If Shaken, Frightened, or Panicked:
Players fire 1d4-2 (minimum 1) times per attack with a semiautomatic weapon, and 1d10 times with a weapon that also has an automatic rate of fire (but still firing single shots). If firing on autofire, they fire 1d10+10 bullets. The extra bullets are wasted (they do no damage and always miss).
I got this idea because in horror movies you always see people just waste ammo by firing the entire clip without really aiming between shots. Also it rewards a high will save, which in modern is most people's dump save (in my experience).
Should people fire extra times on single shot guns? should it scale with the fear level (frightened fires more than shaken)? Any input would be appreciated.
The least of these..Shaken could just be no boneses at all. But if memory serves me, don't all three of these conditions impose some kind of penalty any way? Why make it more complicated. Since they start loosing bonuses that certainly counts as wasted ammo when they miss.
if a weapon has a high rate of fire option, it could be a Will save to resist using that option. The accuracy penalty for panic fire is already keyed into the general penalties that the fear status effect provides.
That is a very good idea. I'll pitch it to the players and see what they think.
kinda like trained combat guys panic less,
but I'm getting a block on how to do it decently
There is no reason for a 15th level librarian to be less likely to wet their pants when shot at than a 5th level librarian.
I was saying that Knowledge Tactics could help that librarian avoid freaking out under fire
... but I'm not sure how much it should play into the roll.
uh... of course in the metagame it turns out that classes that the librarian would have actually tend to have pretty good Will saves... so obviously librarians would panic less in combat than fighters
That is a very good idea. I'll pitch it to the players and see what they think.
I would add that those weapons that have a high rate of fire option that requires a feat to use effectively (eg. double tap) should still require a Will save to avoid firing the extra ammo, even though the character can't possibly benefit from the extra shots.
Level? WHat... character level?
There is no reason for a 15th level librarian to be less likely to wet their pants when shot at than a 5th level librarian.
I was saying that Knowledge Tactics could help that librarian avoid freaking out under fire
... but I'm not sure how much it should play into the roll.
uh... of course in the metagame it turns out that classes that the librarian would have actually tend to have pretty good Will saves... so obviously librarians would panic less in combat than fighters
Right. I seriously did not think that through. I agree on the whole librarian vs fighter thing with a few differences. 1. I think a high level librarian should be less likely to freak than a low-level librarian but more likely than even a low-level soldier. Also, ktactics shouldn't be involved because then the military tactician guy who's never been in an actual fight has nerves of steel.
...maybe based off BAB somehow?
This would make a L1 librarian at +2 on the roll (good Will save), and a L1 soldier at +8 (+8 bonus for high bab, Poor Will save). At L10, they would rise to +7 and +11; at L20, they would rise to +12 and +14.
Feats that grant specific training in autofire weapon functions could grant an additional +2 bonus, if the feat is relevant to the weapon. That would definitely give soldiers the edge.
You could give a one-time +4 bonus if the character has ever taken a medium/high bab class, with an additional one-time +4 bonus (total +8) if he has ever taken a high bab class.
Unfortunately, "high-BAB class" roughly equates to knife & fist guys being better in gunfights than the Fast gunbunny due to the common theme of punishing ranged classes' BABs..... The Strong/MA gunbunny again gets better treatment than the Fast route
Probably best just to key the various gun feats to granting a stackable bonus on the save to resist the urge to go blammo when panicking.
Fast & Tough are crossclass for Tactics
(cause gunbunnys dont understand combat????)
There is no reason for a 15th level librarian to be less likely to wet their pants when shot at than a 5th level librarian.
backstabbist talking out of his butt again, I see. Well, the reason she'd maintain her composure is her the superior Will save a 15th level character is likely to have compared to a 5th level character.
Or do you consider the "Librarian class" to have a strict +0-per-level advance in all relevant combat statistics?
-DF
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1064161
-DF
backstabbist talking out of his butt again, I see.
Dwarf,
did you not see the word REASON in my post?
Under your 'reasoning',
The more books a librarian files, the more clutches a mechanic changes, the more lines of code a programer hacks, makes them expert combatants and cool under gunfire.
for what REASON???
Sure, we all know the metagame does grant level advance improvement to will saves,
but your citing the metagame as a reason to have the metagame doesnt cut it.
Before you 'talk out your but' about me
read the post thoroughly.
Mental fortitude is primarilly the purview of the "intellectual" character classes, so you can't portary them as "scaredy-girls" through the application of game mechanics. Either you (the GM) simply rule that they (the NPCs) automatically fail at these challenges, or you roll the dice and make sure these characters are statt'ed up with a low-level build.
Either way your "level 15 Librarian" isn't really level 15 at all.
Level? WHat... character level?
There is no reason for a 15th level librarian to be less likely to wet their pants when shot at than a 5th level librarian.
I am sure the player that insists on playing his level 15 character as a frightened little girl regardless of actual capabilities need not be accomodated by a game mechanic intended to deal with the challenge of keeping one's nerve in dramatic circumstances: He can simple state: "I chose to fail! Penalize me!"
-DF
But for the purposes of my campaign, which is why I asked the community for help, it doesn't matter. My characters are mostly levelling up from killing stuff. For my purposes, a level 10 smart hero is 9 levels more combat badass than a level 1 smart hero. They wouldn't survive that long if they remained a complete noncombatant, regardless of character class.
If they run into an NPC who is noncombatant like that, then I'll either just have him freak or give him a circumstance penalty.
I like it being tied to a will save because it's an underused save in d20 modern. I know of basically nothing that forces a will save without magic, so everyone dumps it.
That said, I like the idea of giving a bonus from having gun-related feats, and many of the other ideas that have come up. Keep it up! you guys have been a huge help.