Law of the Gun OOC

[Rex]

Yup, saw it a year ago to the week anyway. Good movie, very fun.

Supposedly they are calling the new D&D One D&D and it is going to be very similar to 5e just cleaned up some. I heard rumor they are doing away with alignment and racial bonuses but not sure if that is true.

[Thumper]

For strange pursuit, I’m thinking let Andreas track. We have location descriptions if he loses the trail.

[jemmus]

FYI. The terrain here isn't hard or rocky. It's mixed grassland and trees and bushes savannah.

Tracking
A skill check is required every 2
miles. Adjust the character's skill score by: -3
if the area is hard or rocky; -6 if the trail
leads through a large town or across a river
(only if the quarry moved up or down stream);
-1 if the quarry is indians; +6 if the quarry is
indians in a town. If it rains, the trail is
wiped out. If the trail is lost, it can be recovered
by making a skill check with an additional
-4 modifier, one check per hour.

[ateno]

People might multiple, trying to cover bases.

So I will be going into surgery tomorrow (Friday). Its a 2-3 hour surgery and 2-3 days in the hosp with 3-5 weeks off work. Please npc me appropriately until I am more coherent.

Eric

[Thumper]

Eric,
Praying all goes well and ya have a speedy recovery!!

[redwarrior]

Prayers for a successful operation and a smooth recovery !

[jemmus]

Wow. More prayers for a smooth procedure and a quick recovery.

[Grognardsw]

Best of luck with operation and recovery!

[jemmus]

Sorry for the delays posting. I finished a major project at work, and now I'm dealing with everything else that we put off and is now overdue. You know how it goes.

[ateno]

Hey all, I am reading the forums, I don't feel good enough to post, but wanted to let you know all was a success, just recovering now.

Eric

[Thumper]

Great to hear, Eric! Hope the recovery is speedy and you have good long-term results!

[jemmus]

Yes, good to hear Eric! Glad you're able to read along. Best wishes for a smooth and quick recovery.

[jemmus]

Night Watch Order
1. William
2. DT
3. Doos
4. Gideon
5. Andreas
Dark is from 9:30 PM to 6:00 AM in south central Texas in June 1873.

[jemmus]

Sorry, guys, got sick with a cold/sick thing. Be back posting again very soon. Are the protagonists trying to find trouble? Or is trouble trying to find them? These things await to seen in "Strange Pursuit," "Comancher," and "Have Gun Will Travel." To be continued....

[cybersavant]

Right, tracking checks are made every 2 miles. In this case, movement through hilly areas is at 2 miles per hour, so it works out neatly. If the roll succeeds, you move forward 2 miles that hour. If it fails, you move forward 0 miles that hour and instead spend the time searching for sign. (That's at -4 to succeed, by the way. Pretty tough).

Andreas' first roll took the group forward 2 more miles. And then he lost the sign and couldn't find it again before half an hour before dark. The group is 14 miles SSW of Burnet at the end of the second day.

Oh, i didn't realize were stalled until a good roll came. I thught we could just travel in the direction last indicated by the tracks and try again farther out

[jemmus]

New post in the House Rules thread: Roughing It Roughing It https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewtopic.php?p=703047#p703047

[Thumper]

This will enable one shot before the target goes medium range (assuming continued movement) which will incur more negative modifiers for Paladin. I’ll hold on rolls to keep the sequence, though movement comes at end of Turn.

I am really confused by this, and I want to ensure I understand the rules for my first real in-game gunfight. I’m not concerned with Medium vs Long…typo. My question is about range banding.

For a LAR:

Point blank= 1-2 yards (true of all ranged weapons)
Short= 3-30 yards
Long= 31-100 yards
Extreme= 101-400 yards

The maximum range of the weapon should be the Extreme number. Nothing beyond that range is shoot-able.

In this example, hasn’t Paladin been shooting Long range from the beginning of this shootout? 31-100 yards is Long range for a LAR, correct?

Correct?

(I guaran-damn-tee you nobody is shooting nothing over 400 yards (Extreme range limit) with the 73 Winchester, even in 44-40. In real life, Max Effective Range (the range at which a trained shooter firing off a stable base can put 50% of rounds on a man-sized target) for a Winchester ‘73 rifle is under 200 yards. A bullet may travel up to 400 yards, but not accurately… The book numbers are actually very generous in range bands and penalties for Long and Extreme.)

[jemmus]

This will enable one shot before the target goes medium range (assuming continued movement) which will incur more negative modifiers for Paladin. I’ll hold on rolls to keep the sequence, though movement comes at end of Turn.

I am really confused by this, and I want to ensure I understand the rules for my first real in-game gunfight. I’m not concerned with Medium vs Long…typo. My question is about range banding.

For a LAR:

Point blank= 1-2 yards (true of all ranged weapons)
Short= 3-30 yards
Long= 31-100 yards
Extreme= 101-400 yards

The maximum range of the weapon should be the Extreme number. Nothing beyond that range is shoot-able.

In this example, hasn’t Paladin been shooting Long range from the beginning of this shootout? 31-100 yards is Long range for a LAR, correct?

Correct?

(I guaran-damn-tee you nobody is shooting nothing over 400 yards (Extreme range limit). In real life, Max Effective Range (the range at which a trained shooter firing off a stable base can put 50% of rounds on a man-sized target) for a Winchester ‘73 rifle is under 200 yards. A bullet may travel up to 400 yards, but not accurately… The book numbers are actually very generous in range bands and penalties for Long and Extreme.)

Hmm. Confirming that the rules say point blank is up to 2 yds. We're going to have to make a decision together about this. The way the weapons table (Table 14) is set up, makes it look like Short range begins at 30 yds. The number is right under the Short column, after all. But if that's the case, what range is it between 2 yds and 30 yds? So I think Thumper's chart above is correct. What do you guys think?

(As an aside little grumble.... I generally like the BH rule mechanics, but the rulebook itself is kind of a mess. The above is an example. And why is the section on NPCs (presumably for the GM) before the section on Movement (needed by everyone)? And for sample NPCs, why do we have Seamstress, Laundress and Foreigner, but no Robber (bank, stage or train?) And they could have done just a little better a better break down in the table of contents. This is the third edition, after all. I just full of gripes, aren't I? )

[Thumper]

Love the game...and your game...hate the book's layout. But that's typical of early TSR rulebooks. They were written before modern word processors. It took a lot to reformat text and images.

Questions to ask yourself for range bands:
1) What is the range between 2 yards and whatever is listed in the table as Short Range?
2) When does extreme range stop ... and one cannot shoot someone anymore because they are out of all ranges? (A derringer's bullet aint gonna fly forever...not more than 50 feet in fact...not accurate more than about 25 feet).

If one argues that these range bands begin at the number in the column, these questions cannot be answered. I am an avid shooter...21 years in the military and 6 years as volunteer Law Enforcement Officer (not my primary job)...went wobbly trap and sporting clay shooting today in fact.

These ranges HAVE to END at the number in the column.

Do a little google searching on effective ranges of derringers, Winchester '73 .44-40, shotguns, etc. Just don't get fooled by handloaded cartridge data. Custom made ammo skews these numbers. Look for standard or factory round data.

[Grognardsw]

Hmm. Confirming that the rules say point blank is up to 2 yds. We're going to have to make a decision together about this. The way the weapons table (Table 14) is set up, makes it look like Short range begins at 30 yds. The number is right under the Short column, after all. But if that's the case, what range is it between 2 yds and 30 yds? So I think Thumper's chart above is correct. What do you guys think?

I'm so use to 1e that I used Medium instead of BH's Long terminology. That X/X/X style of range was used in all TSR games. An online search of the topic is inconclusive. I went back to the source for clarification, which is often tough to do but it was there. The 1e DMG p. 64 has a note on Range, which agrees with Thumper's chart.

A review of the roller archive for the fight thus far shows that the only shot success effected by an additional -2 Long Range modifier was in post #180. That was a light wound. That would mean that robber is at 2 Wound Points instead of 3.