4th Edition Rate of Fire

[8bit_shatterhand]

Folks,
I am very new to GURPS, and I am very confused of RoF and the number of bullets fired.

For example on page 279 of the Character book.
Assault Carbine 5.56mm
Damage = 4d+2pi and ROF of 15

Does that mean each bullet does 4 dices of damage? And I have to role a group of 4 dice 15 times?

Or
Do I just use the Bonus to Hit chart from Campaign pg. 373 and get a +3 bonus to hit?

Rolling 60 dice to complete one attack seems like a large amount of dice.

[mr beer]

Each bullet does 4d+2 pi. You roll to hit with the +3. A success by 0 means 1 bullet hits and every extra success by the margin of the weapons recoil means 1 additional bullet hits.

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

Refer to Rapid Fire rules on p 373 and 374. Review Dodging rules on p 375.

You won't hit with all 15 bullets almost ever. p 408 has further rules regarding Rapid Fire.

[Ronnke]

Originally Posted by 8bit_shatterhand

Does that mean each bullet does 4 dices of damage? And I have to role a group of 4 dice 15 times?

I also recommend rolling the damage dice once and apply the same damage for each bullet hit. Unless, of course, you like rolling dice.

[Maz]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

I also recommend rolling the damage dice once and apply the same damage for each bullet hit. Unless, of course, you like rolling dice.

For high RoF weapons I tend to go with "average damage" on any subsequent hits.

----

To OP Here is an example of how a Carbine attack may look.


Example 1:
You have Skill 12 and fire the carbine at full RoF for a +3 bonus to hit. Assuming no other modifiers you now roll against skill:15.

Lets say to roll 11. You now made the roll by 4.
Since you made the roll, one bullet hits. Then in addition you take the degree of success and divide by the Recoil of the weapon (round down). That's the number of additional hits. So in this example, with rcl:2, you hit with 2 additional bullets for a total of 3 bullets hitting, each dealing 4d+2.



Example 2: You make the same attack, but at range and have an effective skill of 12. You roll an 11 again. Since you make the attack, one bullet hits. But since you made the roll by less than 2, there are no addition hits.



Example 3: You take time to Aim (+4) and make an AoA:determined ranged attack (+1), for full RoF:15 (+3) and are at 5y range (-2). You have a Guns (rifle) skill of 14.
You roll against effective skill = 20. Lets say you roll a 8. That is 6 additional hits for a total of 7 hits!

[8bit_shatterhand]

Originally Posted by mr beer

Each bullet does 4d+2 pi. You roll to hit with the +3. A success by 0 means 1 bullet hits and every extra success by the margin of the weapons recoil means 1 additional bullet hits.

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

Refer to Rapid Fire rules on p 373 and 374. Review Dodging rules on p 375.

You won't hit with all 15 bullets almost ever. p 408 has further rules regarding Rapid Fire.

Thank you for the page numbers.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

I also recommend rolling the damage dice once and apply the same damage for each bullet hit. Unless, of course, you like rolling dice.

I don't, especially if there's armour involved, or the bullets are hitting locations other than the torso.

If the shots are all hitting the torso and any armour protects for considerably less than the average damage of the weapon, I use "Average Damage - Damage Resistance x any damage type multiplier x number of hits" for 4+ hits. I might also do the same for times when all the shots hit some other location as well. In all other situations I use the full rules.

Rolling damage just once makes damage too 'swingy', IMO, especially when there's meaningful armour involved.

[AlexanderHowl]

I generally tell them add together the damage and then subtract (DR * # of hits). After the first time that they have to roll 40+ dice, my players tend to not use autofire for combat except during emergencies (except for shotguns).

[mr beer]

I haven't done a lot of combats involving post-TL4 weaponry but the ones I did, I usually rolled the dice. Really, if more than one rifle round hits a mook they are out of the fight anyway. For important enemies or PCs, it's OK to roll buckets of dice, assuming the party isn't routinely getting hosed down with automatic fire.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I generally tell them add together the damage and then subtract (DR * # of hits). After the first time that they have to roll 40+ dice, my players tend to not use autofire for combat except during emergencies (except for shotguns).

What did they manage to do to hit with 40+ dice worth of autofire?

[flyingwombat]

Originally Posted by mr beer

I haven't done a lot of combats involving post-TL4 weaponry but the ones I did, I usually rolled the dice. Really, if more than one rifle round hits a mook they are out of the fight anyway. For important enemies or PCs, it's OK to roll buckets of dice, assuming the party isn't routinely getting hosed down with automatic fire.

As long as the PCs aren't charging at Belleau Wood (1918) or Tarawa (1943), or some place like it, they should be fine. ;-)

I agree with your comment concerning mooks. However, I get players who want to keep rolling. Sigh