Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

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max_vale
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Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

#1 Post by max_vale »

Combat Mechanics:

Defensive skills: Dodge, Brawling Parry, Melee Parry and Driving/Piloting skills

-In combat you can decide to employ one or more of the Defensive skills mentioned above. Dodge is ducking, juking, weaving, diving, rolling, etc. to avoid being hit (by anything...i.e. this skill can be used when shot at, when swung at with fists or weapons, etc.); the Parry skills are for blocking attacks; either with arms, legs etc. vs. hand-to-hand attacks (Brawling Parry) or with a hand-held weapon or shield (Melee Parry) vs. hand-held/thrown weapons. The Driving (or Piloting skills) are likewise used to Dodge attacks when in a moving vehicle.

Why have both Dodge and Parry? Dodge will either avoid an attack or not....Parry can Block an attack and if the roll is high enough (10 or more higher than the attack roll it parried); it will negate any further attacks by the attacker vs. the player making the roll for the rest of the round AND potentially lead to a disarm or physically damaging block if the GM so desires. (I.e. if Gang member X attacks PC Y with a switchblade and rolls a 7 on his Melee Weapons roll and PC Y is using a garbage can lid as a makeshift Shield and rolls a 17 on his Melee Parry roll; the GM could rule that PC Y slammed the incoming attack hard enough with the lid to knock the switchblade out of the attackers hand....or something along those lines).

Two choices of Dodge/Parry/Evasion (i.e. when using the Driving/Piloting skill to avoid enemy fire while driving/flying a vehicle): When a character opts to use one of the Defensive skills; they have 2 choices....either a 'Quick' Dodge/Parry/Evade or a 'Full' Dodge/Parry/Evade. If using a 'Full' Dodge/Parry/Evade; the character rolls the skill dice and adds the total result to the Difficulty number needed to hit him by an NPCs attacking him. (I.e. Player Z knows he's going to be shot at by 3 Soviet troops so he decides to use a Full Dodge. The Soviets are at short range, which is normally a difficulty number of 10 needed to hit Player Z. The player decides to full dodge though; so he rolls his Dodge dice and gets a result of 11. This is added to the Difficulty number, so now the Soviets need a 21 to hit him.

If using a Full Dodge/Parry/Evasion, the player choosing this option can take NO other actions that round.

If using a Quick Dodge/Parry/Evasion; the character may take other actions as desired (i.e. the Player chooses to shoot once and Quick Dodge any return fire once....this lowers both actions' skill dice by 1D per standard rules); and the Dodge/Parry/Evasion dice roll result is used as the new Difficulty number to hit.....even if it's worse than the default Difficulty number to hit. (The character ducked/dodged the wrong way, etc.) Example: Player V decides to have her character Quick Dodge once and shoot once as she knows she's going to be shot at by a Soviet Rifleman at Medium range. She rolls her skill dice (reduced by -1D due to taking two actions this round) and her Dodge roll comes up a 12....this is worse than the default Medium range Difficulty of 15 but it is now the number to beat by the Soviet Rifleman.


Next: Various Attack options/skills breakdown....

max_vale
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Re: Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

#2 Post by max_vale »

Damage/Wounds:

Weapons:

When hit in the game; weapon damage is rolled against the STR attribute and the numbers are then compared. Depending on the results; wounds may occur:

-If the STR roll is higher than the Damage roll then the result: GRAZED. No lasting damage; only game effect is any actions left that round by the person grazed are at -1D.

-If the Damage roll is greater than the STR roll, but less than twice as much, the result is: WOUNDED: All actions taken by the wounded character are at -1D until treated.

-If the Damage roll is twice as high as the STR roll, but less than 3 times as much, the result is: SERIOUSLY WOUNDED: Any remaining actions the character Seriously wounded has that round don't happen and the character is at -2D for all actions until treated and can only barely move and is in a great amount of pain. Condition will automatically worsen if not treated within 24 hours

-If the damage roll is three times higher or more than the STR roll; the result is: MORTALLY WOUNDED: The character falls to the ground and is unable to take any actions; is most likely unconscious and every round after the character is hit a roll of 2d6 is made and if the roll is equal to or less than the round number after the wound; the character dies. (I.e. the first round after the character is hit; the 2d6 rol is made and if the result is a 1...which is impossible; the character would expire....on round 2 after the wound, if a 2 is rolled, the character dies; on round 3 after the wound is taken, if a 2 or 3 is rolled, the character dies; etc.)

If a character is wounded and takes further damaged; if the result is equal too the current condition or lower (except for GRAZE results); the condition worsens by 1 level...i.e. if a character is WOUNDED and takes another hit that results in the WOUNDED condition; that character is now SERIOUSLY Wounded. If the WOUNDED character had taken a result of SERIOUSLY WOUNDED instead; they'd be SERIOUSLY WOUNDED....if the result was GRAZED; the Wounded character would remain Wounded.


In hand to hand attacks....or if hit by certain weapons decided to knock-out or subdue someone (i.e. tear-gas or rubber bullets); the results are a bit different:

-STR roll higher than the Damage roll: GLANCING BLOW; same effect as Grazed above.

-Damage roll greater than STR roll but less than twice as high: BRUISED: The character takes a painful hit and loses any actions they were going to take that round and will be at -1D for all actions taken for the next 2d6 combat rounds or minutes...depending on the situation.

UNCONSCIOUS: The character is knocked out for 4d6 minutes. After coming too; the character is at -1D for all actions for the next hour.

UNCONSCIOUS & WOUNDED: As above; except the character is also WOUNDED and suffer all the results of the WOUND status as per above.



Treating Wounds: If a character has the Medicine skill; they can attempt to heal injuries; which requires supplies (either bare-bones such as hot water and needle and thread or actual medical kits/instruments/etc.) and some time. (Several minutes/rounds at least).

If the character doing the healing has adequate supplies and a decent location, etc.; the Difficulty number needed is as below; as is the recovery status of the wounded:

WOUNDED: 10; the character is fully patched up and able to take all actions without penalty or perhaps with a short-term penalty while recovering per GM fiat.

SERIOUSLY WOUNDED: 20; the character is fully patched up; but probably has a cast/sling/crutch/tight bandages/etc. that will impose restrictions on certain activities for a few days to a week as GM rules

MORTALLY WOUNDED: 30; the character is brought back to a Seriously Wounded condition for the next day or two; then improves to a Wounded condition for a week or two as long as no vigorous activity is engaged in; as the GM sees fit.

If the Doctor/Healer does NOT have access to decent equipment/medicines/etc.; the numbers above get a +5 Difficulty adjustment (i.e. Wounded: 15; Seriously Wounded: 25; etc.) and chances increase for things like infection, etc.

Bruises and being knocked unconscious don't require any real healing; but the effects may be lessened as the GM rules (i.e. perhaps a character knocked unconscious is only at -1D for all actions for half and hour if treated by someone who knows what they're doing instead of an hour; etc.)

max_vale
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Re: Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

#3 Post by max_vale »

Attacks and special options:

Most attacks in the game will be with Guns, Fists/Feet (Brawling attacks), Melee Weapons or Thrown Weapons (Grenades, hurled knives, etc.). The occasional Launcher Weapon (RPG, etc.) might come into play as well. Here's each category in a bit more detail:

Guns:

This covers everything from pistols to machineguns and for all of them, the basic Difficulty Numbers are based on range (which will vary from weapon to weapon) and break down like this:

Point Blank Range (anything within a couple of yards): 5
Short Range: 10
Medium Range: 15
Long Range: 20
Extreme Range: 30

Keep in mind certain factors like 'Target moving at high speed (running, etc.)' or 'Target behind Cover''; which can modify these numbers....here's a few examples:

-Target Moving at running speed: +2 to Difficulty number
-Target Prone (at anything beyond Point Blank Range): +2 to Difficulty number
-Target behind Cover (kneeling down behind a wall; behind a thick tree; etc.): +5 to Difficulty number
-Target behind Heavy Cover (in a bunker with only a narrow firing port, etc.): +10 to Difficulty number

All guns have Rates of Fire (ROF); there are 3 types: Single Shot (SS); Burst or Spray.

-Single shot is 1 trigger pull equals 1 shot; Pistols, Rifles and Shotguns ALWAYS fire at this rate. (You can fire more than 1 shot per round; each shot is an action and each shot fires 1 round of ammo). A single shot can be Aimed and/or a Called Shot.

-Burst is a set number of bullets (usually between 3-10) are fired with each pull of the trigger. Submachineguns, Assault Rifles and Machineguns can utilize this option. Each weapon will have a number of rounds fired in a burst in its description; i.e. Mac-10 Burst: 5. Firing a Burst is 1 action, just like firing Single Shot. A bust can be aimed but can NOT be a Called Shot.

-Spray is an option for PCs firing SMGs, Assault Rifles or Machineguns. Spray uses a large number of rounds fired in an arc that covers an area of between 10-20 feet in width (10 for SMGs, 15 for Assault Rifles; 20 for MGs) and can hit multiple people at once (3 for SMGs; 4 for Assault Rifles and 5 for MGs....assuming there's that many targets in the arc of fire). Spray fire can be neither Aimed nor a Called Shot. 1 Hit roll is made against all targets in the arc and if a PC chooses to Spray fire that is the ONLY action the PC can make that round. A designated number of rounds (usually between 10-20) is fired whenever a spray is utilized.

As is shown above; the possible ROFs for each type of weapon is as follows:

-Pistols: SS
-Rifles: SS
-Shotguns: SS
-SMGs: Burst and Spray
-Assault Rifles: SS, Burst and Spray
-MGs: Burst and Spray

(Now some of you may read this and say; "HEY WAIT A SECOND! MP 5 SMGs can TOTALLY fire a Single-shot at a time! Or....what about Browning Full Auto Shotguns? You're absolutely correct....I'm doing this as a game mechanic device to try and use weapons the cinematic/most effective way and so that PC X doesn't look at a Mac-10 Submachinegun and think.....'Cool; a gun with 30 rounds....that should last me for a couple of adventures as I fire one shot at a time')


Another thing to remember: All guns can be fired normally; or they may be aimed and/or used with 'Called Shots'.

-Aimed: The PC takes one whole round aiming at a target that he must be able to see and can take no other actions that round. The following round(s) (as long as Aim is maintained) a shot or burst may be fired at that target with a +1D bonus to the Guns skill.

-Called Shots: The PC may make a Called Shot; usually to attempt to inflict more damage; but also for things like 'disarming shots' or 'shoot the rope', etc. If a called shot is made; the shooting character gets a +10 increase to the Difficulty Number but if a hit is scored; damage is increased by +1D or the intended effect occurs (i.e. a gun shot out of someone's hand, a line cut, etc.) A Called Shot CAN be aimed. Called Shots cannot be Bursts or Sprays.

Note: Scopes on Rifles or Assault Rifles will make Medium Range shots use a Short Range Difficulty Number and Long range shots use Medium Range Difficulty numbers and Extreme range shots use Long range Difficulty numbers. They have no effect on Point Blank or Short Range shots. They can be used with Single Shots or Bursts but NOT with sprays and they cannot be used by running or Dodging characters

Okay, gun types include:

Pistols: These come in two basic types; Revolvers and Semi-Autos.

Revolvers have swing out cylinders that usually hold 6 rounds (some have 5 or 8) and each round is loaded into a separate chamber. The advantage of a Revolver is that they don't jam....they can have dud/misfire rounds; but the cylinder can then just be advanced to the next round. The disadvantage is that each round has to be loaded one at a time...a process that takes a whole Turn in which the PC can do nothing else; or at a rate of 1 action to unload all rounds and 1 action to load a chamber.

Semi-Autos: These are clip-fed and reload automatically each time the pistol is fired. The advantages of these weapons are that they can carry more ammo and that they can be unloaded and reloaded faster than revolvers. The disadvantage is that they can jam...which then means the weapon cannot fire again until the jam is cleared. If a jam occurs, it takes 1 whole round in which the PC can do nothing else to unjam the weapon. Loading/Unloading takes 1 action, provided a loaded clip is ready at hand.

Submachineguns: These are fully automatic weapons that fire pistol ammo and are usually small enough to be carried and fired in one hand; though two hands is better. They typically have a VERY high fire rate and can fire in Bursts or Sprays. However, due to their high rate of fire and small size; when firing sprays; a STR roll vs. a Difficulty number of 10 is required or the Spray goes high/wide/low as the firer opens up with uncontrolled fire. If the STR roll is successful, a normal attack roll is made.

Shotguns: Two-handed, big bore weapons that fire shells filled with small pellets to increase damage and chance of hitting; shotguns are very powerful but relatively short-ranged. They are very reliable and tend to come in two main types; double-barrelled which break open to load in each shell into each barrel individually or pump-action, which hold the shells in a tube underneath the barrel and new shells are moved into the chamber by pumping the action; which also ejects a spent shell at the same time. Shotguns do a lot of damage at short range and only a little damage at long range. They also have the chance to hit multiple targets if the targets are very close together (within a few feet of each other at Medium Range and within a yard of each other at Long Range) at further ranges.

Rifles: Two-handed, long-range weapons; Rifles are the quintessential hunting and/or sniping weapon. They are usually quite powerful and may be clip fed or have internal magazine like pump-action shotguns and may be semi-automatic or bolt-action or lever-action powered to reload/eject spent rounds. Rifles have the best range of any firearm but can be unwieldy at point-blank range (Difficulty 15 vice 5 at ranges inside of 2 yards unless the weapon is right up against the target). They are usually pretty reliable as long as they are kept clean.

Assault Rifles: Two-handed, mid-range weapon that fires rifle bullets and combines most of the range and power of a rifle with the option of firing full automatic like a machinegun. These are the standard weapon of military forces and are the only weapons in the game that give players the option to use all three Rate-of-Fire options: SS, Burst or Spray. When firing Sprays; the firer needs to make a STR 10 check before making the Hit roll to see if they keep the weapon under control and not firing high/wide due to the recoil. Clip-fed; they typically carry 20-35 rounds in a clip (30 for both M-16s and AK-74s) and while they are decently reliable, the full auto feature do tend to make them more susceptible to jams than most weapons.

Light Machineguns (LMGs): These weapons are full-automatic weapons that fire rifle bullets at a higher rate-of-fire than assault rifles but are still capable of being wielded by a single person. Their fire rates are limited to Burst and Spray and they are two-handed, but are still quite heavy and therefore they are always equipped with a bi-pod to rest the weapon on to help contain the recoil and support the weight. IF fired from the hip (both burst or spray); they require STR 10 rolls for bursts and STR 15 rolls for sprays (no roll required if using the bi-pod) to handle the heavy recoil. They typically fire from either a high-capacity drum or belt-box; but most can also fire from assault rifle clips in an emergency. Strictly a military weapon; they have good range and excellent suppressing power.

Medium Machineguns and Heavy Machineguns (MMGs and HMGs): These are crew-served (2 man) full auto weapons that usually fire rifle rounds at a truly awesome rate and are always fried from bi-pods, tri-pods or pintle mounts on vehicles. One man fires and another feeds the ammo belts into the weapon (if on a bi-pod or tri-pod) and the range and damage capability of these weapons is awesome; for Heavy Machineguns they can shred most civilian vehicles in a very short time. Strictly military weapons.


Other common Combat choices include Hand-to-hand fighting, melee fighting and thrown weapons.

-Hand-to-hand Fighting: Whenever a PC decides to throw a punch, kick, grab, throw, etc.; he makes a Brawling skill roll; with the default number needed to hit is a 5. If a blow is landed, Damage is the PCs STR attribute....i.e. if Joe punches a Soviet guard and he has a STR attribute of 3D+1; he rolls 3D+1 vs. the Soviet Guard's STR to resist damage. Damage is rolled on the non-lethal track.

Characters may Dodge or Parry (using Brawling Parry); as either Quick-Dodge/Quick-Brawling Parry or Full-Dodge/Full-Brawling-Parry as listed in the above posts; hand-to-hand attacks, with effects as listed above (i.e. if a Parry roll is 10 or more higher than than the Brawling attack roll then no more attacks can be made against the Parrying character and possibly the PC has done something to the attacker to put them at a disadvantage per GM decision. An example might be that a Gang member takes a swing at a PC and the PC Parries the attack so successfully that they they catch the fist and arm of the gang member and yank them off-balance enough to drop them to the ground stunned for a round....something like that)

-Melee Fighting: This is when any character or NPC uses a weapon to attack another character; whether that weapon is a broken off table leg or a knife or a hatchet or a sword; etc. For most weapons, the Difficulty number to hit another character is 10 though for particularly complex, unwieldy or extreme skill needed to inflict harm kind of weapons the GM may assign a different Difficulty number. Melee attacks can be Dodged or Parried (using the Melee Parry skill as explained above)

-Missile Weapons: This skill is used for Bow and arrow, Crossbow, Harpoon Gun, Slings, etc. The Difficulty number is based on range like guns and these weapons can be Dodged but not Parried.

-Launcher Weapons: This skill is used for Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers, Hand-held SAMs, etc. Difficulty number is by range but damage is frequently a little bit different due to blast radius; see below. Dodging takes characters out of harm's way or into a lower-damage range bracket depending on circumstances and GM call.

-Thrown Weapons: This skill covers everything from thrown Knives to hurled Hatchets to Grenades to Large Rocks. Difficulty is determined by range, which is usually the following, regardless of weapon thrown:

Short: anything out to 10 yards; typically the minimum is 1 or 2 yards.
Medium: 11-20 yards.
Long: 21-30 yards.
Extreme: Depends on GM's decision, but typically 31 to a maximum of 40-50 yards.

Grenades and other Blast-radius weapons: When grenades (or rockets, etc.) are used, in addition to determining if a hit is scored; damage is spread across an area known as a Blast-radius. Typically there are either 2 or 3 range brackets covered by the blast radius with lower damage in the further out ranges. Also, if the weapon misses, sometimes the weapon scatters.....the GM has a scatter diagram, but in all cases the intended target is not harmed unless circumstances are such that this is impossible (i.e. someone is at the bottom of an elevator shaft with no cover and no way out and somebody 5 feet above drops a grenade....if the hit-roll 'misses'...there's no where for the weapon to scatter too). Also, Duds are possible but not likely.

Grenades have 3 range brackets in their blast radius; typically 5 yards, 10 yards, 15 yards and inflict 7D/5D/3D damage meaning 7D to all within 5 yards of the impact, 5D damage to all between 6-10 yards of the impact and 3D damage to all between 11-15 yards of the impact.

Rockets/Anti-tank missiles usually have a much smaller blast radius as they're usually designed to take out a bunker or vehicle and so typically inflict 8D damage to all within 2 yards of the blast-point and 4D to all between 3-6 yards of the blast point.

Mortars/Bombs/Mines, etc. can have much bigger blast radius per weapon type and are too varied to list here.

max_vale
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Re: Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

#4 Post by max_vale »

Weapon Types:

-Guns

Pistols:

Beretta .32 Cheetah

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Weapon Type: Light Pistol; Ammo Type: .32 cal.; Ammo: 9 round clips; Range: 12/24/48 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 4D; Notes: Small and concealable


Smith & Wesson Model 30 .32 Revolver

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Weapon Type: Light Pistol, Revolver; Ammo Type: .32 cal.; Ammo: 6 round cylinder; Range: 10/20/40 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 4D; Notes: Very Small and concealable


Makarov PM 9mm Soviet Semi-Auto Pistol

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Weapon Type: Light Pistol; Ammo Type: 9mm Soviet.; Ammo: 8 round clips; Range: 15/30/60 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 4D+1; Notes: Standard Sidearm of Soviet and Warsaw Pact officers and special troops; quite small and concealable


Smith & Wesson 459 9mm Parabellum Semi-Auto Pistol

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Weapon Type: Pistol; Ammo Type: 9mm Parabellum; Ammo: 14 round clips; Range: 20/40/80 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 4D+2; Notes: Standard FBI issue sidearm


Smith & Wesson Model 15 .38 Revolver

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Weapon Type: Pistol; Ammo Type: .38 special; Ammo: 6 round cylinder; Range: 22/44/88 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 4D+2; Notes: Standard issue sidearm for many Police officers


Colt 1911A1 .45 Semi-Auto

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Weapon Type: Heavy Pistol; Ammo Type: .45 ACP; Ammo: 7 round clip; Range: 15/30/60 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 5D; Notes: Long time standard issue sidearm for U.S. military


Colt Python .357 Revolver

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Weapon Type: Heavy Pistol; Ammo Type: .357; Ammo: 6 round cylinder; Range: 25/50/100 yards; ROF: SS; Damage: 5D; Notes: Very large and hard to conceal; Revolver can fire .38 special rounds as well; if this is done stats are the same except damage is 4D+2

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Re: Price of Freedom: Rules/Mechanics

#5 Post by max_vale »

-Submachineguns

Uzi 9mm Parabellum SMG

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Weapon Type: SMG; Ammo Type: 9mm Parabellum; Ammo: 32 round clip; Range: 30/60/120 yards; ROF: 4 shot Bursts or 16 shot Spray; Damage: 5D+1; Notes: Has Folding Stock, Requires STR 10 check to fire Sprays with any sense of Control


MAC-10 .45 SMG

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Weapon Type: SMG; Ammo Type: .45 ACP; Ammo: 30 round clip; Range: 25/50/100 yards; ROF: 5 shot Bursts or 15 shot Spray; Damage: 5D+1; Notes: Has Folding Stock, Requires STR 10 check to fire Sprays with any sense of Control, Small and quite concealable with no clip inserted and frequently used with a long suppressor that is very effective but frequently wears out fast


HK MP-5 9mm Parabellum SMG

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Weapon Type: SMG; Ammo Type: 9mm Parabellum; Ammo: 30 round clip; Range: 35/70/140 yards; ROF: 5 shot Bursts or 15 shot Spray; Damage: 5D+1; Notes: Has Folding Stock, Requires STR 10 check to fire Sprays with any sense of Control, Frequently issued to Police SWAT teams and military special forces personnel


Czech vz 61 'Skorpion' .32 SMG

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Weapon Type: SMG (arguably a machine-pistol); Ammo Type: .32 ACP; Ammo: 20 round clip; Range: 20/40/80 yards; ROF: 5 shot Bursts or 10 shot Spray; Damage: 5D; Notes: Has Folding Stock, Requires STR 10 check to fire Sprays with any sense of Control, Warsaw Pact weapon, VERY concealable, Typically used by Terrorists and undercover KGB personnel


Soviet KEDR 9mm Makarov SMG

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Weapon Type: SMG; Ammo Type: 9mm Makarov; Ammo: 20 round clip; Range: 25/50/100 yards; ROF: 5 shot Bursts or 10 shot Spray; Damage: 5D+1; Notes: Has Folding Stock, Requires STR 10 check to fire Sprays with any sense of Control, Warsaw Pact weapon, Typically carried by Political Commissars (1 per platoon), KGB guards and sometimes vehicle crew

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