Automatic Fire

(Back to Combat)

(see also Firearms (rules)

If using automatic fire an attacker can make one pull of the trigger in one combat round. The automatic weapon will then continue firing until the trigger is released or the ammunition is expended (called full auto). Some weapons are limited to fire a burst (i.e. 2 or 3 bullets) rather than full auto, while others may be switched to fire semi-automatic (single bullets), and/or burst or full auto.

For full auto: the player declares the number of rounds (bullets) to be fired, which may be any number up to the capacity of the gun before rolling the dice. Due to the recoil of automatic weapons, it is very hard to place a high number of rounds in a single target. To simulate this, the number of bullets fired is divided into a series of volleys, with an attack roll made for each volley.

A volley is a number of bullets up to or equal to the firer's Submachine Gun (SMG) or Machine Gun (MG) skill divided by 10 and rounded down: simply read the tens digit of the skill value. Regardless of the skill, a full auto volley is never fewer than 3 bullets. For example: a character with Firearms (SMG) 47% would fire four bullets in a volley. A character can fire full auto (multiple volleys) in a single round until their ammunition runs out, although the chances of hitting reduce after the first volley has been fired.

For burst fire: one pull of the trigger fires 2 or 3 bullets, this being considered the best combination of accuracy and conservation of ammunition. This is simply treated as a volley of 2 or 3 shots (depending on the firearm; the user's skill plays no role in determining the number of bullets).

When firing semi-automatic (ie. multiple single shots): apply a penalty die to each shot, making a skill roll for each bullet fired, just as when firing multiple rounds from a handgun (see Handguns, Multiple Shots)

 Rolling to hit with automatic fire: 

First attack roll: apply the usual rules for firearms attack roll (set difficulty by range and then apply any modifiers)

Second and further attack rolls: add one Penalty die (or remove a Bonus die) for each additional attack roll. If this would incur three Penalty dice, stick with two Penalty dice and raise the difficulty level by one step (from Normal to Hard, Hard to Extreme, Extreme to Critical, or Critical to Impossible).

The attacker must make a fresh attack roll for each volley (or burst) of shots or whenever they select a new target.

All targets should be within a reasonable arc of fire (around a sixty-degrees arc). Ammunition is expended when moving between targets (one bullet per meter/yard). This is simply additional wasted ammunition, and for convenience is not factored into volley size, attack rolls, or the quantity of shots that can be made before incurring penalty dice.

 Resolving each attack roll: 


 * If the attack roll is successful: half of the shots fired hit the target - roll damage for half of the shots (round down, minimum of one). Subtract any armor from each shot.
 * If the attack roll is an Extreme success: all shots fired hit the target, the first half (round down, minimum of one) of which impale. Subtract any armor from each shot. If the difficulty level of the shot was Extreme, the best possible result is a successful hit and not an impale.

''A shooter with a skill of 63%, firing a full auto (multiple volleys) at a single target at normal range, makes one attack roll for each volley of 6 shots. The first volley requires a Regular success. The second volley of 6 bullets incurs a Penalty die, as this is the second attack roll (for shots 7 - 12), and the third volley takes two Penalty dice (for shots 13 - 18).''

If the shooter had announced they were firing a fourth volley then the attack roll would incur two Penalty dice and the difficulty level (for shots 19 - 24) would increase to Hard.

''Alternatively, if the same shooter fired just 12 shots, dividing them equally between three targets (4 shots at each) at a normal range, the first attack roll would be fore the 4 shots at the first target. The next 4 shots at the second target would require a second attack roll, with one Penalty die, followed by a further attack roll for the 4 shots at the third target, this time with two Penalty dice. In this case the attacker has chosen to fire three partial volleys of 4 shots (rather than the full 6-shot volleys) to conserver ammunition.)''