Quick question: How should I handle players shooting out tires? I understand it's a called shot, but does vehicle body rating come into play or is it just a success test?

Reference in Called Shots, 4a 160, called shots on vehicles, 171, and possibly a bit more in arsenal's tire section.

Would figure -4 as standard called shot then another -2 for moving target (if not more). As an after-thought, run flat tires are cheap, and i see most riggers passing crash tests more often than not.

They're worth a -1 or 2 on Pilot tests per tire, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, but I might ask for a crash test if itwas sudden, especially at high speeds.

Definitely. Scale threshold with actual speed to boot. Say 1 for every 50 kph, since I'm European like that.

Please, only backwards third-world countries don't use Metric!

Actually, I would say that only backwards commonwealth countries don't use Metric.

Given that SR uses metric in the books, a threshold based on kilometers per hour sounds reasonable. Otherwise the threshold increase based on speed is already included in the basic system. Reacquiring control of a car at high speed should be a hard to extreme test anyways, so threshold 3 or 5.

Just had a thought, if any of the board members that are "Boys In Blue" that aren't at GenCon, maybe they can fill us in on trying to incapacitate a vehicle by shooting out the tires.

I mean, it happens so often on COPS and other High-Speed Chase shows, it must happen all the time in the US, right?

Probably as often as someone shoots the reindeer pulling your sled Ray

I'm Canadian. That's a Dogsled. And I actually have a friend that trained a dogsled team.

Admittedly, he's pretty redneck. In fact, he's so redneck he caught air. IN A DOGSLED!

a) you've got reindeer up there, i know it. I saw it on tv!

b) I didnt want to start a whole flame about shooting dogs.

I only hit post once!

Dogs are better for sledding up here than reindeer. And they aren't really reindeer anyways, they're caribou.

Yes, but PETA will get on my arse if i start talking about "shooting the dogs out from your sled" to slow you down

Oh, they're pissed off about the whip anyways.

Yes yes, dont these silly dog sledders know to use wet noodles yet?

The United States is NOT a commonwealth, thank YOU!

No, it's a Constitution-based federal republic with a strong democratic tradition.

You forgot backwards

It only looks like that when you are running a running a relay and they are on their 4th leg and you are in your first. Just remember leadership is about Monkeys on a pole: smiling faces and anuses. The higher up the pole the further you see and the more happy faces you see below you. If you are at the bottom of the pole all you can do is look up and see anuses and your don't see very far.

As for shooting out tires, I would view that same as cameras, antennas, etc. The actual damage is minimal, but the effect can be crippling. It is what they train NATO snipers to shoot at when facing tanks. If those guys lose their laser range finders, antennas, etc they have to open up. At that point they expose themselves to lethal attacks.

RAW (SR4A pg 170, Attacks against Vehicles) is Reaction + Handling for non-evaded shots in chase scenes, if he's using evasive driving (vehicular dodge) then it's Reaction + Handling + Driving. It's a cumulative -2 per tire to handling. Arsenal didn't seem to give stats, I think it just removes the -2 penalty.

In my games, it's a success test unless the driver is actively trying to dodge the shots, then I use a Reaction + Handling + Driving test. Less rolling that way.

IMO, shooting out tires on 4-wheel vehicles wouldn't do much beyond an extra driving test the next IP after the shot is taken (to avoid crashing) and a -1 penalty after the fact to driving because runflats are pretty much standard fare. Motorcycles though are a different story. For some reason, shooting at tires on a bike always results in catastrophic blowouts and horrendous crashes. I think it has something to do with the fact my players love shooting the crap outta the Ancients, but I'm not sure. Mooks on bikes are always fun for high-speed chase scenes, so I always toss in a few for them to shoot 'em up and then just move on with the actual chase.

Once in the actual chase though, my players are more likely to use the techno to stall the car and stop them that way, but they have also tried to use stick-n-shock rounds (out of a shotgun) to short systems, forced them into oncoming traffic/off ramps/obstructions on the roadside, or generally used gunfire to "herd" the bad guys into ambushes other members have raced ahead to set. The idea of shooting out tires was brought up, but the rigger immediately nixed the idea by saying "If I have run flats on all my vehicles, you better believe they do too." It's our opinion that in the future, there are much better ways to do it than shooting out tires.

Yes, but they were colonized by a commonwealth country anyway. And you invented NAFT just because you ere never invited to join the Commonwealth, <sarcasm mode=on>I KNOW IT <sarcasm mode=off>.

It was an empire at the time that the Original 13 Colonies were founded, and then they turned into a bunch of separatists. The British Commonwealth of Nations didn't happen until after WWI.

Actually, I think we just found another reason to use shotguns with buckshot (Flechette): Tire Huntin'!

I tend to think of it more as the political equivalent of an eldest child. Rebelled against the parent, went on our own for a while. Now we each have our own separate lives, many similarities, and there's plenty for either to be proud of the other for. Plus we get along, with what relatively equates to only minor spats and differences (considering the scale of different countries).

Huh? What now? There are no hit locations in SR. You have only 4 options for called shots. In all but the one ignoring armor, the target gets its full modified armor value. So flechette will only be marginally better than regular ammo. +2DV vs +5 AP.

The US is the rebellious child that stole Mommy's purse and rode off on a motorbike with the nasty character.

Canada is the goody-goody child that stayed at home and got good grades, yet was too big for people to call a nerd and pick fights with.

Don't worry, Canada. Some day there still might just be a nasty character to come along willing to give you a motorcycle ride.

I return to my stance regarding objecting when I find something I object to. Edit: Also, Canada has it's elder sibling still watching it's back. Being able to fight on your own is one thing, but at the same time never having to fight alone = priceless.

Back on topic, there do need to be better rules for called shots, considering how important some of those considerations can be. For now, though, we're probably going to need some really good house rules.

Just woke up, misread, consider this post redacted.

What do the cylons have to do with the commonwealth?
Is Caprica one of the members?

Anyway, yeah, if Shadowrun did use hit locations, then flechette could be a good ammo to shoot tires.

One of the weaknesses of the system.

I used to have a human hit-location die that I used for Shadowrun when I first ran it just to give some colour. But it got stolen along with my courier satchel.

Guess the idiot on the bus thought it was the purse of the woman next to me. Just glad it didn't have any books in it.