this draft was last updated 1/8/06
comments welcome: rseater@mit.edu
_______________________________________________________
Minifig Disassembly

When a minifig is hit, its owner removes an exposed piece from it.  Armor works simply because it is exposed before body parts are.  That is, headgear has to be eliminated before the head, and neckwear has to be removed before the torso.  In general, a single attack eliminates a single piece.  Carried items cannot be removed in this manner.

. . . . . . . . . .
.       _         .
. |    / \        .
. |     O      _  .
. |     _     / \ .
. |   _/ \_   | | .
. ^  //] [\\  |o| .
. |  c [_] c  | | .
.      [ ]    \_/ .
.      ] [        .
. . . . . . . . . .

armor class
Some pieces (e.g. thicker armor) have an AC rating, meaning that they can absorb more damage before being eliminated.  An AC 2 helmet would need to be hit twice in a single turn to be removed -- damage is not remembered between turns, but it is remembered within a turn.  AC 1 is a normal piece.

damage
Some attacks do extra damage, and are capable of removing more resiliant armor.  A 2 damage attack and a 1 damage attack would together remove an AC 3 helmet.  Doing 2 damage to an normal (or AC 1) piece just removes that piece and does NOT cascade to further pieces.  After any attack, if a piece has taken enough damage, it is immediately eliminated.  Leftover damage from that attack is igored, but further attacks during the same turn can hit pieces that were beneith it.  Normally, each attack removes at most one piece.

The owner of a minifig decides where damage to that minifig goes.  Since a shield is carried equipment, not worn armor, it may or may not be given the damage from any hit.

EX: If you have an AC 1 shield and an AC 3 helmet and are hit by a damage 2 attack, you may
(1) remove the shield (and ignore the "extra" point of damage), or
(2) have the helmet take 2 damage (it will be removed if it takes one more damage this turn).

Any piece with AC 0 is considered to be part of the next piece above it, and is removed, carried, and replaced accordingly.  AC 0 pieces are being phased out of the rules.

There are exceptions to the above rules, as covered in the weapon sections.  For example, some weapons do damage that cascades, allowing a single attack to eliminate multiple pieces.  Others can penetrate armor and eliminate non-exposed body parts, leaving behind an empty helm still resting on the minifig's body.

Only normal stud connections count as separate pieces.  Individual arms, hands, and legs cannot be eliminated.  The entire leg-waist assempty is one piece, as is the entire torso-arm-hand assembly.  A normal minifig has a head, a torso, and legs -- 3 "pieces".  You never need to make non-standard separation, as that puts undue wear on the parts.
_______________________________________________________
Minifig Reassembly

Eliminated pieces are dropped on the ground and may be carried back to your home base, where they may be recombined.

A minifig without a head can still carry equipment and fragments, but cannot perform any other action (or attack).  A minifig without a torso cannot carry anything but can still run away.  A minifig without legs has been totally blown away!  This means that a torso-leg pair can pick up its own lost head and run back to base with it for reassembly.

A minifig can carry one piece in each hand, but can only reassemble them at your home base or with special equipment.  Some items, such as a bucket back pack provide additional carrying capacity.  Closed back packs cannot actually hold pieces and thus do not provide capacity -- remember the physicality of legos!  Each piece carried, no matter how, has a slowdown rating equal to its AC (normal pieces have AC 1).  Picking up an item is free, provided you have a free hand or backpack to hold it.

Each minifig that begins the turn next to its home base flag may reassemble by spending its entire turn there and taking no other action.   Each of its hands carrying a body part or armor may attach it to any model next to the same home base flag.  It may put the piece onto itself, or onto another model.  Several models may collaborate to build up one model by several steps.

There are rules-in-progress for building new machines/minfigs on site.  You can use a pick-axe or shovel to dig up bricks from a mine, carry them back to your home base, and forge them into useful parts.

A minifig may pick up a piece of equipment (weapon, tool, or shield) anywhere it encounters one on the field; it need not return to the home base flag.  Picking up or dropping equipment if totally free -- it may be done any number of times per turn.  However, picking something up requires that the minifig stop moving for the turn and that equipment can't be used until the minifig's next turn.
_______________________________________________________
Minifig Movement
unrelated to cost

Movement is calculated in terms of stud distances.  Use a "ruler" (a 2x16 plate) to measure the distance when moving diagonally or vertically.  Vertical movement is perfectly acceptable and represents climbing or jumping; you just have to end the turn with your feet planted on a pair of studs.  Rough terrain affects movement simply because there are vertical components all along it: in order to go 8 studs horizontally, a minifig might have to cover 4 studs of vertical distance, thus needing to use a total of 12 studs worth of movement.  Be generous.

The base movement rate for a normal minifig is 16 studs per turn.
Each piece of armor reduces movement by its AC rating (halve this penalty if user is a robot)
Each hand-to-hand weapon reduces movement its reach -- the number of studs it extends from its bearer (halve this penalty if weapon is used 2 handed)
_______________________________________________________
Minifig Physiology

Most body parts are normal pieces (e.g. AC 1).  Some minfigs have AC 0 components which are considered to be part of the next higher non-0 piece.

composition	leg-torso-hd	cost	examples		effects					
monstrous	1+1;1+1;1	5	centaur, crab		+3 base move
inorganic	1;1;1		4	robot, golem		halve armor movement penalties
organic	1;1;1		3	human, alien, goblin	(default)
undead	0;1;1		2	skeleton, zombie	-3 base move
ethereal	0;0;1		1	ghost, valkyrie	can pass through minifigs

This means that once a ghost loses its head, the entire model is lost. You can still represent it with a multi-piece model, but all the pieces other than the top one (the head) have AC 0 and are immediately removed if ever exposed.  Basically, the ghost is all once piece, and should be treated as such for the purposes of being carried, assembled, and disassembled.  A zombie is two pieces; a head and a combined legs-torso.

lower limbs
shape		cost	movement	other				
hoofed	+2	+5		use double peg legs
normal legs	+0	+0		default
dress		-1	-5		min cost is 1
short legs	-2	-10		min cost is 1

shape		cost	movement	other				
djinn smoke	+2	+0		flight
peg leg	+0	-5		+1 accuracy when firing gunpower weapons
naga snake	+0	+0		weapon move penalties /2, armor move penalties x2
tentacles	+0	+0		water move x2, land movement /2 (after penalties)
mermaid fins	+0	+0		water move x2, land movement /2 (before penalties)
statue/tree	+0	-16
		flesh and armor each get AC+1 but cost and slowdown the same
		movement may be reduced to negative half of model's normal base move

pirate hook hand: assign it weapon stats as usual, but it is part of the torso and thus never dropped.  This is an advantage, but the disadvantage is that a different weapon cannot be held in that hand.