Cinematic Combat
Cinematic Combat Rules
The following rules are shamelessly unrealistic and strictly optional, but can be fun in larger-than-life games!
Dual-Weapon Attacks
This optional rule might be cinematic ... but it is balanced enough to use in a realistic campaign. The GM has the final say. If you have at least two hands, you can strike with two hands at once using an Attack maneuver instead of an All-Out Attack (Double) maneuver. Each hand can attack unarmed, with a one-handed melee weapon, or with a pistol. Of course, if your ST is high enough, you can wield a two-handed weapon in one hand!
Each attack is at -4 to hit, but you can learn the Dual-Weapon Attack technique to reduce this penalty. You have an extra -4 (total -8) with your "off" hand, unless you have Ambidexterity or learn Off-Hand Weapon Training.
Roll to hit separately for each hand. You can attack one target or two – but to strike two foes with melee attacks, they must be adjacent. If you aim both attacks at a single opponent, he defends at -1 against them, as his attention is divided!
If you already have multiple attacks – for instance, from an Extra Attack – you may "trade" only one of these for a Dual-Weapon Attack. All your remaining attacks must be simple, single-weapon attacks.
Bulletproof Nudity
PCs with Attractive or better appearance can get a bonus to active defenses simply by undressing! Any outfit that bares legs, chest, or midriff is +1. Just a loincloth or skimpy swimwear is +2. Topless females get an extra +1. Total nudity gives no further bonus to defense, but adds +1 to Move and +2 water Move.
Cannon Fodder
The GM may rule that minor NPCs are mere "cannon fodder," with these effects:
- They automatically fail all defense rolls ... yet never All-Out Attack.
- They collapse (unconscious or dead) if any penetrating damage gets through DR. If they are unprotected, or if the hero's attacks are such that damage would always penetrate, there's no need to roll damage at all. In any event, don’t bother keeping track of HP!
Cinematic Explosions
In reality, a grenade or anti-tank rocket will almost certainly kill an unarmored man. In cinematic combat, explosions do no direct damage! Ignore fragmentation, too. All a blast does is disarray clothing, blacken faces, and (most importantly) cause knockback. Every yard of knockback from a cinematic explosion causes a token 1 HP of crushing damage.
Cinematic Knockback
In reality, guns cause little or no knockback. But in cinematic combat, a big gun can blast foes through windows and even walls! Work out knockback for a piercing attack just as if it were a crushing attack. In addition to rolling to see if he falls down, anyone who suffers knockback from any attack must make an IQ roll or be mentally stunned on his next turn. This roll is at -1 per yard of knockback.
Flesh Wounds
Immediately after you suffer damage, you may declare that the attack that damaged you (which can include multiple hits, if the foe used rapid fire) was a glancing blow or "just a flesh wound." This lets you ignore all but 1 HP (or FP) of damage ... at the cost of one unspent character point. If you have no unspent points, the GM might let you go into "debt": he will subtract these points from those you earn for the adventure.
Infinite Ammunition
PCs always have spare ammunition or power cells. If they use up all they are carrying, they immediately find more. Furthermore, weapons never malfunction.
Melee Etiquette
If a PC chooses to fight unarmed or with melee weapons, his opponents always face him one-on-one, one at a time. Unengaged NPCs can dance around the fight uttering shrill cries of encouragement, but wait their turn to attack.
If the foe is a super-strong monster that could kill or maim the hero with a single blow, it rarely strikes to inflict damage directly. Instead it slams the hero, or grabs him and tosses him around!
TV Action Violence
If struck by a potentially lethal attack (including a rapid-fire attack that inflicts multiple hits), the hero can choose to convert his failed defense roll into a success. This costs him 1 FP and he loses his next turn.
The hero cannot spend FP to avoid unarmed attacks or melee or thrown weapon attacks that inflict crushing damage (or no damage, such as a grapple), unless they would hit the skull or neck. Likewise, he cannot avert attacks on his weapons or nonliving possessions.
With this rule in effect, those involved in a fight with lethal weapons "duck for cover" and are forced "onto the defensive" until they're exhausted.