed just about every option available to a CZ model in game.

Sounds like you wanna play Combat Zone.

Where were you guys when I asked for skirmish game suggestions the other day ;)

Does Combat zone have a good campaign/advancement system? That is the main reason I've stuck with Necromunda so far.

@Acharnement
Good point. Though it may not be an issue with me and the 1 opponent I have. He's too aggressive to hide and I'm more interested in having a good game than exploiting the system. I made it 1AP so you could fire off a shot and dive(move) for cover(hide). It was intended to allow a standing model to hide behind what would otherwise be chest high (or similar) cover. A real moving person could crouch down, but the model obviously can't. It's not much different than ending your move behind a high wall or other larger cover, except that next turn you have to burn an AP to "Pop Up" before you can move, which you wouldn't have to do if you were behind a wall.

@Pictors Studio
I thought about going to 8, but wasn't sure I should go that high. Maybe just a silly notion on my part. I made overwatch 3 so you could move into position and go on overwatch or fire off a shot to get their heads down, then go on overwatch but not anything more than that.

Most of this I've changed to allow for some of the staples you see in a standard action movie.

I should really keep better notes. I just remembered why I went with 5 instead of 8. It keeps players from spending 1AP to move an inch, spending 4 to shoot, and spending 1 to move an inch, then still having 2 action points to spend.

With this set up, if you move 2 inches, you've still spent a full moves worth of AP. If you shoot, you're left with just 1AP. Hiding, climbing, and MSO aren't always going to be options, so most rounds you'll just move and shoot.

I think I borrowed "Hide" and "Pop Up" from Chain Reaction, but I've looked at a lot of rule sets lately, so I could be wrong.

CZ has a campaign dealie(free for download from publisher site):
PDF link
Let you see if you like it.

It also has CZ Chronicles, one of the better publisher provided/fan supported sites for new rules, terrain tips, etc.:
combatzonechronicles.net

You can buy just the CZ rule pack (includes counters) by itself very cheaply. EM4 is a great company to buy from and to support. Core rule pack/book has several quasi-linked scenarios that let you represent two sides fighting over several battles.

I have not played in a long time. What problem does this new action point system solve that was broken in the original rules?

@ Privateer4hire
I love the Cozo Chron and have most of the EM4 stuff. Just never tried out the rules.

@CorpCommander
It wasn't so much broken as just insufficient. I wanted to add aiming, allow you to shoot twice if you didn't move, and add the ability to pick up weapons. I could have just written a complicated set of rules that said you can do this with that, but not that other thing and so on. By using an action point system, all actions are clearly defined as what actions you can mix and match in a turn.

It just seemed less work to me. The reason I'm trying to modify Necromunda rather than use a system that already has those features is Necromunda has a fairly detailed campaign system and the 1 guy I play with has a good understanding of the game and is open to changes. I'm sure he'd be be willing to switch, but I think it would be harder to add Necromunda's campaign system to a game neither of us are familiar with.

Consectari, you might want to go here:

link

and look at the bottom of the page at 'You'd Better Do Something'.

And we always ruled that if you could get to a downed model, you could strip off whatever gear you wanted…

Take a look at the 'Judge-Dredd' rules from Mongoose…

Take a look at the 'Judge-Dredd' rules from Mongoose…

I was supposed to get these free for buying into their kickstarter. When I tried to download them from the online store (forget who), nothing happened. When I tried it again, it said my code had already been used and wouldn't let me try again.
:p

When we played Necromunda, we let the (otherwise useless and forgotten) Initiative stat determine the number of actions, so I guess you could call it action points. I believe we lowered all base I by one though, to bring the standard down to two. Worked well and suddenly the I stat was worth something.