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Contents

Introduction and New Skills
Chariots in Action
Chariots and GURPS Vehicles
Magical (and Other) Chariots

Introduction and New Skills

There has often been some slight confusion, in GURPS sourcebooks, over the precise skills that apply to chariot operations. The following is intended to help resolve this.

In theory, the skill to use would be Teamster, and a character with that skill would certainly be able to drive a chariot. However, Teamster mostly deals with problems of long-term haulage and maintenance (and hence is a Mental skill), rather than the "tactical", moment-by-moment problems of manoeuvring a vehicle round the battlefield. This is why some supplements talk about "Driving (Chariot)" - but Driving supposedly only applies to mechanically-powered vehicles. The following new skill should resolve this problem.

Charioteer ("Driving: Chariot," Physical/Average) - Defaults to Teamster-3, Animal Handling-4, or Riding-5

This is the skill of the battlefield chariot-driver. It covers high-speed manoeuvres and control, as well as the basic skills of harnessing a team of horses, and awareness of simple chariot tactics and the requirements of a chariot warrior in the driver's native culture. It covers both horses and asses (including wild asses such as dziggetai and onagers), but any unfamiliar team or species is -2 to the skill, and "wild" asses are always at -1 or worse (often a lot worse), due to their contrary natures. It is classed as an Animal Skill, and hence characters with Animal Empathy receive a +4 bonus.

Unlike "civilian" carts, chariots are specifically designed to be driven at high speeds over unpaved terrain, so relatively simple actions such as straight-line charges do not require multiple rolls. However, fast turns and especially rough ground may require a roll as for driving a cart at the gallop - see Teamster skill in the GURPS rulebook, p.47. Other "fancy" manoeuvres are discussed below.

Training horses for chariot work requires Animal Handling and Charioteer skills. Animal Handling is not a prerequisite for a Charioteer, but it is extremely useful for any character who has to prepare vehicles for use, select good, well-matched teams of horses, and other such tasks.

Teamster skill can default from Charioteer at -2 - but only for purposes of routine animal driving, not the larger problems of animal selection and care. Teamster cannot be bought up from this default.

A second skill may also be purchased:

Chariot Warrior (Physical/Average) - Defaults to DX-3, Charioteer-2, or Acrobatics-1

This is the skill of fighting effectively from a chariot driven by someone else. Anyone can stand in a chariot, hanging on and even firing the occasional missile as it trundles along in a straight line - but really effective combat carries more risks, and demands some training or agility.

This is classed as an Athletic Skill, not an Animal Skill (and so gains no bonus for Animal Empathy). Characters with Perfect Balance might well be able to perform most or all Chariot Warrior activities automatically without buying the skill; at the very least, they should be given large bonuses when rolling against it, even if they only have it at default.

GMs may either require rolls against this skill when performing various actions from aboard a chariot, or limit the effective levels of other skills (usually weapon skills) to the character's level in Chariot Warrior - or both. Failure usually means that the character is too busy hanging on to fight effectively; critical failures may lead to warriors falling off at speed, or their shots going wild. Various actions that may involve this skill are discussed in more detail below. Characters trained as Chariot Warriors will also have a basic knowledge of their culture's favourite tactics in chariot warfare, and may very occasionally roll against this skill to recognise particular tricks or manoeuvres.

Chariots in Action

If characters go into combat in chariots, the GM should keep track of what is happening to both vehicle and warriors at any point. In general, one character should be required to drive the vehicle as a full-time job; trying to drive and fight is like any other attempt to perform two dangerous tasks simultaneously. (One exception, of a sort, is Roman-style chariot racing, in which drivers may attempt the odd assault on each other as they go - but that involves a constrained, defined track and highly professional drivers, whose "weapons" are their driving whips - and even they probably spend far more time thinking about just keeping the chariot on course than they did about combat.)

A driver might fix the reins to something (such as his own belt) and start fighting, but this will take at least a round (plus the time required to draw a weapon). Most Driving skill rolls with the reins at your belt are at -5 - and taking up the reins to perform complex actions will take at least another round. GMs should consider what might happen if anything befalls a driver with reins tied to his belt; there is also the question of where, on the chariot, extra weapons are stowed, and whether multiple fighters might get in each others' ways.

The Driver usually occupies the center front of the chariot, using reins and possibly a whip to control the horses, and concentrates on obstacles ahead. However, there may be few exceptions to this, such as the Indian chariot drivers who balanced on the shaft between the horses, hanging on to the harnesses, and defending themselves with a javelin all the while. (GMs should handle such a technique in game terms however seems appropriate. Presumably the driver gained a good view of the terrain ahead and close contact with the horses, at the expense of being more vulnerable to accident or attack.)

The driver should also be paying attention to battlefield conditions; in well-organized armies, this will include signals from commanding officers, while in forces using Celtic-style tactics of dropping warriors off for foot attacks, then picking them up again if they are hard pressed or needed elsewhere, drivers will need to judge the timing of such pick-ups carefully. Thus, Tactics is always a useful secondary skill for a driver. (Celtic legends are full of smart and helpful charioteers giving good advice to the warriors they drove.)

GMs may require skill rolls from drivers when attempting exceptionally tight turns or high-speed manoeuvres on rough terrain; minor failures generally result in minor delays or the chariot going a little wide of the intended path, whereas worse problems, including critical failures, can lead to actual damage to the vehicle, including broken reins, damaged axles, or wheels coming off at speed. (Note that attempting to drive chariots in too close a formation can lead to minor errors - slight diversions from the path - being transformed into catastrophic collisions.) Chariot races can be treated as a series of quick contests of Driver skills, with the winners getting away faster, taking the inside track on bends, and so on; see GURPS Imperial Rome for more detailed rules.

Broken Reins can result from other accidents, freakishly lucky enemy attacks, or sheer bad luck of various kinds. They are bad news because the driver can no longer steer the chariot. Unconstrained, quite likely panicking horses can do almost anything, and usually will, in fairly short order. Ingenious players may come up with various responses to this problem, such as grabbing hold of loose ends of reins (requires a DX roll at minuses; the driver makes all subsequent skill rolls at -1 or worse); running down the chariot-pole and grabbing the horses' bridles will require very good DX or lucky rolling. Characters with heroic levels of Animal Handling skills might be able to manage without reins, but not for long.

Incidentally, reins have DR 1-3 (depending on the material used and GM's whim), and 1 HT per animal. Some drivers (especially racers) may choose to tie themselves to their reins, avoiding the risk of dropping them in any excitement and ensuring very close control. This is fine until the chariot suffers a catastrophe, and the driver finds himself being dragged... See GURPS Imperial Rome for more details.

Injured Horses are also highly problematic; if any horse in the team is badly enough hurt, the whole chariot is effectively disabled. In theory, the crew could cut the injured animal free and carry on with the others, but in practice, this would leave the chariot more or less useless for practical purposes, and in any case, there are likely to be several reins and traces to worry about. In many "chivalrous" cultures, deliberately aiming at an opponent's horses is regarded as extremely bad form, but even in those circumstances, characters shouldn't assume anything if missiles start flying. Many chariot forces gave their horses light armour of some kind; a little encumbrance is preferable to a high-speed crash.

A horse that is only scratched may, of course, keep going - but it may not want to, which is where a highly skilled driver can be invaluable. Roll vs. Charioteer-2 or Animal Handling, with a (further) -1 for every two points of HT that the horse is down (from any source). On a failure, the horse may stop dead or bolt at the GM's whim, but is more likely to start bucking and rearing until calmed (roll as before, but take a further -2 unless the driver dismounts and approaches the horse from the front; badly failed rolls may mean that the horse has kicked the driver.) As with cavalry, a horse that is properly trained for battle is really a necessity, and will be priced accordingly if characters haven't got time to train their own.

Chariot Warriors may generally use weapons normally, but some penalties are inevitable; GMs can usually feel free to apply a blanket -1 penalty for the jolting and uncertainty of the ride across rough terrain. Warriors attempting "tricky stuff," such as firing missile weapons while the chariot performs complex manoeuvres on unpaved surfaces, or temporarily turning round in the chariot body to fire directly backwards, may have their effective weapons skill limited to their level in Chariot Warrior skill; alternatively, the character can attempt a roll against Chariot Warrior for each "trick." In the latter case, a failure means that the attack roll is at a penalty equal to twice the amount by which the first roll failed; a critical failure causes the character to suffer some kind of stumble or accident; a critical success means that the character has found an ideal position, and doesn't have to re-roll to repeat the trick for the remainder of this fight.

Most chariot bodies are little more than a foot above the ground, and certainly no more than two feet - so they give no significant height advantage in combat, except for a possible aimed shot modifier (see the GURPS rules, p.123).

Some other actions requiring a roll against Chariot Warrior skill include the following:

Hanging on after an impact: This can take bonuses or penalties, depending on the severity of the crash; precise effects must always be assessed by the GM. Of course, if the chariot is completely destroyed, then there may be little for the character to do but take damage.

Helping other crew: Other warriors, or the driver, may occasionally need assistance. This can range from grabbing someone before they fall off the chariot to grabbing the reins when the driver is incapacitated. Most of these will involve simple rolls vs. Chariot Warrior skill or DX; the GM may apply modifiers as seems appropriate.

Running along the chariot-pole to attack opponents in front of the chariot: Roll at -3 to keep your balance. On a failure, the character stumbles - roll vs. DX to avoid a fall; on a critical failure, the fall is unavoidable. (Consequences of this fall off a moving chariot are left to the GM, but are usually painful; at the very least, the warrior will end up sprawled across the horses or driver, putting them off their stride.) Any attack rolls while performing this trick are at -1, unless the roll vs. Chariot Warrior skill was a critical success.

Getting off or on to a stationary chariot usually takes one round, with no roll required. However, some characters may be in more of a hurry.

Jumping off a stationary chariot and into combat in the same round: Roll normally. On a Critical Success, the warrior attacks at +1 on that round. On a Failure, the warrior has stumbled, cannot attack that round, and has all active defences at -1. On a Critical Failure, the warrior has actually fallen, and is now prone, as per the GURPS rules.

Jumping off a moving chariot: Roll at -1 for every two hexes of the vehicle's current movement rate, and a further -2 if the warrior is trying to enter combat on the same turn:

- On a success, the character lands running at the chariot's current movement rate; if this is faster than the character can run, then roll again vs. Acrobatics, DX2, or Jumping to avoid a fall; take 1 point of damage on a success, 1d-2 (minimum 1) on a failure.

- On a failure, the character takes a fall, suffering 1d-2 damage for every 2 hexes of the chariot's movement, halved by a successful roll vs. Acrobatics-2, DX-4, or Jumping-3.

- On a critical failure, the character takes damage as above without any chance to avoid it, and is automatically Stunned.

Jumping on to a moving chariot: Roll at -1 per every two hexes of the chariot's current move, with a further -1 if it is moving faster than the character can run, and -3 if he cannot grab hold of something (either because his hands are full, or because there's nothing to grab); all penalties are cumulative. On a failure, the character fails, and must roll vs. DX or Jumping not to fall. On a critical failure, the character is side-swiped by the chariot or goes under its wheels - GM's option for exact results, but usually about 2d damage.

(These rules assume that the chariot is moving at some reasonable rate for a horse; if it is moving supernaturally quickly, then GMs may impose any amount of damage and trouble on characters foolish enough to jump on or off.)

Some other rules:

Cover and Protection: Some chariots are nothing more than lightweight frameworks, with no effective protection, although generous GMs may rule that they provide Light Cover (-2 to hit) from some angles. Most, however, have solid "floor panels;" leather and fabric give PD 1, DR 1, while wooden planks give PD 2, DR 3 - to the underneath only. Many, especially larger types, also have protective panels at the front and sides; these may range from heavy felt, flimsy hides, or wicker (PD 1, DR 1) to reasonably solid wood (PD 2, DR 3, or more if they are very thick or reinforced with bronze). However, they do not provide especially good protection for the crew, who stand up in view of the enemy. GMs who are more interested in what happens to characters than in damage suffered by vehicles can rate this simply as half cover to the front and sides (-3 to hit). Crewmen can "hunker down" for better cover, but cannot then drive or fight very effectively.

In general, chariot crew do best to wear armour; some warriors carry shields, which may be large enough to protect others. Heavier vehicles may be hung about with extra protections, including shields slung on the sides, metal embellishments, and so on; these may do some good, but certainly add to weight. (Optionally, GMs may rate heavy chariot bodies as DR 4, PD 3.) Some chariots have big fixed "parasols," mainly to protect the occupants from hot sun; these may get in the way of high-angled incoming missile fire. (Of course, they also prevent outward high-angled missile fire.)

Some nations, certainly in the Middle East and possibly elsewhere, gave chariot horses armour - usually "saddle cloths" of heavy felt (PD 1, DR 1) or even bronze scales (PD 3, DR 4), protecting the animal's torso and sometimes the neck. Others may have had leather "aprons" and other protection to the front only (PD 2, DR 2).

Charging Into Melee: A warrior can not only fight from a chariot, but can use its speed to advantage in the attack. However, this requires a weapon of sufficient length to reach the selected opponent, preferably past the chariot horses and with some margin for error. In practice, this usually means a long spear or pike, although some Chinese fighters may have carried halberd-type weapons (basically spears with enough cutting edge to swing as well as stab).

First, the driver must roll vs. Charioteer skill to position the fast-moving vehicle so that the warrior can strike. The warrior can then attack, but using the lesser of Chariot Warrior or the appropriate weapon skill, and with -1 for every 4 full hexes per turn by which the chariot's speed exceeds 4. If the attack hits, it does 1d extra damage for every 5 full hexes of the chariot's current move speed. However, if the blow then does 10 points or more of damage (before armour, any multipliers, etc.), the warrior must roll vs. Chariot Warrior or ST to pull it clear of the victim; on a failure, roll vs. DX to drop and lose the spear; otherwise, the warrior will be pushed back and off the speeding chariot.

If two chariots engage in a head-on "joust," or if a chariot warrior attacks an oncoming cavalryman thus, use the sum of their velocities when assessing the results.

Example: Jong Cho, a noble lord of the Chou dynasty, orders his chariot-driver to charge a contemptible Hsiung-Nu barbarian - who proves to be a veritable berserker, and counter-charges him!

Jong's chariot horses move at 12, while the barbarian's unimpressive pony has a move of 11 - so the two combatants close at a total speed of 23. Jong's driver, a worthy individual, makes his Charioteer roll, and the great battle vehicle sweeps elegantly past the enemy horseman. Grasping his long spear two-handed. Jong coolly thrusts. He has Spear-15, but only Chariot Warrior-13, so he must use the latter, at -4 for speed; however, his player rolls an 8, and hits. The barbarian misses his dodge roll, and takes the spear full in the chest. Jong is ST 11, so his basic two-handed spear damage is 1d+2, but this speed gives him +4d. His player rolls 18 on 5d+2, running the barbarian through before the fellow can so much as raise his sword.

However, Jong must now pull his spear away from the deceased outlander. His Chariot Warrior skill is better than his ST, so he uses that; unfortunately, his player rolls a 15. Now, he must roll under his DX to drop the spear, which is bad enough, or be forced off his own chariot by a dead barbarian - which would cause him an unspeakable loss of face (and some pain)...

Scythed Chariots: Serious blades fitted to fast-moving chariots can be bad news for opponents who have the misfortune to get in their way; the problem is getting such vehicles in among the enemy troops. As per GURPS Vehicles, they cause the chariot to do cutting damage when it "side-swipes" a target - usually 1d to 3d, depending on the speed and weight of the vehicle. Hitting a specific opponent with these blades requires the driver to make a Charioteer roll with minuses more or less at the GM's whim, and the intended victim can then attempt a Dodge (although a well-designed chariot will have multiple blades at different angles, so victims can't always jump or duck); this is not a very precise sort of weapon, but it can inflict carnage on close-packed troop formations (where random victims can't dodge quickly or very far).

Fixed Spears: Really serious "scythe chariots" also mount spears and extra blades pointing forward and sideways from the yoke-beam. As a rule of thumb, the forward-pointing spears would do about 1d of impaling damage for every 3 hexes of current move rate; again, the problem would be hitting a specific target; even if a victim is obliging enough not to move out of the way of an oncoming chariot, this demands a roll vs. Charioteer skill, with arbitrary minuses from the GM. On the other hand, the opponent may still suffer impact or trampling damage from the chariot horses, even if the spear doesn't hit. Again, however, it is a dense formation of troops that suffers badly from such an attack - unless they were carrying longer spears or pikes, and hold steady, in which case the chariot could actually impale itself on its intended victims' weapons.

Chariots and GURPS Vehicles

Chariots are (of course) covered by GURPS Vehicles. The following notes discuss the broad details of chariot design under the first edition of that system, without going into every historical permutation of body size, harness, crew space, and protection. I assume that the second edition of the book should produce broadly similar results; anyone who wants to check is welcome to let me know what they find. (I've not got around to picking up a copy yet.)

Body Sizes range from 20 cf. (for a minimal one-man racer) to 50 cf. (for a three-man-or-more vehicle). Construction is always extra-light standard (wood) at TL 1-2, so maximum loads range from 300 to 750 lbs., body weights from 50 to 125 lbs., and HT from 25 to 50. All battle chariots have two unpowered wheels. Harness will usually be for either two or four horses.

Armour is not always fitted to chariots, but it can be. The composition can be cheap (thick felt, wicker or hide, usually for PD 1, DR 1) or standard (wood, possibly reinforced, usually PD 2, DR 3, occasionally slightly more). If the vehicle has any such protection, it will cover the underside (as a solid "floor pan"); some chariots also have protection to the front or front and sides.

Seats are not usually installed, but some chariots - especially command vehicles, and anything in which an important individual has to ride for long periods - may have one or two, usually normal-sized, light, and open. Other possible fittings include Wheel Scythes, as detailed in GURPS Vehicles. Forward-pointing Spears weigh about 10 lbs. each, and cost $75 per spear; one to three can be fitted.

Crew number from one (for racing chariots and "phalanx-buster" scythed vehicles) to four (for the heaviest battle chariots). More might be carried at a pinch, but this was not usually standard in combat; three or four men could doubtless get in each others' way quite enough. With quivers of spare arrows or javelins slung on the side, and no doubt a little baggage when on the march, designs should ideally allow a good 200 lbs. per crewman. Any spare volume can be considered "cargo space," but crews will not want their chariot cluttered up when they are going into battle.

Total all-up weights for chariots could therefore run from about 150 to 1500 lbs., the latter representing a very well-appointed royal command vehicle with seating for the ruler, armour for him to duck behind, a loyal bodyguard or two to shoot back, and perhaps even blades and spears to deter the rabble from annoying him. (Or it could be a six-man monstrosity.)

Animals available to pull such vehicles would vary with time and circumstances; in the Bronze Age, some may have used "wild" ass species such as dziggetai and onagers (ST 35, DX 10, IQ 4, HT 14, Move 10, -5 to all Animal Handling rolls due to sheer evil-tempered stubbornness), but these were soon superseded by horses; in any case, in the era when they were used, harnesses were highly inefficient. Early horse breeds would look unimpressive by modern standards, being pony sized, with ST about 30, and move 10-13; Roman racing chariots, by contrast, were doubtless drawn by picked thoroughbreds, albeit not as refined as a modern Arab race-horse - say ST 30, Move 16. Most Iron-Age war chariots were probably drawn by solid but unremarkable horses - perhaps little more than good-quality ponies, especially in the case of those that pulled Celtic tribes' vehicles, but nonetheless robust and hardy working animals. GMs can probably safely assume a ST of 30-32 and a Move of 14 for the typical "line" chariot horse, and ST 35, Move 15 for the fine matched beasts that draw the king's vehicle.

Thus, given the 25% reduction for a TL 1-2 harness, a two-horse chariot team might have an effective ST of 45, while a later four-horse team would have effective ST 96. Checking the Animal Encumbrance table in GURPS Vehicles shows that encumbrances will therefore rarely be worse than "None," and so maximum speeds will be as for the unladen horses - double their Move rating to find their speed in mph. Armoured horses might be one encumbrance class worse off (2 to Move).

However, a team of horses hauling up to half a ton of chariot will take a little while to accelerate to a full gallop - and even longer to decelerate. The GURPS Vehicles rules give a standard acceleration of one-fourth top speed, and a deceleration of 10 mph/s, but GMs can adjust such figures a little for dramatic and cinematic effect; Roman racing chariots traditionally hurtle away from the start, with the drivers whipping their horses to an instant frenzy, while even four strong horses aren't going to slow a 1500-pound chariot, with no brakes, from 30 mph in less than five or ten seconds. As a TL 1-2 chariot must have a Manoeuvre Rating (maximum turn G-force) of .25, the effective constraint on chariot movement is not so much power as the inability to make more than cautious, 15-degree turns (safely) at any speed above an easy, 10 mph trot. In battle, chariots will usually manoeuvre cautiously until an enemy is dead ahead, then launch a furious straight-line charge. (Two opposed chariot lines will often then pass right through each other - and then have to turn as hard as they can to re-engage.) Players may ask to use the High-G Manoeuvres rules in GURPS Vehicles, but note that a failed control roll in a speeding chariot can have very painful consequences. (Roman racing charioteers would continually be using their skill for tight turns - which explains the casualty rate in their profession.)

Prices for such vehicles work out between about $350 and $1300, plus the cost of horses (which should preferably be war-trained, and hence expensive, and ideally armoured), crew costs, any additional decoration, and armour, weapons and ammunition for the warriors. As a rule of thumb, a decent personal transport will usually cost PCs between $500 and $800, plus the horses - but GMs can amuse themselves running second-hand chariot purchases like second-hand car sales, with all the half-truths and salesmanship that this implies.

Magical (and Other) Chariots

Lastly, it is worth remembering that every people that used chariots in life (and a few besides) naturally incorporated such vehicles into their myths. Their usual function was as transport for deities, who went in for exotic embellishments; these could include unconventional draft animals (cats, dragons, winged or amphibious horses, peacocks, infinitely regenerating goats), and powers such as water movement, flight, or exceptional speed (which usually implied flight). The Greeks said that the sun was carried across the sky in a divine chariot. Even today, we have the popular myth of Santa Claus and his sleigh.

This sort of thing should serve to inspire GMs of high fantasy games, especially if they also involve more mundane chariots. A magical chariot which either comes with enchanted beasts, or which automatically grants powers to any team that hauls it, could be a very useful toy; it could allow high-speed travel, great offensive or defensive powers, or even access to some "Realm of the Gods," as well as looking extremely cool. See GURPS Magic Items for the "Chariots of Hell," a trio of powerful (if apparently demonic) magical transports.

(It is even possible to design such chariots using GURPS Vehicles, if you want to go to the trouble, although it may be necessary to assume that divine craftsmen have a couple of Tech Levels of advantage in their materials, as well as Levitation effects for flying vehicles; the main thing then is to come up with supernatural draft animals of appropriate strength and amenable nature.)

And it's even possible to envisage chariots "coming back" in science fiction games. GURPS Vehicles and GURPS Robots could be combined to create a lightweight, open-topped personal transport, drawn by a high-ST robot which could also be detached to perform other functions - including combat, in worlds where this is seen as likely. It might not be an efficient piece of engineering, but it would be both versatile and appealing to some slightly quirky sorts of purchasers.

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