does aiming a gun while piloting a motorcycle automatically mean losing control?

[Plane]

I was trying to figure out the maneuvers in action during this motorcycle chase in the latest archer. The pursuer keeps his left hand on the motorcycle's left handlebar and uses his right hand to levy a pistol at the heroes.

Before he can fire, one of the passengers reaches out and grabs the arm holding the pistol and jerks it upward so it's no longer aiming at them. It goes off, and then the hero kicks them away.

https://youtu.be/iXpuEt0_32U

To account for that delay in shooting, I figure the pursuer was probably taking an Aim maneuver, because it just dangled there more than a second so it didn't seem like the whole "you can parry a firearm in close combat" thing.

Initially there's actually a yard or two between the bikes (the heroes would not be able to grab the gun from that distance) and the gap narrows, though I'm not sure which side caused the gap to narrow.

B467 mentions "If the operator takes any other maneuver, or is stunned or otherwise incapacitated, his vehicle plows ahead with the same speed and course it had on the previous turn."

Is there a perk or something which would let you alter speed or course while doing something like aiming?

If not the only way around it I could think would be to take a Move and Attack maneuver and use the optional "Aim as Attack" rules I remember from one of the Pyramids.

B468's illustration seems related to this since of the 4 pursuing goblins you see the lead riders doing 1-handed steering with their right hand while wielding weapons raised in their left hands. It actually seems like one might have shot the hero in the front's bike causing her to leap off it.

I would assume if you hold up your gun to aim it that it might make that gun more accessible to grapple it, than if it were pointed down, since the tip of the barrel is closer to that person and they have to lean forward (or sideways off a moving bike) to grab it.

The closest match I can remember to that rule is how hip-shooting creates a penalty to parrying guns at close range, but it doesn't quite cover the issue of the difference between being able to parry at reach C vs reach 1 or reach 2.

I know if you use a "slip" to close a distance you can parry from 1 extra hex away, though I don't know if that works if you're seated on a bike. Is there a way to cover "I'm just stepping with my torso but my lower body is staying put?"

That kind of thing seems to happen in reverse when using a "sprawl" for example (legs retreat, upper body remains in previous hex) but I don't think you can occupy 2 hexes while seated only while crawling.

Not sure if you can "crawl posture" with legs grappling the seat of a motorbike to avoid falling off, but that seems to kinda happen here, probably throwing off the balance of the motorcycle and requireing Archer to compensate for the jerking motion.

[WingedKagouti]

In the real world you can control a motorcycle with just your lower body, but it takes practice and the motorcycle is not as responsive as if you use your entire body.

The main issue with using the right hand for anything is that unless the motorcycle has been customized, the right handle is the throttle and letting go of that will automatically decrease the speed. There are many after-market throttle locks available, as well as actual cruise control for high end touring bikes, but letting go of the throttle during a frantic moment is not a good idea without something like that.

[Varyon]

In the clip, the pause between pointing the weapon and firing is probably just there for dramatic tension, and the two groups are probably close enough on a battlemap that no movement is necessary to Parry - although letting the driver basically do a Slip to get closer could be an option. You could also say the pause represents the fact the character is basically going for a Telegraphic Attack.

That said, I think the character could simply Aim here - you don't need to use a Move Maneuver to keep a vehicle going in a straight line. If you do want to be able to maneuver the vehicle while establishing an Aim, using Douglas Cole's Pyramid article (that I can never remember if it's called "On Target" or "Take Aim") to make Aim into a Maneuver that calls for a roll would be appropriate, and you could introduce a Move and Aim Maneuver, where the Aiming is done at -2 or Bulk, whichever is worse (as for Move and Attack), potentially with the vehicle's SR coming into play in some fashion.

[weby]

Real life:
Actually a motorcycle wants to go straight due to the gyroscope effect of the wheels, but not very strongly due to the mass difference between the wheels and the body.

As for throttle effect: If you hold your left hand on the handlebar and pull on the clutch or if you have a few seconds of preparation you can shift to neutral gear and the bike will not slow down that fast, but of course over a bit longer time it will decelerate even then. But for a few seconds the deceleration is minimal.

As for the video:
The one with the gun did not seem to be doing any maneuvers while pointing the gun. So it seemed to go by GURPS rules.

At second 6 he pulls the gun
At second 7 he fires but is parried

In both actions the motorcycle continues straight forward.

[Tinman]

One of the biggest (action) problems in modern TV/movies is that directors thing you need to be in arms reach to shoot a gun.
So many problems are avoidable by not walking up to your enemy & sticking out your arm, so that your gun is closer to them than you.

If your in a vehicle chase & the guys you are chasing can grab your gun, (1) you deserve it & (2) you've done a lot wrong.

[Pursuivant]

The animation in Archer seems to deliberately slow the violence down to about 50-75% of "realistic" speed. Keep that in mind when trying to GURPSify the action.

I'd describe the scene like this:

Turn 1: Mook Readies his weapon, while making a successful Control roll at -2 for Doing Two Things at Once.

Archer makes a successful Evaluate maneuver. Passenger 1 might use Acrobatics to make a posture change so that he's riding "sidesaddle" rather than astride the motorcycle. (This makes sense, since he can attack into his front hexes, rather than his side hex).

Turn 2: Mook Aims his pistol while trying to hold his bike steady with the heroes, reducing Range/Speed penalties for relative motion. He might be going for an All-Out Aim if you allow that maneuver.

Archer does a drift to get his bike within range for close combat. First passenger (who obviously has the Combat Riding (Motorcycle) technique) attempts a Grapple and Disarming combination. He succeeds with the grapple, but fails with the disarm, but not so badly that the gunman's gun isn't unreadied. As a special effect, the GM rules that the mook fires into the air (or maybe he rolled a CS with the grapple, and the GM wanted some benefit to apply). Alternately, the passenger does an AoD (Parry) to knock the mook's gun out of line.

Turn 3: Mook is grappled and can't move independently from his bike or Aim his weapon. Archer (who clearly has the Teamwork! cinematic perk) anticipates his passenger's next move and makes a successful Control Roll. Passenger drops the grapple and connects with an AoA Push Kick against the motorcycle (with a fat +1 or +2 Size bonus, no penalties to hit, and effectively no Range/Speed penalties). Mook fails his vehicular Dodge due to penalties for the grapple, Doing Two Things at Once, and driving one-handed.

As a special effect, the GM rules that the distance the bad guy would normally be Slammed by the Push Kick converts to a penalty to his Control Roll, in addition to the penalties above. He fails his roll badly and careens out of control.

Originally Posted by Plane

Is there a perk or something which would let you alter speed or course while doing something like aiming?

No, but there should be. It wouldn't be unrealistic, either.

You also bring up a lot of useful points that RAW doesn't seem to address.

* What actions can a rider on a motorcycle take. It's a bit different from being in a standard crew station. (The same thoughts apply to riders on a horse or similar mount.)

* What maneuver would you use to simultaneously grapple a foe while knocking their weapon out of line and possibly causing their firearm to discharge?

* If you're grappled while driving a vehicle, do the DX penalties affect your Vehicular Dodge? (I assume that they affect vehicle control skill normally.)

* How do melee or unarmed attacks affect Control Rolls relatively light vehicles like motorcycles and bicycles? The hard push or kick at right angles to a passing motorcyclist or bicyclist which causes the rider to go out of control is an Action genre staple. For that matter, what about the ever popular jamming stick in the spokes trick?

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

* What maneuver would you use to simultaneously grapple a foe while knocking their weapon out of line and possibly causing their firearm to discharge?

I'm thinking if it's not an Aim maneuver and actually the attempt to attack then it'd just be a Grabbing Parry

I figure if you do parry a gun in melee range (as opposed to parrying a bullet) it still causes the gun to fire.

Though I think we kinda need something to cover the John Wick / Gun Fu stuff where guns get parried without forcing a shot to go off.

Like if the idea is you parry the gun so it would miss, and you're actually parrying before teh bullet is fired, maybe allow the shooter something like a parry to react to that parry and if it passes, he manages to avoid discharging the weapon?