Cone Attacks

Dragon’s fire, wide-beam micro-
wave and sonic weapons, and any-
thing with the Cone enhancement
(p. 103) are examples of cone attacks.
A cone attack requires a roll to hit . . .
but it might still catch the target in the
area of effect on a miss! On a hit, the
cone is on target; otherwise, use the
Scatter rule (see p. 414) to determine a
new target point. Once you know the
target point, imagine (or trace on a
battle map) a line between the attack-
er and that point. The cone spreads to
either side of this line, out to its maxi-
mum range.
A cone is one yard wide at its ori-
gin, but increases in width at a “rate of
spread” equal to its specified maxi-
mum width divided by its maximum
range. For instance, a cone with a
maximum range of 100 yards and a
maximum width of 5 yards would
spread by one yard per 20 yards of
range; out at 60 yards, it would be
three yards wide. If maximum width
is unspecified, assume the cone
spreads by one yard per yard of range.
A cone affects everyone within its
area, but anyone who is completely
screened from the attacker by an
object or person is behind cover,
which protects normally. Targets may
attempt a dodge defense to leave the
area or get to cover; see Dodge and
Drop (p. 377).