Revenge of the Awful Green Things
Having received the permission of Steve Jackson,
and my co-author, Tom Rhoads, and, last but not least,
typed all of this in, it is possible to present:
Revenge of the Awful Green Things From Outer Space:
Optional Rules for
The Awful Green Things From Outer Space
by Tom Rhoads and James Sterrett
This consists of a number of optional rules which Tom Rhoads
and James Sterrett spawned in a long brainstorming session a
few years ago. We've played with them ever since. In
general, the "Hidden Eggs", "Megadults", and "Hidden"
sections were done together; "The Kitchen, The Mess Deck,
The Zgwortz" is mostly from James, and the weapon variations
and Decompression rules are mostly Tom's (he calls the
Decompression rules "arguably one of the most pointlessly
complex things I've ever written." 8)
Much of the bulk of these rules (including this paragraph
and all of the Decompression rules) exist to make these
rules compatible with the "Outside the Znutar" rules from
the Steve Jackson Deluxe edition of the game. We've never
seen the TSR version; all this stuff is intended to match up
with the SJ version.
Legalese, Rights and Credits section: Please feel free to distribute
these rules as far and wide as you can, changing them if you
see fit. We aren't charging you anything for these and
expect that you will distribute them for free as well.
However, please give us credit for thinking them
(or the basis for your revisions) up. We, in turn, must of
course recognize TSR and SJ Games for having the brains to
produce the gem these rules modify, and Tom Wham as the
genius who came up with it in the first place.
James Sterrett can be reached on the Net at
jscm@voicenet.com, and Tom Rhoads at
trhoads@earthlink.net.
These rules consist of the following:
- Monster Evolution: Megadults
- The Hidden Monsters Game (single-blind, easily expanded
to double-blind)
- The Kitchen, The Mess Deck, The Zgwortz
- Hidden Eggs
- Variations in Weapons use (a conglomeration of ideas)
- Holes and Decompression
I) Monster Evolution: Megadults
These rules balance the game a bit in the monster's
favor, mostly by giving them more options. They tend to
have the greatest effect in a hidden monsters game. Since
they are an extension of the growth rules, they are most
powerful when the monsters are already ahead in the
population race.
To use these rules, make a new pool of 12 counters:
1 for each of the 8 types of Megadult, 1 "Metabolic Failure"
chit, and 1 "Lay 2 Eggs" chits.
Megadults are "super-Adults" with special abilities;
details depend on the specific Megadult.
A player may attempt to metamorph an Adult into a Megadult
under the following circumstances:
- Any Adult hit with a "Grow" result may attempt
metamorphosis instead of laying an egg.
- Any Adult which eats a crewman (other than Leadfoot)
may attempt metamorphosis instead of laying an egg.
- During the monster's grow phase, if the monster
player chooses to Grow Adults, one adult may attempt
metamorphosis instead of laying an egg (the other adults lay
eggs.) To make the attempt, the monster player must roll
the number of the current game-turn or less on one die; if
successful, attempt metamorphosis, if not nothing happens
(but the adult does not lay an egg.)
[As a game-balance tool, declare the die roll
automatically successful once the crew discovers and area-
effect weapon with a Shrink or Kill effect. It's
artificial, but once the 5-Dice to Kill Comm Beamer hits the
scene, the Green Things need all the help they can get. Of
course, if the eat the Comm Beamer, things get better. (See
section 5, "Variations in Weapon Use".)]
To metamorphose, draw one of the 10 chits made earlier.
If it is one of the 8 Megadults, replace the Adult with the
Megadult. Do not return the Adult to the stock of Adult
counters, as the Megadult counts against the countermix
limit for Adults. If/When the Megadult is killed, return it
to its cup and return the Adult to the Adult counter pool.
The three non-Megadult chits are returned to the
Megadult chit cup after being draw. They are:
Metabolic Failure: Something goes horribly wrong, and
the monster dies instead of metamorphing.
Lay 2 Eggs: Something goes slightly wrong, and the
monstrous adult lays two eggs instead of one.
The Megadults: For the most part, these have 22 Con, 4
Attack dice, and Move 2. None of them, except the Breeder,
_ever_ lay eggs, even when they eat a crewman.
- 1) The Slimer: 5d attack, 22 Con, Move 2.
- This monster exudes a corrosive slime. It may use this
to dissolve holes in walls by using its entire movement
phase; it winds up in the next room. Other monsters may
move through in the same move but must stop in the space
after the hole in the wall. [We suggest making "hole"
markers.] The Slimer may melt through a door, to convert it
into a hole; when repaired, it reconverts into a door.
[This is important mostly if Decompression is a problem.
For repair of holes, see "Variations in Weapon Use".]
Furthermore, The Slimer can Eat Weapons [as in
"Variations in Weapons Use"] whether or not other Adult
monsters can. If other Adults can eat weapons, the Slimer
doesn't take any random effects for doing so.
- 2) Breeder (aka "Mommy"): 1d/5d attack (see below), 22 Con,
Move 1.
- This Megadult exists to produce monsters, and is pretty
good at it. During the monster's grow phase, if any life
stage other than Adult was selected, the Breeder nonetheless
lays one egg.
- If Adults are selected to grow, the Breeder may do
_one_ of the following:
- roll a die and lay that many eggs
- cause all eggs in its space to hatch into babies
(excluding eggs laid in that grow phase!)
- cause all babies in its space to grow into Adults
The Breeder is slow moving, but it will defend its
young: whenever it is in an area with at least one egg or
baby, it gets 5 attack dice instead of 1. (For
Decompression, it still rolls vs a 1 to avoid being blown
into space.) It is the only Megadult which lays an egg when
it eats a crewman.
- 3) Flamer: 2d attack or 12d/6d special attack, 22 Con, Move 2.
- This Megadult is a walking flamethrower, spraying a
sticky, burning fluid at its enemies. It may either make a
2 dice hand attack, or use its flamethrower in a given
attack phase.
The Flamer may use 12 dice to kill on crewmen in its
own area. If there are no unstunned crewmen in its own
area, it may attack crew in any one adjacent area with 6
dice. These attack dice get _divided_ between the targets
as the monster player desires; however, all dice must be
assigned to targets before rolling. All crewmen attacked
may be in the same area.
- The Flamer's attack dice cannot be combined with the
dice of other monsters (it won't burn them.) [Optionally,
let them combine, but the other monster gets attacked too!]
- Crew killed by the Flamer cannot be eaten.
- If the Flamer attacks an area where the Webber laid a
web, the Web is destroyed.
- If a crewman is carrying a can of Rocket Fuel when
flamed, roll a die: on a1-3 the Rocket Fuel explodes,
attacking all crew and monsters normally. If the Flamer
made the attack from another compartment, it is still
attacked, as it had to open the door to make the attack.
However, others in its compartment are not affected.
- Fire Extinguishers can be used to counteract Flamer's
attacks: a crewman carrying a fire extinguisher, if not
otherwise occupied (under attack, overriding
airlock/pressurization controls, running the Security Camera
System), may remove any 3 attack dice after the monster
player allocates them (in essence, reducing the net attack
from 12/6 dice to 9/3 dice). These may be from up to three
crewmen unless the fire extinguisher-toting crewman himself
is under attack, in which case he protects only himself.
- Flame attacks may not be made outside the Znutar or in
depressurized compartments.
- 4) Tentacles: 8 dice, 22 Con, Move 2.
- This Megadult has powerful tentacles which make it a
fearsome soldier and invulnerable to explosive
decompression's blowout.
- 5) Runner: 4 dice, 22 Con, Move 4.
- This Megadult has an extra pair of legs for more speed.
In addition, it can carry eggs and babies, at a cost of 1/2
movement point per carried egg and 1 per carried baby. It
may not lose more than 2 movement points in this manner (it
can carry up to 4 eggs, 2 babies, or 2 eggs and 1 baby).
- In the Hidden Monsters game, if the Runner is seen,
its cargo is also seen.
- If the Runner is attacked, it drops any eggs or babies
it is carrying. They may not be attacked, however, unless
the Runner is also attacked. (Area effect weapons, of
course, attack everybody.)
- 6) Scales: 5 dice, 32 Con, Move 2.
- The Megadult is armored, and the strength needed to
carry the weight makes it more potent in combat.
[Optionally, drop the Con down to 24, and declare
Scales immune to hand-to-hand, knife, poolstick, and
hypodermic attacks.]
- 7) Webber: 4 dice, 22 Con, Move 2.
- This Megadult can lay eggs to slow the crew down.
During the monster's attack phase, if there are no unstunned
crew present in the area occupied by the Webber, it may lay
a web. (You will need to make Web markers.)
Webs may be laid in depressurized compartments or
outside the Znutar, but the do not last well in vacuum:
during each Crew Wake-Up phase, roll 1 die for each web in
vacuum: on a 1 or 2, the Web disintegrates.
Crew entering an area with a Web must stop immediately.
Monsters are unaffected. If a can of rocket fuel explodes,
all Webs in attacked areas are destroyed. A crewman with a
Welding Torch may destroy Webs for one movement point during
movement, or during the attack phase as an attack, provided
there are no active monsters in the area and he is not
otherwise occupied.
- 8) Brainiac: 2 dice, 20 Con, Move 3.
- This Megadult is a Genius for a Green Thing (although
still pretty dumb compared to the crew) and can attempt to
use the ship's systems and weapons.
- On a roll of 1,2 or 3 on a six-sided die, Brainiac
figures out how to use any 1 weapon - which the crew has
used on a monster- and can use it against the crew. Most
weapons do three dice to kill; the Comm Beamer, and the Fire
Extinguisher are harmless. The Stun Pistol does 5 Dice to
Stun. The Gas Grenade, the Electric Fence, and the Rocket
Fuel operate according to existing rules. This is the only
skill which Brainiac actually learns - all the others must
be rolled for each time.
- on a roll of 1, Brainiac can activate the Self-
Destruct mechanism for the ship.
- on a roll of 1 or 2, the Brainiac can override the
pressurization or airlock controls.
- in a double blind game, the Brainiac can use the
Security Camera on a roll of 1, 2, or 3. If a crewman is
trying to use t at the same time that Brainiac gets it
figured out, neither can use it.
- on a roll of 1 or 2, Brainiac can open the doors on
the ship's boats (but never operate them.)
II) The Hidden Monsters Game.
This rules section converts _Awful Green Things_ into a
single-blind game with the monsters hidden. (It's assumed
that the monsters detect the crew by some strange method.)
It should be very easy to convert these rules to work with a
player-hidden game, or into a refereed double-blind game.
All of the above work best with an extra map (or two in the
case of the refereed version.) These rules, as well as
those for Hidden Eggs, require a lot of honesty on the part
of the monster player and trust on the part of the crew -
guaranteed, the monster player will legally pull off
something the crew player thought impossible at least once
in the game. [Tom notes: "If you can't trust someone, what
are you doing playing a blind game with them? Make them be
the crew. (grin)"]
- Basic Principles
You ought to have, as noted above, a second map for the
monster player to put the hidden monsters on. Don't use an
extra countermix, as this may lead to exceeding the
countermix limitations on numbers of monsters.
We strongly suggest playing these rules in conjunction
with the Hidden Eggs rules, under the variation which forces
the crew player to search for eggs. This makes things still
more exciting. Tossing in the Megadults and some of the
weapon variations helps balance the game a bit (the
Megadults help the monsters, but some of the possible weapon
variations are pretty powerful. Season to taste.)
The setup of the game is unchanged, except that only
those monsters actually in the crew player's line of sight
are placed on the common map at start. If using the Hidden
Eggs rules, all eggs are hidden at start.
- Visibility
If you are using the Hidden Eggs rules, these rules
apply only to Fragments, Babies, Adults, (and Megadults.)
Definitions:
- An open line of sight (LOS) exists if the line of sight
does not pass through a door or a hole - in practice this
means down corridors and space lines of sight outside the
Znutar. The crew always have an open line of sight into any
area they currently occupy with unstunned crewmen.
A closed line of sight is one that the crew could attack
down with a ranged weapon. (Could you shoot the monster
with a Comm Beamer?)
Stunned crewmen have no line of sight to anything.
When Monsters Get Seen:
- During Crew Movement: When a crew member moves into a
position where he has an open line of sight to a monster,
the monster is revealed at once.
However, crewmen will not see AGTs behind doors unless
they decide to look through them. This costs 1 movement
point and provides a closed line of sight through that door.
The crewman can decide to move through the door for free,
(having spent the movement to almost do so), or go open some
other door instead. The Mascot is not allowed to try to
spot monsters in this way.
- When Crew Movement is completed, all monsters within a
closed line of sight of the crew are revealed and may be
attacked as usual.
- During Crew Attacks, babies which Grow from hidden
eggs are revealed.
- Players should agree if crewmen will be allowed to
make area attacks into areas without revealed monsters
(generally, this will only be eggs). If hidden monsters are
attacked (usually this will only be when using gas grenades
or rocket fuel), reveal the hidden monsters, attack them,
and hide them again.
This isn't realistic, but it's much the simplest way to
do it. It's usually obvious where the monsters are anyway,
unless The Slimer has made a lot of holes in the Znutar.
Players might employ a system like that used for Hidden Eggs
if desired.
During the Monster's Turn:
- During Monster Growth, babies hatching in a crewman's
line of sight are revealed.
- During Monster Movement, any monsters that enter the
open line of sight of a crew member are revealed and the
monster player must tell the player which door (hole) the
monster entered from. If the monster leaves the open line
of sight and its location is obvious (because it had only
one movement point left), leave it on the map in the area it
went to, as the crew will surely note where it headed. Note
that this will always be the case, unless the Runner
Megadult is moving, or an Adult AGT begins in crew line of
sight an immediately moves away.
- During Monster Attacks, the only AGTs that will be
revealed are ones that should have been revealed previously,
but weren't (admittedly, the Flamer might be hiding behind a
door and suddenly be revealed, or Brainiac may have the
Stunner.).
- At the end of each crew turn and each monster turn,
hide all monsters to which the crew no longer has an open
line of sight, and check to see that all monsters that
should be visible (open line of sight) are revealed.
- The Security Camera
The Znutar is equipped with security cameras throughout
the ship. A qualified crewman can operate these from the
bridge to try to spot AGTs. Players will need to make a
"Security Camera" marker for this rule.
To use the cameras, one of the following crewmen must
be stationed on a bridge:
Captain Yid, the 1st Officer, the Operations Officer,
the Engineering Officer, or the Coxswain. The operator must
be on the bridge in the Grab Weapons phase. At that time,
the operator places the Security Camera marker on any area
of the ship; from the beginning of Crew movement, there is
an open line of sight into that area (and into areas to
which it has an open line of sight.) Any monsters are
revealed (if using Hidden Eggs, roll as appropriate for a
crewman searching from the door.) The operator may change
the area looked at each Grab Weapons phase.
The crew maintains surveillance until:
- the operator leaves the bridge
- he is attacked (regardless of the attack's outcome)
- he is alone on the bridge and one or more active AGTs
are there.
Once interrupted, an operator may not resume
observation until the next Grab Weapons phase. If there are
operators on both bridges, only one needs remain
uninterrupted for observation to continue; if all operators
are interrupted, remove the Security Camera marker at once
and hide any monsters that it alone could see.
- Other issues
Open lines of sight exist from different areas of
Outside the Znutar to adjacent areas Outside. Closed lines
of sight exist from the windows of the Bridges and the
Atmosphere Probe Control room to their respective areas of
the skin of the ship (a crewman must walk to the window to
look out.) Equally, open lines of sight exist from the skin
into those rooms.
With both the Hidden Eggs and the Hidden Monsters, the
Sequence of Play becomes:
Monster Turn:
- Remote Airlock Control
- Grow
- Move (reveal monsters entering crew open LOS)
- Attack (reveal monsters with a closed LOS)
- Wake Up
Crew Turn:
- Grab Weapons (man the Security camera)
- Reveal the Remote Camera's View
- Move (reveal monsters in open LOS, look behind
doors, search for Eggs)
- Reveal Monsters in Closed Line of Sight
- Attack
- Wake Up
- Hide Monsters not in open LOS.
III) The Kitchen, The Mess Deck, The Zgwortz
These rules cover the possible effects of the wonder
food Zgwortz and the unfamiliar world of the kitchen on
monsters.
- ) During the Monster's Attack phase, any active monsters
in the Kitchen or Mess Deck must, if no crew are present,
sample the food, cleaning agents, eating utensils, chairs,
.... Roll one die and consult the following table for each
monster:
- 1: Grow (ate something nutritious)
- 2: Shrink (ate some of the crew's food)
- 3: 4 Dice to Kill (last week's leftovers)
- 4: 5 Dice to Stun (vomiting)
- 5-6: Suffer the effects of one can of Zgwortz; if this
is not yet known, determine it now.
- ) Instead of drawing an effect chit for Zgwortz, roll on
the following table each can a monster eats or is attacked
by, in order to find the monster's reaction to the
Interstellar Spam:
- 1-2: Grow
- 3: No Effect
- 4: Poisonous -- 4 Dice to Kill
- 5: Mild Allergic Reaction - 5 Dice to Stun (vomiting)
- 6: Severe Allergic Reaction -- Monster Dies.
IV) Hidden Eggs
This rule assumes that Eggs, being small, can be hidden by
the monsters which lay them, and may not be immediately
visible to the casual, or monster-harried, observer. This
rule tends to lengthen the game, and works in favor of the
monsters.
There are several variants to this rule; the main
differences, really, are in the amount of trouble they are
to play with, and how they interact with your personal
vision of the inside of the Znutar. Tom tends to see it as
a nice, clean, Star-Trek like ship, such that eggs would
tend to be hard to hide. James tends to assume a cluttered
interior more akin to the Nostromo (in Alien.) [These
assumptions do bear a certain correlation to our respective
habits of neatness in our residences. 8) ]
- Version 1:
- All Eggs in an area are automatically visible if any
crew are in the area, or have an open line of sight to that
area, even if simply passing through in movement.
- Version 2:
- As above, but hide the eggs again when the player no
longer has an open LOS to the eggs.
- Version 3:
- Eggs are not automatically visible. At the end of crew
movement, the crew may search for hidden eggs.
For each area containing hidden eggs into which the
crew has an open line of sight, the monster player secretly
rolls one die. There is no need to inform the crew player
which area is being rolled for.
- If the number rolled is equal to or less than the
number of eggs in the area, a number of eggs equal to the
die roll are placed on the map. (EX: An area contain 5
eggs; the monster player rolls a 3, and reveals 3 eggs,
leaving two hidden. If the monster player had rolled a 6,
all the eggs would have remained hidden.)
- -If at least four crew members have lines of sight into
the area, then a roll of one greater than the number of eggs
will spot all the eggs in an area _except one_. If there is
only one egg, it remains hidden on a roll of "2".
- -Crew are not allowed to make attacks into areas "just
in case there are eggs", out of fear of damaging the ship
without just cause. (The underwriters would be _really_
pissed!) If area attacks are directed into an area
containing hidden eggs with other monsters, do the
following:
- Shrink kills the eggs
- Grow hatches the eggs - no retargeting allowed
for the crew! (Tough luck!)
- Shrink _and_ Grow leave the eggs as eggs, hidden
- Any "dice to kill": kill the eggs (while an egg
could, possibly, survive a dice to kill attack, it's quite
unlikely, and the egg's presence would be revealed by the
rolls in any case.)
- Fragments makes visible fragments
- Stun weapons stun the eggs automatically
Optional extras to Version 3:
- ) Allow crewmen to search for eggs during movement. For 1
Movement point, a crewman can search for eggs in his own or
any adjacent area. Roll as in Version 3, but a roll equal
to the number of eggs results in no eggs found (to
compensate for the possibility of having many crewmen search
one area.) This movement point spent does not give the
right to enter another area (unlike the LOS "peek through
the doors" rule.) The Mascot may not search in this manner.
- ) If you think the Znutar's corridors are clean, clear,
Star-Trek like corridors, make it impossible to hide eggs in
them.
- ) When using the Outside the Znutar rules, eggs should not
be hidden on the skin of the ship (although invisible until
a crewman has a line of sight (any type) to it!)
- ) To give the monsters more flexibility, consider allowing
the monster player to elect not to Grow all eggs in the Grow
phase (although eggs hit by a "Grow" weapon still must
Grow!)
V) Variations in Weapon Use.
These are, in essence, a collection of game-balance
tools and wacky ideas which alter aspects of the weapons
rules. They are not all mutually compatible; spice to
taste.
- ) To help the crew player, reduce the likelihood of drawing
the dreaded "1 Die Fragments" result. There are 4 of them
(at least in the SJ version). To make life easier, roll a
die every time one is drawn: on a 1 or 2, the "Fragments"
result remains; otherwise, draw another chit. The new chit,
even if it is "Fragments", is the weapon's effect. Return
the original Fragments chit to the cup. Naturally, this
rule only applies to draws that permanently determine a
weapon's result.
- ) Combination Effects: Make a chit labeled "Combination
Effect" and add it to the weapon effect pool. When drawn,
it indicates that the weapon tested has two effects: draw
two more chits and place all three on the Weapon Effects
chart. If both are "dice to kill" or "dice to stun", use
the larger chit only; if any "no effect" chit, the Weapon
has no effect. In all other cases, apply chit effects in
the order drawn (for example, Fragments then Dice to Kill
generates Fragments, then tries to kill them.)
- ) Variable Effect: Similar to Combination Effect, but the
weapon switches, unpredictably, between two results: roll a
die, and on a 1-3 it uses the first result drawn, 4-6 the
second. If identical results are drawn, return one to the
cup and draw again.
- ) Repulsion: Make a new effect chit labeled "Repulsion",
and a few "Repulsed" chits. The Repulsion affects only
awake Adults and Babies (and Megadults): it causes them to
run away from the crewman wielding the repulsive weapon.
The monster(s) must move to leave the line of sight of
the crewman, or until the end of their move, whichever comes
first. Once they have completed one of these, they are no
longer repulsed (although they may not go back to the
crewman's space again in that turn.) Monsters repulsed by a
wide area effect weapon, such as Gas Grenades or Rocket
Fuel, run from the spot the weapon was detonated in.
- ) Making Holes and Repairing Them: Certain crewmen, when
armed with a welding torch, may cut or repair holes in walls
and the hull. Captain Yid, the Engineering Officer, the
Engineer, and the Machinist may use their entire movement to
open a new door to a room (or to space!) (see the
Decompression Rules). The hole is not available (or
repaired) until the end of the movement phase. Note that
holes may not be cut in the walls of the Computer Room or
the Life Support Center, as the equipment there gets in the
way. If any unstunned AGTs are present, another crewman
must be present to hold them off. Repairs on the hull must
be done from the inside of the ship (patching materials are
scattered throughout the inside of the ship to deal with
meteor strikes, but aren't stored on the outside!)
- ) Eating Weapons: An Adult (or Megadult) AGT may eat a
weapon if a) the weapon or an identical weapon has been used
against the AGTs; b) the Adult (Megadult) is in an area
containing the weapon and no crewmen, or the Adult
(Megadult) is simultaneously eating the crewman carrying
the weapon. When eaten, the weapon (unless Zgwortz, a Gas
Grenade, or Rocket Fuel) is permanently removed from play.
The eating Adult suffers the effects of a random chit draw,
as if it had eaten Leadfoot. If not killed, shrunken,
fragmented, or stunned, it may finish eating any crewman it
was trying to consume.
- ) Rocket Pods and Rocket Fuel: If a can of Rocket Fuel
goes off in a Fuel Pod, all the other cans of fuel also
explode, killing all of the crew and monsters in that pod at
once; all crew and AGTs on the skin of the Znutar adjacent
to the are killed; all crewmen and monsters in adjacent
indoors areas suffer the effects of one can of rocket fuel
and those in the corridor suffer the effects of
decompression. The Pod ceases to exist as an area for the
rest of the game, and both crew and monsters may use the
hole to get to the outside of the ship. If one Pod is thus
destroyed, the Crew players loses 20 points (if you are
bothering keep score.) If both Pods are destroyed, the crew
must escape in the boats (and try to survive the Epilogue),
regardless of the outcome of the overall battle.
VI) Holes and Decompression.
These rules exist to make the Slimer Megadult, Welding
Torch hole-making, and Rocket Pod explosions compatible with
the rest of the game. If you outlaw either the "Outside the
Znutar" rules, or the sections of those rules which cause
holes in the outer hull, then you can ignore these rules
too. They add a lot of complexity; we generally don't use
them unless we feel energetic.
A hole in a ship's wall connects the two rooms for
atmosphere purposes - decompression, Gas Grenade attacks,
and Rocket Fuel explosions. Holes may be moved through as
doors, and allow an Open LOS.
If a hole is made in the skin of the ship, the
compartment with the hole in it suffers Explosive
Decompression (remember that holes to other compartments
make them suffer this too!) This is somewhat complex, and
it is necessary to keep track of which crewmen are wearing
suits. "Vacuum" markers will be needed to keep track of
depressurized areas.
Things in the area (not compartment!) where a hole was
made tend to be blown out into space: all loose Eggs and
weapons which did not begin the game in the area are
destroyed. (Weapons which began the game in an area are
presumed to be in boxes, racks, cabinets, or otherwise
nailed down and thus immune to blow-out. This applies even
to weapons that were previously Grabbed.) Stunned Crewmen
and monsters are swept into space. Unstunned crew and
monsters manage to stay in the compartment if they roll
their Hand-to-Hand attack number or less on one die. (Yes,
Crew in Jet Suits roll against a "1"!) Fragments and Cargo
movers are unaffected (Fragments are sticky, and Cargo
Movers mass too much.) All monsters swept into space are
killed. Crewmen without suits are killed; crewmen with
suits are blown out into space as if they jumped towards a
boat and missed; crewmen in Jet Suits are blown into the
space adjacent to the hole.
If the Slimer Megadult made the hole, it must roll to
avoid being blasted into space; if it succeeds, it winds up
Outside the Znutar. In any case, no monsters may
voluntarily pass through the hole in that movement phase
(they are either inside hanging on, or outside waiting for
the blast of air to abate, or sailing off into space, never
to be seen again.)
Unsuited crewmen in the depressurized compartment must
attempt to reach a pressurized area of a suit before all air
is lost. To do this, they move one area, use a suit/Jet
Suit/Mover/enter a Boat, or move one area and roll their
move ability or less on one die to use/enter protection, _at
once_ . If they reach a pressurized compartment or enter a
suit or boat, they are safe. Crewmen that manage to hold on
in the area of the hole _may_ make this move. If they
cannot make it to safety, they die. Leadfoot gets no
emergency move, both because he is slow, and because he
doesn't need a suit.
The ship's hatches only function between compartments
of the same pressure. In other words, it is not possible to
move from a pressurized area to a depressurized area, or
vice versa. To get between them, you need either a hole in
the wall, or you must change the pressure of the one to fit
the other.
To change the pressurization of a compartment, it must
have no holes to space in it (those that do are
automatically Vacuum!) If all crewmen in a compartment are
suited, the crew player may voluntarily depressurize the
compartment any time during the movement phase. This is
_not_ an explosive decompression, and nobody is blown
anywhere. Similarly, any depressurized compartment with no
holes to space in it may be repressurized at any point in
the crew movement phase (but all crewmen entering it in that
move phase must still have suits.)
If a compartment not open to space is depressurized,
the ship's computers will automatically repressurize it the
next time a monster or a crewman tries to enter it unless a
crewman is standing by one of its doors to manually override
this function. (Use the airlock override rules for this.)
Secondary Decompression: if a pressurized compartment
becomes connected (via a hole) to a compartment open to
space, it undergoes secondary decompression. Everything in
the area of the hole in the pressurized compartment may be
blown through the hole, just as in explosive decompression,
except that nothing is blown further than the next area
beyond the hole. Crewmen still get the emergency move for
survival, but may not use doors between the previously
depressurized compartment and pressurized compartments as
these are already vacuum-locked.
Internal decompression occurs when a hole is made
between a pressurized compartment and a voluntarily
depressurized compartment. The crew player may decide what
pressure the resulting compartment will hold; if there are
any unsuited crewmen in it, he _must_ pressurize it.
Fire Extinguishers and Gas Grenades do not work in a
vacuum.
If all the crew are killed or leave, and the Znutar is
not blown up, the monster's score is reduced by 5 points for
every area still open to space (they can't survive vacuum
forever!). This does not apply to the crew, which can
repair the holes.
The End
Hope you enjoy these (or at least that somebody does! 8)