Rapid Fire

Some missile weapons have RoF 2
or more. This means they can fire
multiple shots per attack, up to a max-
imum equal to their RoF. For exam-
ple, a .38 revolver with RoF 3 could
fire 1, 2, or 3 shots per attack. Of
course, you can never fire more shots
than your weapon currently has
remaining, regardless of its RoF.
Rapid-fire weapons use the Recoil
(Rcl) statistic, which measures how
controllable the weapon is when firing
multiple shots. Rcl helps determine
the number of hits a rapid-fire attack
can inflict. The lower the Rcl, the easi-
er the weapon is to control. Rcl 1
means the weapon is recoilless, like
most beam weapons.
If a weapon has RoF 2 or more,
you must decide how many shots (up
to RoF) you wish to fire before you
make your attack roll. Firearms fired
at RoF 1-3 are firing one shot per trig-
ger pull; those fired at RoF 4+ are
usually firing “full auto” like a
machine gun – either in short bursts
or continuously.
Firing a large number of shots per
attack gives a bonus to hit, as shown
on this table:
Shots
Bonus to Hit
2-4
+0
5-8
+1
9-12
+2
13-16
+3
17-24
+4
25-49
+5
50-99
+6
each ¥2
+1 to hit
Rapid fire may score multiple hits
from a single attack. A successful
attack means you scored at least one
hit – and possibly a number of extra
hits, up to a maximum equal to the
number of shots you fired. To find the
number of hits you scored, compare
your margin of success on the attack
roll to your weapon’s Recoil.
If you make your attack roll, you
have not (yet) actually struck your foe,
unless you rolled a critical hit. Your
attack is good enough to hit him – if he
fails to defend.
There are three “active defenses”
that a fighter can use to evade or ward
off an attack: Dodge (see Dodging,
below), Parry (see Parrying, p. 376),
and Block (see Blocking, p. 375). You
should calculate these active defense
scores in advance and record them on
your character sheet.
An active defense is a deliberate
attempt to avoid a particular attack.
It’s only possible if the defender is
aware of the possibility of an attack
from his assailant and is free to react
. . . by moving out of the way of the
attack (a dodge), deflecting the attack
with a weapon or empty hand (a
parry), or interposing a shield (a
block).
If a foe makes a successful attack
roll against you, you may choose one
active defense and attempt a “defense
roll” against it. Exception: The All-Out
Defense (Double Defense) maneuver
lets you attempt a second defense
against a particular attack if your first
defense fails.
The active defense you choose
depends on your situation – especially
the maneuver you chose last turn.
Some maneuvers restrict the active
defenses you can make. Notably, if you
made an All-Out Attack, you have no
active defense.
You also get no active defense if
you’re
unaware
of
the
attack.
Examples of situations in which no
active defense is possible include a
stab in the back from a “friend,” a sur-
prise sniper’s shot, and a totally unex-
pected booby trap. And you get no
active defense if you are unconscious,
immobilized, or otherwise unable to
react.
An attack scores one extra hit for
every full multiple of Recoil by which
you make your attack roll. The total
number of hits cannot exceed shots
fired. For instance, if your attack had
Rcl 2, success by 0-1 would mean one
hit; success by 2-3, one extra hit; suc-
cess by 4-5, two extra hits; success by
6-7, three extra hits; and so on.