Multiple Blaster Shots And Fire Rate

[The Bissler]

In REUP page 92 it mentions that a weapon can only be fired as many times as indicated on the weapon's Fire Rate.

Some examples in the book contradict this, as blasters are described as firing multiple times. (I can't recall where, but I know I've seen it.)

However, having played the game with players firing multiple shots with their blasters, it led to the situation of Blaster becoming the focus of almost my whole team's character advancement and it's hard to say they were wrong to do so. It seems obvious that higher Blaster Skill = more shots at Stormtroopers and that is the #1 pastime of players in Star Wars.

Now that I've noticed the Fire Rate rule, the game has far better balance with the PCs being limited to 1 attack per round. This also gives the Stormtroopers a better chance to deal some damage back to the PCs which I really like too.

Now that my players have noticed this, I expect dual-wielding blaster pistols is going to become very popular! Admittedly that's cool, but it's not really the thing you see characters do often in Star Wars.

One of my players is a Mon Calamari who abhors violence, but accepts it is sometimes necessary, so he has his weapon constantly on stun. It's actually quite a clever move when reduced to 1 shot per turn as it increases the effectiveness of his blaster considerably - how many times will a combat last for a few minutes that recovering Stormtroopers is something they need to worry about? I think I may introduce a few rare situations where the odd Stormtrooper manages to revive way before he was supposed to, just to keep him and the rest of the team on their toes.

I was wondering, which weapons have a Fire Rate of 2+? I didn't notice any in the REUP rules.

[Xain Arke]

The more important question is, can a weapon with no fire rate value fire as many shots as the character's skill allows/ammo lasts?

Specifically though, the “Blast and Smash” Energy Rifle from Galaxy Guide 10 has a fire rate of 7 in blaster mode. There are a few others that also have
a 2+ fire rate, Alliance Adjudicator slugthrower (2), Kelvarlek Dissuader (2), Golan Arms Blister Blaster (3) and the Riot Suppression Gun (2)

There are probably more but these are all from various supplements, not a core book

[Mamatried]

I made a very simple house rule on multi shots/autofire.

if you choos multishot you add 1D to the damage but reduce the shooting skill by 1D.

To me multifire is 2-3 shots

On Autofire I add 2D to damage but I reduce shooting skill by 2D

Autofire is full auto/5shot burst

Multifire Using Blaster Skill 5D
Imperial rpeating Pistol 6D Damg Multifire

Rolling 4D/3D Blaster (armor and MAP adds to this) and you hit.
you now roll 7D/8D danage, as the clustered shots cause much more damage/trauma.

All Blasters can shoot 2 shots rapidly, Multishot rating determine how many shots can be shot on multishot, and autofire allows for burst fire.

All powerpacks have limited charges from 1-100 Shots depending on weapon.

[CRMcNeill]

IMO, giving weapons a Fire Rate of 1 was a mistake in 2R&E, given that combat rounds are ~5 seconds long, and blaster pistols can often be seen snapping off multiple shots in rapid succession. In fact, firing off a barrage of shots seems to be the only way to take out a Jedi with a blaster. My take is that Fire Rate should represent a technical limitation of the weapon itself, such as a portable laser cannon requiring a round or two to recharge, or the time needed to reload a missile launcher, etc.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[The Bissler]

Interesting thoughts all!

@Xain: I'll have a more thorough look through my shelf of supplements, thanks!

@Mamatried: I like this idea! I think I'd be inclined to limit successive hits to +1 (rather than 1D) to damage, again, so as to avoid players getting too obsessed with boosting Blaster skill.

@CR: I completely sympathise with your argument here. When you compare blaster now to what happens in the films, limiting the players to a single shot feels counter-intuitive but, as I'm enjoying a better balance to combat, I'm extremely reluctant to revert back to the unlimited shots method.

[CRMcNeill]

[garhkal]

[Whill]

[The Bissler]

Excellent, thanks Whill!

Interestingly, my players feel the balance of the game is far better for limiting the blasters to 1 shot per round (this same group played 52 sessions for my previous completely home-brew campaign so they know the system well) - some are even reluctant to adopt Mamatried's custom rule, even though I ruled multiple shots would provide only a +1 rather than +1D bonus! Given that Force Points are massively diminished by the restrictions on attacks, I thought the players would bite my arm off for any bonus but it seems not!

Our next session is tomorrow night so we will rule on this one way or another! I'll let you all know the outcome!

[Whill]

[The Bissler]

Sorry, yes, I didn't address that point. We do know that multiple shots incur penalties but with 6-7 players in the group, we found that they could deal with large numbers of Stormtroopers without too much challenge when there was no restriction - of course, they (and I) have memories of PCs who had 50 odd sessions of experience - including 2 Jedi - who were all incredibly powerful before the Rebellion essentially banished them for bringing down the full weight of the Empire upon them. The one shot per turn really has dialled up the pressure and they're thriving on that, they're really keen not to even have the option of shooting multiple targets. Perhaps they'll change their tune after a while, but I'm heartened that they want they wanted the game's difficulty increased, and I think I have to run with their wishes.

[Whill]

[Ray]

My crew went by the idea that:
Light Repeating Blaster = 5-Round Burst
Medium Repeating Blaster = 4-Round Burst
Heavy Repeating Blaster = 3-Round Burst

Hit the base difficulty, the first round hits. +5 to hit the same target, or one 1-meter away from it (at Character Scale.).

Light Repeaters put a lot of shots out that created covering fire that made everyone duck for their lives.

Heavy Repeaters had a good (for higher-experienced characters) chance for hitting multiple times to a target/targets.

Medium Repeaters... We didn't really use.

E-Webs, being Heavy Repeaters, were our weapons of choice for suppressing a force. Yeah, we didn't hit as many targets, but, damned if we didn't DROP a lot more and made the others want to go home and rethink their lives. Maybe get into Deathstick dealing.

[CRMcNeill]

[Whill]