Introduction

Based on the basic Fudge rule set, Fudge Battlin' Bots is a set of rules of playing science fiction combat on a tabletop. The rules allow you to design a Battlin' Bot, move it around the playing surface, and battle other players' Bots. May the best Bot win. Variants for Fudge Combat Cars and Fudge Fleet Battles are included.

To play you will require

• A playing surface (such as a kitchen table)
• A ruler
• One set of Fudge dice
• Some obstacles for the playing surface (car keys, a book or two, some coffee cups, etc.)
• One copy of the Bot Specification Sheet, Bot Counter, and Rotation Calculator for each player

The game uses the standard Fudge Terrible ... Fair ... Superb scale and the resolution mechanism for unopposed actions (section 3.4 of the Fudge rule book).

The Terrible ... Fair ... Superb scale is used to describe the movement, damage, and armour of Bots, and the range for their weapons. Each point along the scale has a corresponding number as indicated on the table below.

Bot Generation

To generate a Battlin' Bot, use the Bot Specification Sheet. Each Bot has six components.

• A Name
• Attributes
• Armour
• Two Weapons
• A Gift
• A Fault

Name

Pick a name for your Battlin' Bot.

Attributes

Each Bot has three attributes: Rotation, Speed, and Accuracy.

• Rotation indicates the maximum rotation of a Bot per playing turn
• Speed indicates the maximum speed (in inches) of the Bot per turn as listed on the Battlin' Bots Fudge Scale Table (make a note of the maximum number of inches the Bot can move on the Bot Specification Sheet)
• Accuracy indicates the likelihood of hitting another Bot with its weapons

Each Bot begins with Good in each attribute. The player can raise any attribute in exchange for lowering another. For instance, if I want my Bot to have Superb Rotation, I would need to lower Speed to Mediocre or Speed and Accuracy to Fair.

Armour

Bots have armour on their four sides (front, left, right, and rear). This protects the Bot against weapons, ramming, and crashing damage. Each Bot begins with Fair in each. Like Attributes, this can be raised or lowered in each by trading off along the Fudge scale. Therefore, I may want to raise my front armour to Good, in exchange for lowering rear to Mediocre.

Once you have selected the amount of armour for each side, use the Battlin' Bots Fudge Scale Table to record the number of armour points in each side (crossing off the excess from the armour listed on the Bot Specification Sheet).

Weapons

Each Bot has two laser beams. Each is designed separately. The weapons are described as having:

• Mounted (which side of the Bot the weapon is mounted in and therefore faces)
• Range (the distance the weapons can fire at normal accuracy)
• Damage (the number of damage points the weapon inflicts on an enemy Bot)

Select which direction each weapon is facing (both weapons may be mounted in the same side, if desired).

Range and Damage begin at Good, and can be raised and lowered as per the rules for attributes. Record the number of inches of range the weapon can normally fire at and the number of damage points each will inflict. Weapon scales cannot be traded between the two weapons.

Optional Weapons

These optional weapons can be used instead of the standard laser beams:

Flamethrower
Range: Mediocre

When the flamethrower hits a Bot it causes 2 points of damage each turn the fire remains burning. On each subsequent turn roll 4DF, on a role of -4, -3, -2 the fire goes out and no additional damage is inflicted.

Homing Missile Launcher
Range: Special

When fired, place a missile counter on the playing surface adjacent to the firing Bot's side where the missile is launched from. The missile moves at Good speed in any direction during the movement phase of play (controlled by the firer). If the missile hits a Bot it explodes for Great damage. The missile can be destroyed by weapon fire, requiring a Great shot (or being struck by another missile). Each Homing Missile Launcher holds four missiles.

Landmine Dropper
Range: Special

When fired, place a mine counter on the playing surface adjacent to the firing Bot's side where the mine was deployed from. If a Bot runs over the mine it receives Superb damage to the side that came into contact with it. The Landmine Dropper holds ten mines.

Electroshock Cannon
Range: Terrible

The Electroshock cannon does Terrible damage. Only half the damage is inflicted on the enemy Bot's armour, with the remainder inflicted on the next internal component.

Glue Gun
Range: Terrible

If the Glue Gun hits the side of a Bot with a weapon or weapons mounted on it, it clogs the weapons, preventing their firing. The Glue Gun holds five charges.

Gift

If desired, you may choose one Gift from the table below for your Bot and record it on the Bot Specification Sheet.

Ramming Gear

Bot takes no damage when it rams another bot (but not rammed by)

Reverse

Bot can move backwards at half normal speed

Backup Steering

Damage to steering component does not reduce rotation

Backup CPU

Damage to CPU does not reduce accuracy

Battery Pack

Damage to Engine does not reduce speed

Long range weapon

Select one weapon and increase its range by 3 inches

Fault

If a gift has been selected, choose one Fault from the table below for your Bot and record it on the Bot Specification Sheet.

Bad Gyro

If rammed, the Bot skids another two inches away from normal destination

Cheap CPU

Each damage point to CPU reduces accuracy by two levels (minimum reduction to Terrible)

Dodgy Steering

Roll 4DF for each rotation, on a -3 or -4, Bot doesn't rotate

Poor Traction

Roll 4DF for each movement, on a -3 or -4 maximum speed if halved

Bad Optics

Bot cannot fire beyond weapon range

Flammable Armour

Roll 4DF for each hit, on a -3 or -4 damage is doubled

Once the Bots have been designed, lay out the playing space with a number of obstacles. Copy one set of the Bot Counter and Rotation Calculator for each player, and colour code each Counter. (You may wish to weigh each Counter down with a small coin.) Place the Bot Counters on the playing surface.

The order of play is:

1. All Bots rotate
2. All Bots move
3. All Bots battle

Bots rotate, move, and battle in order of speed. The slowest Bot will go first, followed by the next slowest and so on. If two or more Bots have the same Speed attribute, use a die role at the beginning of play to determine order for the game.

Bots rotate using the Rotation Calculator and their Rotation attribute. When rotating, place the Rotation Calculator around the Bot Counter so that the thick line marked S is aligned with the front of the Bot (marked with an arrow) and rotate the Counter left or right. The maximum amount of rotation is indicated by the Bot's Rotation attribute.

Example: A Bot is making a Fair rotation left:

Movement

All Bots can move in order of play a maximum number of inches as indicated by the Bot's Speed attribute.

If one Bot rams another Bot during movement it pushes the other Bot ahead of itself. The ramming Bot takes damage to its front armour equal to half the total number of inches moved (rounded up) and the rammed bot takes damage to the armour area struck to the number of inches moved (rounded up).

Example: In the figure above, Bot A moves first at Fair speed and rams Bot B. Bot A completes its move. Bot B is carried along with the movement. Both Bots retain their original facing. Bot A has moved four inches, it thus takes two points of damage to its front and Bot B takes four points of damage to its rear.

Note, you can ram another Bot into an obstacle and cause it to crash.

If a Bot hits an obstacle (other than a Bot). It stops and takes damage equal to the number of inches moved to the side that hit the obstacle. Obstacles can neither move, nor be destroyed.

Once movement is complete, Bots can fire their weapons at other Bots. Weapons can only fire from the side they are mounted on, using the arc indicated by the cross on the counter. As indicated:

Obstacles block fire.

Example: In the figure below Bots A and C both have their two weapons facing forward. Bot B has one weapon mounted left and one mounted right. Thus:

• Bot A can fire both weapons at Bot B (if successful hitting Bot B's front)
• Bot B can fire its left weapon at Bot C (choosing to fire at either the front or right of Bot C), and
• Bot C can fire both weapons at Bot A (choosing to fire at either the right or rear of Bot A

Making a shot

Each Bot fires in the order of play using all weapons that can hit a target. Making a shot is an unopposed action at Fair difficulty level up to the Range of the weapon used. For each inch above the weapons range, increase the difficulty of the shot by one level, using the Bot's Accuracy attribute for the action resolution.

Example: A Bot with an accuracy of Good is shooting a weapon at another Bot which is six inches away. The weapon's range is Fair (4 inch range). This requires the Bot to match or surpass a difficulty level of Great (Fair +2 additional inches). The player rolls the Fudge dice and rolls a +1, this combined with their Bot's Accuracy achieves a Great result and the shot hits.

Damage is recorded by crossing off a corresponding number of boxes on the Bot Specification Sheet equal to the weapon, ramming, or crashing damage inflicted. Damage is inflicted:

1. On the armour first
2. Then on any weapons mounted on the side hit
3. Then on any component in that side (Steering for the Front, Engine for the Rear)
4. Finally, on the CPU

If a Bot can fire at more than one side of an enemy Bot, the firer chooses which side will receive the damage.

• For each point of damage to the Steering, reduce the Rotation attribute by one level
• For each point of damage to the Engine, reduce the Speed attribute by one level
• For each point of damage to the CPU reduce the Accuracy attribute by one level
• Weapons can take seven points of damage before becoming inoperable, but work perfectly until this point

A Bot is destroyed when its CPU has had all its damage points crossed off, or when the player wanders off somewhere.

Two quick variants are presented here, though additional variations, new Gifts and Faults, and unusual weapons and obstacles can be developed easily to enhance play.

On the highways of tomorrow, Combat Cars roam the wasteland looking for battle for some reason.

Use the standard Fudge Battlin Bots rules, however:

1. Combat Cars start at zero speed and increase or decrease their speed in increments of one inch per turn up to their maximum speed. Speed remains a constant from one turn to the next unless the Combat Car accelerates or decelerates
2. Crashing reduces the Combat Cars speed to zero
3. All Combat Cars with a speed of zero can make a turn of superb
4. Use a Combat Car counter and Turning Calculator instead of the usual round Bot Counter and Rotation Calculator (this may limit the number of sides that can be fired from or at and reduces the turning arc)

In the inky depths of space, gigantic Battle Cruisers do bloody combat for supremacy of the quadrant/universe/cause.

Use the standard Fudge Battlin Bots rules and the Combat Cars variant (including Car Counter and Turning Calculator), however:

1. Disregard ramming, Battle Cruisers can occupy the same point (space being very, very large)
2. Hitting an obstacle (crashing) destroys the Battle Cruiser (crashing into a planet or star)

Rotation Calculator and Bot Counters

Bot Specification Sheet