How to Adapt the Palladium Compendium of Contemporary Weapons to Fudge

The Palladium Weapon series of books is a resource requiring a bare minimum of effort by the GM to adapt to Fudge. As it states on the cover of every book in the series, it is "For use with any game system" and as such, it seems perfectly suited for Fudge. Even the game-related abstractions can be used with little or no conversion necessary.

The Compendium of Contemporary Weapons

The information presented in this article will enable you to use the Palladium book The Compendium of Contemporary Weapons, written by Maryann Siembieda (with additional writing by Matthew Balent and Kevin Siembieda) and published by Palladium Books, in your own Fudge game. The Compendium of Contemporary Weapons is required to make use of this information.

The first section deals with firearm ammunition, including definitions of terms, descriptions of different types of ammunition, prices, and suggestions of how to translate firearm damage into game terms. Much of the material can be used without modification.

Ammunition Damage and Penetration Tables

Tissue Damage Rating: The Tissue Damage Rating system offers a numerical damage value for each type of round rather than each type of weapon. Thus, any weapon that fires a .45 bullet will cause the same amount of damage, although other characteristics of the weapon (such as effective range, capacity, etc.) may vary. A table lists the ratings as General Damage Ratings (a number followed by a description) and Tissue Damage (a suggested die roll). Both refer to tissue damage, but the first can be used in Fudge as the offensive factor of the weapon. This number (in parentheses) is used in the cartridge descriptions.

Penetration Values: The Penetration Value of a round refers to its ability to penetrate hard (i.e. non-flesh) substances, such as armor. A table lists the ratings as numbers followed by descriptions, both of which can be used in Fudge as the penetration factor of a weapon.

Incorporating Tissue Damage and Penetration Values

In summary, one can refer to a firearm as having both an offensive factor and a penetration factor. The offensive factor is the ability of the bullet to cause injury to a target. The penetration factor is the ability of a bullet to penetrate hard substances such as armor. If the penetration factor is lower than the defensive factor of a piece of armor or other substance, the bullet is deflected by or embedded in the armor or substance even if the bullet's offensive factor is higher. If the penetration factor is higher than the defensive factor, then the bullet uses whichever factor is higher to determine damage: offensive factor or penetration factor (plus relative degree). The defensive factor of the target is then subtracted from this number.

Damage Ratings by Cartridge Type

This section is divided into Revolvers: Caliber Cartridges & Damage, Automatic Pistols: Millimeter Cartridges & Damage, and Rifle Cartridges & Damage. In all cases, the Tissue Damage (offensive factor) is listed in parentheses, and the Penetration Value (penetration factor) is denoted by the initials P.V. A brief description is provided for each cartridge.

The section Special Cartridges, Bonuses & Penalties may be used unmodified.

Firearms & Damage in RPGs

Shock Rules (optional): Use unmodified if so desired.

Blood Loss (optional): This could be adapted by simply having each wound increase to the next higher severity per minute.

Hit Location, Damage & Penalties (optional): This can be used as is, for the most part, but it could slow combat considerably more than other Hit Location rules that have been designed for Fudge.

Damage at Point-Blank Range (optional): Use unmodified if so desired.

Body Armor

For Fudge purposes, it is probably best to simplify the way body armor is handled by reducing it to defensive factors. Each type of body armor is described as belonging to a particular class with various characteristics. The characteristics most relevant to Fudge follow.

Class I/IA: defensive factor +4

Class II/IIA: defensive factor +5

Class IIIA: defensive factor +6

Class IVA: defensive factor +6 (also resistant to many special rounds)

Class IVB/C: defensive factor +6 (also resistant to all special rounds)

Class V: defensive factor +6 (also resistant to all special rounds and .30-06)

Statistics of Firearms

Firearms are divided into sections on Revolvers & Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns, Submachine Guns, and Machine Guns. In all cases, replace the listed damage with the offensive factor derived from the cartridge used.

Statistics of Other Weapons

The remaining sections are devoted to Combat Hand Grenades, Light Support Weapons, Special Support Weapons & Anti-Tank, Anti-Aircraft, Mortars, Pyrotechnics, Surveillance Equipment, and Tanks & Armored Vehicles. Most of the information can be used as is, but the damage ratings will have to be adapted according to the needs of one's particular Fudge game. Structural Damage Capacity (along with the damage ratings listed for anti-tank, anti-aircraft, and other heavy weapons) may be used as a parallel method of combat resolution for use with vehicles and buildings, or it may be modified to one's own Fudge game or ignored entirely.

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net in 2007.]

How to Adapt the Palladium Book of Weapons & Castles to Fudge

The Palladium Weapon series of books is a resource requiring a bare minimum of effort by the GM to adapt to Fudge. As it states on the cover of every book in the series, it is "For use with any game system" and as such, it seems perfectly suited for Fudge. Even the game-related abstractions can be used with little or no conversion necessary.

Weapons & Castles

The information presented in this article will enable you to use the Palladium book of Weapons & Castles, compiled by Matthew Balent and published by Palladium Books, in your own Fudge game. Weapons & Castles is required to make use of this information.

The first section of the book deals with the subject of ranged weapons prior to the era of gunpowder. The main categories are Bows and Crossbows and require little work for adaptation to a Fudge game. The remaining sections, Castles and Sieges, require no modification at all and can be used as is. Skills such as Weapon Use (Siege Engine) or Engineering (Siege Engine) and the determination of Ranged Combat Difficulty Levels are all that need to be added.

The terms used in the first section (and their Fudge interpretations where appropriate) follow.

Missile Weapons

TYPE: For bows, the categories are: Self, Built, Backed or Composite. For crossbows, the categories are: Wood, Composite, Backed, or Steel.

LENGTH: Use the metric measurement or convert as desired.

MASS: Use the metric measurement or convert as desired.

PULL: This is a measurement of the force required to draw the bow.

EFFECTIVE RANGE: This is the typical range limit of the weapon's accuracy. Hitting a target beyond this range is possible only if firing en masse at a target.

MAXIMUM RANGE: This is the absolute range limit of the weapon.

DAMAGE: Adjust this number by +1 to account for the sharpness of arrows, bolts, and darts. For blunt projectiles such as rocks, stones, and lead bullets, leave the listed number unmodified.

Arrows and bolts have two types of damage factors: offensive factors and penetration factors. Offensive factors consist of the listed damage +1 (to account for sharpness as noted above). Penetration factors are identical to offensive factors except for Scythian bows, Turkish bows, and long bows. For these bows, the penetration factor is calculated by doubling the listed damage and then adding +1 for sharpness.

The offensive factor is the ability of the projectile to cause injury to a target. The penetration factor is the ability of a projectile to penetrate hard substances such as armor. If the penetration factor is lower than the defensive factor of a piece of armor or other substance, the projectile is deflected by or embedded in the armor or substance even if the projectile's offensive factor is higher. If the penetration factor is higher than the defensive factor, then the projectile uses whichever factor is higher to determine damage: offensive factor or penetration factor (plus relative degree). The defensive factor of the target is then subtracted from this number.

In cases where armor is described as possessing a variety of defensive factors, the penetration factor of hunting arrows and hunting bolts are compared to the armor's thrust defensive factor, whereas the penetration factor of military arrows and military bolts are compared to the armor's impact defensive factor.

SHOTS PER MINUTE: The typical length of a round in Fudge is pi seconds long (or approximately 3 seconds), so the rate of fire becomes the following:

SHOTS/MIN	SHOTS/INTERVAL OF ROUNDS
.67	1 per 30 rounds
1	1 per 20 rounds
1.5	1 per 15 rounds
2	1 per 10 rounds
4	1 per 5 rounds
12	1 per 2 rounds

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net in 2007.]

How to Adapt the Palladium Book of Weapons & Armour to Fudge

The Palladium Weapon series of books is a resource requiring a bare minimum of effort by the GM to adapt to Fudge. As it states on the cover of every book in the series, it is "For use with any game system" and as such, it seems perfectly suited for Fudge. Even the game-related abstractions can be used with little or no conversion necessary.

Weapons & Armor

The information presented in this article will enable you to use the Palladium book of Weapons & Armour, compiled by Matthew Balent and published by Palladium Books, in your own Fudge game. Weapons & Armour is required to make use of this information.

The book is divided into two sections in which the various types of weapons and armor are illustrated and their vital statistics listed. A simple description of how the terms are used and how they might be interpreted in Fudge follows.

Weapons

TYPE: The weapon types by which all weapons in the book are categorized may be used as skill groups or as broad weapon skills themselves. The weapon types are: Hafted, Knives, Miscellaneous, Polearms, Spears, and Swords.

LENGTH: Use the metric measurement or convert as desired.

MASS: Use the metric measurement or convert as desired.

DEX: This number indicates the speed of the weapon when it is used relative to other weapons. Since a low number is considered best, one may, if one is taking weapon speed into account, apply this number as a melee modifier (namely, a negative penalty to one's skill unless the weapon's rating is 0) in simultaneous combat rounds, or as a modifier to one's Speed or Reflexes (or a similar trait) in initiative rolls in alternating combat turns.

PARRY: This number indicates the weapon's usefulness at parrying attacks. A high number is considered best. It could be applied as a melee modifier for the defender if alternating combat turns are used.

0: Virtually no ability to parry.
1: Minimal ability to parry. (−1 to parry)
2: Adequate ability to parry. (+/−0 to parry)
3: Excellent ability to parry. (+1 to parry)

ATTACK TYPES: The various methods of inflicting damage are cut, chop, thrust, and impact. When a weapon is capable of more than one attack type, the type being used should be described in the attack. This information is useful because it can be compared to the armor of an opponent or the special vulnerabilities or immunities of a creature. It can also help to determine if a certain action is possible given space constraints or other special circumstances.

SYMMETRY: This number indicates the weapon's effectiveness when thrown. Since a low number is considered best, one may use this as a ranged combat modifier (specifically, a negative modifier to one's skill) with the following modifications:

1: +/−0 to attack
2: −1 to attack
3: −2 to attack

DAMAGE: This number is used as the weapon's offensive factor. Alternatively, one may use the standard Fudge method, which incidentally parallels the listed damage values very nicely, i.e. small weapons cause +0, medium weapons cause +1, large weapons cause +2, two-handed weapons cause additional +1, sharp weapons cause additional +1.

Armor

TYPE: Armor may be layered, in which case the defensive factors are added together. The coverage of hit locations may vary.

CUT RF: The cut resistance factor is translated as the cut defensive factor. This is the armor's effectiveness at protecting the wearer against weapons used for cutting attacks.

CHOP RF: The chop resistance factor is translated as the chop defensive factor. This is the armor's effectiveness at protecting the wearer against weapons used for chopping attacks.

THRUST RF: The thrust resistance factor is translated as the thrust defensive factor. This is the armor's effectiveness at protecting the wearer against weapons used for thrusting attacks, including arrows, bolts, and darts.

IMPACT RF: The impact resistance factor is translated as the impact defensive factor. This is the the armor's effectiveness at protecting the wearer against weapons used for impact attacks, including firearms.

DEX: This number indicates the extent to which the armor may restrict the wearer's freedom of movement. A low number is considered best. This number may be used as a modifier to one's movement rate, lowering one's trait accordingly, or it may contribute to action penalties based on one's encumbrance. Personally, I favor the former, and would limit action penalties to actions that would not be performed in battle and which would logically be hampered by the wearing of heavier armor, such as stealthy movement, acrobatics, swimming, and the like.

MASS: Use the metric measurement or convert as desired.

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net in 2007.]

Offensive Damage Factors Compared

One thing I noticed when I added Fudge July 4, 1993 Version to the Fudge Rules page is that the suggested offensive damage factors for muscle-powered weapons have changed over the years, and neither match my own preferences (q.v.). For instance, in the Fudge July 4, 1993 Version, Section 4.72, Objective Damage System, we have:

+0 for no weapon, no Martial Art skill.
+1 Martial Art skill at Fair or better, no weapon.
+1 for small weapon (knife, etc.)
+2 for average-sized weapon (sword, axe, spear, bow, etc.).
+3 for large weapon (polearm, battleaxe, etc.).
+1 for sharp weapon (additive with other weapon damage).

This suggests (appropriately, in my opinion) that damage for weapons begins at +1. This makes intuitive sense, as I have argued before. What may be more controversial for some, however, is that an unarmed combatant with reasonable martial arts training is equal to an armed combatant.

Things take a strange twist in the Fudge 1995 Edition where, in Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List, we find this:

-1 for no weapon, not using a Martial Art skill.
+0 Martial Art skill, or for small weapons (blackjack, knife, brass knuckles, sling, thick boots if kicking, etc.).
+1 for medium-weight one-handed weapons (billy club, machete, shortsword, epee, hatchet, rock, etc.).
+2 for large one-handed weapons (broadsword, axe, large club, etc.), or for light two-handed weapons (spear, bow, etc.).
+3 for most two-handed weapons (polearm, two-handed sword, battleaxe, etc.).
+1 for sharpness (add to other weapon damage: knife becomes +1, shortsword +2, broadsword +3, greatsword +4, etc.).

First, the categories have been pulled back by a factor of 1: weaponless unskilled attacks that were +0 are now -1; small weapons or weaponless martial arts attacks that were +1 are now +0, and so on. Second, large weapons have been divided into two categories consisting of large one-handed weapons and light two-handed weapons. Third, another category has been added consisting of "most two-handed weapons." This version has remained unchanged in the Fudge Expanded Edition and the Fudge Anniversary Edition.

Essentially, some "average-sized weapons" (sword, axe, etc.) as they were formerly described have become "medium-weight weapons" (shortsword, hatchet, etc.), and some have been upgraded to "large one-handed weapons" (broadsword, axe, etc.) or "light two-handed weapons" (bow, spear, etc.). The additional category of "most two-handed weapons" (polearm, battleaxe) would have needed to move up to +4 in the earlier version to accommodate the expansion of "average-sized" into "medium weight" and "large one-handed"/"light two-handed."

The good news from the second version is that weaponless unskilled attacks have been lowered to -1, which represents a significant penalty. The bad news (for some) is that weaponless martial arts attacks are still equal to small weapons. Even worse, however, is the fact that weapons start at +0, which is a little hard to grasp when one considers one's chances in a fight with or without a weapon. A weapon, no matter how ordinary, ought to confer some advantage, and an offensive damage factor of +0 fails to convey that.

In both versions, there is something that seems a wee bit off-kilter, and my own version is an attempt to correct that sense of rules wooziness. Here it is with new parenthetical examples:

-1 unarmed, untrained (unsuited for combat)
+0 unarmed, trained (competent martial artist, Eastern or Western)
+1 small weapon (knife, brass knuckles, sap, etc.)
+2 medium weapon (shortsword, nightstick, tomahawk, etc.)
+3 large weapon (broadsword, mace, axe, etc.)
+1 sharpness
+1 two-handed (greatsword, polearm, etc.)

So, a greatsword, being a large, sharp, two-handed weapon, would have an ODF of +5, whereas a shortsword, being a medium, sharp, one-handed weapon, would have an ODF of +3. It makes hand-to-hand combat deadlier, but this can be offset if necessary by altering the wound tracks (a very easy task).

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net/fudgerylog on 20 February 2012.]

Offensive Damage Factors Considered

One of the things I like about Fudge is the simplicity of determining how much damage a mêlée weapon causes. I've seen it boiled down to its bare essence in a variety of ways, but I think this version is the best:

-1 unarmed, untrained
+0 unarmed, trained
+1 small weapon
+2 medium weapon
+3 large weapon
+1 sharpness
+1 two-handed

So, if a character enters combat, you ask yourself these questions:

If the character is unarmed, is he or she formally trained or self-taught in unarmed combat? (Apply +0 if the former or -1 if the latter.)

If the character is armed, is the weapon small, medium, or large? (Apply +1, +2, or +3 respectively.) If it is sharp, add +1. If it is wielded with two hands, add +1.

Example: A rock is a small blunt weapon (ODF +1). A shillelagh is a medium blunt weapon (+2 medium = ODF +2). A knife is a small sharp weapon (+1 small +1 sharpness = ODF +2). A gladius is a medium sharp weapon (+2 medium +1 sharpness = ODF +3). A longsword is a large sharp weapon (+3 large +1 sharpness = ODF +4). A claymore is a large, sharp, two-handed weapon (+3 large +1 sharpness +1 two-handed = ODF +5).

This can easily be used to extrapolate the damage factors of everyday items such as a bowling ball (medium blunt object; ODF +2), a brick (small blunt object; ODF +1), a spade (large, blunt, two-handed tool; ODF +4), or a sickle (medium sharp tool; ODF +3).

This presents a quandary. Why would anyone choose to learn a specific weapon skill if Brawling can give one the ability to use just about anything as effectively? [Brawling being the skill of untrained fighting, armed or unarmed.] We know that household objects are not as effective as actual weapons, but how can this fact be reflected without complicating the simple formula of which we are so fond? Since the ordinary object is inferior to the weapon possessing similar qualities by virtue of its different design purposes, I think the best way to reflect this is to impose an initiative penalty to the wielder of the ordinary object whenever the two are matched. This would only work if alternating combat turns are being used. If simultaneous combat rounds are being used, one could rule that the wielder of the actual weapon gains a +1 mêlée modifier when engaged against a brawler attacking with a chair or a walking stick or any other object.

I was thinking about this as I was adding the description to the Brawling skill in Optimum Skills for Fudge [see the Ultimate List of Skills instead]. The unarmed combat skills are the only skills for which I have not yet written descriptions, and Brawling, being the most basic of all fighting techniques, is the first I have undertaken. On the table above, Brawling qualifies as unarmed, no formal combat training, and thus provides a -1 offensive damage factor [except when employing an ordinary object as a weapon]. Any other form of unarmed combat requires some amount of formal training and provides a +0 offensive damage factor. Special attack techniques will bestow a +1 offensive damage factor. To keep things simple, I think the difference between most of the martial arts will be style rather than effect, leaving the description of specific techniques to players if they so desire (and providing some examples in the skill descriptions). Certain skills may have exceptions, such as Aikido, Judo, Jujutsu, and Wrestling, which are more focused on disabling opponents than injuring or killing them (depending on the style and the individual practitioner, of course).

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net/fudgerylog on 5 February 2008 and 15 April 2011 as two articles.]