Jul 14 12:55 1998

To: Dan

Copy to: Jerm
Copy to: Jert

From: Froccer

Subject: re:Burst Rules

In message "Burst Rules", Dan writes:

> Sean I've revised the system as follows
>
> 1. Type of Burst
>
> Short Burst <20% clip
> Long Burst 21-50% clip
> Extreme Burst >51% clip (Still counts as two attacks and is awild burst)
>

So far, so good.

> 2. Weapon Proficiency Adjustment (WPA)
>
> Yes: -15% shots fired (Round Up) : +5%/2 levels of Experience
> No: -25% shots fired (Round Down)
>

So a guy with WP and at level 6 has 0 WPA. OK.

> 3. Total Number of Burst shots
>
> = Fired shots * [(100 + WPA)/100]
>

So a guy at level 6 and above is the most efficient, getting a number of burst
shots equal to the number of rounds in his clip (I assume that the cut-off point
is level 6 and above there is no adjustment).

> 4. Number of Targets
>
> If shooting at more than one target, burst is considered wild
>
> Burst Shots Max Targets
>
> <6 1
> 6-10 2
> 11-15 3
> 16-20 4
> 21-30 5
> 31-40 6
> increase by 10 Increase by 1
>

So the guy with a 30 shot clip can aim at a max. of 5 targets. Following you so
far.

> 5. Number of Hits
>
> Controlled Burst : 4,5,6 on a d6 hits target
> Wild Burst : 5,6 on a d6 hits target
>

So the guy with the 30 shot clip will hit on the average 1/3 of the shots on
a wild burst for a total of 10 hits.

Assuming one target:

3d6 x 10 = 180 MD ---> Pretty damn good. More damage than conventional rules but
this might be a good alternative

Max. damage = 3d6 x 30 (all hits) = 540 MD ---> Holy crap! A little excessive.

> 6. Ability to dodge a burst
>
> Controlled Burst : 10
> Wild Burst : 14
>

Is to dodge all the shots in the burst? If I fail the dodge, do all the shots
in the burst that you assign to me hit?

> 7. Distribute Hits among targets

How easy would it be to control how you hit a target, if by definition you are
shooting wild?

> 8. Roll damage / shot
> 9. Resolve damage on each target.
>

Looks like it has the makings of a good system, but I think it still needs some
refinements.

>
> To address Froccer's concerns that there Rail Guns, etc. will not be effective,
> well they sort of aren't as great but realistically you only need to hit
> with a five or greater with a rail gun burst while the odds are that you are
> going to need a 10 or greater with the burst rules, if it's wild your odds
> increase to 14 or greater. I think that it is fair.
>

Now I'm confused. Why do you need a 14 to hit with a wild burst shot. I thought
you needed a 14 to DODGE a wild burst shot. In terms of damage though, an
infantry weapon is still far superior to a heavy mount weapon, which I disagree
with.

> As for your max damage scenario what you described was like rolling a 20 as
> far as I'm concerned and the odds of doing that are pretty slim (If you pull
> that off, I'd be impressed) so if you empty a full clip doing I think x5
> damage and x2 damage(for the 20) and you roll and 18 you get 180MD which is
> more likely than my system.
>

Did I screw up the math somewhere? A full clip will do a natural 180 MDC on
a normal distribution of hits. For increased number of hits (I realize that
30 is highly unlikely, but possible), the amount of damage is still insane.

> Your to hit a barn as far as I'm concerned is like putting a pistol to
> someones head, are you going to kill him? Yes as long as the safety is off
> (i.e. rolling a 1) Don't missle systems get a volley as well?

As far as I'm concerned, missles are a different ball game. They would be the
only heavy mount weapons I would put on a vehicle. In general though, the
infantry weapon would be superior to the majority of conventional weapons
mounted on these vehicles.

> If you want
> to restrict stuff lets get rid of the extreme burst. I don't think that
> it's that great anyway and will reduce the amount of damage per turn.

Ummm ... Maybe. I don't think I would like it, but it may be something we have
to resort to. I kind of like the idea of letting loose a bunch of rounds and
causing some havoc. I don't think the rounds I let out should be able to destroy
multiple tanks though.

Maybe we should increase the damage of all heavy mount weapons by some factor
(i.e. x2), or make all heavy mount weapons such as laser turrets capable of
firing bursts in the same fashion as the common infantry man's rifle.

> I'd rather stick to a simple system that is somewhat realistic (i.e. if I
> fire off an entire clip of 30 at two targets, it's going to be a bitch to
> dodge because of all the shots flying through the air.
>
> Well that's my two cents on the subject.
>
> Dan
>

Froccer