Called shots

[The Dark]

One of the things that either I've missed or is lacking in 2.2 is the ability to select where to hit a target. As best as I can tell, every shot is supposed to be determined randomly, even if it's a sniper aiming carefully from an ambush at close range. Assuming I haven't missed something, does it seem reasonable to allow called shots with the requirement that it be an Aimed shot and have a 1 difficulty level penalty?

[Raellus]

IIRC, there is a called shot rule for v2.2. It states that called shots are rolled at one difficultly level higher than an uncalled shot (i.e. a difficult shot becomes a formidable one). I'll try to find it and post a citation.

[swaghauler]

I have modified the basic rules and you may find these changes more useful to you.

Called Shot Difficulty Modifiers:

I allow my players to aim for either the "upper body" or the "lower body" for an increase of ONE Difficulty Level on the To Hit Roll (ie. an Average chance becomes Difficult). This will allow the player to roll 1D6 (on an Upper Body shot) for the Location Hit or 1D6 + 4 (on a Lower Body shot) for the Location Hit.

The player may call a SPECIFIC LOCATION to be hit but this increases the Difficulty Level by TWO (ie. an Average chance To Hit becomes a Formidable skill roll).

The player may also call a "SUB-LOCATION" to be hit but this increases the Difficulty Level by THREE (ie. an Average chance To Hit becomes an Impossible skill roll). This "Called Shot" is most often used to either "bypass armor" (shooting where a helmet or vest DOESN'T cover on a specific location) or to hit a VERY SMALL target (head shooting a cat or knocking a pistol out of an aggressor's hand).

These Difficulty Levels can also be broken down into a "sizing guide" for the To Hit roll based on one's aiming point.

If the Aiming Point is 36" to 12" in size (a typical man's torso is 30" high by 18" to 20" wide), the Difficulty Shift is ONE Level worse.

If the Aiming Point is about 12" to 4" in size (a typical "headshot," "heartshot," or "legshot" requires an accuracy of 8" or less), the Difficulty Shift is TWO Levels worse.

If the Aiming Point is about 4" or less in size (the typical size of the Occular Cavity or "eyebox" of the typical human or the area of a human hand when clenched), the Difficulty Shift is THREE levels worse.

The Aim action WILL IMPROVE the Difficulty Level by One Difficulty Level when used with a Called Shot. This is because Called Shots can be Snap Shots as well.

The Quick Kill Rule:

I modify the Quick Kill rule in my game as well. This rule applies ONLY WITH SHOTS THAT ARE BOTH CALLED AND AIMED (which are the shots that are taken with enough care to justify this rule in my game).

- If the hit is to the Chest, the player must roll under the number of DAMAGE DICE the weapon delivers PLUS 1/2 THE SHOOTER'S RAW (non-asset) SKILL LEVEL (rounding down) on 1D20 to achieve a killing hit. I allow any player to roll under their AGL+CON on 1D20 as a save (max damage is inflicted instead) to prevent this.

- If the hit is to the Head, the player must roll under 2 TIMES the number of DAMAGE DICE the weapon delivers PLUS THE SHOOTER'S RAW (non-asset) SKILL LEVEL on 1d20 to achieve a killing hit. Players receive the same AGL+CON "saving throw" as the one listed above.

Once again, the formulas above are:
Chest= DAM DICE + 1/2 RAW (non-asset) SKILL LEVEL or less on 1D20 for a Quick Kill.
Head= 2 X DAM DICE + RAW (non-asset) SKILL LEVEL or less on 1D20 for a Quick Kill.

The Quick Kill rule DOES NOT APPLY if the shot hits armor.

Aimed Shot Damage Modifications:

I allow a shooter who fires an Aimed Shot to modify their weapon's damage roll by adding in the number of points they rolled UNDER their required TO HIT ROLL up to their RAW (non-asset) Firearm's Skill. This cannot modify the weapon's damage BEYOND its maximum rollable damage. If a sniper with a RAW SKILL of 8 is using a 7.62mmN sniper rifle that does 4D10 damage, the most he can modify that damage roll by is 8 points and the maximum damage he can do is 40 points regardless of any modifications to the die rolls.

This rule only applies to SINGLE SHOTS. Someone firing a burst is too concerned with keeping his burst both centered and tight to worry about the specific placement of each round in that burst.

These are my "House Rules" in Version 2.2. Use what you will, and ignore the rest.

Swag.

[ArmySGT.]

That is interesting......... Thanks.....

When I get around to the Atlantis Project ... that little tidbit will go in.

[Adm.Lee]

Hmmm. I very much like Swag's first rule, will have to cogitate on the other two. Making a (smaller) body part +2 difficulty levels seems workable, with a compromise "aim high/aim low" option as well.

I tend to forget about Quick Kill, will have to re-read that RAW and think on it.

To the original poster, I don't have 2.2 (only 2.1), but I was pretty sure a called shot was simply +1 difficulty level.

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Hmmm. I very much like Swag's first rule, will have to cogitate on the other two. Making a (smaller) body part +2 difficulty levels seems workable, with a compromise "aim high/aim low" option as well.

Yeah, I like the "aim high/aim low" as a way of avoiding cover.

I tend to forget about Quick Kill, will have to re-read that RAW and think on it.

To the original poster, I don't have 2.2 (only 2.1), but I was pretty sure a called shot was simply +1 difficulty level.

See, I went through my copies of 2.2, DC, and TNE last night, and couldn't find anything about it. Maybe it's somewhere odd in the rules (it wouldn't be the first rule GDW placed in an obscure part of a rulebook), but it's not in the fire combat section.