| From: | Richard Bukowski <bukowski@**.BERKELEY.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Automatic Fire Rules |
| Date: | Sun, 16 Apr 1995 13:44:37 -0700 |
see from my back issues of the digest has come back into full
bloom. :)
Here are the recoil and autofire rules Damion has been mentioning
compiled into a single list. I have a few more comments to make but
I'll put them into a separate post right after this one...
MORE HOUSE RULES ON RECOIL AND AUTOMATIC FIRE (by R. Bukowski)
--------------------------------------------------------------
I. Purpose
The idea of these rules is to modify the ridiculous SR2 recoil rules
so that they more properly reflect the statistical properties of
shooting more bullets at somebody. Under the old rules regarding
target number modifiers, the expected amount of damage done to a
target is reduced by firing more bullets at the target, rather than
increased. This is Stupid.
II. New Rules
BASIC PROCEDURE:
When a number of autofire bullets are fired at a target, the old
system has you modify the damage code based on the number of bullets
FIRED, and then increase the target number to the LARGEST target
number of any bullet in the group. So, for example, firing a burst of
3 bullets from a 8M weapon at a base target number (TN) of 4 makes
the damage code of the shot 10S and the target number 6 plus any
extra recoil added if this burst wasn't the first one of the round.
In the new system, each bullet is given its own target number, and the
attacker allocates successes from the attack roll to each bullet
separately to see if that bullet hit. The TN of a bullet is affected
by the base TN plus the recoil created by the bullets fired BEFORE
that bullet left the chamber. When the attack is rolled, the attacker
tries to make bullets hit the target on a bullet-by-bullet basis. The
total success of the attack is measured by the success of the first
(lowest target number) bullet to hit the target; further bullets
hitting the target increase the damage code of the attack.
EXAMPLE #1
Biff fires his 8M assault rifle at two bad guys. His
rifle has a laser sight, is set to burst mode and has 1 point of
recoil compensation. Biff has a firearms skill of 6 and combat pool
of 5; bad guy number 1 (BG1) is at short range, BG2 is at medium.
A total of 6 bullets are being fired; we must compute the target
number of each bullet. First, we compute the base target number of
each shot. BG1 is close range (TN 4) with laser sight (TN -1), for a
base TN of 3. BG2 is at medium range (TN 5), plus the second target
in a round (TN+2) for a base TN of 6. Now, we compute recoil mods for
each bullet. Bullet 1 has no recoil, and the recoil of bullet 2 is
absorbed by the recoil compensation of the rifle; further bullets each
get a +1, so the 6 bullets have modifiers 0,0,1,2,3,4. The first
three, against BG1, have total TN 3,3,4 and the second three, against
BG2, have total TN 8,9,10.
Now, Biff rolls his attacks. He allocates 2 pool dice to BG1 and 3
pool dice to BG2. He rolls 8 dice against BG1, getting
1,1,2,3,3,9,10,17 (Go, Biff! [I actually rolled this!]) Bullets 1 and
2, with TN 3 each, can have the first two 3's allocated to make these
hit. Bullet 3 can get the die with the 9 result allocated to it,
making it hit. The 10 and 17 are just successes (although if Biff had
fired 5 bullets, the 10 and 17 could have been used to make those hit
as well). Because all 3 bullets hit, the damage goes from 8M to 10S.
His success level is the total number of successes against a 3, the
lowest TN of any bullet in the group, giving him 5 successes. The
target takes a 10S with 5 successes.
Now, the roll against BG2. 9 dice rolled result in
1,3,3,4,5,5,5,10,10. Bullet 4 with TN 8 and bullet 5 with TN 9 can
use the two 10's to hit, but bullet 6 has no success and misses. The
damage code is 9M. The lowest bullet TN is 6, against which 2
successes are achieved. The target takes 9M with 2 successes. Well,
at least he pasted the first guy.
EXAMPLE #2
Biff is in trouble. He's taken a medium wound and another sam is
about to plug him with a combat shotgun in this combat round. Biff
gets the drop on him and decides it's all or nothing time. He opens
up full-auto at his opponent with his trusty SMG, hoping to drop him
in one burst.
Biff's opponent is at close range, and Biff fires an 8 round autofire
burst. His base TN is 4 for close range, -1 for laser sight, +2 for
wounds, to make TN 5. His SMG has 3 points of recoil comp. His
bullets recoil mods are 0,0,0,0,1,2,3,4. This makes the
total TN for each bullet 5,5,5,5,6,7,8,9.
Biff goes all out and rolls every die he can; 11 dice. He gets
1,1,2,3,4,4,4,5,9,13,17. He can make 4 bullets hit with the 5,9,13,
and 17. The SMG has a base damage code of 7M; with 3 extra hits, it
becomes 10S. He achieved 4 successes on the lowest TN, 5. So, Biff
does a 10S with 4 successes. I hope it's enough.
The following rules are optional, but highly recommended:
OPTIONAL RULE #1: Individual die results greater than 6 count as
multiple dice with results equal to the original
result minus 6, cumulative until the result reaches
0.
For example, if you roll a 15 on a die for the attack, that die counts
as 3 dice: one 15, one 9, and one 3.
This optional rule comes very highly recommended. Without it, people
with low firearms skill can NEVER make more than a small number of
bullets hit their target. With this rule, they can still get VERY
lucky and have any number of extra bullets hit their target. Also,
people with high skill derive an advantage from firing large numbers of
bullets, because they, too, can get lucky and make a reasonable
percentage of the shots hit.
Consider Biff's two rolls in example #1. In his first attack, the die
with a 9 would give him another result of 3 to use; the die of 10
would give him a 4, and the 17 would give him an 11 and a 5.
This makes Biff's roll 1,1,2,3,3,9,10,17(,3,4,5,11) for a total of 9
successes against TN 3 (instead of just 5). His target would take 10S
with 9 successes (Ouch). In the case of the second burst, the two
10's would have spawned two additional 4's, but these wouldn't have
helped, since the base TN was 6. The second attack is unchanged.
Now, consider example #2. Biff's 9 adds a 3, his 13 adds a 7, and his
17 adds an 11 and a 5. Considering his successes above 5, he goes
from having 5,9,13,17 to having 5,5,7,9,11,13,17. This allows him to
make 7 of the 8 bullets hit, rather than just 4, giving him a damage
code of 13D with 7 successes, and his opponent's life begins to suck.
OPTIONAL RULE #2: For modelling miniguns/super-machine guns.
These guns are given a high cyclic rate (HCR)
rating, which is the number of bullets that
are "clumped" together into one bullet for
the purpose of allocating successful bullets.
For a weapon with HCR 2, such as the Ingram SuperMach 100 or the Ares
HVAR, firing six bullets is treated as firing three "clumps" of two
bullets each. The recoil modifier of the clump is the modifier of the
first bullet of the clump, and if a success is allocated to the clump,
then all of the bullets hit. I propose the following HCR ratings for
commonly known HCR guns:
HCR 2: Ingram SuperMach 100, Ares HVAR
HCR 3: Ares HV-MPLMG, Ruger Thunderbolt bursts
HCR 4: Vindicator Minigun
HCR 5+: Vehicle-mount miniguns and gatling guns/cannon
When "walking" full-auto fire across multiple targets, crossing a gap
between targets wastes one clump of bullets rather than one bullet.
Any "extra" bullets that don't fill out a full clump are just treated
as a clump of smaller size.
EXAMPLE #3:
Biff has somehow laid his hands on a Vindicator, and it's time to hose
down some bad guys. He fires the obligatory 15 rounds in 4 clumps
(HCR 4 for a Vindicator, so the clumps are 4,4,4, and 3 bullets).
Biff has the Vindicator in a gyro-mount (7 points of recoil comp);
base damage is 7S. He decides to hose down 2 baddies; the first one
gets one clump, he walks the barrel to the second (using up one
clump), and puts the last 2 clumps into the second baddie.
This time, he uses 0 pool dice for BG1 and 5 for BG2. The bullet recoil
modifiers are (0,0,0,0),(0,0,0,0),(1,2,3,4),(5,6,7). Clumps are
parenthesized; remember, the modifier for a clump is the lowest
modifier of a bullet in the clump. Since the Vindicator is a heavy
weapon, uncompensated recoil is doubled. This means that the
modifiers for the clumps are 0,0,2,10. He is at medium range with no
other modifiers; his base TN is 5, making the clump TNs 5 for clump 1
against BG1, clump 2 is lost, and clumps 3 and 4 are 9, 17 (due to the
2nd target penalty). Good luck on those last two.
Biff's roll against BG1 is 3,3,3,4,5,8. He easily makes the first
clump hit with one 5, and two successes on the 5. Damage is 10D, 2
successes.
Biff's roll of 11 dice against BG2 is 1,1,1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5. The last 2
clumps (7 bullets) go whizzing into the ceiling, and BG2 is unharmed.
EXAMPLE #4:
Biff has wasted Foozle's honor guard and is firing at him with the
Vindicator. He has taken a medium wound. Biff yells a suitable
epithet and opens up the Vindicator full-auto at Foozle.
The clumps still have recoil modifiers 0,0,2,10. Now, Biff is at
close range (TN4) with a +2 wound modifier: base TN 6, clump TNs
6,6,8,16.
Biff's roll of 11 dice gives 1,1,1,2,2,2,3,5,7,9,16 (Yea! Take that,
chummer!) Clumps 1,2, and 3 hit with the 7, 9, and 16 rolls. 12
bullets hit the target with 3 successes. 17D wound, 3 successes.
Like as not, Foozle is going to resemble Swiss cheese in a moment.
