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.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by The Dark

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

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.

The Quick Kill rule originally appeared in the V2 Small Arms Guide. It also appears in the Special Operations Handbook and Merc2000. The only mention I REMEMBER (I'm not at home to be able to look it up) in the V2.2 rules is in the Designer's Notes in the back of the book. They state that Quick Kill is no longer optional there, but I couldn't find it in those rules either.

I view a rule like the Quick Kill as more of a "plot device" to be used by the sniper who has stalked his prey and takes a well-aimed precision shot from ambush or the would-be assassin who steps from the shadows and fires one round from a suppressed pistol into the back of his "mark's" head. These are the situations the Quick Kill should be used in and that's why I require BOTH an Aimed AND Called Shot for the Quick Kill rule to be used. I have modified my post to show this better because my original wording wasn't clear enough as to why I had included it in this posting (even after it was brought to my attention by one of my player's last night). In my defense, I had just finished a 14 hour day.
One other thing I have been considering is the removal of Abdominal Shots from the Quick Kill Rule (which I believe is how it was originally posted in the Small Arms Guide). While the Abdomen contains a couple of major arteries and the genitals, it really doesn't contain an organ or nerve connection which will instantly "shut down" the body like the Head and Chest do. I will most likely limit Quick Kills to the Chest or Head in later games.

The Aimed Shot Damage Modification is a "nod" to Jason my friend who is a Designated Marksman as well as my own experience in long range marksmanship. I wanted to encourage players to aim and I also wanted to model the "damage" that a well-placed round could inflict. This system was a good compromise that both Jason and I agree makes snipers much more dangerous. You can see Jason's influence in most of my sniper postings (just check out the "Sniper Shots" thread for more). I did have to specify that the damage on aimed shots only applies to aimed SINGLE SHOTS. Someone shooting an aimed burst is more concerned with reducing the dispersion of rounds from that burst than the precise placement of any given round in said burst.

If you have any more questions, just ask me and I'll do my best to explain them.

[Cdnwolf]

Rifle Scopes: Sniper rifles come with a
scope fitted to them. Any other rifle may have
one fitted at additional cost by a gunsmith
(they may not be initially acquired so
equipped). The printed range on the combat
tables (even for sniper rifles) is for the rifle
without a scope. If a scope is mounted, add
15 to the printed range figure when conducting
aimed shots. In addition, aimed shots at extreme range are conducted as if at long range for purposes of hit difficulty. Note that scopes have no effect on quick shots.
For example, a rifle with a printed range of
75 and a scope would be treated, for purposes
of aimed fire, as having a short range
of 90 meters, a medium range of 180 meters,
a long range of 360 meters, and an extreme
range of 720 meters.

[swaghauler]

After yesterday's game session, I did indeed adopt the position that the Quick Kill will only be used on Chest and Head hits. I have modified my post accordingly.

[James Langham2]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Rifle Scopes: Sniper rifles come with a
scope fitted to them. Any other rifle may have
one fitted at additional cost by a gunsmith
(they may not be initially acquired so
equipped). The printed range on the combat
tables (even for sniper rifles) is for the rifle
without a scope. If a scope is mounted, add
15 to the printed range figure when conducting
aimed shots. In addition, aimed shots at extreme range are conducted as if at long range for purposes of hit difficulty. Note that scopes have no effect on quick shots.
For example, a rifle with a printed range of
75 and a scope would be treated, for purposes
of aimed fire, as having a short range
of 90 meters, a medium range of 180 meters,
a long range of 360 meters, and an extreme
range of 720 meters.

I have varied scopes giving a +5/+10/+15 bonus in my games. For example the SUSAT sight on the SA80 series or the SUIT from the L1A1 are +5 scopes, the Soviet PSO-1 is +10 and the M8541 is +15.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by James Langham2

I have varied scopes giving a +5/+10/+15 bonus in my games. For example the SUSAT sight on the SA80 series or the SUIT from the L1A1 are +5 scopes, the Soviet PSO-1 is +10 and the M8541 is +15.

I use a similar system to yours. Rather than retype it, I'll just tell you to check it out by searching for kdusk's Thread Sniper Shots. I posted my system there.

[James Langham2]

As an aside, I also allow the bonus on certain scopes for follow up shots (the SUIT/SUSAT for example especially for the L22 Carbine version of the SUSAT where the post is inverted to help with follow up shots) and I am CONSIDERING it for unaimed stationary shots.