Webb House Rules - Combat

0. Preliminary Notes

This system is derived from several games systems. The core concept is very much like the Cyberpunk task system, with the "raise" concept from Deadlands borrowed to make spectacular rolls all the more impressive. To make the combat rounds a little more interesting, an impulse-based combat round similar to Hackmaster, has been incorporated. To account for the highly differing amount of damage caused by hitting vital organs, a damage multiplier is used, like in Dangerous Journeys.

1. Initiative

Roll 1d6. Subtract the character's Initiative trait. Subtract the weapon's Weapon Speed. Restrict values to the range 1-10 (inclusive). The lowest number goes first. Modifiers can be added to or subtracted from the roll. For instance, laser sights subtract 1 from the roll.

Each combat round is divided into 10 Impulses. Impulse 1 is the first Impulse of the round, Impulse 10 is the last. No actions can take place prior to Impulse 1, and none can take place after Impulse 10. All actions happening on a particular Impulse are simultaneous.

The initiative value is the first impulse of the turn that the character can attack. Some actions (moving, for instance) can be done prior to a character's initiative value, but each impulse acting before the character's initiative point will shift the character's initiative point later.

For aimed fire, the process for initiative is different. Instead of rolling 1d6, the character has a base "roll" of 10. The Initiative trait and Weapon Speed are subtracted from 10.

Ex: Axly rolls a 6 for initiative. Tough Break! Axly has a decent Initiative trait -- a 3, and he's using a pistol with a WS +1. Adding it all up, he has a (6 - 3 - 1 = ) 2, still an excellent roll. During Impulse 1, Axly can not attack. However, if he decides he should take cover, he could move during those impulses. Doing so would shift his initiative point later in the turn -- if he moves for two impulses, it would mean his first attack would likewise be two impulses later, at Impulse 4.

2. Actions

Various actions can be performed during a combat round. These actions take place during eligible Impulses. For an Impulse to be eligible, the character can not have already acted. Also, the character can not be in the middle of a multi-Impulse action (such as attacking, see below). For any action other than movement, the Impulse number must also be at least as high as the character's rolled Initiative.

2.1 Movement

On any eligible Impulse, including before the character's Initiative, a character can choose to move. The character can choose to move any of the following distances during a single Impulse:

Movement
Rate
Distance/
Impulse
Crawl:0.2 meters
Walk:1.0 meters
Jog:2.0 meters
Run:3.0 meters

2.2 Attacks

Attacks require a certain number of impulses to complete. For simplicity's sake, an attack is assumed to happen on the first Impulse. The remaining impulses are "lost" - the character can not attack again until those impulses have elapsed, and the character can not move. The number of impulses required for various attacks is based on the type of action of the weapon (in the case of most firearms) or the size of the weapon (in the case of melee weapons). If the number of actions required, added to the current Impulse, gives a number greater than 10, the action is valid. The extra impulses are ignored.

Action TypeImpulses/
Fire Action
SA, AT:2
PA, DAR:3
Melee, Small:3
Unarmed:3
SAR, BA, LA:4
Melee, Large:5

2.3 Other Actions

2.3.1 Communication

Talking does not require an action. It can be done in conjunction with other actions.

2.3.2 Driving

Driving counts as moving. Generally, driving requires all of the character's attention, so attacks can not be done simultaneously with driving. Doing so adds penalties to the Base To Hit chance, and requires the character to make an appropriate driving task roll (with penalties as well).

Ex. Axly discovers that he has beat his opponent on the initiative roll. Instead of running for cover, he decides to open fire with his semi-automatic pistol. With his Iniative of 2, Axly can start shooting on Impulse 2 as long as he does not move beforehand. He chooses to stand out in the open, so he can get a shot in as quickly as possible. At Impulse 2, he shoots. Since he has a semi-automatic pistol (action type SA), Axly can not shoot again for two more impulses. On Impulse 4, he shoots again. And again on Impulse 6, Impulse 8, and Impulse 10. Good thing he has a large-capacity magazine in that pistol!

3. To Hit

In order to hit a target, the character must make a task roll that exceeds the Final To Hit Number. As in other task roll situations, the character's task roll is a 1d10 roll. To that roll is added the character's skill and controlling attribute. Any time a character rolls a "10", he or she gets to roll again and add to the total. Any time a character rolls a "1" on the first roll only, a weapon malfunction may have occurred (see below).

The Final To Hit Number is determined by adding modifiers to the Base To Hit number (BTH) of 15. The BTH number of 15 is considered short range, proper firing stance, on a non-evading target. Modifiers are described in this section that add to the base to-hit number.

3.1 Firing Mode

There are three firing modes.

3.1.1 Default Firing Mode

The default firing mode assumes the shooter is in a two-handed stance, sighting the target quickly, and firing. The default firing mode causes no modifiers to the BTH.

3.1.2 Aimed Fire

The second mode is aimed fire. In this mode, the character is carefully sighting in on the target to ensure a hit. To use this mode, the character must declare before rolling initiative that he or she is conducting aimed fire. Instead of rolling 1d6, the character uses 10 as his or her base initiative. The character's Initiative trait and Weapon Speed are subtracted from 10. Note that a character with high Initiative and/or a fast weapon could get a low enough initiative that he or she could fire more than once in that combat round. This is perfectly legal. The 2nd and later shots are all treated as Default Firing Mode, not Aimed Fire.

When conducting Aimed Fire, a character subtracts 2x his weapon skill (not skill + trait) from the base to hit. Additionally, the character subtracts the Inherent Accuracy (IA) of the weapon.

Ex: Axly has switched to a semi-automatic sniper rifle with an WS of +0. He wants to take out a target, so he announces before initiative that he is doing Aimed Fire. Instead of rolling 1d6, Axly starts with a 10. He subtracts his Initiative and his rifle's Weapon Speed to get a (10 - 3 - 0 = ) 7. His aimed shot will happen at Impulse 7. Since his rifle is semi-automatic (SA), that firing action requires two impulses. He can shoot again at Impulse 9, but that follow-on shot will be a normal shot, not an aimed shot! Axly has a Slug Rifle skill of 3, respectable. The rifle has an Inherent Accuracy of +2, meaning that Axly can subtract (2*3 + 2 = ) 8 from his base to hit. Against a short-range target, he would need to roll above (15 - 8 = ) 7!

3.1.3 Rapid Fire

The final mode of fire is rapid fire. In this fire mode, the character is less concerned about hitting a target than he or she is with getting a lot of lead in the air. The penalty for rapid fire is that +3 is added to the Base To Hit, and an additional +1 cumulative is added for each shot after the first (thus, the 2nd shot of rapid fire would be at +4 total, the 3rd at +5 total, and so on). However, the number of impulses required for an attack is decreased by 1, meaning that semi-auto and full-auto weapons require 1 impulse per fire action (meaning a character could shoot on every impulse starting with his Initiative!).

One special case for rapid fire is "fanning". With a single action revolver (SAR), a character can use his or her off hand to "fan" the hammer, while keeping the trigger held with the primary hand. Doing so allows a SAR to fire very quickly. Treat it as a semi-auto (SA) while fanning. It still has the same penalties as other rapid fire weapons, and the character has the additional penalty of firing one-handed, but it makes for a spectacular attack.

3.2 Firing Stance

The base to-hit number assumes the shooter is in a proper firing stance. For a rifle or other shoulder-fired weapon, this means the stock is securely in place against the shoulder and the off-hand is supporting the weapon (on the forward grip, for instance). For pistols and other small weapons, the off hand is normally wrapped around the primary hand to provide support and to form a "triangle" to stabilize the weapon (this is a stance such as the "Weaver grip").

Firing a pistol or rifle one-handed adds +3 to the base to hit number. Firing a long arm (a weapon of Bulk 3 or higher) off the shoulder (at the hip, or otherwise off stance) also adds +3 to the base to hit number. These numbers are accumulative.

If a weapon is fired with the off-hand, it adds +2 to the BTH. If two weapons are being fired simultaneously, each weapon is penalized with an additional +2. In this case, the one handed penalty applies as well.

A weapon may be braced to improve stability while firing. A brace may be as simple as using a sandbag to support the off hand while prone. Braced fire may not be used with a rapid fire mode. Bracing a weapon provides a bonus of -5 to the BTH.

3.3 Range

The BTH number assumes a target is at short range. Short range is any distance up to and including the distance (in meters) recorded in a weapon's Range rating. Targets at a range greater than short range, but less than or equal to 2x short range are at medium range. Targets at medium range are at +5 to BTH. Targets at a distance beyond medium range, but closer than 2x medium range are at long range. Targets at long range are at +10 to BTH (this is instead of the +5 for medium range). Targets beyond long range, but closer than 2x long range, are at extreme range. Add +20 to BTH. Targets beyond extreme range are out of range, and can not be shot.

The Range rating of a weapon can be modified by the use of optic sights, scopes, bipods, and tripods.

Optic sights are low-powered (1.1x - 1.2x typical magnification) rugged scopes designed for quick target acquisition. Due to their low magnification, they can be used for normal fire or for aimed fire. And they add 15% to the range rating of the weapon, with a maximum of +10 meters.

Scopes are somewhat less rugged, and they are more sensitive to the position of the shooter's eye. They have greater magnification, which makes them impractical for rapid target sighting. They may only be used for aimed fire. Scopes add +5 - +20 to range, depending on the specific scope. For weapons with a base short range of more than 100 meters, scopes add 5% - 20%, instead of +5 - +20.

Bipods and Tripods increase the stability of the weapon drastically. Bipods require the shooter to be prone or otherwise positioned such that the bipod can be braced on the ground. A bipod adds 20% to the range of the weapon, and it also reduces recoil by 50% (round down). Tripods likewise require the shooter to be prone (or seated, for taller tripods). A tripod adds 30% to the range of the weapon, and it reduces recoil by 75% (round down). Any weapon fired from a vehicle mount (such as a pintle mount) are treated as tripod-mounted weapons.

Tripods also have two additional bonuses: fire from a tripod is always treated as a proper firing stance (no one-handed/off-handed penalties), and fire is treated as braced (subtract 5 from BTH).

3.4 Recoil

Most projectile weapons have a recoil rating. This rating represents how well or how poorly the inertia of the weapon attenuates the impulse caused when a projectile is fired. A high recoil rating means the weapon has a substantial "kick". Firing rapidly (not taking a pause between fire actions) causes an accumulation of inaccuracy as the shooter must repeatedly bring the weapon back in line for additional shots.

To simulate the effect of recoil, for each shot, add the weapon's recoil to a running total. As long as the total is less than the character's STR attribute, there is no penalty. When the running total exceeds the character's STR attribute, subtract STR from the running total. This difference is the penalty that is added to the BTH.

The recoil total is automatically reset to zero any time the character does not fire during an Impulse (the character may move or conduct other actions, but can not fire). This reset also happens automatically at the beginning of the round if the character does not have a modified Initiative roll of 1.

Ex. Axly has a STR of 6 (average). He's firing his BFP, a large-bore semi-automatic pistol. Axly does well on initiative, getting a modified roll of 2. This means he can fire on Impulses 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. He starts blasting away at a bad guy. On Impulse 2, his first shot, his recoil total is 4. Fortunately, his STR of 6 is more than 4, so he can fire the first shot without a recoil penalty. However, someone of low STR (3 or less, in this case), would have a penalty on the first shot.

On Impulse 4, Axly fires again. His recoil total is (4 + 4 = ) 8. Since this is greater than his STR, he has a BTH penalty of (8 - 6 = ) +2. Undaunted, Axly fires again at Impulse 6. His recoil total is now 12, so his BTH penalty for this shot is (12 - 6 = ) +6. Axly realizes that his penalty at Impulse 8 will be +10, and on Impulse 10, it will jump to +14. Axly decides that, instead of firing on Impulse 8, he will spend the impulse resetting himself (and his recoil total back to zero). On Impulse 9, he can start shooting again, with his recoil total now a mere 4 for that shot. If Axly gets a 1 for Initiative next round and he keeps shooting, his recoil total will carry forward, so his first shot of the next round would have a recoil total of 8.

3.5 Automatic Weapons

Automatic weapons (action type AT) are identified by having a number in the ROF column of the weapon sheet. This number is normally 3, 5, or 10, indicating the number of rounds fired per fire action. In the case of an ROF 3 automatic weapon, this ROF indicates a weapon that fires three round bursts (three shots per trigger pull). For ROF 5 or 10, the ROF gives a general idea of how fast the action cycles. Despite the higher rate of fire, a successful roll to hit still indicates that one round has hit the intended target. Additional rounds will hit the target (or other, nearby, targets) only if the character has rolled well enough on his or her to-hit roll to "buy" the additional hits with raises (see section 4.3). Firing a burst from an automatic weapon gives the character a bonus of -5 to BTH.

4 Damage

Damage caused by a weapon is determined by rolling a number of d6 equal to the Damage rating of the weapon. Damage inflicted can be affected by armor, hit location, and raises.

4.1 Armor

Armor is rated by its value (armor value, or AV). The AV is a reduction in the number of dice rolled for damage. Each weapon has a penetration rating, or Pen. This rating is one, two, or three values separated by dashes. If there is one value, it applies at all ranges. If there are two, the first applies to short range, the second applies to all other ranges. If there are three, the first applies to short, the second applies to medium, and the third applies to long and extreme range. If the weapon has a Pen rating of "Nil" at a particular range, it means that the weapon will not penetrate armor at that range -- even AV1 armor will stop all damage.

If the weapon has a number for its penetration value at a given range, multiply the Pen rating by the AV for the specific hit location. The resulting product is the number of dice of damage absorbed by the armor. Subtract that product from the damage rating of the weapon. If the difference is positive, that is the number of dice the character rolls for damage. If the difference is negative, no damage is inflicted. If the number is exactly zero, roll 1d6 and subtract 1d6. If that number is positive, the weapon inflicts that many points of damage.

Ex: Axly's BFP has a Pen of 1-Nil and a Dmg rating of 4. It does 4d6 damage on a hit against an unarmored target. Today, Axly is blasting away at someone wearing heavy personal armor. Axly shoots at the target, hitting him in an armored location. Bob is at medium range. Checking his weapon specs, he sees its Pen is 1-Nil. The "Nil" applies at medium, long, and extreme range. Since the bad guy has an AV2 on that hit location, the round from the BFP fails to penetrate the armor. Grimacing, Axly ducks and weaves until he is in short range and shoots again. He scores another hit! Since he is now at short range, his BFP's applicable Pen is "1". Multiplying the Pen of 1 by the AV of 2, Axly gets a result of 2. Subtracting this value from the damage rating of the BFP leaves (4 - 2 = ) 2. The BFP will do 2d6 damage against this target.

Armor covers only certain hit locations. An armored vest covers the chest and abdomen (locations 4, 5, and 6). An armored jacket covers the arms as well (locations 2-6). Armored pants cover the legs (locations 7-10). A fully enclosed helmet covers the head (location 1). An open helmet (the typical GI helmet) provides cover depending on the direction of the attack. From overhead, it provides cover normally. From behind (rear 90 degree arc), it provides cover on a 1d6 roll of 1-5. From the sides (the right and left 90 degree arcs), it provides cover on a 1d6 roll of 1-4. From the front, it provides cover on a 1d6 roll of 1-2.

4.2 Hit Location

To represent the relative vulnerability of certain parts of the body to weapon damage, each location is rated as one of the following: Non-Vital, Vital, SuperVital, or UltraVital. The rating provides a multiplier to damage as follows: Non-Vital = x1, Vital = x2, SuperVital = x3, UltraVital = x4. This multiplier is applied after all reductions due to armor and all increases due to raises. For automatic weapons, roll hit location for each round separately.

Die RollLocationSeverity
1HeadUV x4
2Left ArmNV x1
3Right ArmNV x1
4ChestSV x3
5AbdomenV x2
6AbdomenV x2
7Left LegNV x1
8Left LegNV x1
9Right LegNV x1
10Right LegNV x1

Ex: Axly's victim-du-jour is on the receiving end of a head shot with Axly's BFP. The unarmored head (Axly learned his lesson about shooting armored targets in the last example) is an UltraVital hit location, meaning that the damage roll is multiplied by 4! Axly rolls an impressive 19 on his 4d6 dice, which, when multiplied by 4, yields 76 points of damage! Axly's victim, of average build, only had 72 hit points, so Axly dropped the target with a single round. As sirens start wailing in the distance, Axly makes his getaway.

4.3 Raises

As mentioned in the previous section, outstanding successes are measured in raises. For every five points that a to-hit roll exceeds its target, one raise is earned. Each raise can be used in one of four ways (note: the last two options apply only to automatic weapons).

Raises can be spent in any order, at any time during the damage application process before the damage dice are rolled. The attacking character does not have to decide in advance how to distribute the raises. Thus, the character can roll the hit location, then decide to adjust that roll with his or her raise. He can roll damage, then decide whether the results warrant spending raises to improve the damage.

4.3.1 Adjusting Hit Location

A raise can be spent to modify the hit location roll by either a +1 or -1 (shooter's option). Multiple raises can be spent to modify the roll by more than one.

4.3.2 Increase Damage

Each raise spent to increase damage will add +1 to each dice rolled for damage. A weapon with a Dmg of 1 will do 1d6+1 for the cost of one raise. A Dmg 2 weapon will do 2d6+2 for one raise, and so on. In the case of a weapon reduced to zero by armor (1d6-1d6 damage), the raise is still only a positive modifier (thus, 1d6-1d6+1 for one raise). Multiple raises can be spent on damage (for instance, 3 raises could be spent to raise a Dmg 3 weapon to 3d6+9 damage). Remember that the additional damage is applied before the hit location multiplier.

4.3.3 Increase the number of rounds hitting (automatic weapons only)

The basic roll to hit indicates that one round struck the target. To increase the number of rounds hitting the intended target, cross reference the ROF of the weapon with the number or raises spent:

# of raisesROF 3ROF 5ROF 10
0 raises111
1 raise234
2 raises357
3 raises--10

Note that two raises are needed to ensure that all rounds from an ROF 3 or ROF 5 weapon strike the intended target, while 3 are needed to ensure all ten rounds of an ROF 10 weapon strike the intended target.

4.3.4 Increase number of targets struck (automatic weapons only)

If multiple targets are fairly close together, a raise can be used to hit a second target. The number of raises that can be spent in this section is limited in the same way as section 4.3.3, and raises spent to increase the number of targets struck count against the number spent to increase the number of rounds hitting, and vice versa. Thus, ROF 3 and ROF 5 weapons can spend a total 2 raises, and ROF 10 weapons can spend a total of 3 raises, on sections 4.3.3 and 4.3.4.

So, an ROF 3 weapon with several raises to spend can choose any of the following: (1) increase the # of rounds hitting the primary target to 2 or 3 (by spending one or two raises per 4.3.3), OR (2) increase the # of targets hit to 2 or 3 (by spending one or two raises per 4.3.4), OR (3) hit two targets (spending one raise) and hit one of those targets with two rounds (spending a second raise).

Ex. Axly has traded in his BFP on a shiny gauss submachine gun with a ROF 5 and Dmg 2. He decides to try it out on a pair of guys in an alleyway. He's at short range with an adjusted Final To Hit of 15. He rolls an exceedingly good to-hit roll of 40, resulting in (40 - 15 = 25, 25 / 5 = ) 5 raises! He immediately decides to spend a raise to increase the number of rounds on Target A from 1 to 3. He spends a second raise to hit Target B. He's now spent two raises on items in 4.3.3 and 4.3.4, which is the limit for ROF 5 weapons. His remaining three raises must be spent either adjusting hit location rolls or increasing damage.

Since Axly hit Target B only once, he decides to roll that hit location and see what results he gets. He rolls a "3", left arm. Axly can spend one raise to adjust that to a "4", chest, or two raises to adjust it to a "1", head. Unsure yet how to spend those raises, Axly rolls for the three rounds that hit Target A, getting 4, 5, and 1 -- chest, abdomen, and head! Target A is going to be in a world of hurt, so Axly decides to spend two raises to adjust his hit location roll for Target B, making that single round a head hit. He decides to spend his fifth and final raise to increase the damage dealt on that single head hit. The one raise means his damage roll will be 2d6+2 before the x4 multiplier for the head hit.

5. Putting it All Together

Realizing that things were getting a little too hot on Terre, Axly signed up with Yeng-Offenbach, a corporation that owns several frontier colonies, to serve as a security police officer in the Hot Sands system. He reaches his new home to find a miserable, hot desert planet that the locals call "Hellhole". Reporting to work, Axly draws foot patrol duty. He is issued an armored vest (AV1) that Y-O Police don't often wear because of the heat, as well as a 9mm service pistol. He is allowed to carry personal weapons, so he decides to carry his gauss SMG with him as well. Axly suits up, wearing the AV1 vest, with the service pistol in its holster and his SMG slung over his shoulder. He heads out to patrol Plateau, the primary city on Hot Sands.

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6. Tables and Flow

A. Initiative Process

Normal: Roll 1d6. Subtract character's Initiative. Subtract weapon's Weapon Speed (add if negative). Weapons with laser sights, holographic sights, or combat optics subtract 1 from the roll. Weapons with smart sights and a functioning heads-up display subtract 2 from the roll. Restrict values to 1-10 inclusive. This number is the first Impulse of the round that the character can perform an attack.

Aimed Fire: Same as above, except use 10 instead of rolling 1d6.

B. Actions

Movement can be done before the character's initiative roll, but any movement done before the initiative delays initiative by the same number of Impulses. If the initiative roll is modified to 11 or higher, the character may not attack. Each of the following movements are per Impulse. Additionally, a character may go prone/kneel/stand up in one Impulse (this counts as a movement for that Impulse).

Movement
Rate
Distance/
Impulse
Crawl:0.2 meters
Walk:1.0 meters
Jog:2.0 meters
Run:3.0 meters

Attacks take multiple impulses to complete. The attack occurs on the first impulse, but another attack can not be done until the required number of impulses has elapsed (exception: attacks that do not complete until after Impulse 10 do not affect the next combat round).

Action TypeImpulses/
Fire Action
SA, AT:2
PA, DAR:3
Melee, Small:3
Unarmed:3
SAR, BA, LA:4
Melee, Large:5

Miscellaneous Actions:

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C. To Hit

Base To Hit: 15

Modifiers To Hit (added to BTH, so + is a penalty, - is a bonus):

CircumstanceModifier
Aimed Fire-(2*Skill + IA)
Rapid Fire+3, +1 per shot after 1st (cumulative)
One-Handed Fire+3
Off-Handed Fire+2
Longarm Off Shoulder (Bulk 3+)+3
Braced-5
Medium Range+5
Long Range+10
Extreme Range+20
High Recoil Total+(Recoil Total-STR) if Recoil Total > STR
Firing automatic weapon burst-5

For every 5 points the total rolled exceeds the final To Hit value, the attacker earns a raise.

Hit Location:

Die RollLocationSeverity
1HeadUV x4
2Left ArmNV x1
3Right ArmNV x1
4ChestSV x3
5AbdomenV x2
6AbdomenV x2
7Left LegNV x1
8Left LegNV x1
9Right LegNV x1
10Right LegNV x1

Raises:

PurposeEffectNote
Adjust Hit LocationProvides 1 or -1 (attacker's choice) to Hit Location rollMay use any number of raises
Increase DamageAdds +1/die of damage to damage roll.May use any number of raises
Increase # of rounds on targetsee table belowAutomatic Weapons only; can spend a total of 2 raises for ROF 3 and ROF 5, 3 raises for ROF 10 on this item and the next entry.
Increase # of targets hitHits one additional targetExtra targets must near original target, see note above
# of raisesROF 3ROF 5ROF 10
0 raises111
1 raise234
2 raises357
3 raises--10

Damage:

Armor reduces damage. Multiply AV of hit location by Pen rating of weapon at that range. Subtract this value from Dmg of weapon. If Pen is Nil, or if difference is negative, no damage is done. If difference is zero, damage is 1d6 - 1d6 (treat negative values as zero). If difference is positive, that is the number of d6 to roll for damage. If there is no armor on the hit location, damage is full.

Open helmets are treated differently. Roll 1d6 and consult the following table:

Hit DirectionRound hit helmetRound missed helmet
Rear 90 degree arc1-56
Side 90 degree arc1-45-6
Front 90 degree arc1-23-6

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