Weightings for Trav AD&D Weapons

Last Updated 11 July 2002.

Introduction

Back in 1987 or so, the gaming group I belong to played AD&D predominantly. Out of this group, I had a number of players for MegaTraveller, but also a number that were not interested. Although they had rolled some characters and played some scenarios, this second group simply preferred the mechanics of AD&D.

One of these players, "Lex" Lothar, suggested converting Traveller to AD&D in order to give this remaining group more interest in the game. We found a copy of TSR's old Buck Rogers game, and started the conversion process. Immediately, we decided we hated the Buck Rogers class system and gave it the flick - an interesting decision, in light of T20's distinct split between class and archetype. Based directly on on profession, we felt the old class system worked for a stereo-typical fantasy setting (one person, one profession, limited set of fixed skills), but not for a science-fiction one (one person, multiple professions, many and varied cross-profession skills). Who knows - perhaps we were simply influenced by Traveller's existing careers, and the emphasis of acquired skills over inherent class abilities?

In any case, we had to come up with some numbers for the weaponry. The Buck Rogers weapons had too much of a space-opera flavour, not enough variety, and not enough of a Traveller "feel". As well as this, a critical part of the AD&D system is the weapon balance; no single weapon is better than any other, but they are balanced against each other. A dagger is a very fast weapon, but does little damage; conversely, a two-handed sword is much slower but does more damage. We decided that even though the weapons were primarily missile-throwers, not melee weapons, there still had to be a balance. Note that this is actually contrary to standard Traveller, where it is possible for a weapon to be king - for example, the TL 12 gauss rifle is THE longarm of choice.

Lex, being somewhat of an analyst, studied the problem and suggested breaking down a weapon's abilities into a series of attributes (eg. "magazine capacity"). Next, he derived a range of values for each attribute, working from Classic Traveller, Striker, and MegaTraveller. For example, 2 shots might be loaded into a double-barrel shotgun, 6 shots into a "6-shooter" (revolver), 15 rounds into a TL 13 gauss pistol, or a 40-round magazine into an submachinegun. The value for each attribute was then given a weighting (eg. a 20-round magazine has a weighting of +2). A weapon designer can pick and choose different attributes from the list and create a new weapon, as long as the +ve attributes and the -ve attributes add together to make zero. For example, to balance out the 20-round magazine (+2) a rifle may be designed with a 1/3 rate of fire (-2).

Lex and I reviewed each major Traveller man-portable weapon, decided on its basic attributes, and documented them for use with our Traveller as AD&D system.

Usage

A weapon designer can pick from the list and create a new weapon, as long as the +ve attributes and the -ve attributes add together to make zero. For example, you can make a hunting rifle by combining a 1500 m range (+5) with a magazine capacity of 2 (-5).

For an added bonus, it is possible to make a "plus" weapon, for weapons manufactured above the average Imperial tech level (TL). For example, you could rule that a high-tech weapon is "+2", meaning that you can use the extra bonus points to create a "special" weapon. A "hunting rifle" built at TL 15 can have its damage increased to 3d4.

Damage is a little more complicated. Decide on the damage you want the weapon to do, and the damage spread, and then pick the closest Damage Dice roll that fits.

(Data provided with thanks to Lothar "Lex" Dienar).

Tables

DICE TABLE
Die Type Measure Number of Dice
All Min 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
d4 Max 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32
  Avg 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20
d6 Max 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48
  Avg 3.5 7 10.5 14 17.5 21 24.5 28
d8 Max 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64
  Avg 4.5 9 13.5 18 22.5 27 31.5 36
d10 Max 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
  Avg 5.5 11 16.5 22 27.5 33 38.5 44
d12 Max 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96
  Avg 6.5 13 19.5 26 32.5 39 45.5 52
d20 Max 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
  Avg 10.5 21 31.5 42 52.5 63 73.5 84

WEAPONS TABLE
Weapon Type Attributes Weightings
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9
Pistols Range       25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100 112.5 125 150      
Damage Max Damage 4.0 4.7 5.3 6.0 6.7 7.3 8.0 8.7 9.3 10.0 10.7 11.3 12.0      
Avg Damage 2.5 2.9 3.3 3.75 4.2 4.6 5 5.4 5.8 6.25 6.6 7.1 7.5      
Damage Dice 1d4     1d6 1d8   2d4 1d8+1 1d10   1d12 2d6 3d4      
Rifles Range 50 75 100 150 200 250 300 400 600 900 1200 1500 1800      
Damage Max Damage 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16      
Avg Damage 2.5 3.1 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.3 6.9 7.5 8.1 8.8 9.4 10.0      
Damage Dice 1d4 1d4+1 1d6 1d8 2d4 1d8+1 1d10 2d6 1d12
or 3d4
3d4+1 1d12+2 2d8 4d4      
General Slug Throwers RoF 1/4 1/3 1/2 1     2     3     4     5
AoE (radius in m)             0   1.5   3   4.5      
Mag Capacity   2 4 6 8 10 12 15 20 30 40          
Grenade Launchers Range 50 75 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600      
Damage Max Damage 6 9.5 13 16.5 20 23.5 27 30.5 34 37.5 41 44.5 48      
Avg Damage 3.5 5.5 7.6 9.6 11.7 13.7 15.8 17.8 19.8 21.9 23.9 26.0 28.0      
Damage Dice 1d6 1d10 3d4
or 2d6
4d4 5d4
or 3d6
4d6 3d10 5d6 3d12 4d10
or 6d6
5d8+1
or 7d6
4d12 8d6      
RoF 1/5   1/4   1/3   1/2   1   2   3      
AoE (radius in sq) 1   2   3   4   5   6   7      
Mag Capacity 1, disp   1   2   3 4 5 6 7 8 9      
Range: weapon range in metres.
Max Damage: is the maximum Hit Points that a single attack can inflict.
Avg Damage: is the average Hit Points that a single attack can inflict.
Damage Dice: the nearest set of dice that max out at or near the Max Damage value, and that also average around the Avg Damage value.
RoF: rate of fire per round.
AoE: area of effect, measured from the target square. For slug throwers, the AoE is measured in metres; for grenade launchers, the AoE is measured in 1.5 m squares. This is only an attribute of HE or HEAP ammunition.
Mag Capacity: magazine capacity. 1, disp indicates a one-use, disposable grenade launcher.

AREA OF EFFECT TABLE
Squares from Target 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Metres from Target 0 1.5 3 4.5 6 7.5 9 10.5
6 HD over 7 squares Dice Spread 6 5.25 4.5 3.75 3 2.25 1.5 0.75
Damage Dice 6d6 5d6 5d6 4d6 3d6 2d6 2d6 1d6
6 HD over 3 squares Dice Spread 6 4.5 3 1.5 - - - -
Damage Dice 6d6 5d6 3d6 2d6 - - - -


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