Page 161 - World of Darkness

to intruders. Attacks with guns are made by rolling Dex- holds 30 bullets when fully loaded, 10 of which are used in
terity + Firearms, but if the Skill is not possessed, Dexter- this attack.
ity alone can still be rolled with a -1 penalty (the stan- The dice pool assembled for each target of a burst is
dard for untrained Physical Skills). A dramatic failure in- also subject to any factors that apply to the individual
dicates anything as minor as a jam to something as severe target. For example, one intended target might be con-
as shooting one’s self in the foot or shooting an innocent cealed while another is at long range and prone, or one of
bystander, at the Storyteller’s discretion. them could wear armor while the other doesn’t. These
A Firearms attack pool is penalized by any mitigating factors modify the dice pool rolled to attack each target.
factors such as range, the target’s concealment and the Example: In the next turn, Carter fires again but this
shooter’s ability to see, all of which are explored below. time with a long burst (that’s 20 more bullets, so Carter
spends all his ammunition). A long burst offers a +3 bonus,
Autofire which means 10 dice in the attack pool. This time, Sykes
dives behind a trash can and is concealed, but Farrow
Each action in a turn allows for one squeezing of the remains standing in the open. All 10 dice are rolled against
trigger. For most weapons such as a pistol or rifle that means Farrow, because he has no special protection and does
one shot. For automatic weapons, that means autofire — nothing to save himself. The dice pool rolled against Sykes is
one of a short burst, medium burst or long burst. reduced by three, because Sykes is behind substantial
Short burst: Your character fires three bullets at a concealment (a -3 penalty, explained under “Concealment,”
single target, with a +1 bonus to the roll. A short burst p. 162).
cannot normally be directed against multiple targets.
Medium burst: Your character fires 10 or so bullets Distance from shooter to target can impose penalties
at one to three targets, with a +2 bonus to each attack and is discussed under “Range,” below. In our above ex-
roll. If he fires at more than one target, he suffers penal- ample, if Farrow were considered close range, no penal-
ties that mitigate this bonus (see below). ties would be applied to him. If Sykes were at medium
Long burst: Your character fires 20 or so bullets at as range, Carter’s dice pool to hit him would suffer a further
many targets as the shooter wants. A +3 bonus is applied -2 penalty.
to each attack roll (but with penalties for multiple tar- While firing a single shot (a single bullet), your char-
gets; see below). The Storyteller says how many targets acter can try to avoid allies or bystanders near the intended
are too many. The shooter could unload at a single target, target (see “Shooting into Close Combat,” below). It’s not
a crowd or at targets spread out from each other. If in- so easy to avoid friends and bystanders with autofire. When
tended targets are simply too spread out to realistically be a medium or long burst is fired at multiple targets, an at-
hit, the Storyteller can designate who is a valid target. If, tack roll is made against anyone standing near (within
for example, three intended targets stand approximately one yard) or between all intended targets. So, if your char-
in front of the shooter and a fourth is behind him, the acter fires a medium burst at two people, but a bystander
Storyteller may decree that the fourth cannot be targeted is between them, an attack roll is made against all three
in the attack. people. Each bystander counts as a full target. That means
Autofire is resolved with a single Dexterity + Fire- an additional -1 penalty to the dice pool rolled against
arms roll for each intended target. If your character di- each person. Bystanders may also require a shooter to use
rects autofire at more than one target in a single attack, a a larger burst to hit everyone he wants. As with any autofire
penalty equal to the number of targets is applied to each attack on multiple targets, modifiers for each target are
dice pool. So, if your character directs autofire at three applied separately.
targets, the dice pool for each suffers a -3 penalty. If he Example: Carter intends to fire a medium burst at
fires at only one target, he suffers no penalty. Jones, Sykes and Farrow, but a bystander is amongst them.
If a clip or gun is reduced to insufficient ammunition, An attack roll must be made against each person. Since that
autofire may not be possible until the weapon is reloaded. means there are four targets, Carter’s dice pools each suffer a
Dice bonuses conferred by autofire are in addition to bo- -4 penalty rather than a -3. Carter also needs to make a long
nus dice granted by guns themselves — see the Firearms burst instead of a medium one (a medium burst affects up to
Chart. So, if a small SMG (+2 equipment bonus) is used three people, while Carter now needs to hit four). Carter
to fire a long burst (+3 bonus), a total of five extra dice is starts with 12 dice for a long burst (3 Dexterity + 3
gained. Firearms + 3 equipment bonus + 3 for long burst). That
Example: Carter fires a medium burst at Farrow and pool is immediately reduced by four for all the targets
Sykes, who stand out in the open. Carter’s Dexterity is 3 involved, leaving eight. Farrow is also at long range (a -4
and his Firearms is 3, for six dice. A +3 bonus is also gained penalty), so four dice are rolled against him. Sykes is
for the kind of gun he uses, and a +2 bonus is gained for a substantially concealed (a -3 penalty), so five dice are rolled
medium burst. That makes for 11 dice. And yet, because against him. Jones wears armor rated 3, so five dice are
Carter fires at two targets, the dice pool rolled against each rolled against him. The bystander is out in the open and at
suffers a -2 penalty, for a total of nine dice. Carter’s gun short range, so all eight dice are rolled against him.

160
Chapter 7- COMBAT