Chariot

These lightweight, two-wheeled vehicles are usually open topped. They are fairly quick and maneuverable. One to four large creatures can be hitched to a single chariot. An animal drawing a chariot can pull twice its normal (unencumbered) load at 2/3 of its normal movement rate. Each additional animal added to the team either increases the movement rate by one point or adds its maximum load to the chariot’s useable load.

For example, two light horses could pull a 340-pound chariot load at a movement rate of 17 or a 680-pound chariot load at a rate of 16. Standard movement rates for fully loaded chariots are given in the individual descriptions below.

A chariot must stop immediately if an animal drawing it is killed. The driver or a passenger must spend a half-move action getting out and disentangling the animal and an additional half-move action or an attack cutting it loose. Cutting an animal loose requires a knife or slashing weapon.

Although chariots are highly maneuverable vehicles, they are not as agile as characters. A chariot must spend one point of movement to change facing. A chariot cannot change facing in response to attacks. If a chariot changes facing more than four times during a round, the driver must make a driving check for each additional change or the chariot flips over.

Chariots function best on smooth, fairly level ground. Chariots must avoid most obstacles; at the DM’s option, chariots can attempt to cross obstacles less than 2' high (or deep) at a cost of two movement points per square, but a driving check is required to avoid flipping over. If a chariot crosses any terrain where the footing reduces movement, the chariot must pay the movement penalty and must pass a driving check at the end of any phase when it attempts to move or change facing.

A chariot moves on its driver’s base initiative phase.

A chariot has no cargo capacity beyond what its passengers can carry on their persons (though passengers can lay their packs at their feet while riding).

A chariot can perform overruns as though it were a Huge creature; use the driver’s THAC0 to resolve the attack of opportunity when an opponent is knocked down (see Chapter One). Chariots are treated as Huge creatures when resolving fire from bombardment engines. A chariot occupies as many squares on the map as required to accommodate the figure representing it, but never less than four squares in any case.

A chariot’s passenger capacity, protective value, and other characteristics vary with the type of chariot:

· · A light chariot’s car can hold as many creatures as one map square (one Large

creature, two Man-sized creatures, and so on; see Chapter One). If the passengers go into close order so they can fit into a car they need not all have the same facing, but the driver must face forward. Man-sized passengers in a light chariot can claim 50% concealment from frontal attacks.

An overrun attack vs. a Large or Man-sized creature with a light chariot requires a driving check if the opponent is knocked down. If the check fails, the chariot flips over.

A light chariot drawn by two light horses can carry two armored men at a speed of 18.

· A medium chariot’s car can hold as many creatures as two map squares. Man-sized passengers in a medium chariot can claim 50% cover from frontal attacks and 50% concealment from flank attacks.

An overrun attack vs. a Large or Man-sized creature with a medium chariot requires a driving check at +1 if the opponent is knocked down. If the check fails, the chariot flips over.

A medium chariot drawn by three light horses can carry four armored men at a speed of 18.

· A heavy chariot’s car can hold as many creatures as three map squares. Man-sized passengers in a heavy chariot can claim 50% cover from frontal and flank attacks.

Heavy chariots do not require driving checks when making overruns.

A heavy chariot drawn by four light horses can carry six armored men at a speed of

18.

A chariot driver cannot attack while the vehicle is moving, except for swerving attacks (see below).

Chariot passengers get their full allotment of melee or missile attacks regardless of the chariot’s movement. Passengers cannot make melee attacks against opponents in front of the chariot unless they are armed with weapons long enough to reach those squares. Passengers make their melee attacks in the normal initiative order.

If the chariot is moving during an action phase when a passenger makes an attack, the passenger attacks at the end of the chariot’s movement. If a chariot is moving at full speed, any missile or melee attacks the passengers make suffer a –2 attack penalty. If the chariot moves at half speed or less, the attack penalty is –1. There is no penalty for attacking from a motionless chariot.

It is not possible to cast a spell from a chariot moving at greater than half speed or from a chariot moving over rough ground at any speed. If the chariot is moving at half speed or less, a passenger can cast a spell only if another passenger helps steady him.

Any chariot can be equipped with scythe blades on its wheels and the front of the car. A scythe chariot inflicts an extra 2d6 points of damage when making overruns. If the defender is not knocked down during an overrun attempt the attacker still can make an attack of opportunity that inflicts 1d6 points of damage.

A character driving a scythe chariot also can swerve, making his normal allotment of melee attacks against single creatures in the car’s flank squares. The attacks are made during the chariot’s movement phase and are resolved as normal melee attacks except that the defender receives no Armor Class bonuses for Dexterity or a shield and the attack receives no attack roll or damage bonuses from Strength. If the attack hits, treat it as a successful overrun; the minimum damage is 2d6. If a swerve attack inflicts a critical hit, treat the scythe as a large slashing weapon.

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