X-Com: Gray Dawn Player Handout

Character Creation

1. Select stats
2. Pick Skills
3. Pick Perks
4. Pick Flaws (Optional)

Overview

Character creation will use a point-build system. 50 points will be allowed for stats, 100 for skills, and 15 for perks. For players who favor one area over the other, there will also be an exchange rate.

Skill and stat levels are purchased on an upward sliding scale of cost (see tables below).

Stats: 50 points are allotted for stats.
Skills: 100 points are allotted for skills.
Perks: 15 points are allotted for perks. Each character also gets 1 level of the "Special Equipment" perk for free.

Point Exchange

Skill points are the basic currency for exchange. 4 skill points can be exchanged for one stat point. 3 skill points can be exchanged for one perk point. Conversely, one stat point can be exchanged for 4 skill points, and one perk point can be exchanged for 3 skill points. If you prefer, you can instead start with 345 skill points and freely convert them how you choose.

Stat Point Cost

The increased cost for exceedingly high stats represents the fact that the development of such well-honed attributes may come at the cost of other facets of your character. For example, a scholar with a high INT may neglect his exercise, leading to a decreased BODY or REF. A soldier with a high CL may have a reduced EMP to reflect his lack of touch with human emotions like mercy and fear--the same emotions that would keep him from being an effective killer.

Stat# 1-6: 1 stat point/level
Stat# 7-9: 2 stat points/level
Stat# 10: 3 stat points

A stat of 4 would cost 4 stat points. A 6 would be 6 points. A 7 would cost 8 points (6+2), an 8 would cost 10 (6+2+2). A 10 would cost 15 points (6+2+2+2+3)

Because of its relatively low importance in this game (in terms of game mechanics and balance) the Attractiveness stat is rolled randomly. Roll 2d5 to determine the ATTR score. If the player chooses to have a pretty/handsome character, they can purchase additional levels of ATTR for 2 skill points each (or 2 points in ATTR/stat point).

Skill Point Cost

Higher initial skill levels cost significantly more to represent that your character has necessarily invested much more of their time focusing on a given skill or attribute.
Skill level/Skill point cost
1/1
2/2
3/3
4/5
5/7
6/9
7/12
8/15
9/19
10/24

Perks

For the current list of perks, click here.

Flaws

If the player so chooses, they can select a few flaws for their character for a few extra skill points. These points can be exchanged for stat or perk points. When choosing flaws, consult with the Ref to determine frequency and severity. Each character can have up to 20 skill points worth of flaws.

Flaws are largely broken down into three categories: Physical, mental and social. Physical flaws are often limitations on abilities or weaknesses such as allergies or handicaps. With these, there will often be a penalty to physical skill/stat checks or abilities (missing an eye might render a penalty to awareness rolls and depth perception, whereas a gimpy leg might slow you down in combat). An allergy to peanuts might not be too relevant (you are likely very conscious about what you eat!) but if you slip up, the result might be catastrophic (get me epinephrine or I will die!).

Mental flaws generally deal with psychological limitations. Examples include various phobias, compulsive behaviors or even PTSD. The player cannot easily ignore many mental flaws if they strike (you can't just choose not to be afraid of heights. If you picked acrophobia, then you avoid heights, and suffer unspecified penalties if you do/can not.

Social flaws limit some aspect of the character's behavior, their personal interactions, or could involve a negative reputation or legal status. Some examples are shyness (which might invoke a penalty to certain skill rolls and preclude some perks), a code of ethics/honor (which may limit your actions in certain situations), or a wanted status or rival; someone or some group who is out to get you for some reason.

Flaws are rated based on their frequency and their severity. Frequency is rated as rare, infrequent or common. Rare events might only crop up once every few game sessions. Infrequent ones might occur once a game session or more. Common often means it regularly or constantly affects the character. Frequency can also be affected by how easy the trigger is to avoid, or how often during play something will come up. If your character has claustrophobia, he always has it; the question is, how often will it be a challenge? Similarly, avoiding peanuts is obviously relatively easy nowadays, otherwise people with peanut allergies would likely all be dead before they hit their teens. The frequency of a peanut allergy would probably be rare.

Severity is rated as mild, moderate or crippling. A mild severity might minimally affect certain skill/stat checks, or reduce some ability by a small amount (a gimpy leg may affect you all the time, but if it is only cosmetic (doesn't affect movement in combat), it is mild). Moderate severity is a relatively substantial effect. If the trigger strikes, a skill/stat check may be reduced by several points, or some action may simply not be taken without special interventions (Indiana Jones' fear of snakes, while uncommon, required special measures to be overcome). A crippling severity has extremely negative repercussions if the trigger is activated (B.A. Barrackus refused to get on an airplane. They had to drug him whenever they needed to fly him anywhere, and if he woke up, he'd want to beat the shit out of somebody). An example of a crippling flaw might be a phobia that causes you to immediately flee from or avoid the stimulus (You saw a spider in your house? You refuse to return until the place has been fumigated. That is crippling arachnophobia.)

The point value for a flaw is based on the severity, which will give a base value. The frequency gives a multiplier. Mild severity is 2 points, moderate is 4 and crippling is 6. The multiplier for rare frequency is 1/2, infrequent is 1, and common is 2. Thus, a common, crippling flaw would have a value of 12, while a rare, mild flaw would only be worth 1.

All flaws must be approved by the referee before points are awarded.

Character Development

Over the course of a campaign it is possible to improve a character's skills, perks and with Ref approval, stats. This is not a fast process, but in a long-running game, a player may definitely see their character vastly improve on their focused skills and abilities, or become a much broader, jack-of-all-trades type.

Character development begins with Improvement Points (IPs). IPs are awarded by the ref after every game session. Generally, a certain amount will be given for participation, and extra may be given for things like clever ideas in game, role-playing the character well, heroic deeds in combat, etc.

Some IPs are also earned by using skills. When you successfully use a skill, you should put a hash mark in the margin near it. Later review by the ref will award IPs specifically toward skills you used in the game. Generally, one hash mark will equal one IP, but some skills are used infrequently and may get more per check, while others may get less. The ref may also award bonus IPs for using a skill in creative or make-or-break situations.

When trying to improve a skill, it takes 10 IPs/current level to raise it to the next level. To raise a level 2 skill to level 3 would require 20 IPs. To learn a new skill at level 1 costs 10 IPs.

Bonus IPs for specific skills may also be earned by trying to learn from another individual with a higher skill than you. This will yield IPs over time, and the rate may depend on the teacher's teaching skill.

For purposes of earning perks, 30 IPs can be traded in for one perk point (per the character creation rules. These can then be used to purchase new innate talents. Perks marked with an asterisk (*) cannot be taken after character creation (you can't suddenly learn how to be ambidextrous or develop an eidetic memory; you're either born with it or you aren't).

If stat improvement is allowed, 40 IPs can be traded in for one stat point, and this can be applied (per character creation guidelines) to a given stat. Note, however, that if a stat score is higher than 6, it will take more than one stat point to raise it. Raising a 6 to a 7 would require two stat points (80 IPs), and raising a nine to a ten takes 3 (120 IPs)! To raise a stat score of 6 to 10 would take a total of 360 IPs. Not impossible, but a lengthy undertaking. If you earned an average of 20 IPs per game session, it would take 18 games (to put it in perspective). Stats can influence several skills at once, though, so from the perspective of game mechanics and balance, raising them should generally be a bit more of an investment. Raising a lower stat to help solve a character's deficiencies, though, is a viable option (it would take 80 IPs to raise a 4 to a 6, for example).

With Ref approval, IPs can also be used to buy off flaws. Flaws are meant to stick around and make you earn the points you got from them. Got an "enemy" flaw? Think you're gonna get rid of that by killing him, or heaven forbid, befriending him? No. You kill him, and he's got a brother or a son or a friend that is willing and crazy enough to take up his mantle of hatred. You befriended him? Now he's got a former ally that wants you both dead for his betrayal! You've got a stalker and you thought the apocalypse would supply him with bigger fish to fry than you, right? Wrongo dongo. The police and courts and all common sense didn't stop her from keying every car you had and throwing pig blood on your girlfriends; why should a niggling little thing like looming Armageddon get in the way of their mad, mad obsession? For every skill point you earned from a flaw, you can spend 15 IPs to try and remove it. For example, you took the "gimpy leg" flaw and got 4 skill points for it. If you spent 60 IPs, you might be able to remove the flaw. Maybe you finally mind-over-matter'ed that bitch into submission, or just took enough physical therapy classes to overcome it. If you pay IPs to get rid of an enemy or wanted status, maybe this nutjob has finally ran out of friends and this last confrontation is really the last one... Sometimes the Ref will want to keep you laden down with certain flaws (because they provide good game fodder), so check first before you start trying to buy yourself some normalcy. Those IPs may be better served improving yourself to deal with the heaping helping of abnormal you dished onto your plate.

Game Mechanics

Overview

X-Com: Gray Dawn uses the CP2020 game system with some modifications that will be explained below.

1. Opposed rolls
2. Cover
3. Suppression
4. Luck
5. Grazing
6. Shotguns
7. Burst Fire
8. Suppressing Fire
9. Initiative: Stance & Actions
10. Movement
11. Range Penalties
12. Reloading in Combat

Opposed Rolls

With the standard CP2020 interlok system, some of the stats were far more important than others, and some were flat-out dump stats. I want almost every stat to have some value, and no single stat to have overwhelming importance. (Reflexes, I'm looking at you!)

One of the primary tweaks I want to introduce is blended base stats. For example, in CP2020, an attack roll (with a gun) is Reflex (REF)+skill level+1d10. I feel that in the high-stress situation of a firefight, the cool stat (CL) should play a much greater role than it does.

Shooting at a paper target is one thing, exchanging gunfire with someone/thing that is shooting back is another. Not only do you have to place a shot dead on target (an act of hand-eye coordination), but you have to be able to duck out from behind cover to do it, or not lose your shit and panic-fire. People who do well at the firing range do not always win the day in actual gunfights if they do not have the nerve to employ their talents. If you neglect your cool stat, you shouldn't be able to fully employ your vaunted reflexes because when shit hits the fan you might tend to crack under pressure.

To this end, ranged attack rolls will be based on an average of REF and CL (rounding up)+skill level+1d10. The target number for any attack is the target's defense roll. This number is the average of the target's REF+MA (rounding up)+skill level+1d10. The attack roll must meet or exceed the defense roll to hit.

Likewise, close combat rolls will be based on an average of REF and MA (rounding down)+BTM+1d10. Any martial art, melee or brawling attack will use this blended stat.

For ease during play, it is suggested to make note of these values for reference somewhere on the character sheet.

Ranged attack roll=(REF+CL)/2 + Weapon Skill + Modifiers + 1d10
Ranged defense roll=(REF+MA)/2 + Cover/Evade Skill + Modifiers + 1d10
Close combat attack/defense roll=(REF+MA)/2 + Skill + Modifiers + 1d10

Taking Cover

Cover also plays an important role, one that is often neglected in RPGs. Cover not only protects you from being hit, but provides a psychological boost; if you feel safe, your chances of being able to act out of anything other than instinct is improved. Every level of cover grants 4 points of SP to covered areas, and improves any suppression rolls by +1. Most cover ranges from 1 (light concealment like a bush) to 10 (firing through a gun slit in a bunker). Likewise, armor grants a bonus: for every full 5 SP of torso armor, the target gains a +1 to their suppression roll, feeling they can shrug off fire and take it on the armor.

In CP2020, target numbers are used for to-hit numbers. Here, we will used an opposed-roll system. When an attack is made, the target will (usually) make a defense roll, which will determine whether the attack hits. This may reflect the target's mobility and speed, their sheer ability to evade. It can also represent the ability to take effective cover while an attack is made. However it is rationalized, some targets are much more slippery and able to avoid being hit. An exception is the ambush, as described in CP2020 FNFF rules.

To make a ranged defense roll, take the average of CL and MA+Dodge/Cover skill+1d10. This is to reflect not only how quickly you can get out of harm's way, but how well you can deal with being attacked and keep things together to effectively defend yourself. Real-life statistics show that the people most likely to survive gunfights aren't necessarily the best shots, but those who can keep it together enough to take cover and protect themselves. To make a close combat attack/defense roll, use (REF+MA)/2+relevant skill+BTM+1d10. Strong characters should definitely have an advantage over weak characters when it comes to close combat in some regard other than sheer damage dealing capability. When in doubt, bet on the big guy.

Another advantage to taking cover: If a shot manages to hit and the target location is behind cover, the shot strikes the cover first. If it is a powerful attack and/or the cover is light (tactically known as concealment), the target may still take damage, but if the cover is sufficiently sturdy (such as a boulder, tree or sandbags), all the damage may be stopped. Each level of cover will stop 4 points of damage before it is applied to the target.

Taking cover will also affect the target's ability to witness what is happening in the middle of a firefight. If the target takes full cover (which may or may not be possible depending on the nature of the cover) or is suppressed, they may lose track of where enemies are located. The benefit to full cover is that no part of the character can be targeted; only saturation fire may hit, and any hits will have to penetrate the cover, first.

If using a hex or grid map, being adjacent to a spot of cover can grant you the benefit of cover (depending on the direction of incoming fire). If using a free map, being less than one inch from cover will allow you to take cover.

Suppression

In many RPGs, no heed at all is played to a person's plain ability to overcome fear and actually take the actions they intend to. In a stressful situation, we may want to act bravely or decisively, but sometimes fear overtakes us. We lose our nerve. We have a fight or flight instinct; sometimes the urge for flight gets the better of us. Additionally, In classic X-Com, units on the field will sometimes break or panic, and cannot perform directed tasks.

In this vein, suppression will play a role in combat situations. If you are in the open and under fire, your natural urge ought to be to get the hell out of there and take cover; it takes a lot of discipline and outright nerve to do anything approaching conscious thought, to do something like consciously fight back. Suppression is a natural by-product of gunfire, and has been purposefully (and successfully) employed in warfare for over a century (pretty much ever since we figured out how to make guns that could fire more than once before more powder and bullets needed to be crammed down their muzzles). From the player's perspective, one would likely hope that if they can throw some shots downrange at their opponents, their enemies may actually take notice of the fact that someone is trying to kill them, even if the shots don't hit. Self-preservation is a natural urge that often gets in the way of our conscious heroic desires, and is equally ignored by mooks, and is often glossed over in most RPGs.

A FNFF combat round is about 3 seconds long. Activities performed in that short span of time have to be abstracted somewhat; if you are behind cover but trying to attack your enemies, then some of the time you are popping out and looking or taking a shot. This is why cover won't fully protect you depending on your combat stance (see Combat Stance, below).

In the middle of a firefight, one may not be able to overcome the fear of getting hit that it takes to pop out from cover and take an aimed shot. If a combatant is taking fire and wishes to emerge from cover to return the favor, they must first make a standard (15) suppression roll. This is a CL+Cover/Evade skill+1d10 roll. If the CL roll is failed, the target cannot muster the nerve or maybe even find the opportunity to safely pop out from cover and fight back. The combatant's combat stance changes to "full cover," where they essentially begin to lose track of what is going on around them outside of their immediate vicinity. If the combatant is in the open, the only option they can manage is to run for cover (which is usually a pretty good idea regardless of whether you do it as a conscious choice or out of pants-wetting terror). Their combat options are limited to poorly aimed reactionary fire (see covering fire). The suppression rules can, of course, be used by the PCs to try and pin down an opponent and reduce their effectiveness in combat.

Suppressing fire is not primarily intended to strike a target. It is a tool that pries at the morale, bravery, courage and psyche of the target. Some weapons and types of attacks carry a greater psychological toll than others.

If a character is behind cover and is actively attempting to engage in combat, it is assumed that they are periodically peeking out to see what the hell is going on around them, thus occasionally exposing themselves to enemy fire. If a character fails their suppression roll, they will take full cover (explained below), and will lose track of what is going on around them as they duck and cover.

This can be used for tactical advantage: If several members of a squad concentrate their fire, they may suppress a target. If the target is suppressed, it cannot observe the battlefield, giving the opportunity for the remaining members of the squad to dash from cover and fire on the suppressed opponent's flank, where the cover does them no good. If they make a stealth roll and the suppressed opponent fails an awareness roll, they may even be able to ambush him...

Being struck by incoming fire gives a +3 penalty to the target's next suppression roll. Explosives (grenades, flash-bangs) that detonate nearby will give a +3 penalty. Explosive fire support is a highly effective method of suppressing a large area; for example, a mortar battery can suppress an estimated 250m x 250m area with sustained HE fire.

When a combatant's initiative comes up and it is their turn to act, they must make a suppression roll if they have been fired upon since their last initiative. Tally up all the factors up to that point and make the roll. Once the roll has been made, regardless of success or failure, all prior effects are cleared; effects of suppression are temporary. For suppression to be effective over time, it must be sustained. Any effects that occur later in the round (and on the next round prior to the combatant's next action) begin stacking up for the next suppression roll. In the case of a combatant taking multiple actions during a round, the suppression roll is only necessary for the first combat action; if you choose to fire a second burst but don't make the suppression roll, you are stuck running for cover or taking full cover anyway, and usually your only available combat action is covering fire (which doesn't take advantage of multiple attacks). The suppression check determines whether the combatant is able to act that round (which is a relatively short span of time). Toward this end, suppression checks should be made before stance or number of actions are chosen.

Luck Points

Another dump stat, historically, was Luck. In the original CP2020 system, it was very limited in use, and it didn't seem to really reflect a character possessing any inherent "luckiness." Each point in the luck stat gives the PC a "luck point" that can be used as follows:

·Two luck points can be burned to re-roll any roll. Often used to counter fumbles, it can also be used to re-roll failed stun or death saves or hit locations that directly affect your character.
·Luck can be burned after an unsuccessful roll is made to turn it into a success. One luck point=+2 to the roll. (I got this one from the Star Trek game, and rather liked it.)
·Luck is also the base stat upon which graze rolls (see below) are made. Unlucky characters will take full damage far more often.

Damage Application

In CP2020 combat can be pretty instantaneously deadly, which is often very much in-line with reality. However, in CP2020, highly effective armor (that covers all areas of the body) is rather ubiquitous. To prevent half the players from creating new characters after every battle (or littering the game world with retired PC amputees), damage to limbs is halved (rounding down, minimum of 1 point), after the BTM is subtracted. An 8-point hit to a limb against a target with BTM -2 would cause 3 hits (8-2=6; 6/2=3). Damage from AP rounds is not halved again.

Also, keep special note of 1-point wounds (perhaps with a different style of mark in the boxes of the wound track). These are generally dings, bruises, scrapes and minor cuts. Some perks deal with these wounds differently, and 1-point wounds will heal much faster; within approximately one day of game time, up to four 1-point wounds will be "healed." The injuries may still be there, but they will cease to hinder the character so long as they are not in Mortal condition.

Blunt force trauma from things like clubs and most unarmed attacks is half real/half stun (round in favor of stun damage). Stun damage represents pain, soreness and shock. It will affect the character for the purpose of making stun and death saves, but stun damage heals quickly, at a rate of 1 point/hour.

If a limb sustains 8 points of damage (after BTM) in a single attack, it is considered crippled (or blown off/severed, depending on the type of attack), but only a maximum of 8 points will be applied to the wound track. If a limb is crippled this way, the target must make a one-time death save to avoid succumbing to blood loss/shock even if they are not in mortal condition (i.e., if an uninjured character gets his arm blown off, he must make a death save at -0, even though he only has 8 points on the wound track (a serious wound state).

Damage to the head is doubled on the wound track (a 2-point wound to the head would result in 4 points on the wound track). Doubling occurs after BTM is subtracted. If the head sustains 8 or more points of damage in a single attack and is crippled, this is considered an instantaneously fatal wound. The target fails a death save, and will expire without stabilization.

The torso cannot be crippled in the same manner as the extremities, but wounds to the torso do not top out at 8 points on the wound track; if you suffer a 20-point chest wound, you tick off 20 boxes on the wound track (which would put the target well into mortal condition).

Grazing

When you take a hit in combat, there is always a chance that any hit will only graze the target, dealing minimal damage. (It's only a flesh wound!). When a successful hit is made, roll for hit location. Apply damage vs. armor. If it penetrates, and the penetrating damage exceeds the minimal grazing damage (see below), make a graze roll (LK+1d10) vs. a target of 15 . If the target number is reached, the attack merely grazes the target, dealing a maximum of 1 point of damage/d6 base damage (any weapons that have +X damage still deal the +X). So, a grazing shot with a weapon that deals 4d6+1 will deal 5 damage. Weapons that deal d10 damage inflict 2 points/d10 on a graze. BTM still applies to this damage. With a BTM of -2, that 4d6+1 graze would cause a 3-point wound (which is a lot better than a 13-point wound)

Some weapons/ammunition types may have graze modifiers, meaning targets are more or less likely to avoid taking full damage from their attacks (for example, hollow point rounds will usually have a graze penalty, while armor piercing rounds will likely have a graze bonus). Head shots suffer a graze penalty of -2, hits to the limbs get a bonus of +2. If the attack just barely succeeds (attack roll is equal to or only 1 greater than the defense roll), there is a graze bonus of +1. Additionally, every full 5 points the defense roll is beaten adds a -1 penalty, as the attacker has skillfully (or by chance) struck closer to "center of mass" for whatever body location they hit. Generally, "mooks" will not make graze rolls.

Lucky characters are lucky for a reason. Grazing head shot damage exceeding the BTM does not inflict double points on the wound track.

Shotguns

Contrary to popular belief (and the FNFF rules), shotguns are not exactly area-effect weapons. They still need to be aimed, especially at standard combat ranges. The CP 2020 rules regarding shotguns are somewhat confusing; they seem to imply that no hit roll is required, and they vastly overestimate the spread pattern. Since we are using an opposed-roll system, shotguns will have an improved attack bonus to reflect the fact that they do spread. At close/medium/long range their bonus is +2/4/6. Their damage is reduced at range as described in the FNFF rules.

Because of their spreading bonus, shotguns are good for overcoming the bonuses granted by several factors, such as cover. If a body part protected by cover is hit by a shotgun, the cover only provides 3 SP/level instead of 4; the spreading nature of the attack means that some pellets may be striking areas that are not covered.

Shotguns raise the target number for suppression by +1/shot rather than the regular +1/attacker because of the area they cover, the damage they cause and they psychological impacts of these effects. If you can pour multiple shotgun blasts on a target, it tends to make them duck.

Burst Fire

Instead of 1d6/2 to determine number of hits, roll 1d6. 1-3=1 hit, 4-5=2 hits and 6=3 hits.

Suppressing Fire

Suppressing fire can take two distinct forms. One is covering fire, blind, un-aimed shots meant largely to psychologically incapacitate a target and prevent them from pressing the attack. The other is saturation fire.

Covering fire actions are aimed at a target (or their location) and are taken at a -15 penalty, meaning they will usually only hit on a critical success (and maybe not even then!). For every firing action (full ROF for semi-auto weapons) expended, +1 suppression is applied (up to +3). You can burn through ammo very quickly this way if you want to try and keep their heads down. Regardless of how many shots you take per action, only one attack roll is made, and only a max of one round may hit.

Burst fire weapons can fire multiple bursts (3 rounds) but do not cause multiple action penalties, just the -15 for covering fire and no +3 bonus from burst fire. If any burst hits, a maximum of one shot from each burst will hit. This is to reflect that burst fire is more effective at providing fire support than semi-auto weapons.

Full-auto weapons give +1 suppression/5 ROF. Their attack roll is made at -15, and they do not gain the +1/10 ROF bonus at close range as described in FNFF. If a full-auto weapon hits, multiple shots may land on target; roll as for a burst-fire weapon. Full-auto suppression is slightly different than aiming a stream at a target; it is intended to keep people down rather than hit them, hence the improved suppression.

Covering fire is not intended to be accurate. It is the simple act of firing downrange to prevent an opponent from firing. Hits will largely be random and due to sheer luck. Also, covering fire is the only real attack option available to a combatant that has failed a suppression roll, or one that has chosen full cover for their combat stance. Covering fire is the equivalent of sticking your weapon around a corner or over an obstacle and plugging away while exposing as little of yourself to incoming fire as possible (and losing any ability to aim). Covering fire is only effective out to long range (see Range, below), since because it is poorly aimed to begin with, firing at targets at extreme range will likely mean that your shots are so far off the mark that the target may not even realize he is being shot at (which is the whole psychological mechanism behind suppression). Suppressing a target at extreme range will require actual aimed fire.

Since a large component of suppressing fire is psychology and proximity, combatants adjacent (within one space/hex/inch) will also receive suppression from covering fire. Who knows who that wild shot was aimed at? It still hit the log a few feet from your head, so it might have been aimed at you. This should also (as in real firefights) encourage combatants to spread out, or focus fire on targets clumped together. Choosing covering fire for your action will take your entire combat round; you are periodically popping off shots for the entirety of a few-second period.

The second form of suppressing fire is saturation fire. Only automatic weapons can be used for this tactic. It is coordinated fire placed into a firing lane for the purpose of area-denial. It is employed as described for suppressing fire in the FNFF rules. Any target within the firing lane, attempting to move through it during the combat round, or emerging from cover while under saturation fire will need to make a suppression roll to even attempt it, and if they succeed, a dodge/cover roll at a target number of the number of rounds fired/the width of the firing lane in spaces. Attempting saturation fire requires that the shooter has passed any required suppression checks, because it will leave them exposed during a fight for a sustained period, and requires a bit of concentration. If you spray an automatic weapon at a piece of cover you know an opponent is hiding behind and they take an active combat stance to shoot at you from behind it, they stand a chance of being hit before they even take a shot. Hits from saturation fire take place before the target can act. Those bullets were already flying, and the only reason you got hit was because you stuck your fool neck out. You lose the initiative on that one, bub. If hit by saturation fire, the target rolls on the burst fire table to determine the number of hits.

Intiative: Stance & Actions

During a combat round, one's stance determines what combat actions are available to them, the effect of whatever cover they may have taken, and their ability to monitor the battlefield. When the character's initiative comes up, the player makes a suppression check (if needed) and declares the intended stance. Failure of the suppression check will often force a specified stance, and therefore should be made before the player can choose their stance and number of actions.

A moving stance indicates that the combatant is moving during the round, or is still in the open and was moving on a previous round. The moving stance implies that the combatant is sprinting, dodging and trying their damnedest not to get shot. A moving target gets all defensive benefits from their movement, and penalties for firing on the run. If the combatant is behind cover but has taken fire since his last action, a suppression roll is required to leave the safety of cover. If this check is failed, another check can be made to see if they can still take active cover. If the combatant is in the open and is required to make a suppression roll on their initiative, a failure means they automatically take a moving stance with some restrictions; they must make a beeline toward cover, and their offensive actions are extremely limited; they can only perform covering fire or other offensive actions that would be available to someone taking full cover.

Active cover means the combatant is behind cover, and is actively engaging in battle. He is peeking out keep an eye on his enemies or looking for an opportunity to take a shot. If the combatant chooses an active cover stance, he must make a suppression roll if he has taken any fire since his last action. If the suppression roll succeeds, he may take any combat action he chooses. If it fails, the combatant is relegated to taking full cover.

Full cover means that the combatant is hiding as best as his cover allows, exposing no part of himself to enemy fire. He is not peeking out, so his cover will block his line of sight. This means he may lose track of where his enemies are if they move, but he will not be susceptible to any direct fire (except for covering fire that manages to penetrate the cover). The only offensive combat actions available to him are covering fire and anything that doesn't require he expose himself, like throwing a grenade. This is the default stance for a combatant that has failed a suppression check.

Bracing means that you are sacrificing movement for accuracy. Either while standing in the open or hidden behind cover, you are carefully aiming at a target. Bracing reduces the range penalty by one category: medium becomes close, long becomes medium, extreme becomes long. While bracing, shots up to double extreme range (4 times listed range) can be attempted. While in a bracing stance, you sacrifice your ability to dodge and take cover. Defense rolls made while in a bracing stance do not get to add the dodge/cover skill. Cover will still protect portions of a bracing character's body, however. If the combatant chooses a bracing stance, he must make a suppression roll if he has taken any fire since his last action. If the suppression roll succeeds, he may take any combat action he chooses. If it fails, he must move for cover if in the open, or take full cover if already behind cover. Bracing can drastically improve long-range accuracy, but can be very dangerous in the wrong circumstances. Taking carefully aimed shots (such as aiming for the head) will require taking a bracing stance, otherwise the combatant is assumed to be aiming for "center of mass" and any hits will be subject to hit location rolls.

A critical failure of a suppression roll may mean the combatant's morale breaks, and he loses his action entirely, or worse.

When your initiative comes up, in addition to stance, now is the time to decide how many actions you are going to take. If you choose to take multiple actions, they will be rushed. Accuracy will suffer, causing a -3 penalty to each action for every additional action beyond the first. Multiple actions also do not all take place at the same time, but on later initiative numbers. Every subsequent action takes place 5 initiative points later.

If you roll a 15 for initiative, your first action takes place on 15. If you choose to take multiple actions, they would follow on 10, 5 and 0. You could take a maximum of 4 actions (at a staggering -9 to each!). If you only rolled a 14, you could only take a maximum of 3 actions. That fourth one would fire off at initiative -1. You would simply run out of time.

You can opt to delay any action for a later initiative, but your next action can take effect no sooner than 5 points later.

Movement

Maneuver and position can be every bit as important to the application of effective force as a precision attack. Movement in combat can be vital: to get out of a dangerous crossfire, to take cover or flank an opponent and negate their cover.
A combatant can move up to three times his MA in meters/combat round. Moving at this rate is considered a flat-out sprint; taking combat actions is possible, but the penalties are severe. For encounters played out in tactical tabletop fashion, one inch/hex/square equals one meter unless specified otherwise.
Movement is declared at the combatant's initiative, by taking a moving stance. Moving is an action. For every action spent moving, a combatant can move his MA in meters. Up to three movement actions can be taken. Just like multiple combat actions, these moves take place 5 initiative points apart.
If only one movement action and one combat action are taken, one can move and fire or fire and move without penalty if the actions are taken 5 initiative points apart. This is to reflect that in a short time (about 3 seconds), a combatant can move a short distance, recover, and not throw off his aim too much. Alternatively, you can attack on the run with all the penalties for extra actions. Say you go on initiative 10. You choose a moving stance and take two actions (one for movement and one for a firing action). You can move on initiative 10 and fire on 5 for no penalty, or (if you can't afford to wait to take a shot) move and fire on 10 at a -3 (firing on the move). If you chose to take 3 actions (one for movement and 2 for firing), the shots would only be at -3 each if you waited for 5 initiative points after the move. If you fired on the move on initiative X, it would be at -6 (-3 for firing on the move and -3 for extra actions). The second firing action would be at -3 (you've had a second to steady your aim, but you're still a bit rushed from pulling the trigger a couple extra times in a short span of time). When only taking one movement action, you can choose to move/fire or fire/move; If you move first, then you are effectively holding your firing action. You can act sooner than 5 initiative points later (and suffer that -3 penalty). However, if you fire first, you must wait for 5 initiative points to pass before you can move. In this sense, any combatant can essentially take a free move shortly after they have fired if they so choose, keeping in mind that moving may rob them of any benefits of cover.
If a combatant invests more than one action toward movement, he is considered to be running for a majority of the round, and his accuracy will suffer. For example, if you choose to run full out (3 movement actions) and take a shot (one extra action), the shot is taken at a -9 penalty (-3/extra action). If you take 2 movement actions and 2 combat actions, each shot is taken at -9 (4 total actions).
Moving does not allow one to take cover, but hitting a running target is obviously more difficult than hitting a stationary one. If fired on while running (2 movement actions taken), add 1/2 of your MA (rounding up) to your dodge/cover roll. Sprinting (3 movement actions) adds an additional +2; a combatant with 10 MA who is sprinting will add +7 to any dodge/cover rolls!) If you make it to cover, you can move into it (and take active or full cover), and you then gain the benefits of cover from any subsequent shots. If you can't make it to cover inside of one movement action, casually strolling around a battlefield may not be the best course of action.

Range

The Range listed for a firearm is its "long" range. Medium range is half that, close range is one quarter. "Close" range is one-quarter the listed range; shots fired at this range or less do not suffer range penalties. At medium range, there is a -5 penalty to the attack roll. At long range, -10, and extreme range -15. Shots fired at point-blank range (one meter or less) inflict maximum damage.
When taking a firing action, you can choose to brace and take more careful aim. This requires the shooter to sit still, and turns them into a stationary target. While bracing, you do not get to add your dodge/cover skill to defense rolls.

Shotguns and range work a little differently. They have a long range of 40m, but the nature of their spread means they are more likely to hit at longer ranges. At close range, they gain +2 to the attack roll, at medium range +4 and at long range +6. They also do less damage at greater range, subtracting one die of damage for every range bracket. Shotguns do not have an "extreme" range. At anything more than the max range, the individual pellets will lose enough potency that they will not provide substantial penetration.

A scope can only be used from the bracing stance. It will further reduce the range by another category (long becomes close, extreme becomes medium, double extreme range is long and four times extreme range is extreme). Bracing will reduce the range category by one; a shot at long range would be considered medium range. Close range shots with a rifle can be taken out to 50m instead of 25. Given time to line up a shot, the concentration perk can be added to long-range shots. To gain the +1 bonus from aiming, an entire combat round must be dedicated to aiming (not just an action within a combat round).
Long-range weapons certainly have some great advantages. Shorter range weapons also have tactical advantages that are sometimes ignored in the pursuit of bigger (must always)=better. If this were truly the case, all our police officers would always carry rifles.
Firstly, there are certain intangible (in tabletop combat) concerns which mostly affect role-playing. Long guns are difficult to conceal and/or carry around all the time. Soldiers in the field don't really care about this too much; they are often laden down with tons of other gear, too, and soldiers don't generally need to hide the fact that they are armed. For a police officer, it is difficult to deal with someone in a non-confrontational way while you've got a shotgun or an M-4 cradled in your arms. At the ref's discretion, certain skill checks may suffer a penalty based on what gear (including weapons) your character is lugging around.
Second, long guns are more difficult to effectively wield in close-quarters. Rifles require a certain minimum amount of aiming, otherwise you might as well just be laying down covering fire. Smaller weapons can be more easily aimed while in a tight spot like a small room or a hallway. Rifles will also more readily telegraph their point of aim. Shots from a carbine or rifle in close-quarters may give the target a dodge/cover bonus (ref's discretion).
Lastly, the shorter a weapon (generally), the quicker it is to get sight alignment, and the sooner the shooter will be able to put shots on target. Longer guns like rifles will require more time to line the sights up on the target. Smaller weapons trade range for utility. A carbine weapon adds +1 to initiative. SMG-sized weapons add +2, and lastly, pistols add +3. Shotguns will add +3 to initiative, also; though they are longer weapons, part of their design is that they don't require as much precision aiming. You can still snap off a relatively quick "aimed" shot with a scattergun. This is also why they are effective CQB weapons. Of course, the biggest drawback to shotguns is that most of them have very limited magazines, and they are slow to reload.

Reloading in Combat

At some point in time, you are bound to run out of bullets in the middle of a fight. Reloading your weapon will require at least one combat action. If you only take one combat action, you can choose to reload your weapon, and it will succeed automatically. If it is taken as one of multiple combat actions, things get more tricky. Try it sometime (if you have the means to); try to quickly pull a mag from its pouch, drop the old one, drive the new one into the magazine well then chamber a round so you can continue firing. Go ahead. I'll wait. Doing this very quickly requires a lot of practice and good reflexes.
If you choose to reload a weapon that has removable magazines as an extra action, you must make a standard (15) difficulty reflexes check. You can add the appropriate weapon skill to this roll. A success means that you have managed to drop the empty mag, replace it with a fresh one and chamber a round. This readies the weapon to be fired on the next action (be it during the current round or a later one). Failing the roll means you are somehow fumbling the procedure. If you have more actions plotted, you can use them to continue trying to reload. The penalty for extra actions (-3 for every action beyond the first) applies to this roll. It is more difficult to fire off three bursts and then reload quickly, as you are trying to fit a precise combination of actions into an even smaller span of time. For example, if you elected to take 3 actions (fire, fire, reload), each shot would be at -6, and the roll to reload before next round would be at -6, also. A fumble during a reload check may result in dropping the magazine or jamming the weapon. Reloading is an action that may be taken from full cover.
Reloading a tube-fed weapon (like a pump shotgun) can be an art in and of itself. By reducing the weapon to a ROF of 1, you can freely drop a shell into the open chamber, rack the slide and fire. Doing so causes a -5 initiative penalty, like firing after moving without the aiming penalty. If you want to reload multiple shells, you can sacrifice all combat actions during the round to stuffing the mag with shells. Make an easy (10) reflexes check, adding your rifle skill to the roll. If you succeed, the weapon now has one round in the tube, and you can keep making reload rolls (with successive -3 penalties to each one) until you fail one. That is the number of shells you were able to reload that round. Those highly skilled with rifles and/or with high reflexes will able to reload more shells into a shotgun in a short period of time.