Couple Question on Shooting

[volt875]

Hey all, couple super quick question here. Is there any penalty for shooting at someone who is engaged in melee? I could of sworn there was something listed for it but I can't seem to find it now. I'm using Palladium fantasy if someone knows what page it's listed on.

Also does the characters bonus to damage from P.S. add to bow and thrown damage?

[Nekira Sudacne]

Hey all, couple super quick question here. Is there any penalty for shooting at someone who is engaged in melee? I could of sworn there was something listed for it but I can't seem to find it now. I'm using Palladium fantasy if someone knows what page it's listed on.

Nope, Palladium has no penalties for ranged characters firing into melee and no particular risk of hitting your teammates. It's preference is to focus on more cinematic action where trying to shoot the guy grappling your friend might not hit but won't hurt your friend.

Also does the characters bonus to damage from P.S. add to bow and thrown damage?

No, though a high PS does add to range of thrown weapons, it does nothing for bows, and nothing for damage on either.

One should note there are also no penalties for moving while shooting.

In General therefore, ranged combat doesn't do at lot of damage, but it is fairly safe if you can stay out of range somehow and they don't have anything that can hit you back.

[volt875]

Thanks for the info!

[Prysus]

Hey all, couple super quick question here. Is there any penalty for shooting at someone who is engaged in melee? I could of sworn there was something listed for it but I can't seem to find it now. I'm using Palladium fantasy if someone knows what page it's listed on.

Greetings and Salutations. No such penalties that I'm aware of. A G.M. may consider this a "Wild" shot or related to the Movement penalties (I'll address these both more later), or require a Called Shot (especially if the ally is between the shooter and the target), but those would be G.M. calls and/or situational.

Also does the characters bonus to damage from P.S. add to bow and thrown damage?

In general, no. The P.S. damage is applied to hand to hand combat, which in general is melee. I don't believe this is ever expressly addressed in Palladium Fantasy Second Edition (PF2), but this is directly addressed in Rifts Ultimate Edition (RUE) on page 328. While Rifts rules aren't always the same as PF2, they can often give indicators.

One should note there are also no penalties for moving while shooting.

There are penalties for moving in both PF2 and RUE.

In PF2, on page 59 (within the W.P. Archery section) there are penalties for moving. This rule is repeated again for the Long Bow on page 83 (within the Long Bowman O.C.C. write-up). The rule halves bonuses and rate of fire (ROF) if moving or off balance.

In RUE, on page 361 (in the Ranged Combat section) there are rules for Shooting Wild. This is a flat -6 penalty, and includes moving and firing off balance*. Within the W.P. Archery write-up on page 326 it lists the same penalties as PF2 (above). This could be cumulative, but I suspect it's just an editing mistake.

* The rule also mentions enraged and panicked, so including mentally off balance seems to apply as well as physically.

I personally prefer the RUE rule for Wild Shots, as it penalizes all individuals equally. The PF2 rule has higher penalties for better skilled archers. So a Level 1 archer has no penalty to strike at all, and ROF is reduced from 2 to 1 (-1 to ROF). Meanwhile, a level 15 archer would goes from +6 to only +3 (-3 penalty total), and ROF from 8 to 4 (-4 to ROF). This makes it a minor inconvenience for an unskilled archer, but a far greater impact on the skilled character.

If you're interested in more rules and options for archery, I personally recommend Rifter #45 article: Of Bows & Arrows. Of course, I am biased. Hope some of that helps. Farewell and safe journeys.[/justify]

[Nekira Sudacne]

huh! I double checked the Longbowman before posting and somehow still missed it.

[Axelmania]

Is there any penalty for shooting at someone who is engaged in melee?

Rifts 243 had a penalty for hitting "moving targets", you could probably consider people in the middle of a fight to be moving.

I don't know how many other core books the equivalent shows up in though.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Just use the HU automatic fire rules for spraying the target and shoot your friends and hope to miss.

(pssst: remember to THINK before responding.)