Lock and Load

 A few weeks ago, I posted about the double-tap, burst fire, and spray fire rules I was working on for Missions & Mayhem. 

If you don't want to click the link, the gist is that following d20 Modern, I had the attacks take a penalty which then resulted in greater damage on a hit. Game mechanics wise, that makes sense. But both as a simulation and as a player trade-off decision point, my players were not happy and I was OK with it, but not in love with the mechanic, either. 

I'd considered, and several players said they agreed, that a bonus to hit but normal damage and extra ammo expended would make for a better trade-off in game, as well as being more realistic.

Reader Avi suggested in a comment that the damage bonus should only apply at short range. 

Considering all this feedback, my new rules for firearms use look like this: 

Basic Ranged Weapon proficiency: use basic ranged weapons at no penalty. -2 to hit with firearms (single shot/semi-auto mode), -4 to hit with military (autofire mode firearms, launcher) weapons. 

Skilled Ranged Weapon proficiency: use basic and firearms weapons at no penalty.  -4 to hit with military weapons. Double-Tap and Suppression Fire can be performed. 

Advanced Ranged Weapon proficiency: use any ranged weapon at no penalty. Burst Fire and Spray Fire can be performed. 

Double-Tap: Fire two rounds as one attack, with a +2 bonus to hit. At short range, the attack deals +1 die of damage. Normal damage at medium or long range.

Suppression Fire: Empty the current magazine (minimum 5 rounds, belt-fed machine guns use 20 rounds) in one direction, targeting the area (AC 11). On a hit, all characters within short or medium range in that field of fire must make a will saving throw or dive for cover, losing their actions for this round.

Burst Fire: Using a weapon with autofire capability, fire five rounds at a single target as one attack, with a +4 bonus to hit. At short range, the attack deals +2 dice of damage. Normal damage at medium or long range. 

Spray Fire: Using a weapon with autofire capability, fire ten rounds as a single attack targeting a 10' square or 5x20' line (AC 11). All in the area must make a reflex save or take normal damage.

I'll see how this works on Sunday as the party continues their exploration of Dinosaur Island. Well, I suppose they probably won't try to use suppression fire on dinosaurs...but maybe they will?

Strength Bows

Thanks to the suggested videos algorthms of YouTube, I discovered this series of videos on Medieval weapons and armor called Shadiversity. I'm no expert on the subject, so I don't know if this guy is just another blabbering blogger or if he knows his stuff, but some of what he's talked about concerning misconceptions of ancient and medieval weapons and armor matches things I've read or seen elsewhere, so maybe he's alright.

In the video I linked, he talks about bows [starting around the 17:30 mark, if you want to skip ahead to the bow segment], and how in lots of RPGs and fantasy games, they get bows wrong. Bows, he claims, aren't weapons for weak but agile characters. Crossbows are better for those sorts. Bows, to be most effective, require strength. Having done some archery when I was younger (one of those things I keep telling myself I'd like to get back into but always put off for another day), he's right. The fiberglass recurve bow I had as a kid launched the arrows relatively slowly. Hunting bows or military bows would need to be a lot more powerful to be useful. For target shooting, my old bow is fine (still have it back in the States, my boys get it out now and then). If I actually wanted to kill a dragon or some such, I'd need a lot stronger bow. Which would mean I'd need to develop my upper body strength a lot more (or use the modern "cheat" of pulleys for mechanical advantage).

3E had compound bows that could be made to deal extra damage if you were a strong character. 2E had them as well. I think that might be something for me to work back into my house rules. Besides, I've always liked the idea of a Thief with a crossbow over a Thief with a short bow anyway.

Slings, minus the Singapore or the -blade.

+Claytonian JP posted about slings over on G+ today.  He was wondering if making the damage die exploding (like firearms in 2E AD&D), where a maximum on the damage roll would allow a second die to be rolled for more damage, would unbalance the sling.

I think that's not a bad idea for the weapon.  Scrap Princess tried to do some of the math involved, and concluded that it would make it statistically about the same as the d6 damage done by bows/crossbows.  And it would be a whole lot cooler.

Of course, a few people on the thread thought he meant slings firing exploding ammunition like grenades.  That could be cool, too.

Anyway, sticking with Claytonian's original idea, I might allow this, with the proviso that only manufactured sling bullets get exploding dice.  If you run out and restock with rocks from the local stream, they only do a standard 1d4 damage.

I guess I know my polearms

WotC's Pole Arm Quiz

You selected 15 of 22 polearms correctly.

I should probably thank Mr. Frank Mentzer for the rundown in his Master Set, and my old elementary school librarian for stocking this old pictorial book on knights, their weapons, and armor in our school library when I was a kid.