Shoot (Action)

Heroic Action Role-Play

Shoot is the skill for ranged combat, either using powers or ranged weapons. Shoot attacks are powerful, but defenses weak; the emphasis is on getting the enemy down before he can hurt you.

Shoot skill defaults to Reflexes and an outcome matching this attribute on a stunt directed against Shoot will often result in a Setback.

Use in Action

Shooting is used mainly in combat, but sometimes you can do stunts based on your precision and reactions; sports photography and sensor operations can use this skill. You know how to care for your weapons and keep them in prime condition, including simple modifications, but you are not a full-fledged weapon smith, that takes the Create skill.

Knowledge

You know the make and abilities of the ranged weapons of your time. You know the capabilities of ranged weapons, and what kind of weapon and ammunition to use against each target and in every circumstance. You can judge the Toughness of a target with fair accuracy. You know about famous shootists of your era, both sportsmen and professionals on either side of the law. This includes such details as what signature weapons they use and preferred tactics and schticks. You can identify the skill of a shooter by examining his handiwork; if the shootist is famous you might identify his personal style, tough this is not evidence, just a hunch.

Contacts

You know gunsmiths (or bowyers and fletchers) and can find someone to sell you lethal hardware almost everywhere, tough you might have to settle for local varieties in out-of-the-way locations. You know shooters in general, but especially in the same line of work as yourself and your opposition. If you are a soldier you know soldiers from different factions. If you are police or criminal you know police sharpshooters and criminal hit men. If you are a ranger, hunter, or sportsman you know other civilian shooters, those they work with, and those who arrange hunts and shooting events. If you are a photographer, you know other media people such as producers, journalists, and especially crew. You know clients, protegees, and mission specialists you have worked with. Some of these people are bitter rivals, but you all respect each others abilities. You can walk into a shooting range almost anywhere and make some local contacts by showing your skill.

Perception

You recognize ranged weapons even when hidden. You recognize skilled shooters, even when they're not tooting their weapons. You recognize fields of fire and advantageous firing positions.

Powers

Shoot is linked to the forms of Electricity, Fire, and Ice.

Stunts

List of specific stunts the skill can be used for, and rules for each using the standard power format.

Aim

Basic Action

Spend an action aiming at a specific target. If you attack that target as your next action, not having moved or spent any shots in between, and as long as the target stays in the same spot, you get a +3 bonus on your Shoot skill. You can still move before aiming and after shooting.

Covering Fire

Trigger Action (Defense)

When you see someone performing an action, shoot in their general direction to disrupt their action. The difficulty of their action now becomes your Shoot skill if it was otherwise less than that. Range penalties applies to your skill value. If you are using a full-auto weapon, you can impair the actions of all creatures in an area equal to your Reflexes in diameter simultaneously, but still only for the current shot. This does not work under certain circumstances. You can't use covering fire if your weapon is Slow or requires Reload. A creature can choose to ignore covering fire. If they do, you can perform a Normal Ranged Attack against them instead.

Normal Ranged Attack

Basic Action

Make a Shoot roll opposed by the target's Dodge. On a success, you hit, adding the Outcome to the damage of the weapon.

Photography

Inherent

While photographic apparatus and technology is covered by Create, actual action photography is covered by Shoot, providing gun-tooting characters something to do in non-action scenarios. To make a photo shoot in Action is very much like taking a lethal shot, and most schticks can be used normally. To make a moving and insightful shot of some other aspect of a character requires a Shoot against whatever skill the shot is to manifest—often Charm or Impress. The impact of a successful photograph is decided by the lowest skill between the photographer and model.

Recon By Fire

Inherent

You can make an attack in order to flush out a Sneaking opponent. You must know or guess the targets approximate location. If you are wrong. the action is wasted. Use Shoot as if it was Recon for a Scan stunt. On an outcome matching the target's Reflexes you actually score a hit, but this is likely to be a poor hit - make a normal roll and add this to the damage of your weapon-arring a negative roll reduices the damage. The target gets the usual defensive bonuses from Sneaking.