Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

However, if we have that same character with Guns-12 in a shootout with a criminal who is shooting back at a range of 10 yards, you get a very different story.

We remove most of the bonuses because he didn't have time to aim, don't have the ground "marked" so the range is exact, and is under stress. So, now he is rolling against his skill at -4 (range) to his, or 8.

I have heard that shootouts involving police often have a lot of bullets flying without hitting anybody, so maybe this is realistic.

However, I'd give my character a 16+ in their firearms skill. With a skill of 16, the -4 reduces this to a 12, which gives a reasonable chance of hitting my target.

And 8- is about right. If the opponent is dodging (probably also at 8-) it might be a little low. On the other hand, 10 yards is at the outer end of pistol v pistol fights, so hitting on an 7-10, depending on range and lighting, and having the opponent dodge on an 8- gives hit chances in the 12-37% range, which is fine for a realistic gun-fight at these ranges.

Now, if you want you guys to hit more often than normal professional police and soldiers, because it feels better to you, by all means do so. It doesn't mean that professional 'need' guns-14 to do their jobs though.

For what it's worth, people with Guns-12 and appropriate weapons (i.e. ones that can damage the PCs on a hit) can threaten very high point value 'gun bunnies' if the latter don't get to dictate the range, lighting, etc. and just try a stand-up shoot out with the 'mooks'.