Ranged Combat

Keep yourself out of danger and fire from further away.

Determining Ranged Attack Modifiers
Determine Range and 1/2 Damage Range
Calculate for Accuracy depending on if you Aimed or not and for how long.
Apply target's Size Modifier (if applicable)
Modify for target's Range and Speed (speed is usually inapplicable in Fantasy)
Roll to Hit!

Firing through Occupied Hexes
-4 penalty to all individuals between you and your target.

Hitting the Wrong Target
On a miss with a ranged weapon when someone else was in your line of fire.
Roll against the worse number of either a 9 or the number to hit the target on purpose.
Keep going until you hit or run out of targets (unless blocked or parried).

Cover
See HP & DR of Objects & Cover.
Target locations that are half covered add a -2 to hit.
Rolling randomly may hit cover, but may not (at no extra penalty!)
Shooting through cover can work with a sufficiently powerful weapon.

Overpenetration
If the weapon's damage is high enough to go through the cover's DR (on both sides, such as armor torso covering), the cover's health and the target's DR then it deals damage.
Eg. Through an corselet of 2 DR, through the person with 11 health, and through the 2 DR of the same corselet on the other side, with 4 remaining damage will impart that damage to the next person (unless their DR can stop it).

Target's Speed, Range and Size - Using the Speed/Range Table
Check how far away it is
Check how fast it is going
Check how big it is
Result: modifier to hit.

• Eg. It is 40 yards away (-8), it is going 5 yards per second (-2), but it is 8 yards long (+4)
  Modifier ends up being (-8) + (-2) + (+4)=-6 to hit.

Rate of Fire (RoF)
"An attack scores one extra hit for
every full multiple of Recoil by which
you make your attack roll."

B408 has Special rules regarding Rapid Fire.

Number of Shots
X+1 Shots (ie. A pistol has 8+1 shots, meaning you can have a max of 9 [one shot in the barrel], but if you picked up an empty pistol and a full clip you would have 8 shots)

Common Ranged Combat Modifiers
Bad footing: -2 or more (GM’s option)
Close combat: a penalty equal to the weapon’s Bulk statistic (see Weapons for Close Combat, p. 391)
Damaged weapon: -HP of injury received last turn (maximum -4)
Major distraction (e.g., all clothes on fire): -3 or more (GM’s option)
Minor distraction (e.g., part of clothes on fire): -2
ST below that required for weapon: -1 per point of deficit
Pop-Up Attack: -2

Vehicle or Mount:
Air vehicle: -1 if handheld weapon, 0 otherwise
Exposed rider hanging on side of vehicle/mount and shooting over/under it: -6
Ground vehicle, good road: -1 if handheld weapon, 0 otherwise
Ground vehicle, bad road: 0 if stabilized turret or stabilized open mount; -1 if fixed mount, hard-point, or carriage; -2 if external open mount; -3 if handheld weapon
Ground vehicle, off-road: -1 if stabilized turret or stabilized open mount; -2 if fixed mount, hard-point, or carriage; -3 if external open mount; -4 if handheld weapon
Turning in exposed saddle/seat of vehicle/mount to fire at foe behind: -4
Vehicle/mount dodged last turn and you’re not operator/rider: -2, or -4 if flying
Vehicle/mount failed control roll: penalty equal to margin of failure
Water vehicle, calm water: 0 if stabilized turret or stabilized open mount; -1 if fixed mount, hard-point, or carriage; -2 if external open mount; -3 if handheld weapon
Water vehicle, rough water: -1 if stabilized turret or stabilized open mount; -2 if fixed mount, hard- point, or carriage; -3 if external open mount; -4 if handheld weapon

Opportunity Fire
Checking target before firing: -2
Hexes watched: 0 if 1 hex; -1 if 2 hexes; -2 if 3-4 hexes or a line; -3 if 5-6 hexes; -4 if 7-10 hexes; -5 if 11+ hexes watched

(Certain Spells and Powers)

Suppression Fire (Fully-Auto)
Any NPC who attempts to enter into an area of Suppressive Fire must make a Reaction Roll (Morale check) to see if they have the guts to push through, or retreat back into cover.
RoF 5+, this involves “hosing down” an area with fire.
This will affect anyone who enters the area before the start of your next turn. There needn’t be a target in the area when you start!
Select a target zone two yards across at some point within your weapon’s range, take the All-Out Attack (Suppression Fire) maneuver, and start shooting.
This maneuver takes an entire second; you can do nothing else that turn.

Specify how many shots you are firing, up to your weapon’s full RoF. If your weapon has RoF 10+, you can suppress multiple two-yard zones, as long as they are adjacent and you fire at least five shots into each zone. Your effective RoF in each zone is the number of shots you fired into that zone, not your total shots.

Once you start suppression fire, you must attack anyone – friend or foe – who enters the zone or a swath that extends one yard to either side of a line drawn from you to the center of the zone.

With the exception of penalties for target visibility, all normal attack modifiers apply – including the rapid-fire bonus for your effective RoF and any bonus for aiming prior to suppressing.
Your final effective skill cannot exceed 6 + your rapid-fire bonus for most weapons, or 8 + your rapid-fire bonus for vehicle- or tripod-mounted ones.
If you hit, use Random Hit Location (p. 400) – you cannot target a particular hit location with suppression fire. This may result in some shots hitting cover (see Cover, p. 407). If all your shots somehow manage to strike targets, you can score no further hits that turn.

Spraying Fire (Multiple Targets)
RoF 5+ attacks only, all targets must be within a 30° angle, and left to right or vice versa.
Select number of shots per target, split the RoF as you wish.
On a Success
If the targets are more than one yard apart you will either lose one shot per yard (RoF 16 or less), or two (at RoF 16+).
These “wasted” shots may hit unintended targets (see Hitting the Wrong Target, p. 389)
Make an attack roll against each target.
Your effective RoF for each attack is just the number of shots you fired at that target.

Since a weapon is harder to control when you swing it to engage multiple targets, add +1 to effective Recoil for your attack on the second target, +2 to Recoil when you engage the third target, and so on

Shooting Blind / Blind Firing
If you have a ranged weapon, you may attack someone outside your arc of vision – or in total darkness, or while blinded – by “shooting blind.” It’s unlikely to hit, but sometimes it’s better than nothing. The penalty is -10 and your effective skill cannot exceed 9 after all modifiers.
You cannot target a particular part of the foe’s body; if using hit locations, roll randomly.
You can also make a Wild Swing during a Move and Attack; use the more severe penalties of the two.
Needless to say, you cannot take the Aim maneuver!

Pop-Up Attacks
A “pop-up attack” is a special Attack maneuver in which you emerge from cover, move no more than one hex, make a ranged attack, and return to cover – all in the space of one turn! Examples include ducking around a corner or a tree, or out of a trench. This is possible with any thrown weapon, firearm, or crossbow, but not with a bow or a sling. You cannot aim a pop-up attack. In fact, there is an extra -2 to hit because you couldn’t see your target at the beginning of your turn. Note that when you emerge from cover to attack, anyone targeting your hex with opportunity fire can attack you. If so, your only legal defense is a dodge.