Paradrop

Armor Penalty

 Airborne insertions are a powerful military tool for inserting soldiers behind enemy lines for scouting, surprise raids, and special operations. In modern warfare, heavily fortified positions can be bypassed, encircled, and defeated with far less casualties than were taken in past conflicts. This skill allows a character to land precisely where she wishes to, and also allows parachuting under less than ideal conditions (from a very fast-moving craft, a low-flying craft and so forth). This skill also covers preparing equipment to be dropped.

Failing this check means the character lands 100 yards off target for every two points by which his roll missed the DC. Failing a check by more than 5 means the character has landed somewhere dangerous (depending on the situation, a dangerous landing could be in proximity to enemy soldiers, power lines, dense foliage,etc).

 Failing the check to safely land in dense foliage such as a forest means the character has become fouled in the brush 10-100 feet above the ground. Getting down usually involves climbing or simply cutting yourself free and falling the remaining distance.

Failing the check from a high speed or low altitude insertion results in 1-4 points of damage per 2 points by which the character missed the DC (in addition to possibly landing off target, and landing somewhere dangerous). The character may attempt either a Reflex save (DC 20), or a Tumble check (DC 15) to reduce this damage by half.

Forces on the ground need to roll a Spot check (DC10) to detect incoming paratroopers 1-6 rounds (50-300 ft) before landing. Paratroopers in the air are extremely vulnerable to enemy fire, being treated as flat-footed both while in the air, and for 1-4 rounds after they land (while the soldiers get free of their heavy parachute riggings). A successful Paradrop skill (DC 15) will allow a character to get clear of his riggings in the minimum time (1 round).

For these reasons, soldiers will only be dropped into a hostile landing zone when absolutely necessary. Often Special Operations forces will be sent in first, to make sure an area is secure (neutralizing any enemy forces encountered) before more conventional troops are para-dropped in.

For special operations, the HALO, or High Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is considered the ideal. Troops are dropped from extreme altitude, making the presence of aircraft harder to detect. The soldiers so deployed then wait until they are extremely low before deploying their parachutes. HALO landings are only spotted by forces on the ground on a Spot check of 20 or higher, and if a HALO drop is spotted, forces on the ground only have 1-2 rounds at which to attack the incoming paratroopers.

LALO, or Low Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is also very popular, used when aircraft must come in under the radar of a potentially hostile group, or to avoid a diplomatic incident. LALO insertions are risky, as the soldiers are pulled from the craft, their chute opens, and they hit the ground, all in under a minute. On a LALO jump, characters receive 2d6 points of subdual damage from the stress and impacts of the jump.

Special: Characters with 05 or more ranks in Tumble receive a +02 Synergy bonus on paradrop checks. Characters with the Paratrooper feat gain a +02 bonus to Paradrop checks.