Trav has been noted for being gritty, it is what it is, though this definition is different for everyone.
Really, the culture seems to be but the rules themselves don't require it.
I lived here up until three years ago this month:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2wBh8QfqZUA/S8AJGwmRwjI/AAAAAAAAAL0/YaVZaOtB2-k/s1600/murdermap.jpg
Oddly enough, yes you can just catch a bad case of automatic fire from out of nowhere.
What was the hit to rounds fired ratio? If it was more than 1-3% I'd be surprised. Not that being in that percentage is any fun, but full auto fire is generally more surpressive than effective.
I own a bunch, I try to keep up.
Many DMs don't; their knowledge is the rule book and the theatre. Not many have been shot or shot at. Not many have tried to put any speed, power, or accuracy into it.
Ye olde morale check. PC's are lucky, I often have NPC's check their morale before combat.
That's a great mechanism. Often military PCs can be given the option. Not sure about non-Military PCs. Angelo would probably dive for cover while John would find cover and return fire.
Nice!
Paragraph1, Page 4 and Paragraph 3, Page 6 seems to agree with me earlier.
Page 11 supports the stuff from Striker; Military veterans with heroism awards were less likely to be incapacitated. I loved that!
Assuming sufficient penetration capability then perhaps a better "damage" scale would be based on the to hit roll with mods for penetration? A 38 Special Snub might take a -3 to the roll and a .357 SIG out of a full sized barrel might get a +3.
The report really seems to sum up what I thought and had gathered from experience. They say it better, though.
It's a give and take, I can only be as creative as the players make it, ultimately it is in their hands.
IMO this does play back into the heroic deal in that anybody can be a hero and I don't set up regular people as targets, they have lives and everything else, with their own motivations.
Normal people can be heroic. However, we tend to focus on fiction characters who are especially fit to be heroic in some form or fashion. "The best <fill in the blank>".
But yeah, in the end it comes down to how the players and DM come together to write the story. That's why I try to give my DMs as much info as I can without drowning them in it, and why I look for games that are closer to my ideal.
Right now John is in a tricky but manageable spot. He felt the Raiders were misrepresented, even by his own initial intel. Putting the camp in "wait and get shot" mode was risky for morale and gave all the advantage to the raiders, should they attack. By going to look first hand he eliminated false intel and is getting a better sense of the threat. He is on high alert, mentally, but he's trusting his instincts that these folks will either deal or at least give him and Jaq a chance to retreat, given sufficient threat.
It also goes back to situational awareness. John is accepting the risk because he's seen the alternative. He might die here but the odds are in his favor. He has a better than that chance of turning a bad situation into a good one and that's worth a little risk.
Not sure if you read that one back story I sent you but it may explain things better.
Leitz
