Page 162 - World of Darkness

If a shooter decides not to “upgrade” the size of a burst Each range category is twice the previous one. For
to hit all intended targets, the number of people affected instance, a 9mm has a short range of 20 yards, a medium
is limited by the size of burst fired. In the case of a me- range of 40 yards and a long range of 80 yards.
dium burst, only three targets can be hit. They must be Example: Your character wants to shoot at somebody
side by side or in a row. The shooter cannot hit one tar- who stands 25 yards away, and your character uses a 9mm
get, skip a second and hit a third, for example. He must pistol. The target is at medium range. Hence, your roll
decide who remains a target and who does not. suffers a -2 range penalty.
If autofire (even a short burst) is directed at a single The ranges of thrown weapons are addressed in Chap-
target, and that target is in close combat with someone (or ter 3, p. 67. For a non-aerodynamic item, its Size is sub-
anyone is within a yard of the target), an autofire roll is tracted from your character’s Strength + Dexterity + Ath-
made against each person. Even though a short burst nor- letics to indicate short range. Medium and long range can
mally applies against only a single target, anyone nearby is be extrapolated from there, as double the previous dis-
targeted as well. Bullets might miss or pass through the tar- tance. So, if your character has 3 Strength, 2 Dexterity
get or ricochet to hit bystanders. The attack is treated like and 1 Athletics and he throws a laptop (1 Size), short
autofire against multiple targets; a -1 penalty is applied for range for the weapon is five yards, medium range is 10
each person who could be hit. Further modifiers unique to yards and long range is 20 yards.
each target also apply to the pool rolled against each. Aerodynamic objects such as footballs and spears can
Example: Carter fires a short burst at Farrow while be thrown double the above distances. So, if the above
Farrow and Sykes are in close combat with each other. Even item was a football instead of a laptop (still Size 1), short
though Farrow is the intended target of Carter’s attack, a range would be 10 yards, medium range would be 20 yards
separate autofire roll is made for both Farrow and Sykes. In and long range would be 40 yards.
this case, Carter starts with 10 dice (3 Dexterity + 3 Thus, distance is relatively fixed while the accuracy
Firearms + 3 equipment bonus + 1 for short burst). Since of a thrown object is determined by a Dexterity + Athlet-
two people are possible targets, a -2 penalty is applied to the ics roll.
dice pool against each. That lowers each pool to eight dice. An object with a Size that equals or exceeds your
While Farrow wears armor rated 2, Sykes wears none. A character’s Strength simply can’t be thrown far enough to
total of six dice are therefore rolled against Farrow, and eight constitute a ranged weapon, even if it’s an aerodynamic
are rolled against Sykes. item. It’s simply too heavy or bulky to be thrown.
The power and accuracy of guns is rated under “Dam- By no means is long range the limit to which a gun
age” on the Firearms Chart. That number is added to your can fire or a thrown weapon can be hurled. Most firearms,
attack dice pool as bonus dice. for example, can shoot a bullet much farther than the
weapon can reliably hit a target. If your character tries to
Range shoot a target beyond long range, he can still make the
attempt. Make a chance roll to determine success (see
Each firearm and thrown weapon has various ranges p. 125), regardless of what your character’s dice pool might
to which it is accurate. The Firearms Chart lists these, normally be. Any target that’s more than double a weapon’s
broken out as short, medium and long range. Your char- long range away is considered completely out of range and
acter suffers no penalties when firing up to short range. A no shot can hit it.
target at medium range imposes a -2 penalty. Long range
applies a -4 penalty.

Firearms Summary

Type of Shot Roll Modifier Bonus
Single Dexterity + Firearms —
Autofire (short burst) Dexterity + Firearms +1†
Autofire (medium burst)* Dexterity + Firearms +2†
Autofire (long burst)* Dexterity + Firearms +3†

* -1 penalty for each target when more than one is fired at. Separate dice pools are rolled
against each target in the attack. Modifiers for each target’s range, armor and/or concealment
apply to individual dice pools.
† Dice bonuses for using autofire are in addition to the equipment bonuses offered by guns
themselves. Thus, a gun with 3 Damage that’s used to fire a short burst grants a total of four
bonus dice.

161
RANGED COMBAT FACTORS-AUTOFIRE-RANGE