Firearms in Cypher System: Gun Store 1 Modern Firearms

Related posts:

Firearms in Cypher System
Shotguns (and a Varmint Rifle)
More Weapon Distinctions

Gun Store Posts:
Gun Store 1: Modern Firearms

So I've posted some extended firearms rules including some rules that let you tweak your firearms to taste, but how does that translate to your firearm and gear purchasing needs?

Maybe you're equipping an elite special ops strike force, facing down gangsters in 1920's Chicago, knocking over a deserted big-box store for anti-zombie weapons in the post-apocalypse, or need to find just the right lethal accessory to go with your Super Spy's evening ensemble.

Below are a sampling of common, famous, or notable real world examples translated to Cypher System. I've attempted to cover at least one weapon that covers each of the modern firearm weapon stats in CSR, as well as weapons of historical, or cultural note, and some 'edge case' firearms that push the boundaries of my firearm customization.

Moderately priced Firearms (< $200):

Firearms in this price class are typically small caliber holdout or target-practice weapons that inflict 1 point less damage than an Expensive weapon of the same size class.

Colt Model 1908 "Vest Pocket", .21 ACP: Short on power, range, and accuracy, these small holdout pistols were common backup weapons through the first half of the 1900's and most military officers could be found carrying one or something similar concealed on their person (they didn't break the crisp lines of a properly laundered uniform).

-Light Automatic Pistol,
-2 damage, 6 attacks, Short Range, adds 1 asset and 1 skill to conceal.

("6 attacks, +1 damage" balances with "-1 damage for being Moderately Priced")

Daisy Number 111 "Red Ryder", .175 BB: Don't shoot your eye out with this lever-action spring-powered BB rifle.

-Light Automatic Rifle
-0 Damage (can be increased with Effort, or a GM Intrusion), effectively unlimited attacks (approx 1,000 BBs, or until the GM gets annoyed enough with your BB Gun antics to issue a GM Intrusion that breaks your toy), Short Range.

Lorcin L-380, .380 ACP: A cheap gun produced in the last decade of the 20'th century, it was underpowered and dangerously unreliable (the manufacturer went bankrupt twice in the face of multiple injury and wrongful death lawsuits), but many hundreds of thousands were sold to people who needed inexpensive firepower and/ or didn't know better.

-Medium Automatic Pistol,
-3 Damage, Short Range, Adds 1 asset to concealment.
GM Intrusions like jams or spontaneous weapon discharges may happen if this weapon is handled roughly, like it would be in any combat situation...

SplatMaster Paintball Marker, .68: A pistol-sized paintball gun powered by a standard 12g C02 cartridge good for 30 shots. Internal magazine holds 10 paintballs.

-Light Pistol,
-1 Damage, 10 attacks, Short Range. Target is marked with high-visibility paint. Anyone marked suffers a 2-point penalty on their die rolls for Stealth and Speed Defense.

"Varmint Rifle", .22 Long Rifle Rimfire: A common light caliber rifle for hikers and survivalists to carry that allows them to hunt small game, and frequently the first gun a child learns to handle firearms with. More expensive models (which can push them in to "Expensive" gear) may include survival kits in the stock (asset to Int rolls for Survival related tasks), and a collapsible frame (+1 asset to conceal, requires 2 turns to assemble rifle and another turn to mount a scope if one is available).

-Light Automatic Rifle
-2 Damage, 6 attacks, Long Range.

("6 attacks, +1 damage" balances with "-1 damage for being Moderately Priced")

Expensive Firearms ($200 - $2,000):

The vast majority of firearms fall in to this price category, Handguns typically retail for $300 to $900, while SMGs, Rifles and other long guns can range from the mid hundreds to around $1500.

In Cypher System Rulebook the "Very Expensive" weapons listed don't actually reach the level of being "Very Expensive" in the real world (even with some pretty steep licensing or black market markup), but the GM should keep in mind that those weapons (Heavy Handgun, Heavy Rifle, Assault Rifle, and Submachine Gun) tend to be difficult to conceal (+2 steps of difficulty on the Heavy Rifle and Assault Rifle, +1 step difficulty on the Heavy Handgun and SMG), and they tend to draw the attention of the authorities, and make civilians call said authorities. Played right; having law enforcement show up can stifle the activities of heavily armed PCs and make heavy weapons somewhat self-limiting.

Avtomat Kalashnikova obrazets 1947g, 7.62x39: The (in)famous soviet AK-47, possibly the single most manufactured gun in the world estimated at more than 90-million copies worldwide. In African conflict zones a fourth-hand loaded Kalashnikov can be purchased as an Inexpensive weapon (possibly as cheap as $5) though such heavily used rifles may impart a -1 or -2 to the die roll to hit. Bulk purchased from the factory each unit is Moderately Priced ($90 a piece in an order of multiple thousands, good for cheaply arming a small military or large militia). A Semi-Auto version of the AK-47 can be purchased in the United States for $300.

-Heavy Automatic Rifle
-6 damage, 10 Attacks (30 individual shots), Long Range, Rapid Fire

Beretta Mod 92F, 9x19mm: A Semi-Automatic 9mm pistol common with military and police forces around the world.

-Medium Automatic Pistol

-Damage 4, 10 attacks. Long Range, Decreases difficulty to conceal by 1 asset

Beretta Mod 93, 9x19mm: A machine pistol variant of the Beretta Mod 92F, popular in movies.

-Medium Automatic Pistol, Rapid Fire

-Damage 5, 6 attacks/18 individual rounds, Long Range, Decreases difficulty to conceal by 1 asset

Colt Government M1911, .45 ACP: Standard issue for the U.S. military since 1912 up through 1991 (replaced for standard issue by Beretta M9), and continues to be in production for the civilian market today.

-Medium Automatic Pistol

-Damage 4, 10 attacks, Long Range,  decreases difficulty to conceal by 1 step,

Colt M16, .223 Remington: First issued to USAF security forces in 1962, the M16 became the iconic battle rifle of American ground forces from the Vietnam war onward. Early versions suffered from maintenance and reliability issues (exacerbated in part by the belief the newfangled "plastic gun" didn't require maintenance), though the battlefield issues were more than resolved with the successor M16A1. The current M16A4 removes the carrying handle in favor of an accessory rail for optics and has additional accessory rails on the forearm.
-Medium Automatic Rifle
-Damage 4, 10 attacks (30 individual shots), Long Range, Rapid Fire

Daewoo USAS 12, 12G 2.75": The Universal Sporting Automatic Shotgun is anything but a sporting gun. Resembling an oversized M16 assault rifle the USAS is a fully-automatic shotgun that feeds from a 10 round box magazine, or a 20-round drum. The Izhmash "Saiga-12" is a similar Russian-built weapon patterned on the AK-47.
-X.Heavy Automatic Shotgun
-Damage 9/7/5/4, 6 Attacks (18 individual shots), Shotgun Range, Rapid Fire.
-(Shotshells use listed damage at Immediate/Short/Long/and up to 200' Range and have double the Slashing modifier +2 damage against unarmored targets,-2 damage against armored targets. Slugs have the base damage (9) at Long range and no distinction modifiers.)  

H&K MP5, 9x19mm: First adopted by West German border guards in 1966, the Heckler and Koch MP5A has become the submachine gun of choice for professionals from special ops, counter-terrorist and SWAT units around the world. At GM's option the MP5 may add 1 point to rolls to hit because of the quality of the design.
-Medium Automatic Rifle

-Damage 4, 10 attacks (30 individual rounds), Long Range, Rapid Fire

-The MP5SD variants include an integral sound suppressor (1 asset to being undetected by hearing), but increase the weapon's cost to "Very Expensive" gear. 

-The MP5K variant is a shorter weapon designed to be concealed under a coat (no step penalty to concealment) but lacks a stock and has only rudimentary sights reducing it's accuracy (Short Range). An attache case can be purchased that can conceal the MP5K and a spare magazine (1 item of additional "Expensive" gear. Adds 1 level asset and 1 level skill to conceal the firearm, though opening the case immediately reveals the weapon). A trigger in the handle allows the MP5K to be fired from inside the case at a 2 step penalty to accuracy, 1 step penalty if the shooter braces the case before firing but this makes it obvious there's a weapon inside. Removing the weapon from the case takes an Action.

IMI Mini-Uzi, 9x19mm: A smaller version of the  original Israeli Military Industries Uzi designed for commandos and vehicle crews, and popular with action filmmakers of the 1980's for it's unique profile.
-Medium Automatic Rifle
-Damage 4, 10 attacks (30 individual rounds), Short Range, Rapid Fire

Izhmash Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova (Dragunov's Sniper Rifle), 7.62x54mm: A soviet era sniper rifle still in production. Weapons are typically equipped with an optical scope standard.
-Heavy Automatic Rifle
-Damage 6, 10 attacks, 300' Range

Remington Model 870, 12g: One of the most popular pump-action shotguns for both law enforcement and civilian use.
-Heavy Shotgun
-Damage 7/5/3/2, 6 Attacks, Shotgun Range.
-(Shotshells use listed damage at Immediate/Short/Long/and up to 200' Range and have double the Slashing modifier +2 damage against unarmored targets,-2 damage against armored targets. Slugs have the base damage (7) at Long range and no distinction modifiers.)  

Reutech Protectra, 12g: This South African short-barrel shotgun was designed for riot control and home defense. A similar licensed weapon was sold briefly in the United States (1986-1994) as the Street Sweeper, until it was declared a "Destructive device with no sporting value."
-Heavy Shotgun
-Damage 6/4/2/1, 10 Attacks, Shotgun Range.
-(Shotshells use listed damage at Immediate/Short/Long/and up to 200' Range and have double the Slashing modifier +2 damage against unarmored targets,-2 damage against armored targets. Slugs have the base damage (6) at Long range and no distinction modifiers.) 

Ruger Super Redhawk, .454 Casull: A stainless steel .454 caliber revolver for big game hunting and target shooting. Shinier than a jet airplane and twice as noisy this hand cannon is the antithesis of 'subtle'.
-Heavy Revolver Pistol
-Damage 7, adds 1 step of difficulty to conceal. 6 attacks between reloads. Long Range

Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum: The revolver made famous by Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry". In all the excitement a GM Intrusion may make you forget if you've fired all six rounds or only five. Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do you?
-Heavy Revolver Pistol
-Damage 6, no modifier to conceal, 6 attacks between reloads. Long Range

Walther PPK, .32 ACP: The easy-to-conceal weapon of choice for a particular British movie secret agent during the Cold War.
-Light Automatic Pistol
-Damage 2,  10 attacks between reloads, Short Range, +1 asset and +1 skill to conceal,

Winchester Model 70, 30-06 Springfield: A popular high-power bolt-action hunting rifle.
-Heavy Automatic Rifle
-Damage 7, 6 attacks, 300-foot Range,

Very Expensive Firearms ($2,000 - $20,000):

Very Expensive firearms tend to be restricted to the military or civilians willing to pay significant licensing costs (or willing and able to steal them).

Auto Ordinance M1921 "Thompson" .45 ACP: The circular 50 or 100 round drum magazine gives the "Tommy Gun" a profile as iconic as the gangsters that used it during the Prohibition era. U.S. forces used the Thompson Submachine Gun during WWII, though they were generally equipped with the 20-round straight box magazine as the drums could be unreliable.
-Heavy Automatic Rifle
-5 Damage, Effectively Unlimited attacks, Long Range, Rapid Fire

Barrett M82 "Light Fifty" .50 BMG: An Anti Material Rifle designed to provide light anti-armor firepower to the infantryman. Urban Myth has it that firing an Anti-Material rifle at a person is against the Geneva Conventions, however this is not the case. The myth may have come from military supply noting that a $0.80 7.62 NATO round kills an enemy combatant just as dead as a $4.00 BMG round for less than a quarter of the price.
-X.Heavy Rifle
-Damage 8, 10 attacks between reloads, 500 foot Range
(Typically loaded with Armor Piercing Hardcore rounds, Ignores 2 points of armor, does 2 points less damage to unarmored targets.)

Browning Automatic Rifle M1918 .30-06: Introduced too late to be fielded in WWI, the BAR was adopted by police and security forces. Gangsters and bank robbers of the late 20's and the Depression like Bonnie and Clyde would 'acquire' these weapons from police stations and National Guard armories.
-X.Heavy Rifle
-Damage 9, 6 attacks (18 individual shots), 300-foot Range, Rapid Fire

Exorbitant Firearms ($20,000 - $200,000):

It's possible that a collector might have a weapon that crosses in to Exorbitant prices, but they are definitely manufactured to military specifications, and not something you'll get a hold of as a private citizen without getting a lot of government licencing and attention.

Styer-Solothurn S18-1000, 20x138MM: One of the most powerful, if not the most powerful man-portable anti-tank weapons of WWII. The S18-1000 was over seven feet long and could not be fired from the hip or shoulder. It could be disassembled for transport, or attached to a wheeled or ski carriage and dragged in to position.
-S.Heavy Rifle
-Damage 10, Range of 1,000 feet. 10 attacks.
Typically loaded with AP or SAPHE:
Armor Piercing (AP) rounds in this monster cannon they double Crushing weapon distinction, ignores 2 points of armor but does 2 points less damage to unarmored targets. 
   --or-- 
Semi-Armor-Piercing-High-Explosive (SAPHE) ignores 1 point of armor, inflicts 1 less damage to unarmored targets. If the round does not penetrate armor the explosive charge goes off on the surface doing 5 points of damage to all targets in Immediate range. If the round penetrates armor the explosive charge goes off inside the target doing an additional 5 points of damage to the vehicle with no armor protection, all occupants take 5 points of damage as well.

Ammunition notes:

9x19mm Caliber:

The 9x19mm round tends to have high penetration for it's size, but sacrifices wounding potential. At GM discretion 9x19mm weapons may have the "Crushing" modifier as a Weapon Distinction (ignores 1 point of armor, but inflicts 1 less damage to unarmored targets). 9x19 Armor Piercing would double the "Crushing" values, while 9x19 Hollow-Point rounds remove the Crushing modifiers.

Hot Loads:

Some people who hand-load their own ammunition create so-called "Hot Loads" or rounds packed with extra powder, or a more energetic powder than is typically used in that round. Hot Loads inflict an additional point of damage, but cause the gun to fail on a roll of 2 or less. Making a magazine of Hot Load ammo is an Intellect task against a difficulty of 3 for a "Light" weapon, 4 for a "Medium" weapon, and a 5 for a "Heavy weapon.

Paintball:
Someone hit with a paintball is splattered with high-visibility paint and suffers from a -1 or -2 penalty to their Stealth and Speed Defense dice rolls (not step difficulty). Standard  .68 caliber paintball guns impart a -2, while the 9x19mm SESAMS (Special Effects Small Arms Marking Systems) used in military training only impart a -1. SESAMS rounds can only be fired from specially modified weapons that cannot fire live 9x19mm ammunition.

Vehicles in Cypher System, Part 3: Vehicles and Special Abilities

In many genres vehicles are important characters themselves, especially in games inspired by Japanese Anime, but often in other stories certain vehicles take on a role almost as significant as the characters themselves, like the series of vehicles used by a certain multi-millionaire vigilante with a nocturnal flying rodent motif.

Links for Vehicles in Cypher System series: 
Part 1: A Matter of Scale
Part 2: Vehicles
Part 3: Vehicles and Special Abilities
Part 4: Vehicle Combat

   Related Posts:
Firearms in Cypher System
More Modern Weapon Distinctions

Special Abilities:

Most vehicle abilities are covered by giving them a Size, Level, and Armor (Parts 1 and 2), however what truly distinguishes one giant battle robot from another, or a luxury sedan from a super-spy's gadget-laden car is the Special Abilities.

Intrinsic Special Abilities:

A vehicle may have built-in special abilities taken from any Type or Focus, as usual the GM is encouraged to use logic to limit what is or isn't available for vehicles in their world. When a PC uses a vehicle's special ability they will use the vehicle's Might or Speed pool, or in rare circumstances their own Intellect pool. Some special abilities should be modified to draw from a different pool, for example a tank with the "Far Step" ability (IE: Jump Jets) should draw points to use Far Step from it's speed pool, not the pilot's Intellect pool. 

As a rule of thumb the vehicle's Level should be a limit on the number of Tiers of abilities that a vehicle can have. Example: Invisibility is a 4'th Tier Adept ability and Hover is a 2'nd Tier Adept Ability, a fighter jet that could turn invisible and hover in VTOL would have to be Level 6 or higher.

Character Abilities Used Through a Vehicle:

Some Special Abilities possessed by the pilot may be used through the vehicle. In some cases this may be limited to humanoid vehicles, such as the Warrior abilities Bash and Swipe which require melee weapons. The Warrior ability Pierce however requires a ranged weapon with a sharp point, which the GM may rule that a cannon equipped with advanced kinetic-penetrator rounds may count.. or they may not.

Mobility and Special Abilities:

Normally a vehicle has only one type of mobility system. Cars operate on the ground, boats float on water, aircraft fly through the air, etc. For most vehicles it's enough to say it's a car, or a tank, a submarine, a jet-plane, etc. and move on. Some vehicles may however combine some of these motive types and may need to be more specific. 

(Most aircraft have a limited ability to move on the ground, to taxi on a runway for instance, but as this is limited by requiring improved runways and doesn't really function as a mobility system)

Some vehicles have more than one type of mobility, Amphibious jeeps for example. Each new mobility type counts as a Level 1 Special Ability against the Level cap on abilities.

Notes on mobility specific abilities:

Hover (Tier 2 Adept, 2 Speed Points): Most airplanes have to keep moving a minimum of their Short distance each turn to stay in the air. An airplane with the Hover ability may use the Hover ability to remain flying without moving a minimum distance. Using this ability still costs 2 Speed Points (modified from Intellect points as an Intrinsic Special Ability), minus the pilot's Speed Edge.

Teleportation (Tier 5 Adept, 6 Intellect Points): "Travelling without Moving", a vehicle with Teleportation is most likely a "Jump-Ship" capable of moving at right angles to reality to traverse vast distances in an instant, or at least as close to an instant as large space vessels can manage. Intellect point costs come from the navigator of the vessel as they work the calculations required to send the vehicle through jumpspace.

Vehicular Special Abilities:

Some additional special abilities for vehicles:

Adept Adaptation (Level 2, Enabler):
Some vehicles may be designed to allow an Adept pilot to channel their abilities through the vehicle. This alters the Adept's abilities to match the vehicle's scale, and/or cover the vehicle rather than just the pilot. For instance Onslaught becomes a vehicular scale weapon, Ward still only grants 1 point of armor, but it protects the vehicle and occupants (even ones in exposed seating), and Scan's area of effect is increased 50% every increase in size class. Using an Adept Special Ability through the Adept Adaptation system costs 1 point from each Might and Speed pool for each use. These costs may be reduced by the pilot's Edge in Might and/or Speed. Adept Adaptation will also provide an Asset to any attacks made directly against the Adept's Intellect pool. The connection with the vehicles's external emitters goes both ways.

Additional Fire Control (Level 2+, Enabler):
Under normal circumstances a vehicle's ability to fire weapons is limited to one Heavy weapon, one Medium or two Medium at a 2-step penalty.* Light weapons may be fired as Medium weapons, or may be fired by any crew not otherwise occupied. (More on vehicle combat in Part 4)

*Essentially as per any human combatant using one or two handed weapons. 2-Medium weapons at a 2-step penalty is my house rule for characters trying to fight with two weapons without the "Wields Two Weapons" focus. 

Each time a vehicle takes Additional Fire Control, it allows the vehicle to take an additional "Attack" action that may be targeted at the same or different target than the first action, so a vehicle that takes Additional Fire Control twice (4 levels) may target three opponents with three separate Heavy or Medium weapons (or six Medium weapons at a 2-step increase to the difficulty of all attacks) in one action.
Each Additional Fire Control requires at least one crew to operate.

Damage Control (Level 2, 1+ Intellect Point, Action):
Vehicles equipped with Damage Control systems are able to make Recovery Rolls as if they were a character as long as there is a character on board who takes their action to repair damage and spends 1 Intellect point. Pool Points regained by the vehicle is equal to the vehicle's Level +1D6. Recovery times are as for characters (1 action, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 10 hours) multiplied by the ship's size class. The time to repair the ship can be reduced by the engineer spending an additional IP to reduce the ship's effective size by one level (minimum 1).

Example: A naval Frigate (Level 6, size level 10) takes damage from a pirate vessel they've been pursuing in international waters, and the ship's engineer scrambles to activate bilge pumps and seal off flooding chambers. As this is the first time the ship has activated Damage Control it will require the vessel to do nothing for ten turns or about a full minute, however the Captain doesn't have that long before the pirate vessel will be out of range, so the engineer spends 10 Intellect points (1 to activate DamCon, 9 to reduce size modifier to 1) ordering crew to the fastest possible Damage Control and the ship is only offline for 6 seconds (1 turn) while it restores 6+1d6 to it's Might and Speed pools before it can resume the chase.

After that the engineer takes his own 1-action Recovery roll to recover the points he lost keeping the ship combat worthy. A second Damage Control Recovery roll will force the ship to be down for more than an hour and a half (100 minutes), and even if the engineer pulls off the same miracle of engineering to get the fastest possible recovery the ship will still be inactive for ten minutes.

Engine Booster (Level 1, 2 Speed Points, Action):
Activating an engine booster provides an asset to Speed rolls involving covering distance, but an inability to Speed rolls involving maneuverability.

Enhanced Controls (Level 2+, Enabler): Most vehicles require the Driver/Pilot to spend their action controlling the vehicle each round that the vehicle is in motion. (CSR p.214 Vehicular Movement). Each level of Enhanced Controls allows the Pilot/Driver to maneuver the vehicle and operate one other system (such as a main weapon) on the vehicle at no increased penalty to the vehicle operation roll next round.

Micro Weapon Array (Level 2, Enabler): 
Some vehicles have multiple batteries of very small caliber weapons for defense. Typical of these defensive batteries are the anti-aircraft machine guns scattered around most warships at the turn of the 20'th century.

A vehicle with a Micro Weapon Array may make an attack on any and all targets at less than Short range. At Short range the attack is modified 1-step in the attacker's favor, at Immediate range the attack is modified two-steps in the attacker's favor. The Micro-Weapon Array does damage of 1 point plus the Vehicle Size Class. Effort may be used to enhance the Micro-Weapon Array attacks as per any ranged weapon, all attacks are enhanced by effort in that round, however to do so requires an action from the vehicle crew.

(I'll cover transforming vehicles in a later post.)

Vehicles in Cypher System, Part 2: Vehicles

In many genres vehicles are important characters themselves, especially in games inspired by Japanese Anime, but often in other stories certain vehicles take on a role almost as significant as the characters themselves, like a certain starship and it's 5-year mission.

Links for Vehicles in Cypher System series: 
Part 1: A Matter of Scale
Part 2: Vehicles
Part 3: Vehicles and Special Abilities
Part 4: Vehicle Combat

   Related Posts:
Firearms in Cypher System
More Modern Weapon Distinctions

Vehicles:

Every vehicle should have a Size, Level and Armor, these stats are covered in this post and represent the bare minimum detail any vehicle should have. Some vehicles may have their own Special Abilities and Weapons, which will be discussed in separate posts.

Size is discussed in Vehicles in Cypher System, Part 1: A Matter of Scale. Most 'Dogfight' combats will be taking place between vehicles of the same size so Scale effects will cancel out and the vehicles will function as though they were two human-scale combatants (albeit with significantly more feet in their Immediate, Short and Long range bands.)

Level:

Every vehicle has a Level rating from 1 to 10. This is the overall quality of the vehicle and determines it's maneuverability and toughness.

Level 1:   Calling it a "Bucket of Rust" would be insulting the bucket.

Level 2:   A vehicle in very poor shape. It runs, but some critical parts may 
                only have a spiritual connection to the rest of the vehicle.

Level 3:   A used car, not necessarily in bad shape, but the owner has probably 
                missed a few oil changes here and there.

Level 4:   A brand new vehicle, an older vehicle that has been extensively 
                restored or one that has been taken very good care of.

Level 5:   Luxury vehicle.

Level 6:   Competition-grade performance vehicle.
Level 7+: Unique or limited production special purpose vehicles.

Military vehicles are typically of levels 4 and up depending on the design. A mass produced current-generation front-line armored vehicle is Level 6, Artillery, scout vehicles or other combat support vehicles are Level 5, and supply transports are Level 4.

Surplus earlier-generation mechanized armor are one level lower than current generation, Prototypes are one or more levels higher. (In a future post I will address handing earlier generation and prototype equipment) 

Ground and Sea vehicles have Hit Points equal to their Quality times 6. Fixed Wing aircraft have Hit Points equal to their level times 4. Rotary Wing aircraft (helicopters) have Hit Points equal to their Quality times 2.

(Aircraft have more range of motion, but they pay for that with lighter structure for their size. Helicopters have even further increased mobility options, but have both lighter structures and more vulnerable drivetrains as a result). 

When a PC is driving a vehicle the HP are split between Might and Speed pools. While the GM has final say over the pool spread, most civilian vehicles split HP between pools equally, where tougher vehicles like tanks favor Might to Speed at a 2-1 ratio (so a Level 6 main battle tank would have 24 Might, 12 Speed), and high-performance racing vehicles would reverse that ratio. PC's draw from these pools when using effort on physical tasks while driving/piloting. Intellect tasks are drawn from the PC's personal Intellect pool.

Vehicles Effort and Edge:

Vehicles do not have an Effort or Edge score. When a PC uses effort and/or a special ability of the vehicle they use their personal Effort and Edge scores even if the pool their action draws from is the Might or Speed pool of the vehicle.

Optional Rule: Cinematic Vehicle Hit Points.

As a cinematic option some vehicles are simply mass-produced and piloted by faceless grunts, or as they might be called in a movie "Extras". These vehicles only get Level*1 HP and have a nasty tendency to explode inflicting their level in damage (remember to include the Size class modifier) in immediate range when they reach 0 HP. Massed formations of these cannon-fodder machines tend to chain-react. Mass produced mecha in many Japanese Anime tend to suffer from this.

Other vehicles are your major stars of the show and while they take a pounding their loss is a major event in the story. These vehicles have normal HP, and even once they've been reduced to 0 HP can be repaired. These vehicles are often the iconic home base of the PCs or the major villains of the story and even when they suffer a catastrophic defeat either manage to limp back or get towed to base, or in the most extreme cases their destruction gets a dramatic treatment suitable for a central character.

Armor:

Every vehicle will have an armor rating of some kind from 0 to 3:

Armor 0: Essentially no protection whatsoever, this is typical of high-end sports and racing cars where lightweight but fragile shells are selected to enhance performance rather than protect the occupants. This is also typical of light civilian aircraft with fabric or fiberglass hulls, and vehicles that are little more than a framework to hold their components together.

Armor 1: This is typical of most vehicles from wooden horse-carts to most modern automobiles. Air combat vehicles designed for speed, like interceptor jets may also be Armor 1 vehicles.

Armor 2: Ground Attack aircraft, armored scout vehicles and most armored cars that are designed to not look armored. Construction equipment may also have this level of Armor.

Armor 3: Main battle tanks, battleships, any front-line ground vehicle.