93gamesstudio (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 93gamesstudio) wrote,@ 2008-05-04 15:41:00 |
|
| Current mood: | awake |
Update - Suppressive Fire
This snippet is solely for the enjoyment of our Gunmaster friend, you know who you are. 
Morale and Threats
A Hollywood hero never succumbs to fear. Regardless of the odds arrayed against him, he sets his square jaw and fixes his steely gaze upon the hordes of enemies. In the Reflex System, however, characters are a bit more human. The following rules model the conditions under which a character's courage can fail him, reducing his combat effectiveness and ultimately robbing him of his will to fight.
A character's morale condition is determined by two factors: his Coolness Under Fire value and the current threat level arrayed against him. Various threat conditions represent events or injuries that can negatively affect a combatant's morale. The character's threat level is equal to the total number of threat conditions that apply to him during the current combat scene. As long as his threat level is less than or equal to his CUF, he suffers no adverse effects. He's sufficiently hardened that the bullets, bombs, and blood don't faze him. However, if his threat level exceeds his CUF, he suffers a penalty on all checks equal to the difference between threat level and CUF. If the difference is 5 or more, his will to fight is broken and he's unable to take any actions other than fleeing, performing first aid on himself, communicating, and curling into a fetal ball and weeping. At the end of each exchange of fire, he may not press - he must hold. Furthermore, a broken character automatically fails all opposed and competing social checks.
Example: Leslie has CUF 8. As long as her threat level is 8 or less, she suffers no morale-related penalties. If her threat level increases to 11, she suffers a -3 penalty on all checks. If her threat level increases to 13 or higher, she becomes broken, unable to carry on the fight due to a total morale failure.
Suppressive Fire
Most attacks are made with a definite target in mind – randomly spraying bullets downrange is unlikely to neutralize any enemies. However, some situations call for controlled fire into an empty area in order to discourage opponents from moving through it or otherwise doing anything that might make them targets. This technique is known as suppressive fire. Any firearm can be used for suppressive fire.
Suppressive fire requires a snap shot Attack action, targeting an area rather than an enemy. The maximum width of area that can be suppressed is equal to half the number of bullets being fired in meters (e.g. a three-round burst can suppress an area up to one and a half meters wide). Using a single shot or a short burst (5 rounds or less) gives an area an effective threat rating of 1. A long burst (5 or more rounds) gives it a threat rating of 2. Using explosives or tracer ammunition increases the threat rating by 1 (the incoming fire is visible in this case, not just audible).
If a character takes an action that places him within the suppressed area and exposes him to the source of the suppressive fire, his current threat level increases by the suppressed area's threat rating. This lasts until the end of the current exchange of fire. If he exposes himself before the attacker's next action, the attacker also gets a "free shot" on him, using the same rate of fire that he used for the suppression. This action has a tick cost of zero and is resolved before the suppressed character's action is resolved.
Example: Keith is using his Minimi (ROF B5/B9) to suppress two enemies who are behind an armored bunker door. Keith hoses bullets into the door at his gun's high rate of fire, laying down a 9-round burst. The Minimi's ammo mix includes tracer rounds, so anyone who sticks his head out of the door before the end of the exchange of fire will suffer a +3 increase to his threat level.
The bunker door is too thick for the Minimi to penetrate, so the enemy troops aren't initially exposed to the fire. However, before Keith's next action, one of the enemies opens the door to throw a grenade at Keith. As he exposes himself to the suppressive fire, his threat level immediately increases by 3. Keith takes his free attack on the exposed enemy, putting down another 9-round burst - and his target.
Keith's next action is to reload. While Keith is reloading, the second enemy takes the opportunity to run out of the bunker toward Keith's position. This also exposes him to Keith, raising this enemy's threat level by 3 as well. However, Keith is no longer engaged in suppressing the same spot, so he doesn't get a free attack on the second target.
Just an FYI, this will probably be the last rules snippet in preparation for the release and pre-orders.
