by Gorchek » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:01 pm
I spent some time thinking about an automatic fire rule for my games that would work with my "weapon problems" house rules. I did come up with something I think could be interesting, and though it would be easy to write down, but it sort of snowballed. I'm posting it anyway, but people with short attention span beware.
Full-Auto
A weapon can use the full-auto rule by doubling its cost.
An full-auto weapon can fire up to its average damage (round down) per turn (ie: a size 1 vehicule weapon has an average damage of 3.5, and can fire up to 3 times on full-auto. A size 2 weapon has an average of 7, so it can fire up to 7 times.)
A weapon with extra barrels add 1 cp to the cost and one extra attack per barrel after the first. (ie: the six barrels of the Claw Crusher machine gun increase its cost by 5. If counted as a size 2 weapon, it gets up to (7 from average damage, +5 for the extra barrels) 12 attacks per round!)
Before any attacks are rolled, the attacker can decide to spread the attacks. To do so:
1.Choose the first target of the spread and decide how many attacks will be made against it.
2a.For range weapon: Choose the next target, and mesure (from the shooter's position) the distance between the two targets. (ie: if the next target is 5" back and 1" to the left from the shooter, it's considered to be only 1" away. On the other hand, if the next target is just 1" behind, but standing on a 3" rock, it's considered to be 3" away.)
2b.For close combat weapon (chainsword, anyone?): Choose the next target. If the attacker has to turn more then 90 degrees to reach it, it counts as more then 1" away from the first.
3.If the distance between the two targets is greater then 1", you lose an attack per inch. It's considered an automatic miss by 1 on a target half way between your targets (you still have to roll the attack, in case its a critical failure). Your opponent can use the "Missed Shots" rule from chapter 5 to make this attack hit another target.
4.Decide how many attacks will be made against the new target (assuming you still have attacks left after walking your weapon to it).
5.If you still have attacks left, return to step 2 for your next target. If a target is larger then 1", and is not your first or last target, you have to attack it as many time as it's size from the shooter's perspective. (ie: you're targeting two minifig and the car between them. If the car is 3" large from your attacker's view, you have to give it 3 attacks before passing to the second minifig.)
You can roll the attack result as you call them, or wait until the're all decided before rolling. In either case, it's best to use something to mark where you place your attack, so you don't get mixed up. Idealy, just take one dice per attack you have, and place them next to your targets to mark your attacks.
Note that the attacks are only rolled after you've decided how many shots you're giving to a victim. Its hard to tell if your target is hit when you're showering them in dirt-kicking lead.
The damage from all the attacks on a single target are added together to pass the armor.
When spreading, the attacks must be rolled in order. If any attack is a critical failure, the gun jammed or overheated and you loose the rest of your attacks. This doesn't apply to attacks against a single target. (ie: a mini is using an assault rifle with 4 attacks per round. If it targets a single vehicule or mini, it doesn't matter if he rolls a 1 on the first or last attack, he can make all it's attack before making a Weapon Problem check. If the attack are spread on four different targets, and the second attack is a 1, then the third and fourth attacks are lost.)
If a critical failure is rolled when using full-auto, you must reroll all the attacks you wanted to make for the Weapon Problems roll. (ie: you decide to use the three attacks of your auto-pistol, and one of them was a 1. You must reroll three skill checks, and if any one of them comes up 1, you're out of ammo. Same thing for the broken weapon check.) Note that you use all the attacks you annonced even if you lost some of them. (ie: you were spreading your three attacks, but rolled a 1 on the second roll. You lost the third attack, but must still roll three dice for the Weapon Problem roll.
So, what do you think?