Meat Shields, and i mean the opposition Options

[WalksWithWiFi]

So, i have a player who wants to use a metahuman body to shield himself from bullets,
I can't really say that he wouldn't be able to, especially since he is thinking of making a
subduing combat roll to hold the target in place.
I have been talking to the player about possible ways i could rule the use of
a human body for a makeshift shield, but i am curious what
other GM's/players might think, as it might help me make this decision.

Thanks in advance.

[Creel]

corpses body=armor rating

[WalksWithWiFi]

and f they are wearing armor, then add that too?

[Tias]

Allow him to (although he will probably need to spend at least one complex action fixing his shield in place, perhaps more if the target is strong and struggling), then resolve any hits against the target first, and if if penetrates the armor of the shield, and causes more than 5P, resolve the hit against the character as well, treating him as if he was standing behind a barrier that had an Armor Rating of 2 and a Structure Rating of 2.

Just an idea, I haven't really tested it, but it seems reasonable - let the poor sod eat it, then let the character bite it as well if it goes through armor and wounds enough to tear a hole.

Edit: Also, unless the shield is much larger than the character, it should be possible for a trained marksman to place called shots "through" the human shield, at least against the legs.

[Bugfoxmaster]

Also, since the meat shield doesn't actually block the entire body, and may be moving, struggling, sagging, whatever, I'd say the attacker could make a called shot to fire around the body (assuming it's not a troll...)

[Tias]

Agreed.

[Karoline]

Treat the person as a riot shield as far as how much it protects, and assume the meatshield takes two boxes of damage every time the character in question is hit (Provides 6 armor which averages to 2 boxes worth of damage going to the shield) unless the attackers are using bypass armor called shots.

Only real trouble with this ruling is that people wouldn't feel bad about firing on a hostage taker, because even the meakest character has 9 boxes of damage, and so the hostage can afford to be shot 4 times without fear of long term damage.

[DireRadiant]

p. 159/160 Partial/Good cover or even fully concealed, Imagine a pixie using a troll as a shield. No need for anything as far as defensive mods.

If you are concerned about what damage the shield takes, I would simply apply the base DV of the attack, if it misses the target. Not worth going through a stringent routine to figure out whether it really misses or hits or does more to the shield.

[Caadium]

I'd assume that if you are using a living metahuman as a shield then its also possible that you might be happier if they were shot in place of you (instead of you just being missed). That being said, I'd probably use the cover rules as Dire Radiant suggested, but also work with the player. Perhaps if the shooter missed by 1 or 2 hits (enough that the cover modifiers might have made the difference) I'd have the shot hit the shield and not the PC holding it. Of course, this would be total house-rule fly by the seat of my pants type of thing.

Then again, if a grappling specialized character started using pinned metas as part of their normal armor sequence I'd have to rethink the situation. But as a one-off maneuver; have fun and go with the flow of the game I say.

[Garou]

I don't think that would be a problem Cadium. After all, if someone is holding a hostage at gunpoint you are unable do dodge, as you are using your actions to hold the person in place and there wouldn't be much room for manouvering. I'd allow it, but add a penalty to his Reflexes pool to reflect that. Probably it would balance by the cover given by the hostage, but remember: smaller pools means higher chances of glitchin and critical glitchin... So, even a grappler character probably wouldn't make frequent use of it. And no use at all against area attacks such as granades or wide bursts, after all, you AND the hostages are taking high velocity flying lead on equal quantities.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Caadium]

I don't think that would be a problem Cadium. After all, if someone is holding a hostage at gunpoint you are unable do dodge, as you are using your actions to hold the person in place and there wouldn't be much room for manouvering. I'd allow it, but add a penalty to his Reflexes pool to reflect that. Probably it would balance by the cover given by the hostage, but remember: smaller pools means higher chances of glitchin and critical glitchin... So, even a grappler character probably wouldn't make frequent use of it. And no use at all against area attacks such as granades or wide bursts, after all, you AND the hostages are taking high velocity flying lead on equal quantities.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You did bring something up that I can envision my players trying: grabbing an enemy combatant and throwing them onto the grenade. I'm away from my books, but as I said above, I'm sure I'd just find something to wing it as long as the group was having fun. I only mentioned it because it is a similar concept to what the OP had in mind; how would you do the damage/soak for that.