Ranged Combat

While the sword has come to rule the battlefield in the New Dark Ages, guns still remain: many relics of ages past, others hand-crafted for nobles and still more stamped out by factories to fuel house armies as they march towards war. With ammunition dear, they are often used to soften an enemy up before true battle begins, but they remain deadly - and even more deadly are fearsome energy weapons, true artifacts of the distant past.

Ranged Combat Basics

Unlike melee combat, which models the give and take of two sides squaring off, ranged combat is mostly a test of one person, the shooter - are they skilled enough to hit the target?

When making a ranged attack, a character rolls Dexterity + Shoot (or another applicable ranged combat skill) and subtracts VPs from their result based on the range and cover of their target. Targets actively avoiding being shot will also be able to make a contested "get down!" roll to further decrease the shooter's VPs. If the shooter scores 0 or more net VPs, they hit; if not, they miss.

Shoot Actions

Precise Shot

The character draws a careful bead and fires one shot or short burst at a +2 goal.

Snapshot

The character fires two shots, two short bursts or one long burst. Single-shot weapons cannot snapshot.

Cautious Shot

The character fires one shot or short burst. The character also receives a +2 goal bonus to any 'Get Down!' rolls they make.

Reload & Shoot

The character fires one shot or short burst. The character can also reload one shell, bullet, or magazine.

Full Reload

The character reloads three shells or bullets or changes a belt. Usually, a character has their head down while reloading, increasing their level of cover by one.

Range and Cover

Cover

Light Cover - 1 VP

Light cover protects a character largely through concealment; it provides little or no intrinsic defensive value. Examples: lying prone or hiding in the bushes.

Medium Cover - 2 VP

Medium cover provides more substantial protection; characters are generally either well-covered by something that will slow but not stop bullets or partly covered by something that will stop bullets. Examples: hiding behind an overturned table or sofa, taking cover behind a pillar, tree, or lamp-post.

Heavy Cover - 3 VP

Heavy cover provides the best protection, with characters well-covered by something that will stop bullets. Examples: taking cover behind a concrete wall or inside a building.

Characters moving between cover in a round treat the cover as one or two levels lower, depending on how far apart the objects of cover are. Characters in a melee also receive cover; see 'Firing into a Melee', below.

Head Down

The cover rules assume characters are using cover while being active - looking around, firing back, or otherwise participating in the fight. If a character is keeping their head down and putting all of their effort into not being shot, increase their level of cover by one. In some cases, this may result in them being impossible to hit.