Simulating Firearms & Ranged Combat In Fudge
I am hoping that this post inspires comments. I want to hear from others about the rules and supplements that they have used to simulate firearms combat in Fudge. In particular I want to address the following areas:
- damage
- hit locations
- ammunition
I want to create a set of rules for a simulation that is very lethal. The reason for this is because I believe that too many role playing games treat weapons as objects that are ineffective without skills, or even worse that firearms are “safe” in the hands of someone without the appropriate skills.
Firearms are merely tools, but they are incredibly simple tools to use in most cases. Firearms are never “safe” when fired, but instead their destructive potential is either controlled and focused or unrestrained and sporadic. The person who uses the firearm is the one who determines whether its destructive potential will be set loose or not, and if so whether or not that destructive potential will hit the right target. In other words, it is the shooter that determines when a firearm is safe and when it is dangerous.
With this in mind I am considering a system where the ammo determines the base damage, and the skill of the shooter determines the wound location. I want the chances for a character to be killed or crippled by the use of a firearm to be very high. I want the chances for an unskilled character to hit unintended targets to be very high. I want the consequences of using firearms in the game to be very high.
I do not want these rules for the purpose of portraying firearms as “evil”, because they are just tools. I want these rules because I want firearms to be taken seriously in the game. I do not want characters whipping out guns to negotiate with. I want the players to think twice about bringing firearms into a scene, and to react appropriately when NPCs bring firearms into a scene. I want the rules to reflect how one bullet can end a life easily, so that players do not fall into the temptation of trying to win a situation by having better guns for their characters.
Please leave your comments below. I look forward to reading what others have to say.
Trying to address these in order:
Damage: I veer much more towards FATE for this than vanilla Fudge, thus YMMV. A weapon adds to the damage done by a roll, by a significant amount. To show this, the weapon generates “spin” and gives the player an “and” to the “yes, you hit him.” That’s for any weapon, however. Guns are special in that they also have the tagged Aspect Lethal – by shooting that character, you have likely killed it unless it’s a) lucky (i.e. blows FP to drop the base roll to a Scratch and thus somewhere lower on the stress track than “Dead” or b) it’s a deliberate shoot-to-wound (i.e. the shooter pays FP to not kill). I’ve been using this with Four Towers with positive effect – the players definitely see that shooting their way out of a bad situation can be even worse. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing this is what you’re hoping to achieve…
Hit locations: Shooting to wound is freakin’ hard at any reasonable distance unless you’re really practiced at it. Military sniper school is 5 weeks of pretty rigorous and constant study for people who who have already gone through some rigorous and constant study and are reasonably Good with their firearm. Unless specifically called and thus incurring penalties for a called shot, I assume a torso shot for any reasonable distance. At point blank range, no penalties for a called shot apply – it plays up that cinematic badassery. If combined with the Lethal bit from above, it also makes them think about how they’re actually murdering someone…
{Disclaimer: I’m not against violence in RPGs – just mindless violence.}
Ammunition: Ammo is generally assumed to be part of the package of damage done by the gun. For Fudge’s level of granularity, I normally don’t worry about mixing and matching gun ammo effects unless I’m going for a non-lethal round – at which I’m creating an environmental modifier (tear gas, flash bang) or looking to produce a similar effect on a specific target (bean bags = stun). Unless I’m wanting resource management to be a significant part of the scenario, I normally don’t track individual bullets or arrows.
Did I also mention that I don’t do opposed rolls for firearms? It’s a check, where a minimum level might be needed to penetrate cover/armor. Armor is also damage reduction at a “to hit” penalty – you’re less mobile, but get hurt less.
The Fudge Firefight rules from the Fudge Factor cover alot of this:
http://www.fudgefactor.org/2004/05/05/firefight1.html
Mitch
@Keith& @mitchw: Thanks for the suggestions! I am familiar with both the Fate and the Fudge Firefight rules. I’m probably going to work out a hybrid based upon those and my own personal experience with firearms.
As for ammunition, well anyone who use firearms understands that while no ammo is less lethal than another what ammo is fired directly impacts how the firearm operates. Range, stopping power, and in many ways capacity are determined by the ammunition used. I want to develop a system that takes that into account as well, because I hate it when I am playing an RPG and the GM says “Well that .22 can’t do the job, but that .357 will!” for a combat encounter. Hit a target in the head with either round and the target is most likely going to die. Carry 100 rounds for each type though and you’ll soon realize how different ammo types are truly different from each other.