ROF in RPGs

[CHILL]

Something that has always puzzled me about ranged weapons in many RPGs (especially the WOD), is a column listed "RoF", (Rate of Fire).

I fail to find any rules involving a gun's actual RoF, and in gameplay, it doesn't affect anything - so I ask you - why the hell is it still listed if it doesn't do anything to combat. It can't be used to increase damage because that is just overkill to the PC's - so has anyone found any use for RoF - or is it just the vestigial organ of RPGs?

[VictorHFrost KSC]

rof is the cap off to how many single rounds (or bursts) may be directed intentionally at seperate targets. i.e. its the max #of times you can split your diepool to shoot with that one gun at individual targets as opposed to gunning straight into semi auto or spray fire. example? hostage situation (we'll use trinity rules since i know them best)

gregory the heroic legions peacekeeper is called in to save the lives of hostages taken by aberrant cultists

there are nine cultists, and each is using one hostage as a shield

greg has an auto shotgun that has a rof of 10, assuming he has the diepool to back it up (which he doesn't) he's cool. lets say he did have the diepool to back it up though, hypothetically with say a 30 diepool he could reasonably split it 10 times and hit each cultist without damaging the innocents (actually thats a bit more that reasonable but meh)

see its just a capoff, the bigger the gun, the higher the cap, an autocarbine can spit out 40 or so rounds, and assuming you had the pool to use that full 40, you're good to pick off as many individual targets as you can find. if not you just opt for spray and hope you don't kill anything that was too essential.

generally speaking only the heavy weapons and one or two light weapons have a rof of anything better than 2 and those generally have spray capabilities (and to clarify, the laser pistols with spray i think assume you pull the trigger once and arc the thing maddly over a room or widen the beam or something) anyway, as i understand it, thats the way rof works. sound right to everyone?

jake

[VictorHFrost KSC]

adendum, i'm working off the assumption the old vampire rules affect something. rof was originally put in wod to compensate for critters with rage and celerity and such. as i recall, it notes in the books, no matter how superfast you are the gun just can't process movement beyond a certain speed. i believe these rules were left in because in at least aberrant and trinity you can gain powers that allow you to move legitimately (as in, not splitting) multiple times in one round. sorry mr. norca, that screamer just can't fire more than once this round, i don't care how fast you are.

yeah, think that works, bah its late who cares if it doesn't

jake

[CHILL]

Okay, thanks for the speedy replies - but where the hell do you get off using an auto shotgun to take out guys holding hostages? The spread of the shot alone would murder the hostages and make the cultists worship you from now on.

(Don't get me started on 30d10 dice pools!)

Anyways, back in reality, I still can't find any good example for ROF - I tried one idea that replaced RoF with a dice pool that would allow the firer to attack multiple opponents (each success indicated one opponent who must now dodge) - but the system falls apart against single targets because it would imply that the firer could just shoot an enemy multiple times in a single round and multiply the damage - this would make high-ROF weapons simply destroy anything in their paths.

Alas, there is no compromise...unless RoF rigidly states how many individual targets may be shot each turn - but then multiple action rules limit how many dice can be used.

My brain hurts...psigh...get it? Psi? Sigh? Oh, don't bother I'll go kill myself...::downmal

[operations]

the RoF rules was strange in Trinity (espically with the damn needlers) so, as far as I understand it (from Bates himself) this is how it works. You might want to print this small chart and keep it handy for your games.

Firearm type/          Rof means          /multipleactions?

Ballistics          /max number of bullets

                      per pull of trigger*         /yes

Needlers          /number of darts that

                       will be fired per pull

                       of trigger                    /yes**

Energy/sonics   /number of times you

                       can pull trigger and

                       not overcharge barrel    /yes-energy

                                                         no-sonics

Webguns          /just that, one shot        /no

*yes, that means pistols on burst fire only spit out two bullets.

**so yes, you can put it on the highest setting and do severe damage. In my games, needlers are restricted to military.

Hope that helps.

::downmal

[harlequin]

i learn something new everyday, thanks guys, that was bothering me too...

[ezekiel]

"yes, that means pistols on burst fire only spit out two bullets"

Does that mean you'd roll once to strike and twice for damage during a burst? (or something like that)

[CHILL]

operations, thanks for the in-depth chart. It's kinda common sense, however. I came up with a simplistic ROF rule earlier this evening. ROF is a dice pool that uses multiple action rules against multiple targets, of course - (as you can tell I usually restrict ROF to a maximum of 20 dice) so a weapon with ROF: 15d10 gives the player 15 dice to split among as many targets as he can afford - damage remains the same because allowing multiple shots at a single target is simply overkill (but very realistic if you like that sort of gameplay).

However against single targets, ROF rules always fall apart because of my overkill fear. In reality rilfles and smaller carbines can decimate anything in front of the barrel - maybe a fudged rule about single shots only against single targets could be implemented - but then the rules seem too 'fixed' for my tastes.

But this pleases me and upsets me at the same time - LOL!

::downmal

P.S. Maybe if the 3-round burst was the maximum used against a single target - yeah, that could work. Maybe increase the diff so players wouldnt be so inclined to shoot everything down and tear holes in my campaign. (Why do we still call it a campaign? Has D&D really poisoned us so?)

[operations]

\"yes, that means pistols on burst fire only spit out two bullets\"

Does that mean you'd roll once to strike and twice for damage during a burst? (or something like that)

No, it just means that autopistols use less ammo in bursts. (Standard burst is 3 bullets) Otherwise, it uses the burst rules as normal. It just means that handgun bursts are less ammo, but also usually less range.