Fanning

[Sean_RDP]

So if this is not the place for this, please feel free to move...

I have been going over different rule ideas and was toying with alternate attack methods. Long story short I contemplated what fanning a six gun in a BRP might look like

Fanning

Fanning of a revolver was a common means of firing multiple shots in a short amount of time. To do so in combat a character declares he or she is "fanning" on their attack and picks 1 to 3 targets in their line of sight. On the character's normal attack SR, he or she makes a single attack roll at a 25% penalty. If the roll succeeds, roll 1d3 to determine which target is hit and allow that character to make a dodge roll (if applicable). Even if the attack fails, the firing character pits his or her POW against the POW of each of the targets. If the attacker succeeds against a target, that target has a 15% penalty on all actions for one round. 

So the idea is that even though inaccurate, fanning can be intimidating because of the hail of bullets. Here are some thoughts I had on it

• Is 25% enough of a penalty for the shooter?
• Is 15% too big a penalty for the targets?
• If using Special Successes, 2 targets are hit on a special success
• If the roll is a  critical, all three targets are hit

Just curious what others might think. I may actually do a Wild West version of Q21 after Skaerune' and Runed Worlds, so it is not just a throw away thought.

[K Peterson]

Well, here's what I hope will be constructive criticism...

I ran a Call of Cthulhu Western campaign about 4 years ago, and pulled Wild West firearm rules (including fanning) from a number of different sources. The magazine, Worlds of Cthulhu, issue 2; Chaosium's Devil's Gulch, and just the 6th edition of Call of Cthulhu.

Fanning, mechanically, was similar to an Unaimed Shot in Call of Cthulhu, where RoF was doubled but accuracy was significantly reduced (to 1/4 or 1/5 of skill level). There wasn't a suppression-like affect (which is what you seem to be modelling) but there was some extra lead in the air that could be directed in an arc towards multiple targets.

Nowadays, I'd likely just grab the Investigator Weapons books, produced by SixtyStone Press, and utilize their firearm mechanics to cover just about everything. 

To answer your questions:

• I don't think -25% is a big enough penalty for the shooter. I prefer a fraction of skill level as opposed to a flat penalty.
• I don't think that targets should be at much risk of being intimidated (suppressed) in the case of a fanning attack from a revolver, even if your RoF is 6. Or if there is a risk of suppression it's because the target has a low POW. Any targets that survive the fanning attack will likely realize that the shooter no longer has a loaded weapon, too...
• I also don't think that the shooter's POW should be used if you are allowing 'intimidation' as an added effect, because I don't think it has anything to do with the situation. Investigator Weapons, vol 2, does use a contest with the Resistance Table against the target's POW - but it's the RoF of which is the "active characteristic". 

Edited November 29, 2015 by K Peterson
Fixing bad grammer

[GianniVacca]

The next issue of The Hanging Garden [http://2ndage.blogspot.com/p/the-hanging-garden.html] is a 'Wild West' special issue. If you want to contribute an article about Fanning, you're welcome :-)

[MrJealousy]

I'm not sure fanning a pistol is especially intimidating when being shot at by anything is intimidating in itself. Will you be having intimidation rules for shotgun, Gatling gun, canon as well?

I offered a very simple interpretation of fanning in Aces High. Weapon speed is 1 better than standard and to hit is reduced by 20%. Very quick, very easy to deal with.

Edited December 3, 2015 by MrJealousy