In Static Veil, vehicles stop being transportation the moment the chase begins. Corporate sedans tear through rain-slick streets, courier bikes split lanes beneath holo-signs, armored haulers punch through barricades, and gunfire turns an escape route into a running battle.
These rules handle encounters where speed, pursuit, and relative position matter as much as firepower. Vehicles track their Current Speed and Position, while operators use Handling Hits to push harder, gain ground, evade fire, thread hazards, ram opponents, and force rivals into bad lines. Everyone else aboard acts through the normal combat rules as the chase unfolds.
Surface Chases
Surface Chases cover vehicle encounters that unfold along a shared route or surface, where participants can be represented by their relative distance from one another.
They are primarily used for ground vehicles and surface watercraft, including pursuits through city streets, highways, open terrain, canals, rivers, and open water.
Surface Chases track each vehicle’s Current Speed and Position as operators accelerate, gain ground, avoid hazards, and maneuver against their opponents.
Setting Up a Chase
Before the chase begins, establish what each side is trying to accomplish. A chase may end through escape, interception, boarding, reaching a destination, forcing an opponent off course, or destroying a target.
Choose one participant as the Reference Vehicle, usually the quarry or the vehicle whose route defines the chase. Place it at Position 0.
Place every other participant ahead of or behind the Reference Vehicle according to their relative distance.
Each vehicle also begins at an appropriate Current Speed from the Speed Bands table.
New participants entering an ongoing chase begin at a Position and Current Speed appropriate to where and how they enter.
If the Reference Vehicle leaves the chase, choose another participant as the new Reference Vehicle and reposition the chase track while preserving the relative separation between participants.
Chase Scale and Positions
A chase is divided into abstract Positions rather than exact distances. Each Position represents a distance determined by the encounter’s Chase Scale.
| Chase Scale | Distance per Position |
|---|---|
| Close | 10 metres |
| Standard | 25 metres |
| Open | 100 metres |
| Extended | 500 metres |
Choose the Chase Scale that best reflects the available space and the distances at which the participants are interacting.
Close is suitable for confined streets, individual lanes, boarding attempts, and other situations where vehicles remain very close together.
Standard suits most city pursuits and other chases where vehicles are separated by tens of metres.
Open is appropriate for highways, open terrain, large waterways, and similar environments where vehicles have room to spread out.
Extended is used for long-distance pursuit where participants remain hundreds of metres apart.
The Reference Vehicle remains at Position 0. Positive Positions are ahead of it, while negative Positions are behind it.
The Chase Scale normally remains unchanged during the encounter. If the chase enters an environment where the current scale no longer makes sense, change the scale while preserving the participants’ relative order and approximate separation.
Chase Rounds
Chases use the normal rules for Rounds and Passes, Initiative, and Action Points.
Each vehicle and everyone aboard it form an Initiative Group. At the start of the first round, the vehicle’s operator rolls Initiative for the group using the normal rules.
Everyone in the group acts on that Initiative and may take their turns in any order. Each character retains their own Action Points and Passes.
If the operator changes, the group retains its current Initiative. The new operator rolls Initiative for the group at the start of the next round.
Each player-controlled vehicle normally forms its own Initiative Group. The GM may group similar NPC vehicles together when this makes the encounter easier to manage.
Relative Speed
At the start of each round, before participants act, compare each vehicle’s Current Speed to the Reference Vehicle’s Current Speed.
For each Speed Band of difference:
-
A vehicle travelling faster than the Reference Vehicle moves 1 Position forward.
-
A vehicle travelling slower than the Reference Vehicle moves 1 Position backward.
-
A vehicle travelling at the same Speed does not move.
The Reference Vehicle remains at Position 0.
Example: The Reference Vehicle is travelling at Speed 4. A pursuer at Position −5 is travelling at Speed 6. At the start of the round, the pursuer is 2 Speed Bands faster and moves forward 2 Positions, from −5 to −3.
Changes to Current Speed during the round affect relative movement at the start of the following round.
Maneuvering
Operating a moving vehicle during a chase requires constant attention.
On the operator’s first turn each round, they must spend 2 AP to make a Vehicle Test. Because the Test directly involves controlling the vehicle, its Handling Bonus Die applies.
Each Hit generated becomes a Handling Hit.
Handling Hits represent the operator’s ability to control the vehicle, alter its speed or position, avoid hazards, and perform other maneuvers during the round.
Handling Hits may be spent or reserved as described below. They cannot be carried into another round.
If the operator does not make the required Maneuvering Test while the vehicle is moving, the vehicle becomes Uncontrolled at the end of their turn.
A vehicle at Speed 0 does not require a Maneuvering Test unless the operator attempts to move it or circumstances otherwise require one.
Failing the Test does not automatically make the vehicle Uncontrolled. The operator simply generates no Handling Hits and must resolve any consequences caused by hazards, Complications, or other circumstances.
Environmental Hazards
Every chase environment has a Safe Speed. This represents how quickly a vehicle can move before avoiding the surrounding traffic, terrain, obstacles, waves, or other hazards begins to demand significant attention.
SAFE SPEED
| Environment | Safe Speed | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 6 | Open highway, open water, unobstructed terrain |
| Clear | 4 | Major roads, light traffic, broad waterways |
| Constrained | 3 | City streets, moderate traffic, rough terrain |
| Dense | 2 | Alleys, heavy traffic, forests, narrow waterways |
| Extreme | 1 | Packed streets, severe terrain, violent conditions |
The GM chooses the environment that best represents the current chase.
If a vehicle is travelling below the Safe Speed, no Handling Hits need to be reserved for environmental hazards.
At the Safe Speed, the operator must reserve 1 Handling Hit.
For each Speed Band above the Safe Speed, the operator must reserve 1 additional Handling Hit.
Required Hazard Hits = Current Speed − Safe Speed + 1, minimum 0
Example: A vehicle travelling at Speed 5 through a Constrained environment with Safe Speed 3 must reserve 3 Handling Hits.
Determine the requirement using the vehicle’s Current Speed at the end of the operator’s turn.
If the operator has not reserved enough Handling Hits, the vehicle encounters an appropriate hazard and crashes. Resolve the impact using the Collision rules. The GM determines what the vehicle strikes or how the crash occurs based on the environment.
Reserved Handling Hits are spent at the end of the operator’s turn and are then lost.
Specific Hazards
Some hazards exist in addition to the normal dangers represented by the environment.
A collapsing bridge, sudden barricade, fallen cargo, deep ditch, dangerous wave, or similar obstacle may require additional Handling Hits to avoid.
The GM assigns the hazard a cost based on its severity.
| Hazard | Handling Hit Cost |
|---|---|
| Minor | 1 |
| Serious | 2 |
| Severe | 3 |
Handling Hits spent avoiding a specific Hazard are separate from those required by the environment.
If the required Hits are not spent when the Hazard is encountered, resolve its consequences. This normally causes a collision, although some Hazards may instead cause the vehicle to become Uncontrolled, lose Position, or suffer another consequence appropriate to the situation.
Change Speed
The operator accelerates or slows the vehicle.
Spend 1 Handling Hit for each Speed Band by which the vehicle’s Current Speed changes.
A vehicle may increase its Current Speed by no more than its Acceleration during a round and can never exceed its listed Speed.
Acceleration does not limit how quickly the vehicle can reduce its Current Speed. Each Speed Band reduced still costs 1 Handling Hit.
A vehicle cannot reduce its Current Speed below 0.
The vehicle’s final Current Speed determines how many Handling Hits must be reserved for environmental hazards that turn.
Change Position
The operator gains or yields ground through better positioning, braking, lane choice, cornering, or another tactical maneuver that is not represented by raw Speed.
Spend 1 Handling Hit to move the vehicle 1 Position forward or backward.
A vehicle can Change Position only once per round.
If the Reference Vehicle Changes Position, it remains at Position 0. Move every other participant 1 Position in the opposite direction instead.
Change Position represents a tactical gain within the chase. Larger changes in relative distance are normally produced by differences in Current Speed.
Evade
The operator drives unpredictably, changes direction sharply, or uses the surrounding terrain to make the vehicle more difficult to target.
For each Handling Hit spent on Evade, attacks against the vehicle and its occupants suffer a cumulative −10 penalty until the start of the operator’s next turn.
The same penalty applies to attacks made from the vehicle, including mounted weapons.
Vehicle Traits or specialized stabilization systems may reduce the penalty to attacks made from the vehicle.
Evade takes effect immediately.
Hold Steady
The operator maintains a smooth and predictable course to provide a stable firing platform.
Spend 1 Handling Hit to ignore the normal Unstable Shooting penalty for attacks made from the vehicle until the start of the operator’s next turn.
While Hold Steady is active, attacks against the vehicle and its occupants gain +10 to their Success Target.
A vehicle cannot Hold Steady and Evade at the same time. Using either immediately ends the other.
Stunts
A Stunt uses the surrounding environment to create an advantage or force pursuing vehicles into danger.
Examples include cutting through a narrow alley, driving down a stairway, crossing a crowded plaza, taking a dangerous shortcut, or passing through an obstacle that pursuing vehicles must also negotiate.
A Stunt is a 2 AP Maneuver requiring a separate Vehicle Test.
On a success, the operator creates a Hazard for vehicles attempting to follow the same route. The Hazard’s Handling Hit Cost equals the operator’s Hits, to a maximum of 3.
A vehicle may follow and resolve the Hazard normally, or avoid the dangerous route and lose 1 Position instead.
The GM determines whether a proposed Stunt is physically possible and what vehicles can reasonably attempt to follow it.
Board
A vehicle may attempt to Board another vehicle when both occupy the same Position and their relative size, speed, and surroundings make boarding physically possible.
Board is a 2 AP Maneuver. The operators make an opposed Vehicle Test.
If the attacker wins, they bring the vehicles close enough for characters to move between them. Characters may then board using their normal actions and movement.
The GM may require an appropriate Test to cross when doing so is particularly dangerous.
The boarding opportunity ends when either vehicle Changes Position. Grappling lines, clamps, or similar equipment may keep the vehicles connected until the connection is released or broken.
Break Away
The operator attempts to create enough separation to escape the chase entirely.
A vehicle may attempt to Break Away when there are at least 4 Positions between it and the closest hostile participant.
Break Away is a 2 AP Maneuver requiring a separate Vehicle Test.
Apply a modifier based on the current separation:
| Separation | Modifier |
|---|---|
| 4 Positions | −20 |
| 5 Positions | −10 |
| 6 or more Positions | None |
On a success, the vehicle escapes and is removed from the chase.
On a failure, it remains at its current Position.
Force
The operator attempts to crowd another vehicle, cut it off, or force it toward danger.
Force is a 2 AP Maneuver that may only target another vehicle in the same Position.
The operators make an opposed Vehicle Test.
If the attacker wins, the target is forced toward a Hazard appropriate to the surroundings.
The Hazard’s Handling Hit Cost equals the attacker’s Net Hits, to a maximum of 3.
The target must resolve the Hazard on its next turn before spending Handling Hits on other maneuvers.
Ram
The operator deliberately collides with another vehicle.
Ram is a 2 AP Maneuver that may only target another vehicle in the same Position.
The operators make an opposed Vehicle Test.
If the attacker wins, the vehicles collide. Resolve the impact using the Collision rules.
Add the attacker’s Net Hits to the collision’s Impact Speed, to a maximum of +3.
Both vehicles suffer the collision normally.
If the Test is tied or the defender wins, the attacker fails to make meaningful contact.
Additional Maneuvering Tests
After making the required Maneuvering Test for the round, the operator may spend another 2 AP on a later Pass to make an additional Vehicle Test.
Hits from an additional Test become Handling Hits and are spent immediately on maneuvers or Hazards that occur at that time.
Limits that apply for the entire round do not reset. In particular:
- Acceleration still limits the total increase in Current Speed.
- Change Position can still only be used once per round.
An additional Maneuvering Test cannot retroactively prevent a Hazard or collision that has already been resolved.
Dogfighting
Dogfighting represents close three-dimensional combat between aircraft, submersibles, and other vehicles capable of freely maneuvering around one another.
Unlike a Surface Chase, a Dogfight does not track Positions or Current Speed. Exact movement is abstracted into the operators’ attempts to gain a favorable Attack Position against their opponents.
Dogfights otherwise use the normal rules for Rounds, Initiative, Action Points, Passes, and Vehicle Combat.
Entering a Dogfight
Vehicles may enter a Dogfight when they are close enough to maneuver directly against one another and their Current Speeds are within 1 Speed Band of each other.
As a general guideline, vehicles should be within approximately 1 kilometre before a Dogfight begins. The GM may adjust this distance for unusual vehicles or circumstances.
Once the Dogfight begins, exact distance and Current Speed are no longer tracked. They remain abstracted until the vehicles break apart or the encounter becomes a pursuit again.
A vehicle joining an ongoing Dogfight must meet the same requirements.
Dogfighting Test
At the start of each round, before any characters act, every vehicle operator involved in the Dogfight makes a Dogfighting Test.
The Dogfighting Test costs no AP and uses the normal Vehicle Test procedure. The vehicle’s Handling Bonus Die applies.
Hits generated by this Test are used to determine Attack Position. They do not become Handling Hits and are not spent on maneuvers.
Compare the operators’ Hits as an Opposed Test for each pair of hostile vehicles engaging one another.
The operator with more Hits gains the Advantage against that opponent until the start of the next round.
Advantage
The operator with the Advantage controls the relative Attack Position between the two vehicles.
They choose:
-
which of their own vehicle’s Fire Arcs contains the opposing vehicle;
-
which of the opposing vehicle’s Fire Arcs contains their own vehicle.
The operator with the Advantage gains +10 to the Success Target of attacks against that opponent.
Attacks made by the disadvantaged vehicle against the vehicle holding the Advantage suffer −10 to their Success Target.
These modifiers apply only between those two vehicles.
Example: An interceptor wins the Dogfighting Test against a pursuing gunship. Its operator places the gunship in the interceptor’s Front arc while placing the interceptor in the gunship’s Rear arc. The interceptor can bring its fixed forward weapons to bear while the gunship cannot use weapons limited to its Front arc.
Ties
If the opposed Dogfighting Test is tied, neither operator gains a favorable Attack Position.
Neither vehicle may attack the other with Fixed weapons or other weapons that require the vehicle itself to be brought to bear.
Turret weapons and other weapons capable of independently tracking targets in any direction may still attack normally.
The tie lasts until Attack Position is determined again at the start of the next round.
Multiple Opponents
Dogfighting becomes substantially more difficult when several hostile vehicles engage the same target.
An operator suffers −10 to their Dogfighting Test for each hostile vehicle engaging them beyond the first.
The operator still makes only one Dogfighting Test. Compare its Hits separately against each hostile operator.
A vehicle may therefore hold the Advantage against one opponent while being at a disadvantage against another.
Example: A pilot is engaged by three hostile aircraft. They suffer −20 to their Dogfighting Test. Each attacker is engaging only that pilot and suffers no penalty. The pilot’s result is compared separately against each attacker.
Attacking During a Dogfight
Once Attack Positions have been determined, characters act using the normal combat rules.
The Attack Position determines which Fire Arcs can be used against each opponent. A weapon cannot attack a target outside its available Fire Arc.
Mounted weapons, attacks against occupants, Armor, Cover, Damage, and other combat rules function normally.
Any modifiers from Advantage apply in addition to other relevant modifiers.
Breaking Off
An operator may attempt to leave the close engagement when they have gained enough positional control to disengage safely.
An operator who has the Advantage against every hostile vehicle currently engaging them may spend 2 AP to Break Off.
The vehicle immediately leaves the Dogfight.
If no hostile vehicle pursues, the engagement ends for that vehicle. If pursuit continues, set up a Surface Chase using Positions and Current Speeds appropriate to the situation. The escaping vehicle will normally become the Reference Vehicle.
A vehicle that does not hold the Advantage against every hostile vehicle engaging it cannot Break Off that round.
Vehicle Combat
Characters may attack normally during a chase when they have a valid target and their weapon can reach it.
Use the normal combat rules for attack Tests, Range, Cover, Armor, and Damage, with any modifiers created by the chase.
Vehicles do not make Active Defense rolls. Evasive maneuvering and other circumstances instead apply penalties to attacks against them.
The distance between two participants is determined by their separation on the chase track and the current Chase Scale.
Participants in the same Position are considered close enough to interact directly unless the circumstances require a more precise distance.
Attacking Occupants
A character may target a vehicle occupant directly when they can see and reasonably attack them.
Occupants are attacked using the normal combat rules and may use Active Defense normally.
Any penalty from the vehicle’s Evade maneuver also applies to attacks against its occupants.
The vehicle’s bodywork may provide Cover or prevent an occupant from being targeted directly.
Cover and Visibility
Doors, body panels, windows, armor plating, cargo, and other parts of a vehicle may provide Cover to its occupants.
The amount of Cover depends on the vehicle’s design and the direction of the attack.
A completely exposed rider or crew member receives no Cover from the vehicle.
If an occupant is completely concealed behind the vehicle’s bodywork, they normally cannot be targeted directly. The attacker may instead target the vehicle or attack through the intervening material using the normal rules for attacking through barriers.
Firing from Vehicles
Attacks made with personal weapons from a moving vehicle suffer a −10 Unstable Shooting penalty unless the vehicle is stationary or its movement is negligible.
Hold Steady removes this penalty while active.
Any penalty caused by Evade also applies to attacks made from the vehicle.
A character may fire only from a position that reasonably allows them to use the weapon against the intended target.
Use the normal Range rules based on the distance determined by the chase track.
Mounted Weapons
Mounted weapons use the gunner’s normal Attributes and appropriate combat Skill.
Mounted weapons do not suffer the basic Unstable Shooting penalty caused by ordinary vehicle movement.
A mounted weapon may only attack targets within its available Fire Arc.
- Fixed: Fires in a listed direction, normally Front or Rear.
- Pintle: Covers a limited arc around its mounting point.
- Turret: May fire in any direction unless blocked by the vehicle’s structure.
For chase purposes, a target ahead of the vehicle is normally in its Front arc, while a target behind it is normally in its Rear arc. Targets occupying the same Position are usually treated as being to the Side unless circumstances establish otherwise.
Penalties caused by Evade still apply to mounted weapon attacks unless stabilization or another rule states otherwise.