[File FUDGE4a, #4 of 10.] FUDGE: Freeform, Universal, Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine A Free Role-playing Game (RPG). Copyright 1992, 1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan Version: June, 1995 ========= 4 Combat ========= 4 Combat, Wounds & Healing 4.1 Combat Terms 4.2 Melee Combat 4.21 Story Elements 4.22 Simultaneous Combat Rounds 4.23 Alternating Combat Turns 4.3 Melee Combat Options 4.31 Melee Modifiers 4.32 Offensive/Defensive Tactics 4.33 PCs vs. NPCs 4.34 Multiple Combatants in Melee 4.35 Hit Location 4.36 Fancy Stuff 4.4 Ranged Combat Unless one participant is unaware of an attack or decides to ignore it, combat is an Opposed action in FUDGE. The easiest way to handle combat in FUDGE is as a series of Opposed action. This can be done simply or with more complexity. The author of FUDGE uses simple and loose combat rules in order to get combat over with quickly and get back to more interesting role-playing. This chapter, largely optional, is for players who prefer combat options spelled out in detail. Melee combat and Ranged combat are treated separately. ----------------- 4.1 Combat Terms ----------------- Melee: any combat that involves striking the opponent with a fist or hand-held weapon. Any attack from further away is a Ranged attack. Story Element: a distinct segment of the storyline in the game. In combat, the interval between story elements can be a practical place for a die roll. Combat Round: an indeterminate length of time set by the GM - around three seconds seems reasonable to some people, while that seems grossly short or absurdly long to others. A given GM's combat round may vary in length, depending on the situation. Generally, when each character involved has made an action, a given round is over. Offensive damage factors: those which contribute to damaging an opponent: Strength (if using a Strength-driven weapon), Scale, and deadliness of weapon. Defensive damage factors: those which contribute to reducing the severity of a received blow: Scale, armor, and possibly Damage Capacity. Total damage factor (or simply damage factor): the attacker's offensive damage factor minus the defender's defensive damage factor. ----------------- 4.2 Melee Combat ----------------- FUDGE gives three options available for handling the pacing of melee combat: moving from story element to story element, using simultaneous combat rounds, or alternating combat turns. An individual GM may devise others. - - - - - - - - - - - 4.21 Story Elements - - - - - - - - - - - In the simplest combat system, the GM explains the situation in as much detail as is apparent, then asks the players to describe what their characters are doing. The more complete the description of their characters' actions, the better the GM know how to assess the situation. This can be important if she has something that won't be revealed until the middle of a battle. Die rolls, if any, are required by the GM for each *story element*. A story element is the smallest unit of time in this type of combat resolution. The GM may break the battle down into several story elements, or treat the whole encounter as one element. This depends on the GM's style, the importance of the battle, the number of participants, whether or not there are unexpected surprises, etc. Each element should be a dramatic unit. For example, the PCs are faced with a detachment of guards at the door while the evil mastermind is trying to activate the Doomsday machine at the back of the room. The fight with the guards might be one element while the confrontation with Dr. Doomsday could be a second. Another GM might treat the whole battle as one story element, while a third GM would treat each five-second segment separately. Whatever the number of elements, keep the battle description as word-oriented as possible. The GM may ask for a single die roll from a player occasionally, or require three rolls and take the *median* roll. (The median is the middle value die roll, which may be the same as either the high or low die roll. For example, if the player rolls a Good, a Mediocre, and a Superb result, the median is Good, since it's the result in between Mediocre and Superb. But a result of Poor, Great, and Great gives a median die roll of Great. Using a median tends to soften the role of extreme luck. Some GMs use a median when a single die result represents many actions.) Once the GM has decided which trait (or traits) each PC should use for this combat, she then gives them a modifier, ranging from -3 to +3. The most common modifier should be 0. The modifier is based partly on how well the PCs' plan would work, given what the GM knows of the NPCs, and partly on circumstances: fatigue, lighting, footing, surprise, weapon superiority, bravery or cowardice of NPCs, wounds, etc. Here is a long example of story element style of combat: Gunner, separated from the other PCs, surprises five members of a rival gang in a garage. The player announces that Gunner will shout and charge the rival mob, carrying his Tommy gun as if he's about to fire - they don't know it's irreparably jammed. He hopes to see them run away, hit the dirt, or freeze in fear. He'll then use his Tommy gun as club, starting at the left end of their line. He'll keep his current opponent in between him and the others as long as possible. He hopes to then roll up their line, one at a time, keeping the wall to his left side as he charges. The GM makes a Situational roll for the mob: Mediocre. The mob members don't recover quickly from their surprise, so she gives Gunner a +1 to his Brawling skill of Good for this plan. She also decides that one mobster will run away and the others won't draw their guns until Gunner has already engaged the first enemy. His Running skill is Great, so she gives him another +1, since he can cover ground quickly. Total modifier for Gunner is +2, bringing his Brawling skill to Superb for this combat. Since this is a fairly long action and she doesn't want a single unlucky roll to ruin Gunner's chances, she asks him for three Brawling skill rolls (at the +2 modifier), and to use the median roll. Gunner rolls a Good, Superb, and Great result, in that order. The median roll is Great, and the GM decides this is good enough to have downed the first two mobsters, and describes the battle so far in entertaining detail. Now Gunner is facing the last two thugs, who finally have their pistols out and could probably plug him before he charges that far. The GM asks, "What does Gunner do now?" Gunner hurls the Tommy gun into the face of one gunman while making a low diving tackle for the other, hoping to dodge under any bullets. The GM calls for a single roll against Brawling to cover this whole action: Gunner gets a Fair result. The GM rules that Gunner throws the Tommy gun well enough to distract one gunman, but not harm him. He does, however, manage to tackle and subdue his other foe, whose shots all go wild. At this point, the GM rules that the mobster grazed by the thrown Tommy gun now steps over and points his pistol to Gunner's head while he's kneeling over the other mobster. Gunner wisely heeds the call to surrender and hopes his friends can rescue him . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.22 Simultaneous Combat Rounds - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Those who like their combat broken down into discrete bits can use combat "rounds." In simultaneous action rounds, all offensive and defensive maneuvers happen at the same time. This is realistic: few real combats consist of fighters taking turns whacking at each other. The GM determines which traits the combatants should roll against. This depends largely on which weapon they are using, which might simply be a fist. Weapon type also affects damage - see Section 4.5, Wounds. Each combatant makes an Opposed action roll. On a relative degree of 0, the combat round is a stand-off - the fighters either circled each other looking for an opening, or exchanged blows on each other's shields, etc. - nobody is hurt. A minimum result of Poor is needed to hit a (roughly) equal-sized opponent. That is, a human needs to score a Poor blow (and still win the Opposed action) in order to hit another human. If both opponents roll worse than Poor, the round is a standoff. If one opponent is *significantly* bigger than the other (of a different Scale, at least), he needs a Mediocre or even Fair result to hit his smaller foe, while even a Terrible result will allow the small fighter to hit the larger. (Of course, such a blow must still *win* the Opposed action.) Extremely small targets, such as a pixie, may require a Good or even a Great result. Examples include humans fighting giants, or very large or small animals. If the result is a relative degree other than 0, and the minimum level needed to score a hit is achieved or surpassed, the winner checks to see if he hit hard enough to damage the loser. In general, the better the hit (the greater the relative degree), the greater the likelihood of damage. If one combatant is unable to fight in a given round (possibly because he's unaware of the attacker, or because of a critical result in the previous round - see Section 3.6, Critical Results), the combat may become an Unopposed Action for the active fighter, usually with a Poor Difficulty Level. If a character can defend himself in some way, such as using a shield, it is still an Opposed Action, but the defending character cannot hurt the other character even if he wins the combat round. Combat often takes more than one combat round. Characters are not limited to attacking each round - they may attempt to flee, negotiate, try a fancy acrobatic stunt, or any other appropriate action. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.23 Alternating Combat Turns - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Using alternating combat turns, each combat round consists of two actions: the fighter with the higher initiative attacks while the other defends, then the second combatant attacks while the first defends. With multiple characters involved in combat, the *side* with the initiative makes all their attacks, then the other side makes all their attacks. Or the GM may run the combat in initiative order, even if fighters from both sides are interspersed throughout the combat turn. Gaining initiative is an Opposed action. If the characters don't have an Initiative attribute or skill - such as Reflexes or Speed - simply use Opposed Situational rolls. A gift such as Combat Reflexes can grant a +1 to initiative. Surprise may grant a bonus to the roll, or give automatic initiative. Initiative can be rolled once for each battle or once each round. Perhaps a character could trade skill for initiative: attack hastily (+1 to initiative that round) but be slightly off balance because of it (-1 to attack *and* defend that round). Each attack is an Opposed Action: the attacker's Offensive skill (Sword, Melee Weapon, Martial Art, etc.) against a defender's Defensive skill (Shield, Parry, Dodge, Duck, etc.). This type of combat take longer than simultaneous rounds, but some players feel it gives a character more control over his own fate. Using these rules, a Defensive parry skill may simply equal the weapon skill, or it may be a separate skill that must be bought independently of an Offensive skill. The GM must tell the players at character creation which method she is using - or allow them extra levels on the fly to adjust their defensive abilities. Some weapons, such as an Axe, are poor parrying weapons. Players should ask the GM at character creation if a weapon may be used to parry and still be used to attack without penalty in the next turn - and give their characters decent Shield or Dodge skills to compensate for poor parrying weapons. All-out offensive and defensive tactics can be used. A character forfeits his attack for a round if he chooses All-out defense, and is at -2 on his defense on his opponent's next turn if choosing All-out offense - or perhaps gets no defense at all! The default defense for animals depends on their type: carnivores will usually have a Defense value one level less than their Offense, while this is reversed for most prey species. ------------------------- 4.3 Melee Combat Options ------------------------- The various options listed below may be used with any melee system. This is not a comprehensive or "official" list of options. The GM should, in fact, consider these options merely as examples to stimulate her imagination. The GM may wish to import complex combat options from other games into FUDGE. - - - - - - - - - - - 4.31 Melee Modifiers - - - - - - - - - - - Some situations call for one side or the other's trait level to be modified. Here are some examples: A fighter who is Hurt is at -1, while one who is Very Hurt is at -2. If one fighter has a positional advantage over the other, there may be a penalty (-1 or -2) to the fighter in the worse position. Examples include bad footing, lower elevation, light in his eyes, kneeling, etc. Subtract the value of a shield from the opponent's weapon skill. A small shield has a value of +1 in melee combat only, while a medium shield has a value of +1 in melee combat and +1 to defense against ranged attacks (if the shield material is impervious to the weapon). A large shield (+2 in all combat) is cumbersome to lug around. The larger the shield carried, the more the GM should assess penalties for things such as acrobatic and other fancy maneuvers. Shields can also be used offensively to push an opponent back, for example, or knock someone over. Compare combatants' weapon sizes and shields (see Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List). If one fighter's weapon + shield value is +2 (or more) greater than the other fighter's weapon + shield value, the fighter with the smaller weapon is at -1 to his combat skill. (Example: one fighter has a Two-handed sword: +4 to damage. His opponent has a knife and an average shield: +1 to damage, +1 for shield makes a total of +2. The knife wielder is at -1 to skill in this combat since his weapon modifier is -2 less than the sword fighter's.) Aiming at a specific small body part (such as an eye or hand) will require a minimum result of Good or Great to hit and also have a -1 to the trait level. If a result of Great is needed and the fighter only gets a Good result but still wins the Opposed action, he hits the other fighter - but not in the part aimed for. A fighter may have a magical blessing (+1 or more) or curse (-1 or worse). All-out offense, such as a berserk attack, grants a +1 to the combat skill (and an additional +1 for damage, if successful). However, if an all-out attacker *ties* or loses the Opposed action, the other fighter wins, and gets +2 to damage! An All-out defensive stance earns a +2 to the combat skill, but such a combatant cannot harm his foe except with a critical result. A successful All-out Defense and a successful Perception or Tactics roll produces a -1 penalty to the opponent on the *next* round. The fighter takes a few seconds to scope out the area and maneuvers to take advantage of any terrain or conditional irregularity. Similar combat subtleties are possible, and encouraged - taking a successful All-out defense one round can allow a player to try an acrobatics maneuver the next combat round without risk of being hit, for example. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.32 Offensive/Defensive Tactics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This optional rule, used with simultaneous combat rounds, allows more tactical flavor to combat at a small expense of complexity. This option replaces the All-out attack and defense options listed above, and allows for both combatants to be injured in the same combat round. Before each round, a fighter may choose to be in a normal posture, an offensive posture or defensive posture. An offensive or defensive stance increases combat skill in one aspect of combat (offense or defense), and decrease the same skill by an equal amount for the other aspect of combat. There are five basic options: +2 to Offense, -2 to Defense +1 to Offense, -1 to Defense Normal Offense and Defense -1 to Offense, +1 to Defense -2 to Offense, +2 to Defense Each combat round, a player secretly chooses a combat stance by selecting two FUDGE dice and setting them to a result from +2 to -2, which represents an offensive modifier. (The defensive modifier shown above with the offensive modifier is automatically included.) Both sides simultaneously reveal their choices. For those without FUDGE dice, choose one die placed as follows: [TABLE] Die face: Option: 1 -2 to offense 2 -1 to offense 3,4 Normal offense 5 +1 to offense 6 +2 to offense [END TABLE] Each fighter then makes a single Opposed action roll as normal. The result is applied to both offense and defense, however, and will thus have different results for offense and defense if anything other than a normal posture is chosen. The offensive rolled result of each fighter is then compared to the defense of the other fighter. For example, a fighter with Good sword skill chooses +1 to offense and -1 to defense for a particular combat round: his offensive sword skill is Great this round, while his defensive sword skill is Fair. His opponent, a Great swordswoman, chooses normal posture. The swordswoman rolls a -1: a Good result for both her offense and defense. The first fighter rolls a 0 result: his offensive rolled result is Great, his defense is Fair. His offense result of Great is compared with her Good defense: he wins by +1. However, her offense result of Good is simultaneously compared with his defense of Fair: she also wins the Opposed action by +1. Both sides check for damage, to see if they got through each other's armor - see Section 4.5, Wounds. - - - - - - - - - - 4.33 PCs vs. NPCs - - - - - - - - - - If a PC is fighting an NPC the GM can treat combat as an Unopposed action by assuming the NPC will always get a result equal to her trait level. In this case, the PC will have to tie the NPC's trait level to have a stand-off round, and beat the NPC's trait in order to inflict damage. This option stresses the player characters' abilities by disallowing fluke rolls by NPCs. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.34 Multiple Combatants in Melee - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When more than one opponent attacks a single fighter, they have, at least, a positional advantage. To reflect this, the lone fighter is at -1 to his skill for each additional foe beyond the first. (For epic-style games, with a few heroes battling hordes of enemies, this penalty can be reduced, or the GM can simply give the hordes Poor skills and low Damage Capacity - which is not out of character for a horde.) The lone fighter rolls once, and the result is compared with *each* of the opponents' rolled degrees, one after the other. The solo combatant has to defeat or tie *all* of the opponents in order to inflict a wound on one of them. If he beats all of his foes, he may hit the foe of his choice. If he ties his best opponent, he can only wound another whose result is at least two levels below his. Example: Paco is facing three thugs, who have just rolled a Great, Good, and Mediocre result, respectively. Paco rolls a Great result, tying the best thug. He hits the thug who scored a Mediocre result (at least two levels below his result) and is not hit himself (he tied the best thug). The lone fighter *takes* multiple wounds in a single round if two or more enemies hit him. Usually, he can inflict damage on only one foe in any given round - his choice of those he bested. It's also possible to allow a sweeping blow to damage more than one foe at a time. Of course, this slows a slash down: reduce damage done by 1 or 2 for each foe cut through. A well-armored fighter facing weak opponents can simply concentrate on one foe and let the others try to get through his armor (that is, not defend himself at all against some of his attackers). In this case, the lone fighter can damage his chosen foe even if he is hit by other, ignored foes. This is historically accurate for knights wading through peasant levies, for example. There may or may not be a penalty for the lone fighter in this case. There's a limit to the number of foes that can simultaneously attack a single opponent. Six is about the maximum under ideal conditions (such as wolves, or spear-wielders), while only three or four can attack if using weapons or martial arts that require a lot of maneuvering space. If the lone fighter is in a doorway, only one or two fighters can reach him. When multiple NPCs beset a lone PC, the GM may wish to use the option in Section 4.33, PCs vs. NPCs. This will save a lot of die rolling. Alternately, she may wish to roll only once for all the NPCs. The lone fighter is still at -1 per extra opponent. The GM rolls 2dF, and applies the result to each NPC. For example, if the GM gets a +1 result, each attacker scores a +1. For those without FUDGE dice, the GM could simply use the 1d6 method discussed in Section 3.5, Opposed Actions. Example: Three NPC pirates, complete with eye-patches, scars, earrings, sneers and generally bad attitudes, are attacking dashing PC hero Tucker. The pirates (whose names are Molly, Annie, and Maggie) are Fair, Good, and Mediocre, respectively, at combat skills. Tucker is a Superb swordsman, but is at -2 for having two extra fighters attacking him at once: his skill is Good for this combat. The GM wants to roll just once (applying the result to all three pirates) rather than rolling three times each combat round. Rolling 2dF, she gets a +1 on the first round. The pirates have just gotten Good, Great, and Fair results, respectively. If Tucker scores a Superb result, he could hit the pirate of his choice and remain unhit. On a Great result, Tucker would be unhit, and could land a blow on Maggie. On a Good result, he doesn't hit anyone, but Annie hits him. If Tucker rolls a Fair result, both Molly and Annie would hit him. The process is repeated each round. - - - - - - - - - - 4.35 Hit Location - - - - - - - - - - A light blow to an eye is very different from a light blow to an armored shoulder, or to a shield. Using a hit location system adds flavor to combat and the description of a character's equipment, wounds - and scars! Many games have a hit location system, and a GM can easily translate one she is familiar with to FUDGE. Or she can use the simple system given here. The simplest system is not to worry about "called shots." Merely say the better the relative degree, the better the location of the blow. Winning a battle by +8 will allow the attacker to pierce an eye, if desired. Hopefully, the players will describe their actions in such detail that the GM will know how close they came to their objective merely by looking at the relative degree. A more complicated system: an attacker can announce that he is aiming at a specific body location - this must be done *before* rolling to hit. The GM decides the minimum relative degree necessary for such a shot to succeed, usually ranging from 2 to 4, though extreme locations (such as an eyeball) are harder to hit. So if a player wishes his character to hit his opponent's weapon arm, the GM can respond, "You have to win by two to do so." If the player then does win by relative degree two or more, the weapon arm is hit, and the wound is specific to that arm. If the attacker wins the combat round, but not by the minimum relative degree needed to hit the called target, the *defender* names which part of the body - or shield! - is hit. This will most likely be general body (if there is no shield), but it could be the off-hand, which would carry a lesser combat penalty than a wound to the torso. The GM may have to fudge some here. A damaged specific body part can be described as being Scratched (no real game effect), Hurt (a penalty to use, but the body part still functions), and Incapacitated. After battle is the time to decide if an Incapacitated body part can be healed, or is permanently Incapacitated. A Hurt body part is generally at -1 to its normal use. A Hurt sword arm gives a -1 penalty to combat, for example, while a Hurt leg is -1 to any running, acrobatics, etc. A Hurt eye is -1 to vision, and so on. To determine the exact level of the damage, the GM should consider how well the hit scored, as well as the Strength of the attacker and the weapon being used. Winning by the minimum relative degree necessary to hit the specific body part shouldn't make the victim Incapacitated unless the attacker is of a much larger Scale than the defender. On the other hand, an arm hit with a battle axe wielded by a large, berserk Viking has a good chance of being cut off even if the Viking just rolled exactly what he needed to hit the arm . . . As a guideline, if the attacker surpasses the relative degree necessary to hit the body part at all, the part is Scratched or Hurt, depending on Strength and weapon deadliness. If he surpasses it significantly, the part is Hurt or Incapacitated. Species other than humans may have a different list of body parts to hit, and/or different difficulty modifiers. - - - - - - - - - 4.36 Fancy Stuff - - - - - - - - - A lot of fancy maneuvers are possible in FUDGE combat. All require a bit of thought on the GM's part. What if you want a Speed or Reflexes trait to affect how often you can strike in combat? How would you handle someone of Good Speed vs. someone of Fair Speed? If someone has a Power that speeds him up beyond the human norm, you can simply have him attack every other round as if his opponent wasn't aware of the attack. That is, every other round, an Unopposed result of Poor or better hits the foe, with no chance to be hit back in return. For more subtle differences, the GM may allow an Opposed action to determine if one fighter gets to land a blow first: after declaring their actions, each fighter makes a roll against a Speed trait. The winner of the Opposed action, if any, adds the difference to his weapon skill. How about FUDGE's "graininess" getting in the way of interesting combat? That is, since there are only seven levels in FUDGE, a Good fighter will often meet another Good fighter, and it doesn't seem right that you can't meet someone who's just a *little* better or worse than you. In this case, the GM can create new levels of combat skills (there's no point in using this option with other skills). These new levels require full experience points to reach, but function only as "half" levels, called "plus" levels. Thus, you can have: Superb + Superb Great + Great Good + Good And so on. In any combat, someone with a "+" has the skill level listed before the "+", but gets a +1 every other round, starting with the second round. So in a combat between Gus (skill Great) and Ivan (skill Good +), Gus would have the higher skill on on rounds one, three, five, etc. But on rounds two, four, six, etc., Ivan will roll as if he had a Great skill, thus being Gus's equal those rounds. What about swinging on chandeliers and other swashbuckling moves? Since role-playing games have more to do with movies than real life, this should be encouraged if the genre is at all cinematic. In these cases, have the player describe his swashbuckling intentions as fully and dramatically as he can. The better the story, the better the bonus to the die roll - or no roll needed if the outcome is entertaining enough. You may then request a roll against Dexterity, or Acrobatics (or even Chutzpah!) and let that determine how well he accomplished his aim. Maybe the swing on the chandelier came off great, but the landing on the banister was a little rough, so the slide down to slam the villain in the back was a tad off, and instead of knocking him out, you merely made him drop his weapon, but then fell on the floor yourself, and now he's mad, and maybe you should get up before he picks up his pistol, or you could try to yank the carpet while you're down there, right next to it, and he seems to standing on it a bit off-balance . . . Whatever is fun! ------------------ 4.4 Ranged Combat ------------------ Ranged combat may or may not be an Opposed action. If the target is unaware of the assault, the attacker makes an Unopposed action roll to see if he hits his target. The GM sets the Difficulty Level based on distance, lighting, cover, etc. Do not modify the attacker's skill for range, partial cover, or other circumstances - that's included in the Difficulty Level. Equipment such as a laser sighting scope can modify the attacker's skill, though. If the defender is aware of the attack it is an Opposed action: the attacker's ranged weapon skill against the defender's defensive trait. (A Difficulty Level for range, lighting, etc., is still set by the GM, and is the minimum rolled degree needed to hit.) A defensive roll should be made against a Dodge skill, or Agility attribute, or something similar. If the ranged weapon is thrown, there is no modifier to the defense roll. However, a propelled weapon, such as a bow, gun, or beam weapon, is much harder to avoid. In this case, reduce the defender's trait by -2 or -3. Obviously, the defender isn't trying to dodge a bullet, but dodging the presumed path of a bullet when an attacker points a gun at him. Of course, the defender may decline to dodge, but shoot back instead. In this case, the action is Unopposed - making the Difficulty Level is all that is needed to hit. The GM may make such actions simultaneous. Example: Nevada Slim and the El Paso Hombre are facing off in a showdown. Both are in the open, in the sunlight, so there's no lighting or cover difficulty. The range is obviously the same for both - the GM rules it's a Fair task to hit each other. Slim rolls a Poor result, and the Hombre a Mediocre result. The Hombre's bullet came closer to Nevada Slim than vice versa, but both missed since neither made the Difficulty Level. Another Example: Will Scarlet is shooting a longbow from the greenwood at Dicken, the Sheriff's man, who has a crossbow. Dicken knows Will is there, because the man next to him just keeled over with an arrow through his chest. Dicken is in the open, in good light, so only range is of any concern to Will Scarlet: the GM says even a Mediocre shot will hit since they are fairly close. The range for Dicken to hit Will is of course the same, but Will is partially hidden behind a log (cover), and just inside the foliage, so the lighting makes it hard to see him clearly. The GM decrees Dicken needs a Good roll to hit Will. Dicken rolls a Fair result, missing Will. Will rolls a Mediocre result, which hits Dicken, even though it wasn't as good a shot as Dicken's. In both examples, the fighters forfeited their Dodges in order to shoot simultaneously. Each combatant needed to make the appropriate Difficulty Level to hit. Under these conditions, it's possible for both combatants to succeed in the same combat round. Had Dicken's shot hit, Will and Dicken would have skewered each other. Guns and similar weapons that do not rely on muscle power should be rated for damage at the beginning of the game. No detailed list is provided, but as a rough guideline: The average small hand gun might be of +2 to +3 Strength, while a derringer might be +1 or even +0. Powerful two-handed projectile weapons are at +5 and higher, while bazookas and other anti-tank weapons are at +10 and higher. Science fiction small weapons may do as much damage as a modern bazooka - but some are designed to capture people without injuring them. Automatic weapons can be simulated roughly by allowing more bullets to hit with higher relative degrees. That is, blasting away with a weapon that fires 20 bullets in a combat round and hitting with relative degree +1 - a graze - means only one or two hit the target. If a relative degree +8 represents maximum amount of ammunition on target (whatever that may be for a given weapon), then hitting with a +4 means about half maximum hit the target, while +2 means only one quarter. If there is no effective armor, simply add a big damage number if lots of bullets hit: this is going to Incapacitate anyone, at the very least. If armor is at all likely to slow down a bullet, you can't just add a bigger and bigger damage number if more bullets hit: the armor has a chance to slow down *each* bullet. In this case, rather than roll damage for each bullet, or have them all stopped, the GM needs to fudge some medium result: give a slight damage bonus if more projectiles hit the target. [End of file FUDGE4a. Chapter 4 continues in file FUDGE4b.]