Overpenetration

When you inflict piercing, impal-
ing, or tight-beam burning damage
with a ranged attack, there is a
chance that damage might pass
through your target and harm some-
thing on the far side; e.g., an innocent
bystander. Similarly, a powerful
attack might go right through cover
(see Cover, above) or a shield (see
Damage to Shields, p. 484) – or even
penetrate a building or vehicle, dam-
aging it and its occupants.
The GM decides who is likely to be
hit due to overpenetration. A hit is
automatic if the second target is
immediately behind the first; e.g.,
someone taking cover or blocking
with a shield. Otherwise, see Hitting
the Wrong Target
(p.
389) and
Occupant Hit Table (p. 555) to deter-
mine who is hit.
An attack only overpenetrates if its
basic damage exceeds the target’s
“cover DR.” To find this value, add
together the target or cover’s DR – on
both sides, for a person in armor – and
HP (for flesh), 1/2 HP (for a machine,
vehicle, or other Unliving target), or
1/4 HP (for a Homogenous object).
Use the object’s DR alone if it’s a thin
slab, like a wall or a door. Finally,
apply any armor divisor.
If the attack does enough damage
to penetrate cover DR, determine if
anyone on the other side is hit. If so,
they get the cover DR plus their own
DR against the damage.
Example: Special Agent Ira Gray
spots an assassin with a rifle, and
throws himself in front of the VIP he’s
protecting just as the gunman fires.
The armor-piercing rifle bullet – a
7d(2) pi- attack – hits him in the chest!
The bullet’s basic damage is 20 points.
Gray’s DR 8 ballistic vest stops only 4
points due to the armor divisor of (2).
Gray takes 16 points of penetrating
damage. Halved for small piercing,
this inflicts an 8 HP wound. What
about the VIP? Gray’s vest gives DR
16, since both sides count, and Gray
has 12 HP. The total cover DR is 28,
halved for the armor divisor of (2) to
give DR 14. Since the bullet’s basic
damage was 20, it overpenetrated. The
VIP wasn’t wearing armor, so he takes
6 points of damage, halved for small
piercing, and suffers a 3 HP injury.
He’s wounded, but not badly – Special
Agent Gray saved his life.