natural 1 to miss a Zombie option, when to risk it

You are on your own. The Army is MIA and our government is gone! There are no communications of any kind. Cities and towns have gone dark, and zombies fill the streets. The dead have risen and it would seem to be the end of the world. Help me, Mommy!

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Axelmania
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natural 1 to miss a Zombie option, when to risk it

Unread post by Axelmania »

Page 182 under the "Can't Miss, Point-Blank Attack" has a "Die Roll: If you'd prefer" option.

I'm not really sure who "you" is in this situation, the player or the GM... whose option would it be?

In its basic form you're sacrificing a 5% chance to miss for a 5% chance to do double damage.

You still get to ignore AR... and while it doesn't mention either way whether a zombie can defend (vs gunshots dodge is usually the only option, and with the -5 / -10 rules it will usually fail) I sorta get the impression that a zombie can't dodge these, or at least won't choose to, preferring to simultaneously attack you instead, since you're within biting distance...

Hm yeah actually it says "fearless, so they don't even try to avoid getting shot". I guess the reason Fast Attack Zs, Thinkers and Mock Zs all have a dodge bonus is to dodge things besides gunshots? If Thinkers / Mock Zs can understand guns enough to USE them I find it a bit confusing why they wouldn't try to dodge gunfire though... I'm thinking the "don't even try" is meant for the common Sloucher, not Thinkers/Mocks. If they're fearless then what is dodge for? The only HF they have is vs FIRE so maybe they will only dodge if you throw a torch at them? Or flamethrower shots?

I could understand them being unafraid of low caliber pistols (barely noticable, do 1/2 damage, low damage to begin with, page 109) but not being unafraid of other guns, if they can process what a gun is (Thinkers, Mocks can, since they USE them) since they are dangerous to them.

Or maybe their fearlessness just makes them opt not to dodge when less than 1 inch away. The "don't even try" statement is specifically under the "Can't Miss" section, it doesn't say that under the "Shouldn't Miss" range, so a zombie may well dodge (as a tactical decision, not a fear-based one) at further ranges.

I do wonder how you would set up for these though... would you need to take a prep 1 melee action to "aim" the gun and press it against the skull?

I was thinking maybe require a 1D20 to hit (I would add your usual WP bonuses, including the additional +2 for aiming, but not bonuses from things like scopes) the barrel against your chosen body part in the 1st action (you don't need to surpass the AR though) before being able to fire the automatic hit in the 2nd attack. Both the "Shouldn't Miss" and "Close Range" rules require 2 things: immobility and aiming, so while the "Can't Miss" rules don't mention requiring either of these things, it seems in the spirit of things to house-rule that it require it too, given how vague its mechanics are.

So anyway, getting back to the original idea of WHEN TO RISK, a D20 doesn't just allow x2 on natural 20s, but if you have other things triggered by high die rolls (other than death blow, which zombies are immune to) for example:
    Knockout on a Natural 20, Boxing
    Natural 20s doing 3x damage, pg 166 Homicidal Ragers (Random Insanity 88-94 means 7% of the time)

    Critical Strike on a roll of unmod 19 too, 6th level Basic or 10th level Assassin
    Critical Strike on a roll of unmod 18/19 too, 6th level Expert or Martial Arts

    Stun on a roll of unmod 17-20, 7th level Assassin
    Stun on a roll of unmod 18-20, 11th level Expert or 13th level Martial Arts

    Critical Strike on a roll of natural 17/18/19 too, 15th level Commando

I would figure all these potential benefits could now apply. Also you don't miss on a 2/3/4 like you would normally
Critical strike from behind @ 13th for Basic/Expert since it doesn't involve a die roll would happen regardless of whether you opted to roll or not.

Even if you were -20 to strike and rolled a 2 and had a modified -18 (NEGATIVE eighteen) to strike, I still think you would hit what you wanted (even head or neck) and bypass the natural AR, so long as you didn't roll a natural 1 and miss, based on these rules. Does anyone disagree? Just for when you are less than 1 inch, in direct contact with a barrel against a body part, and only if a choice was made to roll (by player or GM, is unclear) since it isn't mandatory and you can just take the free hit in exchange for not triggering your natural die rolls.
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