Hiding behind something is a good way to not get shot.
How effective it is depends how much the cover hides.
Concealment penalties apply to a shooter’s dice pool.
- Barely Concealed: –1 (hiding behind an office chair)
- Partially Concealed: –2 (hiding behind the hood of a car, with upper body exposed)
- Substantially Concealed: –3 (crouching behind a car).
A character who is concealed and wants to fire at someone else takes a penalty to his Firearms attack that’s one less than the penalty afforded by the character’s protection — so if he’s substantially concealed, he can fire back with a –2 die penalty.
If a target’s entirely hidden by something substantial, he’s in cover. If the cover’s Durability is greater than the weapon modifier, the bullets can’t penetrate the cover. Otherwise, subtract the cover’s Durability from the attacker’s damage roll.
If the cover is transparent (bulletproof glass, for example), subtract half the cover’s Durability, rounding down. Both the object and the target take any remaining damage.