this draft was last updated 1/6/06
comments welcome: rseater@mit.edu

CONSTRUCTS
Vehicles, Turrets, Droids, Jetpacks, Heavy Weapons

Unlike minifigs, when an attack hits a construct, the attacker decides which exposed piece is removed. When an attack barely misses a construct (fails only one accuracy flip) it still hits, but the construct's owner decides which exposed piece is removed.  As with minifigs, carried weapons don't count as exposed pieces, and are dropped when the appropriate appendage is removed.  Minifigs on chairs in the model count as part of the model for the purposes of assigning hits, but minifigs hitching a ride are separate targets.

If a set of pieces are arranged such that they mutally cover each other (none of them can ever be exposed) then they are all considered one piece for the purposes of being eliminated.  That would be cheating.

If an attack does more than 1 damage to a construct, the first damage is handled as above.  The additional hits are handled as barely-misses -- the construct owner chooses what they remove.

For each non-armor device, let N be the number of types of equipment, other than its own, that that device is (indirectly or directlly) above,  For example, if a generator is above 2 other generators, 4 wheels, and 1 computer, then that generator's N is 2.
The total cost of the vehicle is increased by the maximum N for any device.  That maximum N is called the "Depth" of the device.

ENERGY SUPPLIERS AND CONVERTERS
Most devices serve to either produce energy in some form, or to convert one form into another.  The larger the device (e.g. the more pieces devoted to it) the more units of energy that can be converted.  For example, in order for a vehicle construct to move across the field, it needs motion energy.  Wheels (active mobility) turn an one unit of input and one unit of push energy into a certain amount of motion.  The input might come from an antenna, while the push comes from a harnest beast.

energy device	conversion				appearance		
generator / fuel	[] --> power				transparent / cylendar

antenna		[] --> input if exposed		antenna
computer		2 power --> input			electronics
interface		minifig act --> input			buttons / wheel

motor			power --> push			grating
enviro motor		[] --> push if exposed		sail / water wheel

air tank		[] --> air supply 			(for a seated minifig)

energy device cost = 1/2

INTERACTIVE DEVICES
These devices are like energy devices, but they interact with models outside of the construct.

interactive device	conversion				appearance		
seat			minifig --> 2 minifig act		chair / jet pack
claw			power, input --> minifig act		clip (let go if unpowered)
container		[] --> carry				box / clip (can't pick up)
harness (vehicle)	x external motion --> x push		harness / rod
minifig rig		minifig --> 2 minifig act		connect to equipment
			x minifig motion --> x - size/4 motion
beast rig		saddled minifig --> 2 minifig act	connect to beast
			x beast motion --> x - size/4 motion

interactive device cost = 1/2

A rig is considered to be at the bottom of the device for the purposes of 'above', 'below', and 'exposed'.  The rig itself is the piece in the device which connects to a piece of equipment worn by the minifig (studded neck gear or a studded helmet).

Any minifig can hitch a ride on a vehicle (by standing on part of it), but only those in seats may apply their actions to the vehicle.  Furthermore, Minifigs not in seats have an additional accuracy - 1 to any attack they make. It must be possible for minifigs to actually get into and out of the seats.

A harness is a piece which connects a beast to a vehicle and lets the beast push/pull the vehicle.  See beast rules for details.

A rig is a piece which connects a beast (or minifig) to a vehicle and lets the beast carry the vehicle.  The beast suffers slowdown equal to 1/4 # pieces. A rig is considered to be the bottom piece of the vehicle, and will increase the cost of the vehicle accordingly.  If the vehicle moves, the beast is carried along with it.

JOINTS
joint			conversion				appearance		
joint			input --> change position		hinge / turntable / door
			minifig act --> change position	(must be in contact)

joint cost = 1/2

A joint position change can be by any amount, but the joint must come to rest before the construct can do anything else (such as move or strike with a hand-to-hand weapon mounted on the joint).

A joint may move a slab of armor so that it is effectively above some device without actually paying the cost of being above that device.  The device's 'natural state' is with the any such slab up and exposing the devices underneith, and it is from that position that cost is computed.  The device must begin the game in its natural state.

Any minifig in contact with the joint (even a minifig not in a seat or belonging to different player) may change a joint's position by pushing on it.

A group of connected joints may be declared to be a single 'joint system' and be treated as a single piece which takes a single point of input to reposition.  Only joints chained directly together may be declared to be a single joint system.

ARMOR
non-critical device	purpose				appearance		
armor			[] --> []					anything else

armor cost = 1/8 + 1/8 per type of non-armor device (indirectly) below

Wheel hubs count as being above their wheel, even if the wheel is technically exposed.

MOBILITY
mobility device	purpose				appearance		
land mobility		input, push --> surface motion	wheel / tread / leg / ski
flight mobility		input, 2 push --> flight motion	wing / propeller

mobility device cost = 1/2

Use land mobility by applying 1 input and P push to P mobility pieces.
Use flight mobility by applying 1 input and 2P push to P mobility pieces.
The vehicle then travels = 500 x P / (vehicle size)

Land motion cannot take a vehicle up over any step higher in plates than half the number of pieces in the mobility device, and cannot go down over any step higher than the number of pieces.  That is, with 4 wheels a vehicle may go up over 2-plate high steps and down over 4 plate high steps.  It can travel over any number of such steps in a turn, but each vertical step may be at most 2 plates high.  Unlike with minifigs, the vertical component is not counted against total distance.

A flying vehicle is not bound to the surface during the turn, but it must still come to rest between turns.

MOUNTED WEAPONS
A minfig weapon may be carried with a claw arm as an independent system.  Weapons which are installed as devices are considered differently, and have different price and operation rules.

The entire weapon unit counts as 1 piece for the purposes of the price of pieces on top of it and number of pieces in the model.

Cost of entire weapon = number of pieces

Weapons that are partially destroyed are completely eliminated.  It is conventional to add armor to a weapon in the shape of a longer barrel or shaft (of a different color) to maintain appearances.

mounted hand-to-hand weapon
	contact --> attack
	push --> damage
	size --> max damage per attack
There is no accuracy roll; any model touched by the tip is hit exactly once. No model is attacked more than once, and allies are not discriminated from enemies.  Pieces are removed from hit vehicles by owner, as if you had scored a "near miss". The damage done to each target is the amount of push supplied, up to the number of pieces in the weapn. Physical reach does not affect cost or speed but restricts where the vehicle can physically fit.

mounted line-of-sight weapon
		input --> attack
		power --> damage
		size --> max total damage per turn
By applying 1 input and P power, one attack may be made doing P damage. The total amount of power supplied to the weapon each turn cannot exceed the number of pieces in it.  The accuracy of each attack is always 50%. The weapon must point directly at each of its targets (via joints).

mounted lobbed-area-effect weapon
		[] --> single attack per turn
		push --> range
		input --> reflips
		size --> template size and damage
Up to one attack may be made each turn by applying P push and I input. The direction of the attack is determined by the physical orientation of the weapon (joints help). Flip P coins with up to I reflips -- each heads increases range by 8. The number of pieces in the model must be the square root of the damage done times the square root of the number of studs in the template.

PROJECTILES
missiles, rockets, torpedos, bombs
(ROUGH)

Projectiles are vehicles with a warhead device and behave like a one-use lobbed-area-attack.  They can be carried on top of another vehicle (e.g. a missile bay or bazooka) and receive a launch instruction from that vehicle.  They then fly off independently, using their own form of propulsion or a push from the launcher, and eventaully explode.

energy device	purpose							
launch pad		input --> projectile input	on the turn it separates
			power --> projectile power	on the turn it separates
			push --> projectile push	on the turn it separates
rocket engine		input, P power --> 2P linear mobility

energy device cost = 1/2

trigger device		purpose							

impact trigger	impact --> trigger
timed trigger		countdown --> trigger
smart trigger		input --> trigger

trigger device cost = 1/2

hazardous device	purpose							
warhead		trigger --> explode (required)
			loss of any warhead piece --> trigger

hazardous device cost = 1/4
counts as center for purposes of depth cost

If a projectile's explosion is to cover S studs and do D damage, it needs to include (D x sqrt(S))/6 warhead pieces.