Page 165 - World of Darkness

and his target is partially concealed (-2), your attack roll • Clear Jam: Your character’s gun jams, probably
suffers a -4 penalty (-2 for firing at a partially concealed because of a dramatic failure achieved in a Firearms roll.
target, and -2 for his own protection). The opponent’s It can take as little as an action to clear a jam, unless the
difficulty is also modified by -4 (-3 for firing at a substan- Storyteller rules that the gun must be dissembled and
tially concealed target, and -1 for firing from her own pro- cleared later, when time permits.
tection).
cover) cannot stage ranged attacks at opponents. Doing General Combat
A character who is completely covered (under full
so would compromise his cover and reduce him to sub-
stantially concealed, instead (attacks made against him Factors
would then suffer a -3 penalty).
Some battle conditions apply to both close and ranged
combat, or to circumstances of each.

Avoiding Getting Shot Movement
Since your character doesn’t normally get
to apply his Defense against Firearms attacks, his Your character’s Speed trait indicates how many yards
he can travel in a single turn by walking or jogging. He
best method to avoid being shot is to seek pro-
tection and go prone. These actions levy penal- can travel that many yards and still perform an action, all
in the same turn. He can move and perform an action, or
ties against the attacker.
Example: Comer is about to fire his shot- perform an action and then move. He cannot, however,
move, perform an action and then move again all in the
gun at Smith. Smith, who acts first in Initiative,
decides to run for the concealment of a nearby same turn.
If he moves more quickly, he can travel up to twice
car. It is within double his Speed range, so he
can make it there in one action by running. When his Speed trait in a turn by running. Doing so is consid-
ered a full action and no other feats can usually be per-
Comer’s action comes, he suffers a -3 on his at-
tack roll (-3 for the car’s substantial conceal- formed while running. A special Merit or supernatural
power is required to accomplish such combined tasks, or
ment). In the next turn, Smith goes prone, hop-
ing the cops will arrive to chase Comer off. your character charges (see below).
Comer’s penalty becomes -5 (-2 for Smith being
prone and -3 for the car’s concealment). Comer Charging
needs to close the distance or flush Smith out if Your character can charge an opponent in close com-
he wants to get rid of those penalties. bat — in a Brawl or Weaponry attack. Essentially, he closes
See “Going Prone,” below. a considerable distance with a target and is able to attack.
Your character can move up to twice his Speed and stage
an attack at the end of his movement, all in the same
turn.
Other Complications Your character’s Defense score is not subtracted from
any attacks made against him in the turn. He makes a
• Drawing: Unholstering or otherwise preparing a relatively easy target of himself by making a beeline to a
gun takes one action. Thus, if your character draws his specific opponent.
gun in a fight, he spends an action doing so (unless he has Your character cannot charge and make an “All-Out
the Quick Draw Merit — see p. 113). Having a gun in Attack” (see p. 157) in the same action. Nor can he charge
hand before a fight breaks out allows your character to and perform any other special attack that requires him to
start firing without delay, although it carries the possible give up his Defense as a drawback to the maneuver. He
social implications of brandishing a deadly weapon pub- can perform one maneuver or the other.
licly. If a weapon is hidden on your character’s person (un- If your character’s Defense is applied against any in-
der a coat or in a purse), an action is spent drawing it and coming attacks in a turn, he cannot perform a charge in
your character loses her Defense for the turn. the same turn. If incoming attacks precede his position in
• Reloading: Your character must spend one action Initiative, he has to suffer those attacks without the ben-
to reload her empty gun. A gun that must be loaded with efits of Defense in order to conduct a charge at his place
individual bullets also costs your character’s Defense for in Initiative.
the turn. That is, Defense can’t be applied against incom-
ing close-combat attacks. A weapon that’s reloaded with Going Prone
a clip or magazine does not cost Defense for the turn.
• Offhand Attacks: If your character makes attacks Sometimes there’s no cover to be found when your
with his offhand (say, he’s right handed but is forced to character comes under fire, and he dives to the ground as
use his left), they suffer a -2 penalty. The Ambidextrous a last resort. Or your character has been crawling to avoid
Merit (p. 110) eliminates this penalty.

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Chapter 7- COMBAT