Weapons are one of the fastest ways to turn a fight into a murder.
Sometimes, that’s what you want: Pulling a gun shows you’re serious about killing people.
A weapon’s damage rating adds bonus successes to a successful attack roll. When a weapon might help out in other ways — using a chain to grapple someone, or a gun to intimidate her, add the weapon’s damage rating as an equipment modifier.
Every weapon deals lethal damage to mortals. A baseball bat, club, or mace does just as much serious trauma to the human body as an edged weapon or a bullet.
Improvised Weapons
The weapons charts can only go so far. Characters who grab improvised weapons still stand a chance of doing serious damage.
If your improvised weapon is close enough to one of the weapons above, use the associated weapon profile. Otherwise, an improvised weapon does (Durability – 1) damage, with an initiative penalty and Strength requirement equal to the weapon’s Size.
Using an improvised weapon reduces your attack pool by –1 die. On a successful attack, the weapon takes the same amount of damage as it inflicts; Durability reduces this damage as normal. Once the weapon’s Structure is reduced to 0, the object is wrecked.
Melee Weapon Chart
| Type | Damage | Initiative | Strength | Size | Availability | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sap | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 | • | Stun |
| Brass Knuckles | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | • | Use Brawl to attack |
| Baton | 1 | -1 | 2 | 2 | • | |
| Crowbar | 2 | -2 | 2 | 2 | • | |
| Tire Iron | 1 | -3 | 2 | 2 | •• | +1 Defence |
| Chain | 1 | -3 | 2 | 2 | • | Grapple |
| Shield, small | 0 | -2 | 2 | 2 | •• | Concealed |
| Shield, large | 2 | -4 | 3 | 3 | •• | Concealed |
| Knife | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 | • | |
| Rapier | 1 | -2 | 1 | 2 | •• | Armour Piercing 1 |
| Machete | 2 | -2 | 2 | 2 | •• | |
| Hatchet | 1 | -2 | 1 | 1 | • | |
| Fire Axe | 3 | -4 | 3 | 3 | •• | 9-again, two-handed |
| Chainsaw | 5 | -6 | 4 | 3 | ••• | 9-again, two-handed |
| Spear | 2 | -2 | 2 | 4 | • | +1 Defence, two-handed |
- Type: A weapon’s type is a general classification that can apply to anything your character picks up. A metal club might be an antique mace, a metal baseball bat, or a hammer, while a hatchet might be a meat cleaver or an antique hand-axe.
- Damage: Indicates the number of bonus successes added to a successful attack to determine the amount of lethal damage dealt.
- Initiative: The penalty taken to Initiative when wielding the weapon. If using more than one weapon, take the higher penalty and increase by 1.
- Strength: The minimum Strength needed to use a weapon effectively. A wielder with a lower Strength suffers a –1 die penalty on attack rolls.
- Size: 1 = Can be hidden in a hand; 2 = Can be hidden in a coat; 3+ = Cannot be hidden.
- Availability: The cost in Resources dots or level of Social Merit needed to acquire the weapon.
- Concealed: A character who wields a shield but doesn’t use it to attack can add its Size to his Defence, and uses its Size as a concealment modifier against ranged attacks.
- Grapple: Add the chain’s damage rating to your dice pool when grappling.
- Stun: Halve the victim’s Size when aiming for the head with intent to stun
- Two-handed: This weapon requires two hands. It can be used one-handed, but doing so increases the Strength requirement by 1.
- The reach of a spear gives a +1 Defence bonus against opponents who are unarmed or wield weapons of Size 1.
Ranged Weapons Chart
| Type | Dmg | Ranges | Clip | Initiative | Str | Size | Availability | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revolver, light | 1 | 20/40/80 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | •• | SW M640 (.38 Special) |
| Revolver, heavy | 2 | 35/70/140 | 6 | -2 | 3 | 1 | •• | SW M29 (.44 Magnum) |
| Pistol, light | 1 | 20/40/80 | 17 + 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ••• | Glock 17 (9mm) |
| Pistol, heavy | 2 | 30/60/120 | 7 + 1 | -2 | 3 | 1 | ••• | Colt M1911A1 (.45 ACP) |
| SMG, small1 | 1 | 25/50/100 | 30 + 1 | -2 | 2 | 1 | ••• | Ingram Mac-10 (9mm) |
| SMG, large1 | 2 | 50/100/200 | 30 + 1 | -3 | 3 | 2 | ••• | HK MP-5 (9mm) |
| Rifle | 4 | 200/400/800 | 5 + 1 | -5 | 2 | 3 | •• | Remington M-700 (30.06) |
| Assault Rifle1 | 3 | 150/300/600 | 42 + 1 | -3 | 3 | 3 | ••• | Stery-Aug (5.56mm) |
| Shotgun2 | 3 | 20/40/80 | 5 + 1 | -4 | 3 | 2 | •• | Remington M870 (12-gauge) |
| Crossbow3 | 2 | 40/80/160 | 1 | -5 | 3 | 3 | ••• | Arrow or whatever |
- Damage: Indicates the number of bonus successes added to a successful attack to determine the amount of lethal damage dealt.
- Ranges: The listed numbers a short/medium/long ranges in yards/meters. Attacks at medium range suffer a –1 die penalty. Attacks at long range suffer a –2 die penalty.
- Clip: The number of rounds a gun can hold. A “+1” indicates that a bullet can be held in the chamber, ready to fire.
- Initiative: The penalty taken to Initiative when wielding the gun.
- Strength: The minimum Strength needed to use a weapon effectively. A wielder with a lower Strength suffers a –1 penalty on attack rolls.
- Size: 1 = Can be fired one-handed; 2 = Must be fired two-handed and can be hidden in a coat; 3 = Can be fired two-handed but not hidden on one’s person
- Availability: The cost in Resources dots or level of Social Merit needed to acquire the weapon.
- 1: The weapon is capable of autofire, including short bursts, medium bursts, and long bursts.
- 2: Attack rolls gain the 9-Again quality
- 3: Crossbows take three turns to reload between shots.