Shoot Schticks (Action)
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| Heroic Action Role-Play |
Shoot schticks are made for use with ranged weapons. Any mention of particular types of ranged weapons in schtick descriptions, such as guns or bows, is flavor.
Artist's Cross-hairs
Inherent
You are not only an expert shootist, you are an artistic one. You can express moods and convey messages through your shots—generally negative ones. This works with both weapons and image recording devices. You can use Shoot as if it was the Charm or Impress skills, but the effect is not immediate, the result of the shot must be inspected for this to become evident. Besides psychotic slayers, this skill is also highly useful to photographers, Photography stunts are routine to you and the photographs you take can use the Charm and Impress effects above—such Shoot checks are not routine.
Bag Full of Guns
Inherent Weapon
You are carrying way more firearms than sensibly possible. This involves some kind of pack; a violin case, large suitcase, duffer bag, instrument case, bulky trench coat, or a sexy fanny pack are all typical examples.
Any gun you could reasonably have had access too and one of which could fit in the bag is in the bag, even tough it is clearly impossible for them all to fit in there at once. Restricted, futuristic, or military weapons are only in the bag if they make a reasonable part of the story. Weapons not found there in a contemporary civilian setting include flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and lasers.
Both Guns Blazing
Trigger Action (Combo)
When using two ranged weapons, one in each hand, you can follow up each of your normal attacks with a Normal Ranged Attack from your second weapon on the same or a different target.
Carnival of Carnage
Trigger Action
Whenever an unnamed character is about to make an attack while in your sight, you may use Carnival of Carnage to shoot him.
Clean Shot
Basic Action
You can make clean, damaging shots even with light weapons. If Clean Shot hits and the attack roll was greater than the target's Toughness (or whatever soak attribute is relevant for the attack you are using), it inflicts a Hit. If your damage is more effective than this, use that instead.
Cock
Basic Action, then Trigger Action
Start this stance by dramatically working the action of a weapon. This produces a dramatic sound, a 'click', 'ka-chak', the sound of a bow being drawn, the warm-up whine of energy weapon or the sizzling runes of a magic spell. You can do this in a surprise round, but not before a fight.
You can now shoot once as a trigger action as a response to any hostile action. Thus, you kind of "save up" an attack for later use. Firing the readied weapon in any manner or for any reason cancels the schtick.
Cool Steel
Basic Action
Draw a cool, fresh gun you have not used in this fight. The weapon can be one you carry or you can pick it up. The next Shoot attack with this weapon this round gets a +3 bonus. You can do other actions in between drawing this weapon and getting the attack bonus, but firing the weapon negates the bonus.
Dramatic Reload
Basic Action
Reload your gun dramatically and deliberately. Depending on how many bullets you reload, you get a bonus to your Shoot attacks until your bullets run out, after which you cannot shoot any more with this weapon until you use this schtick again. All these effects end at the end of the round. You can Reload as a part of a Dramatic Reload, but only one bullet.
If you are loading your last clip you add +2 to the bonus - this is where the +0 category on the table is relevant. After you've fired these last shots you are out of ammo. If you somehow get your hands on more ammo, you still need to spend a Basic Action reloading before you can shoot again. This version of Dramatic Reload continues until the end of the scene and maybe even the session.
| Number of bullets | Bonus |
| 1 | +3 |
| 2 | +2 |
| 3-6 | +1 |
| 7-20 | +0 |
| More | No bonus; can be used to refill your magazines after an earlier Dramatic Reload, but not if you ran out of bullets. |
Eagle Eye
Basic Action
You're particularly adept at firing at armored opponents and hitting the teeny-tiny bits of them that aren't armored. Your Shoot attacks that would normally be soaked by Toughness are instead soaked by Body.
This schtick never works with any kind of area attack, not does it work when attacking objects.
Fast Draw
Inherent
For the first round of any fight, your Initiative is a Closed Confident roll. Your first Basic Action for the round must involve Shoot or you lose 3 shots instead of taking that action.
Fields of Fire
Focus
When you are in combat, but at least 15 meters from the closest enemy, you can focus.
First Salvo
Inherent
Whenever you manage to score surprise, you can perform a Limit Break instead of the normal Basic Action, but the only skill you can use this with is Shoot.
Great Balls of Fire
Limit Break
There is always something in an urban combat scene that is ready to explode. You shot, and it blows up - taking everyone nearby with it. You cause an explosion that attacks everyone in a globe with a diameter equal to your Mind attribute in meters.
Damage is Body +2 impact damage.
Away from a high-tech urban setting, this schtick only works as the GM allows.
Gunnery
Inherent
You can use heavy guns and other artillery with full effect.
People lacking training with such weapons can generally still fire them. They cannot reload or use or take more advanced shots, such as indirect fire. On a snake eyes result the weapon misfires.
Gunsmith
Limit Break
You love to tinker with your guns, selecting ammunition for each target and otherwise using your gear to best effect. This adds +3 to the damage value of your gun against a specific type of target. Examples include unarmored people, people in a particular type of armor, or a particular type of monster. The benefit lasts until you load a different kind of ammo or the end of the session.
You are also an expert at making bullets out of unorthodox materials. If you learn what a certain target is vulnerable to, you can quickly make bullets out of that material or using that weakness if you have the materials at hand.
Hail of Bullets
Inherent
You can use fanning, simultaneous multiple arrows on the string, or some other rapid-fire technique to shot a regular weapon as if it was an auto-fire weapon. A ranged weapon in your hands gains the Autofire and Great Blow abilities.
If you are using a a Reload or Slow weapon, you do not gain the abilities listed above, but can ignore these flaws.
Hail of Bullets can't be used with weapons that have the One-shot property.
Hold!
Focusing
If you spend two Basic Actions in a row Shooting but not moving, you can focus. You cannot spend any shots between these two Basic Actions.
Mercykiller
Finisher
You can decide how bad you want to hurt your target, choosing whether to inflict a Mortal Wound, a regular Regular Setback and what kind, or no special effect when you put them down.
Named Bullet
Limit Break
Make an attack against a single target that is a Confident Roll with a +3 bonus to Shoot. Target cannot use Resist powers; targets do not get to add their Mind to their Action to soak damage from Named Bullet.
Piercing Shot
Trigger Action (Combo)
You can over-penetrate and hit two targets with the same shot, attacking a second target along the path of your bullet. Use this any time you inflict damage with a ranged attack. The extra target can stand either in front of or behind your first target. Hitting a target in front as a second target might seem odd, but the main thing is that you were concentrating on someone else and the second target is just a bonus.
Pinning Fire
Trigger Action
When you use Covering Fire the difficulty of your opponent's action is your Shoot +3. You can force a moving target to do a Free Running stunt.
Signature Mods
Inherent
You fiddle with your ranged weapons, coaxing new abilities out of them. Choose one of the following weapon abilities when you take this schtick. You can pick this schtick several times to apply multiple benefits. Any ranged weapon you use that you have had a chance to work on overnight or longer get these weapon techniques. Some have prerequisites, that can be satisfied either in the weapon itself, or because you already have a Signature Mod for that ability.
- Autofire - Does not work with a Slow weapon
- Extra Damage (Armor Defeating)
- Extra Damage (Armor Exploiting)
- Great Blow
- Scatter
- Saturation - Only works on a weapon with Scatter
- Stun
As an option, you can instead remove one for the following weapon abilities. You can remove limiting weapon abilities gained from Signature Mods through additional Signature Mods.
- Load
- Reload - the weapon instead becomes Slow
- Slow
- Static - the weapon instead becomes Unreliable
- Stowed
- Unreliable
- Stun
Signature Gun
Inherent
Select one specific gun, like grandma's shotgun or the machinegun you brought home fromthe war. Your fate is linked to this gun.
- Even a light signature gun is dangerous in your hands. Increase the weapon's damage to Body +4 if it is less than this.
- You can own and operate this gun legally even if it would normally be beyond your means, illegal, or require some special license. People tend to not question your right to take it along; unless the GM makes a montage of how it is taken, the gun stays with you. It can also pop up in the unlikeliest places seemingly on its own.
- It is harder to steal or disarm you of this gun; it takes an Outcome equal to your Shoot to do so. Even if it is stolen, it always crops up later — it is never permanently lost.
- The gun is tougher than normal, having a minimum Toughness score equal to your Shoot. Even when seemingly destroyed, the gun can always be repaired.
- Finally, the gun becomes infused with your essence. It is considered a supernatural or magical gun in situations where this matters.
Slow Mo’ Vengeance
Trigger Action
Even as the bullets strike your body, you heedlessly keep going, putting every ounce of power into your gun.
Each time you take a Hit, you can use Slow Mo’ Vengeance to make a normal ranged attack as a Trigger Action.
Sniper
Basic Action
You can make a ranged attack and still Sneak as if you had not attacked, as long as you do not move, remain in cover and are at least 20 meters from all opponents. When using a weapon with Long range, you ignore all range penalties out to the effective range of the weapon - typically about half a kilometer for a rifle and to the horizon with heavier weapons.
Steady Fire
Basic Action
Make a Shoot attack with a +2 bonus. You cannot move as a part of this action. Until your next shot comes up or the end of the round, you cannot take a Trigger Action. If you are using a weapon that has the Great Blow ability, increase the bonus to +3.
Trick Shot
Basic Action
You are good at hitting small targets and precise locations. Think of this as a kind of limited telekinesis; if a task can be accomplished with a push or knock in the right direction, you can do the task as a gun stunt. Pushing buttons, switching levers, cutting ropes, cutting that trigger wire that disarms the bomb or sending messages by punching them out with bullets in plaster; all are simple tasks for you. Tasks requiring complex manipulation (unscrewing the lid on a barrel) takes you multiple actions and some such actions might be impossible.
You suffer no negative modifiers for stunts that require you to shoot at very small targets; you can shoot a pistol out of the hands of a gunman, or a thrown knife zipping through the air, for example. Whenever the difficulty of the shot is determined by the small size of the target, halve the difficulty.
Like the Environment Interaction stunt, you can combine Trick Shot with other actions, such as an Interaction Stunt, with no additional shot cost. When you use Covering Fire to deflect the attack of a weapon that fires a missile larger than a bullet, such as an arrow or thrown knife, you get to decide where that weapon ricochets to.
Walking Fire
Trigger Action (Combo)
You can "walk" fire from one target to the next, attacking several adjacent targets one after the other.
Pick the closest target within two meters of a target you just fired on and attack the new target with a Normal Ranged Attack. You can continue to use walking fire as long as there are targets. This is an exception to the rule that a trigger action cannot trigger another trigger action. You can do this several times in succession as long as you do not attack any target twice. Walking Fire is prone to friendly fire. If an ally or bystander is adjacent to your target you hit that friend or bystander on a Snakeyes roll, make a confident roll, this becomes the Outcome of the friendly fire.