Combat
Cover and shields
In cover means completely behind something that stops a bullet. There's no half cover. Cover has HP: shoot it apart and you're exposed again.
The golden rule
You're in cover if you're completely hidden behind something that can stop a bullet. If any part of you is visible, you're not in cover.
There's no partial cover: a thing either stops a bullet or it doesn't. If it doesn't, it isn't cover, and it has no HP.
You can't shoot directly at someone in cover. There are two ways to get them:
- move so they become visible: flank them, get higher up;
- destroy the cover.
Cover HP
A 2 × 2 meter section of cover can be attacked like a person. Its HP depend on the material and thickness:
| Material | Thick | Thin |
|---|---|---|
| Steel | 50 | 25 |
| Stone | 40 | 20 |
| Bulletproof glass | 30 | 15 |
| Concrete | 25 | 10 |
| Wood | 20 | 5 |
| Gypsum, plaster, plastic | 15 | not cover |
Cover at 0 HP is destroyed. Extra damage from the shot that finished it is lost — the person hiding behind can only be hit by the next attack. The exception is an explosion: it hits both the cover and whoever is behind it with one roll.
Steel can't be broken with fists or Martial Arts — except with a cyberarm or BODY 10+. Thin cover can be moved; thick cover only with equipment or BODY 10+.
What's usually at hand
| Cover | Material | HP |
|---|---|---|
| Vault door | thick steel | 50 |
| Car engine block, fire hydrant | thick steel | 50 |
| Boulder | thick stone | 40 |
| Bank window | thick bulletproof glass | 30 |
| Concrete pillar, info kiosk | thick concrete | 25 |
| Car door, fridge, dumpster | thin steel | 25 |
| Bar counter, tree, log wall | thick wood | 20 |
| Steel door | thin steel | 20 |
| Statue | thin stone | 20 |
| Office wall, couch | thick gypsum | 15 |
| Flipped table, cabinet, wooden door | thin wood | 5 |
| Office partition, ordinary windshield | — | not cover |
Shields
A shield is portable cover. Drawing or stowing it is an Action, and while it's in your hand, that hand is busy.
- When someone you can see attacks you, you can block with the shield. Then you can't dodge any more, but the shooter can still simply miss with their roll.
- The shield takes all the damage. At 0 HP it's broken and no longer gives cover, though it stays in your hand until you drop it as an Action.
| Shield | HP | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Bulletproof shield | 10 | 100 eb |
| Corpse | BODY in life | — |
Human shield
We all knew it would come to this. An opponent you hold in a grab can be turned into a shield — that's an Action, with the hand you hold them with (if it doesn't already hold another shield).
- While you hold them, you're in cover against ranged attacks — but not against aimed shots to the head: a human shield squirms.
- Bullets you catch with them hit them like any person. They can't dodge, even with REF 8+.
- Once dead, they become an ordinary shield with HP equal to their BODY.
- Letting go of a living one is free. Dropping a corpse is an Action, like any shield.
Related: Autofire, shotgun shells and explosives, Armor and damage