Modern Ranged Weapons

This broad skill provides a character with training in the use of modern ranged weapons. This skill covers pistols, rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns of all types, including projectile and energy weapons. All modern weapons have ammunition clips. To change a clip during a combat scene, a character must use an available action. If he wants to change a clip and shoot in the same phase, a +2 penalty applies to the attack action. Other factors that can influence the situation die used in a modern ranged weapon attack are listed under Ranged Weapon Attack Modifiers on this page.

Having rank in any Modern Ranged Weapons specialty skill act as having half the ranks in any other Modern Ranged Weapons specialty skill, unless the character has more ranks in the specialty skill itself. This virtual ranks do not apply to rank based benefits.

Weapon Technical Knowledge

Characters who train seriously with firearms — whether soldiers, mercenaries, or dedicated enthusiasts — inevitably absorb a working technical understanding of their weapons. They learn how their weapons function internally, what can go wrong, how to prevent it, and how to fix it in the field. As well as keep informed of what the market has to offer. A character with the Technical Science broad skill can use the appropriate Modern Ranged Weapons specialty skill for checks that involve knowing the existence of a particular weapon, customizing weapons and ammo, as well as recognizing, repairing, and maintaining weapons in the field.

Ranged Weapon Attack Modifiers

When a character uses any ranged weapon, either primitive or modern, a number of factors must be considered to determine the situation die for the skill check:

• The base situation die of the weapon (either +d4 for a broad skill or +0 for a specialty).
• The weapon’s range modifier (see TABLE: RANGE MODIFIERS BY WEAPON TYPE below).
• Any modifier for a target’s Dexterity resistance (–1 step bonus for DEX 11–12, –2 steps for DEX 13–14, –3 steps for DEX 15–16, –4 steps for DEX 17–18, and –5 steps for DEX 19 or higher).

TABLE: COMMON RANGED ATTACK MODIFIERS

TABLE: RANGE MODIFIERS BY WEAPON TYPE

Assault Rifle

This specialty skill covers automatic rifles—standard infantry weapons capable of selective fire and automatic modes using rifle-caliber cartridges or standard energy cells. Each weapon’s description will indicate its allowed fire modes and its specific Autofire profile.

Attack Modes

Assault rifles provide a character with up to three attack options per action phase:

Fire A single, precise attack at a single target. (Resolution: Standard control + situation die. Ammo Cost: 1 round).

Burst A tight, controlled hail of ammunition aimed at a single target to ensure a hit before recoil shifts the barrel. (Resolution: The character receives a -1 step bonus to their skill check against the target. Ammo Cost: 3 rounds).

Autofire A continuous barrage meant to saturate an area or cut through a vector. The weapon’s description dictates whether it uses the Spread or Line profile. (Ammo Cost: 10 rounds or equivalent energy drain).

Profile A: Spread The Area (Target and adjacent squares): The player targets a single square. The attack affects that center square and all 8 immediately adjacent squares. Resolution: The player makes a single attack roll with a -1 step bonus against the primary target in the center square. The Spread: All other entities (friend or foe) in the adjacent squares automatically take Ordinary damage. Reaction: Targets in the adjacent squares may avoid the damage if they succeed on a Dodge check or use an action to make a Hit the Deck check. This action is used instead of their normal action for the turn.

Profile B: Line The Area (Linear): The player designates a straight line across the grid. The attack affects every entity occupying a square touched by that line. Resolution: The player makes a single attack roll to determine damage against the targets caught in the beam. The attacker applies a -1 step bonus against the nearest target in the line, no modifier against the second, and a +1 step penalty against the third furthest target. The beam loses lethal coherence after the third target.

Rank Benefits

▶ Rank 3 [Rock-n-Roll] When a character reaches rank 3 in this specialty, they learn to change clips more efficiently. The penalty for changing a clip and firing in the same action is reduced to a +1 step.

⊗ Rank 4 [Distance Precision] When a character reaches rank 4 in this specialty, they know how to compensate for bullet drop and optical alignment. The step penalty for a medium-range shot is eliminated, and the penalty for a long-range shot is lessened by 1 step.

▶ Rank 6 [Suppressive Angles] When a character reaches rank 6, they know exactly how to walk their fire to trap an enemy. When the character uses the Autofire (Spread) profile, enemies caught in the adjacent squares (Ring 2) suffer a +1 step penalty to their Dodge check or their reaction to Hit the Deck.

⊗ Rank 9 [Absolute Recoil Control] When a character reaches rank 9 in this specialty, they achieve perfect physical mastery over the weapon’s action. The step bonus for using the Burst attack mode is increased from a -1 step to a -2 step bonus, massively increasing the probability of dealing high-tier damage to a single target.

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Pistol

This specialty skill allows a character to improve their proficiency with modern pistols of all types. These weapons lack the range of rifles and the volume of heavy weapons, but they excel in mobility, reaction time, and close-quarters action economy.

Attack Modes

Single Handgun Attack Modes

When wielding a single pistol, a character is limited by the physical action of the weapon’s trigger and cycle rate. They have two options:

Snap Fire A quick attack at a single target. (Action Cost: 1 Action Phase. Resolution: Standard control + situation die. Ammo Cost: 1 round).

Double Tap The character rapidly cycles the weapon twice, either at the same target or transitioning to a second target in the same general direction. (Action Cost: 2 Actions spent in the same phase. Resolution: The character makes two separate attack rolls, both suffering a +2 step penalty. Ammo Cost: 2 rounds).

Dual Wield Attack Modes (Akimbo)

When wielding two pistols, the character combines their ammunition pools and unlocks the ability to bend the action economy, substituting sequential time with simultaneous fire:

Focus Target The character points both weapons at a single target and fires at the exact same moment to ensure a concentrated hit. (Action Cost: 1 Action Phase. Resolution: The character receives a -1 step bonus to their skill check against the target. Ammo Cost: 2 rounds—1 from each weapon).

Split Target The character simultaneously engages two separate targets. (Action Cost: 1 Action Phase. Resolution: The character makes two separate attack rolls. The primary hand suffers a +2 step penalty, and the off-hand suffers a +4 step penalty. If the character possesses the Ambidexterity trait, the off-hand penalty is reduced, making the rolls +2 / +2. Ammo Cost: 2 rounds—1 from each weapon).

Rank Benefits

⊗ Rank 1 [Pistol CQB] When a character reaches rank 2 in this specialty, the check receives -3 step bonus while firing at zero-range.

▶ Rank 3 [Quick Draw] When a character reaches rank 3 in this specialty, they can clear their holster rapidly. The character can draw their pistol (or pistols) and fire in the same action phase with only a +1 step penalty.

▶ Rank 4 [Lightning Draw] When a character reaches rank 4, the draw becomes instinctual. The character can draw and fire in the same action phase without any penalty.

▶ Rank 6 [Dual-Wield Coordination] When a character reaches rank 6, their peripheral vision and recoil control improve drastically. When using the Split Target dual-wield modes, the penalty for both shots is reduced by 1 step (e.g., a character with Ambidexterity using Split Target now rolls at +1 / +1).

▶ Rank 9 [Akimbo Mastery] When a character reaches rank 9, they can operate two weapons as flawlessly as one. When using the Split Target dual-wield mode, the penalty for both shots is reduced by 2 steps (the character fire at +0 / +2. Or +0 / +0 for a character with Ambidexterity).

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Rifle

This specialty skill covers proficiency with modern single-fire rifles, sniper rifles, hunting rifles, and precision laser rifles. These weapons lack automatic fire capabilities but excel at range and target penetration.

Attack Modes

Fire A single, precise attack at a single target. (Resolution: Standard control + situation die. Ammo Cost: 1 round).

Rank Benefits

▶ Rank 3 [Optic Familiarity] When a character reaches rank 3 in this specialty, they become intimately familiar with their weapon’s optics and stabilize much faster than a standard shooter. When the character uses the core Aim action, their first round of aiming grants a 2-step bonus instead of the standard 1-step bonus. (Subsequent rounds of aiming add 1 step as normal, up to the system maximum).

⊗ Rank 4 [Distance Precision] When a character reaches rank 4 in this specialty, they know how to compensate for bullet drop, windage, and distance. The step penalty for a medium-range shot is eliminated, and the penalty for a long-range shot is lessened by 1 step.

▶ Rank 8 [Sniper Shot] When a character reaches rank 8, they know how to perfectly exploit armor gaps and structural weak points with high-caliber rounds. If the character fires a rifle after accumulating the maximum 3 rounds of Aim, the shot is so precise it bypasses the bulk of the target’s protection. The target must treat all armor dice rolled to resist the attack as having rolled their minimum possible value (all dice count as 1s; e.g., an armor rating of 2d4 or 1d6+1 provides exactly 2 points of damage reduction).

▶ Rank 12 [Master Sniper] When the character reaches rank 12, Sniper Shot lethality increases. In addition to the armor negation, the final damage inflicted by a fully Aimed shot is treated as one tier higher (e.g., Ordinary becomes Good).

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SMG

This specialty skill allows a character to improve his proficiency with modern submachine guns of all types (small automatic weapons that fire pistol-sized cartridges) as well as energy-equivalent submachine guns.

Submachine guns (SMGs) are highly effective in close-quarters combat (CQB) due to their compact size, reduced recoil for easier control during automatic fire, lighter weight, and lower ammunition bulk compared to assault rifles. These characteristics make them ideal for police work, security details, and civilian self-defense where maneuverability and rapid target engagement are prioritized over long-range accuracy or terminal ballistics.

Automatic Weapon Attack Modes

Submachine guns (and assault rifles) provide a character with up to three attack options per action phase:

• Burst: A hail of ammunition aimed at a single target. The character receives a -1 step bonus to his skill check. On a Critical Failure, the weapon jams and requires a Technical Science—repair check to unjam.
• Autofire: A spray of ammunition walked across a wide area. Up to three different targets within 6 meters of each other can be affected.
  • To resolve autofire, the player rolls one control die and three situation dice at once.
  • The results are read off the control die, modified by the individual situation dice: +1 step for the first target, +2 steps for the second, and +3 steps for the third.

Rank Benefits

▶ Rank 3 [Rock-n-Roll]: When a character reaches rank 3 in this specialty, he learns to change clips more efficiently. The penalty for changing a clip and firing in the same action is reduced to +1 step. The penalty disappears completely at rank 6, but it still requires 2 actions to change a clip and fire.

▶ Rank 6 [Autofire Master]: When a character reaches rank 6 in this specialty, he has mastered the use of the SMG. Have -1 step bonus to all autofire attacks.

▶ Rank 9 [Bullet Rain]: When a character reaches rank 9 in this specialty, he is able to make every bullet count. He adds +1 to the damage of all his attacks with SMGs.

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Shotgun

This specialty skill covers all types of modern shotguns, from traditional pump-action and semi-automatic projectile weapons to specialized energy spread-emitters. Shotguns are defined by their wide range of specialized ammunition types (Buckshot, Slugs, Breaching rounds, etc.) or multi-mode energy settings.

Attack Modes

Assault rifles provide a character with up to three attack options per action phase:

Fire A single, precise attack at a single target. (Resolution: Standard control + situation die. Ammo Cost: 1 round).

Burst A tight, controlled hail of ammunition aimed at a single target to ensure a hit before recoil shifts the barrel. (Resolution: The character receives a -1 step bonus to their skill check against the target. Ammo Cost: 3 rounds of the same type).

Cone A wide spread of at short range. Usually lacking in power but usuful under specific circumstances.(Resolution: The character receives a -1 step bonus to their skill check against the primary target. All other entities (friend or foe) in the adjacent squares automatically take Ordinary damage. Ammo Cost: 1 round, examples of this kind of ammo includes: dragon’s breath, micro-fragmentation, chem-spry,sparse flechettes, etc).

Rank Benefits

⊗ Rank 2 [Close Quarters Shotgun Handling] When a character reaches rank 2 in this specialty, the check receives -3 step bonus while using cone-type rounds or fire settings at zero-range, to target a single target.

▶ Rank 3 [Tactical Load / Selection] When a character reaches rank 3 in this specialty, they have mastered the mechanics of their weapon. They can Select/Switch Ammo types or reconfigure weapon energy settings as a Free Action. This allows them to instantly adapt their weapon’s profile to the immediate tactical situation (e.g., swapping to a slug for a precision shot or buckshot for hallway clearing) during a combat phase. This benefit only applies to shotguns with multiple feed systems, like revolver shotguns, rotary parallel magazines, drum magazines, and most energy shotguns-like weapons with selectable fire patterns or settings.

⊗ Rank 4 [Distance Precision] When a character reaches rank 4 in this specialty, he knows how to compensate for distance. The step penalty for a medium-range shot is eliminated, and the penalty for a long-range shot is lessened by 1 step.

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