Hard Life

• Ranged Combat
• Determine Range
• Apply Situation Target Modifiers and Determine Aim Point
• Make Attacker’s Success Test
• Resolve Dodge Test
• Determine Hit Location
• Determine Armour Resistance
• Damage Test
• Resolve Stun and Knock-back
• Resolve Recovery Roll
• Taking Damage
• Death and Injury
• Armour and Armour Degradation
• Dodging
• Automatic fire and Scatter
• Suppression Fire

This new combat system enhances the reality of the system, while preserving power balance and survivability. It emphasises armour above body, removing the pressure for characters to have high body scores. It also is ideal for experience characters as it balances out higher skills.

(Note: The convenient abstraction of reality found in the main rule book is simpler, quicker and easier to handle and argueably fits well with the also unrealistic elements known as the magic rules, the decking rules and the rigging rules. Also whilst removing the pressure for high body scores it creates a need for high quickness scores to offset armour penalties and to raise combat pool to dodge shots. Body is also necessary to recover from secondary stun effects)

Ranged Combat

Range combat now resolves in the following manner.

• Determine Range
• Apply Situation Target Modifiers and Determine Aim Point
• Attacks Success Test
• Resolve Dodge Test
• Determine Hit Location
• Determine Armour Resistance
• Apply Damage
• Resolve Stun/Knock-back Test
• Resolve Recovery Roll

Determine Range

Count the number of metres to the target and compare the weapon type to the appropriate range column on the weapon range table (SR3 p. 111). The number listed above the column is the base target number.

Apply Situation Target Modifiers and Determine Aim Point

Consult the Ranged combat Modifiers Table (SR3 p. 112) and apply appropriate situation modifiers. The standard aim point is known as the default aim point and is shown on the hit location diagram (Figure 1). If the opponent wishes to choose a new aim point the attack is considered a called shot.

Make Attacker’s Success Test

The attacker makes his Success Test using the appropriate combat skill, modified by dice from the combat pool. Count the successes the attacker rolls.

Resolve Dodge Test

If the target wishes to attempt to dodge an attack, he may use the Combat pool and Dodge Pool against a target number of 4, with modifiers. Count the number of successes the target rolls. A clean miss occurs if the number of successes from the targets Combat + Dodge pool dice exceed the attacker’s successes.

Determine Hit Location

Subtract the targets dodge successes from the attacker’s ranged combat successes. To determine whether the attack scatters from the default aim point consult Table 1. If the attack scatters roll a D6 and consult figure 1 to determine the direction of the scatter, 1 scatters up 2 up and right etc. Scatter for burst and auto-fire shots are determined differently (See Automatic Fire and Scatter).

Net Successes in Attacker’s Favour	Number of Hexes Attack Scatters
1	3
2	2
3	1
4+	0

Table 1

=== Determine Armour Resistance. ===

To determine if an attack penetrates the targets armour the target rolls a number of dice equal to the ballistic or impact rating (as appropriate) in that location, against a target number of the attacks power – armour rating, record the number of successes. If the target rolls a number of successes equal to the soak value of the attack the attack is completely stopped by the targets armour. The soak values are shown in Table 2.

Base damage of Attack	Soak Number
Light	2
Moderate	4
Serious	6
Deadly	8

Table 2

=== Damage Test ===

To determine the damage caused by an attack, roll a number of dice equal to the power of the weapon (Target 4). The number of dice rolled is also modified by the accuracy of the shot (Table 3). Dice that come up as 1’s subtract one success, and those that roll 6’s add one success. Count the total damage successes and then subtract a number of successes equal to the targets armour test successes.

Attacker’s Net Successes	Damage Success Modifier
1	-3
2	-2
3	-1
5	+1
6+	+2

Table 3

Every two successes stage the damage category up by one damage level, while ever two negative successes stage the damage category down by one level. Body can be used to resist attacks that cause stun damage. Roll body at a target number of attack power – armour rating (impact) and reduce the damage code by one for every two successes.

Carter fires a Heckler & Koch 0.45ACP(9M) at a security goon and rolls 7 successes on his attack test. The security goon rolls 2 successes on his dodge test leaving Carter with a net of 5 successes (so not scatter). The goon then rolls an armour test for his armoured jacket (6 dice vs. target of 9-6=3) and gets 3 successes, not enough to soak the attack. Carter then rolls damage. He rolls 10 dice (power 9 + 1 dice for an accuracy of 5 successes and gets, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6. This gives him 6 successes, -2 successes for two ones, +1 success for a six, leaving a final total of 5 successes. The goons armour successes are then subtracted from this to give 2 net successes, which stage the attack from a moderate to a serious damage level.

=== Resolve Stun and Knock-back  ===

Even if the armour soaked the attack the target must make a stun and knock-back roll. The target resists damage using body. The stun damage has a power of half the weapons power (Rounded down) and a damage category of the base damage of the weapon. Gel rounds and weapons that cause stun damage do not cause additional damage in this step, skip to step nine. E.g. an Ares Predators damage is 9M so its stun damage would be 4M(Stun). Consult Table 4 to determine the effect of knock-back.

Targets # of Successes to Resist Stun	0	1	2	3	4	5	6+
L	Knocked Down	Knocked Back 3m	Knocked Back 2m	Knocked Back 1m	No Effect	No Effect	No Effect
M	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Back 3m	Knocked Back 2m	Knocked Back 1m	No Effect	No Effect
S	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Back 3m	Knocked Back 2m	Knocked Back 1m	No Effect
D	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Down	Knocked Back 3m	Knocked Back 2m	Knocked Back 1m

Table 4

           The poor security goon from above has just received a serious physical wound to the torso.  He now rolls body, target 4(half weapons power rounded down)-impact armour, and gets 2 successes.  This stages the stun down from serious to moderate.  He looking at the above table he is also knocked back 3 meters.

=== Resolve Recovery Roll  ===

If the target takes damage they must make a recovery roll. If this roll fails they are unable to act on their next initiative and must make another recover roll. A recovery roll is made using willpower against a target number of 2 + injury modifiers. The damage level (Stun or physical whichever is higher) that the target sustained in that attack determines the number of successes required as shown in table 5. Also if a character is hit by a weapon but not injured (e.g. the attack is stopped by armour) they still makes a recovery roll against the base damage level of the weapon.

Damaged Received	Successes Required
L	1
M	2
S	3
D	4

Table 5

           Going back to the goon, he now has taken a serious physical wound and a moderate stun to the torso.  He rolls his body of 4 vs. a target of 7 (2 base + 3 serious physical + 2 moderate stun), he gets 1 success, not enough to reach the threshold of 2 for a moderate wound.  The goon fails the resolve and looses his next action.

Taking Damage

Damage to different section of the body can be more or less deadly, to reflect this damage to each area; head, torsos, vitals, groin, arms, hands, legs and feet, is recorded separately. Overall damage is recorded on the main condition monitor (or trauma monitor). When damage is taken consult Table 6 to determine how the damage is modified to that area (The damage modifier). The damage received is also recorded on the trauma monitor the number of successes is modified by the Damage Shift. Damage from knock-back is recorded in this way to.

Location	Bonus Damage Successes	Damage Shift to Main Monitor
Head	+4	-
Vitals	+2	-
Torso	-	-
Arm	-	-2
Hand	+4	-4
Groin	+2	-
Thigh	-	-1
Leg	-	-2
Foot	+2	-4

Table 6

Ripley is shot is the right leg and receives a moderate damage hit. There is no damage modifier to wounds on the legs so she takes a moderate wound on her right leg monitor. Then looking at the damage shift for right leg it indicates –2 successes, which means the damage is staged don one level from a moderate to a light wound on her main condition monitor.

On the second shot she isn’t so luck and gets hit in the vitals by another moderate damage hit. The vitals damage modifier is +2 successes and there is no damage shift modifier, so she takes a serious wound to her vitals and another moderate (taking her to 6 boxes, serious injury level) on her trauma monitor.

The initiative and target number modifiers for tests are determined by the highest damaged area out of the primary locations: head, torsos, vitals, groin, or the trauma monitor. If the character uses a limb which has a higher damage level than the primary locations, such as using a gun in an injured right hand, the damage level for that location is used to determine target number modifiers.

Area of effect attacks (e.g. grenades), shotguns with shot rounds, and combat spells (e.g. Mana Bolt) cause damage equally to all locations and the trauma monitor (do not apply damage modifier or shift). A non-area of effect manipulation spell is handled just like a standard ranged attack.

Death and Injury

When a character reaches a deadly level of damage in his trauma monitor or in any of his primary locations they may fall unconscious. To retain consciousness they can make a willpower (3) test modified by damage modifiers. The deadly damage level has a modifier of +4 to target numbers and –4 to initiative. On one success the character remains conscious but is unable to take any actions (except free actions). For every success above one the character can act normally in one combat phase that turn up to a maximum of his normal action amount. If the character has taken their last action that round already then treat this roll as the roll for the next round. At the end of each turn this test is repeated. If the test is failed the character losses consciousness and can make no further rolls. When a limb reaches deadly it stops functioning, although the character can attempt the above willpower roll to attempt to use the limb. Limbs that are on deadly damage continue to take damage as per the overflow rules (SR3 p.126).

A character is dead when any of his primary locations or his trauma monitor reaches 10 + body-boxes damage. Any limb that reaches this level is crippled and has to be replaced.

Ripley’s in bad shape. She has just taken a serious damage to her right torso, which adds to the serious damage level on her trauma monitor she received on the last two attacks, putting her on a total of 12 boxes physical damage, 2 boxes over deadly. She has also is on a serious stun on her trauma monitor. She now has to make a willpower test target number 3 + 4 for the physical damage and +3 for the stun damage for a total of 10. She gets 2 successes! She can now take one more action this round (if she has any action phases remaining if not she can take her first action next round). At the beginning of a new turn she must test again to see if she remains conscious and if so how many actions she can take.

Armour and Armour Degradation

The armour level of each location is different as shown in Table 7. For determining armour for area of effect attacks (e.g. grenades) and for determining armour effects on combat pool (SR3 p.285) use the overall value. When a character takes a hit so does the armour. Remove value from the armour value at that location, from the first layer first and then alternating with the second layer, 1 for moderate, 2 for serious, and 3 for deadly damage hit, with a +1 if the attack penetrates the armour.

Clothing

Jacket

Long Coat

Vest

Flak Vest

Leathers

Synth. Leathers

Helmet

Partial Suit

Full Suit

Form Fitting 1

Form Fitting 2

Form Fitting 3

Head

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

5/3

5/3

5/3

-

-

-

Torsos

3/0

6/4

5/3

4/3

6/5

0/2

0/1

-

7/5

8/6

4/1

4/1

4/1

Vitals

3/0

6/4

5/3

4/3

6/5

0/2

0/1

-

7/5

8/6

-

4/1

4/1

Groin

3/0

-

3/0

-

-

0/2

0/1

-

5/3

6/4

-

4/1

4/1

Arms

3/0

3/1

3/1

-

-

0/2

0/1

-

4/2

5/3

-

-

4/1

Thighs

3/0

-

4/2

-

-

0/2

0/1

-

5/3

6/4

-

4/1

4/1

Legs

3/0

-

4/2

-

-

0/2

0/1

-

4/2

5/3

-

-

4/1

Hands/Feet

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

3/1

4/2

-

-

-

Overall

3/0

5/3

4/2

2/1

4/3

0/2

0/1

+1

6/4

8/6

2/0

3/1

4/1

Table 7

When armour resists armour-piercing attacks reduce the power by only one half of the armour value but roll the full number of armour dice for armour resistance. Dermal armour adds to the number of dice rolled in the armour resistance test but does no effect the target number. Bone lacing adds to the number of dice in the armour resistance test but keep these dice separate from the other armour dice as they do not count towards completely stopping (soaking) the attack, they only subtract from the damage test dice. The armour modifiers for bone lacing only work on these dice in the armour resistance roll.

Dodging

(Note: Some clarity is required as to how this fits in with the enhanced rules for using athletics to dodge - as found in the cannon companion) Some addition rules for dodging are listed here. Characters can now take a dodge skill. This gives them access to a new dodge pool, which is equal to the dodge skill. The dodge pool acts like other pools and can be used to augment dodge tests. Several new dodge modifiers are listed in Table 8.

Situation	Target Adjustment
Area of effect attack	+2
Visibility to see attacker	Half normal modifier
Dodge into cover	-2 (+1 per 2 meters away cover is)
Prone	+2

Table 8

Characters may try to dodge into cover at a lower target number. After dodging they are considered out of position and are out of line of sight of their attacker. If the cover is minimal then the GM may consider the target prone after he has dodged.

Automatic fire and Scatter

These rules replace those in SR3 for burst and full automatic fire. In this system it is possible to hit with partial bursts of automatic fire, instead of the all or nothing system previously seen. Roll the ranged combat test with a base target number not modified for recoil. Recoil for bursts and fully automatic fire, is 1 point for each bullet after the first. When a characters rolls a ranged combat test he rolls against the base target number he has hit with a number of rounds equal to the number the gun can fire without recoil.

Whisper shoots a 3 round burst with his Ingram smartgun. The burst causes two points of recoil (1 point for each shot after the first) but has recoil compensation of 2. Whispers target number is 4 so if he rolls a 4 all 3 rounds will hit.

For each round after the first, that is not compensated for by recoil compensation, add +1 (+2 for heavy weapons) to the target number and then determine whether the next round hits, resolving each extra round one at a time.

Whisper shots 5 rounds on full auto with his Ingram. An gets 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 and a 6. The first three rounds recoil is compensated for and require a base target number of 4 to hit, for the 4th round to hit a 5 is required and for the 5th round to hit a 6 is required. Whisper hits with all five rounds.

When the target dodges his successes are taken from the attackers highest dice roll first.

Poor old Security Guard Pete is on the receiving end of whispers 5 rounds of full auto. He rolls to dodge against a target number of 5 (4 +1 for each 3 rounds). He gets one success. This is minus from Whispers attack roll from the highest dice first, which is a 6. This means whisper now only hits with 4 rounds.

When determining scatter for auto fire, use the following rules. If the attacker gets four or more successes the shot does not scatter. This is determined for each individual bullet. In the above example whisper obtained 4 successes with the first three rounds. These three rounds would hit the aim point. He only scored two successes for the 4th round. Looking back to Table 1: Attack Scatter, the 4th round scatters two hexes. The location to which the attack scatters becomes the new aim point for determining further scatter. If the security guard had not dodged the 5th shot it would have scattered three hexes (Whisper rolled one 6) from the point where the 4th round hit.

           To resolve damage from automatic fire attacks, first split the rounds that hit each location into three round groups.  Make an armour test using a target number equal to the individual power of each round.  Compare the armour successes to the soak level of the attack, if the attack penetrates go on to resolve the damage of each bullet individually.  If the attack doesn’t penetrate then total the stun damage to that location at the end of the attack and resolve with one body roll e.g. a 3 round burst from an 7M SMG would cause 9 Sstun if it was stopped by armour.

           Carter’s fires a three round burst from his HK MP5-TX (6M) into another security goon.  All three round hit on the torso with 6 net success.  The goon is wearing an armour vest (armour 4) and rolls his armour test (4 dice) vs. a target of 2 (6 power – 4 armour).  He gets 3 successes, so the three bullets penetrate.  Damaged is rolled for each use 8 dice (power 6 + 2 dice accuracy bonus).  Also the armour test removes three successes from the damage.  He gets a net success of 1 for the 1st , 0 for the 2nd  and 2 for the 3rd, that causes a moderate wound, another moderate wound and a serious wound.

Suppression Fire

Instead of firing accurately a character can make a suppression fire attack. When using a suppression fire attack the attacker chooses how many bullets will be fired into each 1 metre squared area. Any person entering an area of suppression fire automatically suffers a suppression fire attack.

Instead of rolling the normal skill roll the attacker rolls a number of dice equal to the number of bullets they are firing into that 1 metre squared area. Suppression fire has a base target number of 4 modifiers are shown in Table 9. For each dice that is a success one round hits. The hit location of this round is rolled randomly on Table 10. Roll 1D6 when the round hits to determine how well the round hits (This number is considered the attackers successes). The target rolls a dodge test (remember +1 for each 3 rounds) and applies the number of dodge successes to each bullet that hits. Once dodge is resolved determine scatter for each round normally. Suppression fire lasts until the beginning of the characters next combat phase.

Situation	Modifier
Target in cover	+2/+8
Attacker Injured	Injury Modifier
Medium Range	+1
Long Range	+2
Extreme Range	+4

Table 9

Whisper is on the receiving end of Petes 6 round suppression fire. Pete is at short range and has no injuries so rolls 6 dice against a target of 4. He gets 3 successes. He then rolls a D6 to determine how many attack successes each bullet hit with and gets a 1, 3, and a 5. Whisper now rolls to dodge. Three rounds hit so he rolls against a target of 5 (4 +1), and gets 2 successes. This means he dodged the first shot (The one with 1 successes) reduces the second shot from 3 successes to 1 (meaning it will scatter 2 hexes) and the third shot from 5 to 3 (This will scatter 1 hex).

Hit Number	Location
2	Head
3	Right Leg (6 Right Foot)
4	Right Thigh
5	Right Arm (6 Right Hand)
6	Torso
7	Vitals
8	Torso
9	Left Arm (6 Left Hand)
10	Left Thigh
11	Left Leg (6 Left Foot)
12	Groin (Ouch)

Table 10