Statistics & References: Rules Clarification & Expansion

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Skill Use
Camouflage, Concealment, Detect Concealment/Ambush, Prowl, Trap/Mine Construction and Detection -

In the case of a fixed camouflaged object (mines, etc.), half the margin of success of a character's concealing roll, using the appropriate skill, is taken as a penalty to the skill roll to detect the item.

In the case of camouflaging a person or vehicle, half the margin of success on the Camouflage skill roll is applied as a bonus to the character's Prowl skill. Note that this means there is no direct penalty for failing a Camouflage roll under most circumstances.

Half the sneaking character's margin of success on the Prowl roll is applied as a penalty to the detecting character's skill roll. This means that there's still a distinct possibility that characters will pass undetected even if the Prowl roll is failed.

Demolitions -

Arming a fusion block with a standard timer does NOT require a skill roll and is a single combat action to enter the numbers into the keypad. Arming a fusion block with a nonstandard detonator, such as a tripwire or radio detonation, does require a skill roll at +20%.

Placing charges for maximum effect requires a skill roll. A failed roll may indicate premature detonation or faulty arming at the GM's discretion. A successful roll increases explosive damage by a percentage equal to the margin of success.

"Actions:" A Definition
An "action" is a combat attack or defense that does not occur automatically and consumes approximately three seconds. The number of "actions" consumed may be calculated, as a rule of thumb, by estimating how long the act under consideration will take in seconds, and dividing by three. In the case of exceeding fifteen seconds, it consumes all actions for the round and may consume further actions. Most characters will have three to seven actions, depending on training and level. Actions are granted by race and training.

Automatic Actions
Examples of automatic actions include the Juicer dodge, any other listed auto-dodge, parrying in melee combat (for all characters with hand-to-hand skills), and short communications.

Close Combat
Sentry Removal - A character who gets within 1/10 the maximum distance he can move in one combat round (Spd x 0.4 yards, or Spd x1.2 feet) without being detected as a threat may attempt a quick, silent kill against a single target. Removing pairs of sentries, therefore, requires two stealthy characters. The character must roll to strike with all appropriate bonuses for weapon proficiency, with a to-hit goal of the target's Armor Rating. A successful hit does double normal weapon damage directly to the target's hit points.

Movement
A character may move his full movement rate for the round at the cost of half of his actions for the round. Any attempts to use weapons, whether melee or ranged, will be considered a "wild" attack and receive no bonuses from proficiency. If this option is chosen, the character may attempt no defenses, parry, dodge, or otherwise; this is a flat-out sprint.

A character may move half his movement rate for the round at the cost of two actions. Attacks under these circumstances are considered wild, but the character may dodge normally. This is a "combat run," where most of the character's time is actually spent seeking cover, not running.

A character may move one-quarter his movement rate for the round at the cost of one action; this is considered a walking pace. Melee attacks under these circumstances are handled normally. Ranged attacks under these circumstances, even aimed, get the burst-fire proficiency bonus. Defenses under these circumstances are handled normally.

Ranged Combat: Dodging
Characters may use one dodge action per round to seek cover at long range. This should be their first action of the round. The resulting Dodge roll either replaces their existing Armor Rating (if above the AR) or is discarded as a wasted action (if less than AR). "Ranged" in this case is arbitrarily defined as 25 feet or farther. Within 25 feet, dodging works on a per-attack basis as usual, to represent the character weaving to avoid being hit by incoming fire.

In the special case of artillery, this dodge roll is the characters' "Incoming!" reaction, hitting the ground and flattening themselves. This will usually be a straight roll-off between firer and target without bonuses except for the "Sixth Sense" psionic power or something similar; however, combat troops may, at the GM's discretion, receive a bonus for instinctive reaction.

Ranged Combat: Environmental Effects
Energy weapons have their performance affected as follows:

Sniping
Attacking characters at exceptionally long range is referred to as "sniping." It generally applies either to attacking targets at 800+ feet with un-sighted weapons, or (800x optic magnification), or in the last 10% of the maximum effective range for a weapon, if the range is less than the sights' capabilities. A single-action shot at this range increment takes a penalty as described in "Bonuses and Penalties," above. The character may spend a number of actions up to his ME attribute bonus (minimum of one) to reduce this penalty by one per action spent. This "settling" bonus resets every shot; if a character wants to kill an entire squad of eight men at this range, he will likely need to spend eight combat rounds' worth of actions to attempt the shot.

A party successfully attacked by these attacks automatically loses initiative and one attack to reflect confusion, seeking cover, and attempting to identify the source of fire. They may attempt to regain control of themselves and return to their original initiative order by passing a Horror Factor save (HF 12) once they come within their own weapons' range of the sniper.