Ongoing first draft rules for Monkeys With Guns goes below the break.
Primate Stats
Accuracy: Accuracy bonuses or penalties are added into the attack score of a squad’s attack. Most primates have between -1 and +1, but the weapon you’re using, the range you’re using it at, accessories like scopes, and injuries to the hands or eyes can all modify it further upwards or downwards.
Speed: This is the amount of inches, squares, or hexes the primate can move with one move action. Every square/inch/hex moved over water, through rough terrain, or when climbing vertically counts double.
Size: The size of the primate affects both how much they can carry, how hard they are to kill, and how dangerous they are in close quarters combat.
Armor: Armor is added to Size when calculating defense score. It is usually provided by equipment, and goes mostly from +3 to +6. Armor of +5 and higher is found almost exclusively on vehicles.
Morale: Morale ranges from -1 to +3 most of the time. When testing Morale, roll a d6, add your Morale, and compare against TN of 5. If the result is 5 or higher, you have succeeded and may act normally. If you have failed, you may rout, be forced to flee an overrun, be pinned and unable to act, or otherwise not able to act as you might wish.
Cost: This is the scrap cost of recruiting and arming the primate.
Weapon Stats
Damage: This determines how powerful the weapon is, and is used to calculate attack score. Small arms range from +0 to +3, but explosives can be much, much higher. The damage of a weapon must be at least as high as the armor of the target in order to contribute Rate of Fire (below) to the attack.
Rate of Fire: This determines how many enemies are affected by a squad’s attack. If the weapon has a 0.5 RoF, round this up to find the number of enemies affected by the squad’s total RoF. So, for example, a squad with five monkeys carrying shotguns has a total RoF of 2.5, which rounds up to 3 enemies affected per attack.
Range: This is the maximum range at which the weapon is fully effective. When firing weapon at closer range than its Range stat, add an Accuracy bonus of +1 for each range step closer than the Range stat. When firing a weapon from further away than that weapon’s range stat, add an Accuracy penalty of -1 per range step further away. The ranges are:
| Range | Distance |
| Point blank | 1-6 squares |
| Short | 7-12 squares |
| Medium | 13-24 squares |
| Long | 25-36 squares |
| Extreme | 37+ squares |
Size: The size of primate best suited to this weapon. Weapons of the same size as the primate take up one equipment slot. Weapons a size category bigger take up two equipment slots and must be braced to be fired. Weapons two or more steps bigger than their wielder can still be fired, but cannot be moved. Weapons one step smaller than their carrier occupy only half a slot. Weapons two or more steps smaller than their carrier occupy no equipment slots at all.
Cost: Weapons aren’t free. You do not have to pay this cost for the default weapons of a primate, as those are folded into the cost of recruiting the primate (sometimes at a discount).
Vehicle Stats
Vehicle Size: This is the size of the vehicle itself, which primarily affects how hard it is to destroy, what size of primate may operate it, and indirectly on what weapons it can mount. A primate must be at least one size smaller than the vehicle they’re driving to be an operator, gunner, or passenger in that vehicle. While there are exceptions, vehicles can generally only turret or fixed-place mount weapons of their same size and pintle mount weapons at least one size category smaller than they are.
Operator Size: This is the size required to operate the vehicle effectively. Primates who are too small cannot reach all the levers, pedals, and so forth needed to operate the vehicle, though they may still attempt it.
Primates too small to operate the vehicle may do so in teams, requiring twice as many primates for every size category smaller than the operator size. Primates smaller than ideal operator size must make roll a d6 against TN of 5 whenever they move the vehicle. The operators take a -1 penalty for every size category below operator size past the first. For example, if operator size is large, medium primates must make the roll but take no penalty, but small primates take a -1 penalty and tiny primates takes a -2. For every point of failure, the vehicle moves the final 10% of its movement, rounded up, in a random direction. For example, If the final roll is a 4 and the vehicle’s speed is 36, the vehicle moves the final three squares of its movement in a random direction. If the roll were a 3, the final six squares will be in a random direction. For every 10% under the vehicle’s top speed traveled, rounded up, the roll gets a +1 bonus. If this all sounds like a lot of hassle, use properly sized primates to drive your vehicles and ignore all of this.
Primates larger than the normal operator size may still operate the vehicle normally so long as they are small enough to fit in at all.
Operators: This is the number of operators required to drive the vehicle.
Passenger Capacity: This is the number of medium primates who may fit in the passenger space of the vehicle. Each size category lower than medium takes up half as much space, and each size category larger takes up twice as much space.
Speed: This is the amount of inches, squares, or hexes that a vehicle can move with one move action. Every square/inch/hex moved over water, through rough terrain counts double. By default, vehicles cannot climb vertically.
Armor: Armor is added to Size when calculating defense score. Vehicle armor is usually at least +4, and can reach as high as +6. Vehicles may be used as cover against any weapon whose damage score is lower than the vehicle’s armor score.
Cost: Each vehicle costs a certain amount of scrap to attach to a squad.
Armament: Nearly all vehicles have a number of weapon mounts. Each mount has a size, which indicates the maximum size of weapon that can be mounted there, and a type.
The types are pintle, which allows the gunner to be targeted separately from the vehicle, the turret, which does not allow the gunner to be targeted separately from the vehicle, the gun port, which allows the gunner to be targeted separately, have a fixed line of sight in a 90 degree arc from the port’s position rather than the 360 degree line of sight for a pintle or turret mounted weapon, and also requires the gunner to use a weapon they’re carrying themselves, and a fixed-place weapon with a predetermined firing arc of either front, rear, left, or right, whose line of sight is a 90 degree arc facing out from that position, not a full 360 degree arc.
Note that if the vehicle has good armor, any primate manning a gunport or pintle weapon will almost certainly have cover. Weapons require a gunner by default, but some of them may be operator-manned, in which case the operator can fire them while also piloting the vehicle. Most vehicles with weapon mounts come with default weapons, but these can be exchanged for others. All vehicle weapons are considered braced, and whether or not a primate may man a vehicle’s weapon depends on the size of the weapon, not operator size.
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