RE: [DL] What do i do wrong? (High Targets and booring long Combat)

["Jeff Yates" <jyates@primaryfunction.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-deadlands@gamerz.net [mailto:owner-deadlands@gamerz.net]On
> Behalf Of Jason Young
> Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 8:40 PM
> To: deadlands@gamerz.net
> Subject: Re: [DL] What do i do wrong? (High Targets and booring long
> Combat)
>
>
>
> --- Patrick Jungbluth <pjungbluth@arcor.de> wrote:
> > Rifles are allmost unheard of in my group but actually they would have
> > been
> > pretty useless till now most of the time they had the combat up close
> > and
> > personal being attackt by unarmed walking deads in train waggons or
> > ambushed
> > by undeat coyotes in a small cave and there the rifle would have been at
> > a
> > big disadvantage once the nastys got close what usally was just a matter
> > of
> > one or two actions.
>
> I'm not aware of any negative modifiers for rifles at close range. Perhaps
> they are (or should be) in the rules or errata, but I don't recall ever
> seeing them.
>
> Jason
>

I'm getting to this party late, but I can point out a possibility.  Tho now
I don't remember if it's an official rule or not.  Anyway, trying to shoot
someone in close combat with a long arm (rifle, shotgun) lets the defender
add her Fightin' score to your TN to hit.  This represents the defender just
reaching out and pushing the barrel of the weapon away.  'Course, a rifle
also grants the shooter a defensive bonus, since it can be used to guard
against the melee attacks of the unarmed opponent.  Which, for our group,
usually means that if the baddie gets up close and personal with you, your
rifle becomes a DB +2/STR+1d6 club.  And if you happen to have an
appropriate rifle, you might even have a bayonet on the end, making it even
more useful for this.

Jeff Y.