Vehicles

Vehicles are described by a number of statistics.
Crew: The standard number of crew. In most cases, only one person is needed to drive the vehicle; other crew members serve as gunners or copilots.
Passengers: The number of passengers (in addition to the crew) the vehicle is designed to carry. Vehicles that carry passengers can use that space to carry additional cargo when passengers aren’t present. Each unused passenger slot allows the vehicle to carry an additional 100 pounds of cargo.
Cargo Capacity: The amount of cargo the vehicle is designed to carry. Many vehicles can carry extra passengers instead of cargo, but doing so is usually a cramped, uncomfortable, and often unsafe experience for those passengers. As a rule of thumb, one additional passenger can be carried for each 250 pounds of unused cargo capacity.
Initiative: The modifier added to the driver’s or pilot’s initiative check when operating the vehicle.
Manoeuvre: The modifier added to any Drive or Pilot checks attempted with the vehicle.
Top Speed: The maximum number of squares the vehicle can cover in 1 round at character scale (with the number of squares at chase scale in parentheses). This is the fastest the vehicle can move.
AC: The vehicle’s Defence score (AC for armour class is used on the tables to cut down on space).
Hardness: The vehicle’s hardness. Subtract this number from any damage dealt to the vehicle.
Hit Points: The vehicle’s full normal hit points.
Size: The vehicle's size category.
Fuel Capacity: The maximum amount of fuel the vehicle can hold in its tank(s). This value is in litres (L). The type of fuel varies depending on the type of vehicle. This value is not present on archaic vehicles that do not use fuel.
Mileage: How efficiently the vehicle uses fuel. This value is in kilometres per litre (km/L). The value is not present with archaic vehicles that do not use fuel.
Purchase DC: This is the purchase DC for a Wealth check to acquire the vehicle.

* Muscle-powered vehicles have a top speed based on the animal that pulls it. Carts, sleds, and wagons weigh approximately one-tenth of their cargo limit plus the weight of the cargo itself for determining the animal's encumbrance level. If multiple animals pull a single vehicle, divide the total weight of the vehicle, its passengers, and its cargo among the animals to determine each animal's encumbrance level.

* Hovercraft: This is not a specific vehicle type, but a modification made during the end of the Final Wars era. A hovercraft uses powerful magnetic coils (rather than true anti-grav) to lift the vehicle from the surface of the earth and turbines or propellers for movement. An example of nearly any Pre-War surface vehicle can be found modified with hovercraft technology. Hovercrafts possess the same statistics as their Pre-War counterparts, save for the following changes:

• The vehicles cargo capacity is 80% of the Pre-War version.
• Increase the vehicle's Manoeuvre rating by +2.
• The vehicle's Top Speed Rating is 110% of its Pre-War counterpart.
• Increase the vehicle's Purchase DC by +5.

Hovercrafts require the feat Aircraft Operation (hovercraft) to offset the non-proficiency penalties, but use the Drive skill rather than the Pilot skill to operate.

Gasoline: The standard fuel for cars, trucks, tanks, electrical generators, and other internal combustion engines. What little gasoline to be found is generally scavenged. Gasoline is more valuable than ethanol, because it lasts longer and doesn’t affect vehicle performance.
Ethanol: Any vehicle or device that uses gasoline can be modified to accept ethanol, although doing this takes a toll on the vehicle’s performance. Rather than being able to increase speed by one movement category per round, as is standard in the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game rules, it takes two rounds to increase speed. Furthermore, a vehicle running on ethanol subtracts 2 km/L from its mileage.
Power Cell: During the Final Wars era, increased reliance on autonomous electronics, energy weapons, and personal technology created the need for universal power supplies. The end result was the power cell. A power cell is a cylinder 1 inch long and a half-inch in diameter, used in everything from blaster pistols to datapads to vehicles. They hold a charge with high efficiency, and are rechargeable. Power cells are perhaps the most coveted items of the Gamma Age; a stockpile of Final Wars weapons will do a warlord no good if there is no way to get them up and running.