Point Blank Called Shots...

[GreenGhost]

I came across a situation last night while GMing for Dead Reign. The players were making Called Shots throughout the game, which was fine. Later they got to where they were engaging Zombies at point blank range and still making Called Shots. I know how Called Shots work in normal situations, but what would the Target/Strike Roll be for making a Called Shot at Point Blank Range? I would think the roll should be lower than normal, but what should it be? Is there a rule on this in any book or is it House Ruled?

Thanks in advanced.

[krispy]

thats an interesting point....hmmm

we all know an Aimed & Called shot takes 3 attacks & a standard Called Shot takes 2 attacks (& only for single shots not bursts)

there are also penalties on a Called Shot when going for a bull's-eye or small target with a penalty of -3 or -4 (sometimes more) to strike

i would also factor in weapon type (guns arent my forte, so i can be corrected) and the grappling Zeds. what i mean by this is i assume it might be easier to aim a hand gun at the head of a Zed up close while its wrestling with your arms or trying to choke you rather than a pump action shot gun or hunting rifle.

so i would implement some level of penalty for a Called Shot when up close & personal with the Zeds

[GreenGhost]

thats an interesting point....hmmm

we all know an Aimed & Called shot takes 3 attacks & a standard Called Shot takes 2 attacks (& only for single shots not bursts)

there are also penalties on a Called Shot when going for a bull's-eye or small target with a penalty of -3 or -4 (sometimes more) to strike

i would also factor in weapon type (guns arent my forte, so i can be corrected) and the grappling Zeds. what i mean by this is i assume it might be easier to aim a hand gun at the head of a Zed up close while its wrestling with your arms or trying to choke you rather than a pump action shot gun or hunting rifle.

so i would implement some level of penalty for a Called Shot when up close & personal with the Zeds

That makes sense in grappling situations, but since point blank is within 10 feet, what about point blank that isn't quite in a grappling position?

[krispy]

thats an interesting point....hmmm

we all know an Aimed & Called shot takes 3 attacks & a standard Called Shot takes 2 attacks (& only for single shots not bursts)

there are also penalties on a Called Shot when going for a bull's-eye or small target with a penalty of -3 or -4 (sometimes more) to strike

i would also factor in weapon type (guns arent my forte, so i can be corrected) and the grappling Zeds. what i mean by this is i assume it might be easier to aim a hand gun at the head of a Zed up close while its wrestling with your arms or trying to choke you rather than a pump action shot gun or hunting rifle.

so i would implement some level of penalty for a Called Shot when up close & personal with the Zeds

That makes sense in grappling situations, but since point blank is within 10 feet, what about point blank that isn't quite in a grappling position?

i forgot to ad that in. i dont see much difficulty in hitting a zed in the head point blank (within 10ft and not being grappled) due to their slow movement so i understand what Josh Hilden said

but for Fast Attack - man i played Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare edition and their fast attacks they were near impossibly to shoot in the head real time & sometimes difficult in bullet time cos they would tuck their heads under etc

so for Fast Attacks i would implement the penalties when attempting to hit a fast, agile moving target

[Mercdog]

Page 182 of DR has close combat firearm rules. Take 'em or leave 'em as is your want.

[azazel1024]

I am with Rhomphaia, though with a two handed melee weapon I'd say point blank range is within 5ft. I would have any ranged weapon do an additional die of damage at point blank range as well.

I hate to say it, but I come back to d6 rules being a bit more realistic when it comes to ranged combat. Both increasing difficulty at longer ranges to hit (short, medium, long and extreme ranges for most d6 systems), as well as reducing damage. So a weapon might have a range of 10/50/100/200m for ranges (and associated standard difficult targets to roll to strike at those ranges) and a damage of 4d/3d/2d/1d for damage. Though that is a bit extreme drop off in damage, but in a d20 setting, maybe 2d6+1/3d4/2d6/2d4 might be more appropriate. Its more dynamic to worry about in combat, but it provides a hair more realism.

[The Galactus Kid]

I always play that an aimed shot takes 2 actions and give you the aiming bonus.

Called shots need a 12 or better with modifiers to hit.

Aimed called shots still only take two actions, but need a 12 or better to hit with modifiers.

[Rockwolf66]

Well personally I use the firearms rules from the Compendium of Contemporary weapons. With one major modification aimed and called shots do not cost more than one attack. the reason being is that if you are proficient with the weapon you are aiming the weapon. As far as the called shot goes I have friends who do Submachinegun matches once a month and other firearms competitions on their other weekends. Some of the people who are once a month competitors can hit head sized targets at a dead run. Point blank just means that you hit faster while retreating to make room to shoot.

With melee weapons I can tell you from personal experiance that you do end up targeting limbs with disabling cuts before you go for the kill. With Zombies and melee someone would find themselves parrying or cutting off the arms followed by an attack to the neck. Maybe with a Zweihander you would get someone cutting zombies in two but that still doesn't kill the zombie.

[krate]

You are not alone. That rule does seem odd to me as well.

[Oberoth]

Yes. IMO this is a BS rule. Really, what makes the head (And neck) any more or less difficult to hit than say an arm, wrist or knee cap?

[Rockwolf66]

I'm sure this was play tested...17... mind you most of the time your running or shooting or attacking from behind a barrier so that may be the reason for the 17 no bonus roll. We decided to go with using a bonus if your are in the open or on a roof top shooting down at the zombies. That seems like the best way to handle that rule. In hand to hand combat we also allowed the bonus... What have hand to hand training if you do not get to use it?????

So long as there is room to move and fight, no barriers are in the way we allowed the bonus. other wise 17 was always needed in our game. You may want to adapt the same gaming rule.

Yeah...Uh...Right.

From what i can tell it's an arbitrary rule that was tossed in without playtesting nore common sense applied. Basically it's the rule of "A 10 year vetran of the SAS Counterrevolutionary warfare group who is trained to hit a man in the head at 15 yards. Now has the same chances as a little girl fireing her brother's .177 airrifle for the very first time ever. It just does not work when common sense is aplied. From the rumors i have heard it was put in to make the game more suspenceful. It doesn't make the game more suspencefull it makes the game less playable and enjoyable.

There is a reason I use the rules found in the Compendium of Contemporary weapons...they both work in game and are fairly realistic down to the shock and bleeding out.

[Oberoth]

"Yeah...Uh...Right.

From what i can tell it's an arbitrary rule that was tossed in without playtesting nore common sense applied. It doesn't make the game more suspencefull it makes the game less playable and enjoyable.

I agree. The thing is that Kev and crew have always stated that the player characters are not merely just average people. Even the Ordinary Person OCC is an above average "Super hero". I want my character to be able to do THIS in a pinch.

[dargo83]

most of my players are like that all the time one of them is from the air force then went into the FBI part of the fugitive task force and the other is trained by myself (former MP) is my girlfriend.