MGT-rapid fire rule query.

[Cdr Vimes]

Hello all,
First time poster as just got back into Traveller after a long lay off. Played CT and MT back in the day and as a bit of a collector got copies of both TNE and T4. I'd just finished Dark Heraesy campaign, 3 years worth and some home brew BRP steampunk and wanted to try Trav again.

Very impressed with MGT and have just taken delivery of the central supply catalogue.

I can't find rules in either the core book or the catalogue for rapid fire weapons, happy with burst and auto fire.

Can someone summarise them, point me in the right direction or are they in another book, supplement?

 

[Adam Dray]

MGT Core Rulebook. Combat chapter, under "Special Considerations" and "Automatic Weapons."

If a weapon has a "burst fire" option: add the Auto value to damage.

If a weapon has an "auto fire" option: roll a bunch of dice (one per Auto rating); pair them up as you like; each pair is an attack roll against any target within 6 meters of one another. Plus lots of other finicky rules about skill caps.

 

[Adam Dray]

Personally, I find the auto fire rules atrociously bad. Typical weapons have very low Auto values. Most are Auto 4, but the ACR is Auto 6.

This just means that auto fire gets you 2 attacks instead of 1. The ACR gets 3 attacks. While it's better than non-auto, it seems pretty lame.

It's also pretty fiddly in terms of game mechanics and handling time at the table. I can see the in-game advantage of rolling 4d6 and dividing them into two attacks (vs. just making two separate attacks), but is it worth the handling time?

I don't have any personal experience with automatic weapons. I'm sure someone on the board does. I assume it's easier to hit a target with a big spray of bullets than with finesse and a 3-round or 5-round burst.

Why not just make auto fire something like this?

Roll separate attacks against as many targets as the weapon's Auto rating. The first attack receives a +1 DM. Each attack after the first reduces the DM by 1 (so the attacks are +1, +0, -1, -2, etc.). Each target after the first needs to be within 6 meters of the last one you attacked.

And don't forget the Recoil rules, which affects initiative, not attack DMs.

 

[Cdr Vimes]

Cheers for the reply Adam,

I agree the rules are a bit clunky and I am happy-ish with the RAW in the core rulebook. What I was after was that in the Central Supply Catalogue some weapons also have a Rapid Fire rating as well as burst and auto fire and I can't find another reference to this in the rules.

 

[hellblock]

As far as I have been able to work out, rapid fire mode is a higher rate of fire than standard auto fire (for most weapons). The ammunition usage is stated in the weapons background description, while the modified auto fire rating is listed in the stats as a second entry in the auto column. At least one weapon in the csc is described as only using rapid fire, and so only has one entry in the auto column (this is so gms have something to show players when they say "no, you can't increase rate of fire of that gun, it is already firing as fast as possible").

 

[Cdr Vimes]

All noted but what is the game effect of rapid firing over auto or burst fire? I can't find it anywhere.

 

[hellblock]

To give you the higher auto rating given in the weapons statline (with the higher ammunition use specified). I have found no other effect listed.

 

[Cdr Vimes]

Doh, of course. As auto fire but a higher RoF. Thanks, can't believe I was being that dense.