Parachuting

(Str) Trained Only

Russia was one of the first countries to form elite paratrooper units, but it was Germany who first deployed Paratroopers (Fallschirmjager) in operational use. The Parachuting skill represents the characters ability to control and direct his decent, plus land correctly without injuring himself.

Check: Leaping from the aircraft requires no skill check, performing specific actions to deploy a chute are covered below.

• Average Jump & Chute Opening Altitudes – The table below details the average jump altitudes from aircraft, plus the minimum chute opening altitude.
• Jumping Free – When a character leaps from the aircraft a point on the ground directly below the characters point in the air must be marked, this point is then moved forwards following the aircrafts momentum, 1ft per every 10ft of speed of the aircraft. This point on the ground becomes the initial aim point of the jump.
• Descent Time – A character will free-fall at an average speed of 600ft per combat round. The round the chute is deployed this changes to an average speed of 150ft per combat round. If the character would come into contact with the ground during a combat round, roll for the landing (or crash damage, ouch).
• Controlling Freefall or Chute Glide – As the character approaches earth he can attempt to glide in a certain direction, with a successful DC16 skill check the character can begin to glide in a certain direction. If the skill test is failed the character is unable to begin the glide, if failed by 6 or more with a chute deployed the character has fouled the chute and must cut free (see Cutting Away).
  Once a glide in a certain direction is started the character will continue to move in that direction until a new glide skill check is made, opening a chute will stop a glide.
  

  Speed of Descent	Horizontal Distance Moved
  Free fall without Chute Deployed	20ft
  Free fall with Chute Deployed	100ft

• Deploying the Main or Emergency Chute – It is a DC16 skill check to safely deploy a parachute. Activating the chute is a full round action. If the skill check is failed the chute has become tangled or fails to open (see Cutting Away). If the character makes contact with the ground in the same combat turn as he deploys the chute, the chute will not have had enough time to slow the characters descent and the character will suffer an impact at 600ft per round.
  

  Description	Altitude in Feet	Average Time
  Minimum Chute Opening Altitude	1,500ft	10 rounds or 60 sec1
  Low Altitude Jump	5,000ft to 11,000ft	8-18 rounds or 48-108 sec2
  Standard Altitude Jump	12,000ft to 15,000ft	20-25 rounds, 120-150 sec2
  High Altitude Jump	16,000ft to 25,000ft	26-41 rounds or 156-246 sec2
  HALO Jump (requires breathing gear)	30,000ft or greater	50+ rounds or 300+ sec2

• Cutting Away – If a chute has failed to deploy correctly the character must cut away and deploy the emergency chute. A fouled chute does not slow a characters descent, thus a character with a chute that he must cut away from still travels at the free-fall speed. Cutting away is a DC16 skill check; if successful the character has cut away from the tangled main chute and can in the next combat round attempt to deploy the emergency chute. If failed the character is still entangled in the chute, but can attempt the skill check again in the next combat round with an accumulative +1 bonus.
• Landing - Landing without injury is a DC16 skill check, +2 if there are buildings within 10ft of the landing point, +4 if there are trees within 10ft of the landing point, +2 if there are shrubs and bushes within 10ft of the landing point, +4 if there is another landing parachutist within 10ft of the landing point. If passed the character lands without damage, if failed the character takes 1d4 points of damage per every two points under the DC (it is Gamemaster digression if the character lands on a building roof or is hung up in a tree).
• Shooting at or by Parachutists: Parachutists are treated as flat-footed, while free falling they gain +12 to defense and –12 to all attack rolls. Parachutists with a chute deployed are +6 to defense and –6 to all attack rolls. Parachutists may only use one-handed weapons while free falling or with a chute deployed. Both hands are required when deploying a chute, landing, or cutting free (e.g.: one hand will be holding a knife the other chute cables).

Basic Parachutes: Here is a brief description of three basic parachutes for Soldiers, Fighter Pilots, and Bomber Crew.

Soldiers often used a parachute that included an automatic main chute release cord; this cord was attached to a cable inside the plane as the soldier readied himself to jump with the rest of the Stick. These parachutes automatically deploy the main chute on the combat round the character leaps from the aircraft; this lowers the DC to deploy the main chute to 12 (but only for the main chute). Jumping with such a chute permits a lower drop altitude (approximately 500ft), but with no chance to deploy an emergency chute. On low altitude drops Paratroopers sometimes discarded the emergency chute in order to carry more equipment.

A fighter pilots parachute is a small package that the pilot sits on in the cockpit of the aircraft (ejector seats were not invented until after the Second World War), this chute was merely an emergency chute (e.g.: a main chute and no emergency chute).

Bomber Crew had a larger parachute backpack that was supposed to be worn in the aircraft at all times but were normally taken off because of the cramped conditions within the Bomber. These parachutes contain both a main and emergency chute.

Jumping as part of a Stick: Paratroopers are deployed as “Sticks” or a single unit in an aircraft. When jumping as part of a Stick the characters form a line within the aircraft and then quickly jump from the aircraft one after the other as the Jump Light switches from red to green. In this case each character after the first to jump is spaced 2d4 character squares between each other along the flight path of the aircraft. Six soldiers can jump from an aircraft as a full round action.

Prop Wash: Characters carrying equipment that is not secured by multiple harnesses about the body, must pass a special DC12 save per bag or lose item. If failed the item is torn away from the character from the prop blast as the character leaps from the aircraft.

Take 10 or 20?: No.

Special: A character that jumps with a heavy load will receive a –2 penalty to skill checks.

If there is wind in the drop zone a falling parachutist will be pushed in the direction of the wind by 1 character square a turn while the chute is open, this distance is doubled for heavy wind.

Game Master Notes – The HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump did not come into serious use until after World War II, but is included here for completeness.