I have a question for the experts...

If you are firing a large full auto burst, and have enough rounds to stage above Deadly, what happens?

For example, a burst from a LMG:

Initial damage: 7S
After 3 rounds: 10D
After 6 rounds: 13D?

I haven't been able to find any rules on staging above Deadly, and was hoping someone could help point me in the right direction. (I don't currently have Cannon Companion, so don't know if this has been addressed or not.)

The only canon example I could find that muddies the waters is in Fields of Fire (SR2), concerning the Ares HV MP-LMG:

Initial damage: 6S
6 round burst: 15D

So, is there any canon example of adding to the power of the weapon if the number of rounds fired stages it above deadly? Or is it only for this specific weapon?

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated!

See "deadlier over damage".

In response to the first part, each round raises the power of the attack by one, and the damage can only ever stage up to deadly.

Original code of 7M, for example, fires a 5 round burst, and scores 6 successes:

(7+5 rounds fired)12(four of the 6 successes stage the damage code to)D.

I'm almost positive that it says somewhere that each level above deadly is expressed as an additional point of power. So if I were to fire a 3 round burst from a weapon that has a base damage code of 5D, the damage code would end up as 9D (5 initial power, 3 from the burst, 1 from the extra damage level). The again, it might do nothing, you should checkf.

I don't think so. It only goes up to deadly, then you keep boosting power for successes or more bullets. Or you use the Over-deadly rules (which we only use for explosives and long falls). Could be wrong, but that's how we run it at least.

hmmm , is that a pun?

The increase in Power when damage stages over Deadly is for Melee Combat.
By default, for distance combat, the damage reaches D, and that's it.

But, don't forget that you calculate the damage after deducting the Dodge test successes and that remaining successes must first be negated by the successes of the Damage Resistance Test.

Example:
Joe Runner is hit hard by Bob the Copper firing an SMG in full auto.
The base Damage Code of Bob's SMG firing 10 bullets is 16D, and lucky Bob gets 5 successes on his attack test (!).
Joe rolls 5 Combat Pool dice to try and dodge this awful burst, and get (karma!) 2 successes, leaving Bob with 3.
Then Joe rolls his Body, plus 3 remaining Combat Pool dice, against a TN of 11 (Joe wears some kevlar), and gets 4 successes. Deducting Bob's 3 remaining successes, that leave 1 success to Joe to stage down the damage, which is not enough. too bad, Joe, you'll have to burn 1 karma pool point or spend it and pray that a reroll would provide at least 1 more success, or fall unconscious, suffering a Deadly Wound Level.

page 126 for Deadlier over damage, states that it should be used whenever the power of an attack is 1.5x greater than the targets body, and adds 1 pt of add'l damage per success over D damge, so that odesnt quite seem to be what you are looking for...

I always thought successes long enough to stage up above deadly were expressed as additional Ds -

IE, you're firing an Ares Predator with pistols 6 and decide you really don't like this ganger, so you pop down all your combat pool against a TN of 2, scoring 10 successes.

I thought that would stage to:

9M (start)
9S (2)
9D (4)
9DD (6)
9DDD (
9DDDD (10)

I figure that's the equavilent of blowing the rear hemisphere of his head clean off with a golden shot between the eyes.

actaulyl, shadow, i dont think thats a bad idea, only starting it back down at L maybe? although i dont know what benefit you'd get from it, esp. over just adding to the power (which makes sense to me) but doing like 9DL, so you stage down the first light wound, then go into the deadly... or the mother of them, 36DD...... lots a lotta staging down...

I just treat each box over D as an additional D. You're just as dead if you take a 9D as if you take a 9DDDDDD - but the extra Ds are there to denote how much more you have to stage down before you can survive.

Okay, thanks for all the responses so far. Perhaps I should clarify my question more.

Most of the responses deal with "Deadlier Over-Damage", which is using extra successes to apply more boxes of damage. What I am looking for is a rule regarding staging above Deadly due to the number of rounds in an autofire burst.

The example I had given regarding the Ares HV MP-LMG is the one that has me confused. With a 6 round burst, it goes from 6S to 15D. Where does the weapon get the extra 3 points of power from?

++ with hahnsoo.

The rules for Range Combat and for burst/full auto damage code modifications can be found p. 114 & 115 SR3.
p. 122 you'll find Melee Combat-only rules.
Deadlier Over-Damage rules can be found p. 126, and only talk about applying additional boxes of damage after D wound.

Thanks for all the replies, guys!

It sounds like they fixed the problem with the Ares HV MP-LMG in the Cannon Companion. That was the whole reason I have been struggling with this question, because the listed damage just did not make sense.

Hansoo, thanks for clarifying the difference between ranged and melee combat. It really helped put everything into perspective.

It looks like Cannon Companion will be next on my wish list... Thanks again!