Suppression Fire House Rule

by Geoff Speare and Tom Skucas

(This rule replaces the text on Suppression Fire in the HSR.)

The Suppression Fire rules as printed in the Hero System Rulebook seem more than a little underpowered. Because of the OCV penalties for firing at large areas (-1 OCV per hex targeted), covering any area larger than a few square meters is almost an impossibility. In addition, each target can be hit no more than once, no matter how many bullets are being pumped into an area. These factors, plus the rapid expenditure of ammunition required by the maneuver, combine to ensure that Suppression Fire remains seldom used in most games.

The following rules are an attempt to "beef up" Suppression Fire, without making it overly powerful. GMs should look at these rules carefully before introducing them into a campaign, as they will almost certainly make Suppression Fire a more popular maneuver. Several supplementary rules changes are listed at the end of this article - these changes are intended to maintain game balance without diverging too far from the philosophy of the Hero System.

Suppression Fire is a � Phase Optional Combat Maneuver that permits a character with an Autofire attack to lay down fire over an area; anyone coming into that area is automatically attacked. Suppression Fire uses up a lot of ammunition, but it is useful for pinning down a large number of enemies, or attacking enemies who cannot be perceived.

To use Suppression Fire, the player defines a cone of hexes that the character will be firing into. The cone originates at the character's firing position and expands outward; players should keep in mind that objects behind the target area may be affected as well. The player should also decide how many shots the character will be firing. This number of shots will be used during each Segment of Suppression Fire. This number cannot be higher than the shot limit of the Autofire; thus, an attack with +� Autofire can fire no more than 5 shots per Segment.

Suppression Fire takes a half-Phase and is an attack action. The Suppression Fire lasts until the start of the character's next action Phase, unless he states that he is using his next Phase to continue Suppression Fire. Suppression Fire works in a manner similar to that of a Continuous Area of Effect attack: anyone, or anything, that enters the area covered by Suppression Fire is automatically attacked (although not automatically hit). There is no way to "sneak" through the area, move through the area on the firing character's off Phase, or move through the area without being attacked. Note that several targets may take damage, even if they enter the area on different Segments. Each target will be attacked upon entering and every time the attacker's Phase comes around (assuming that he elects to continue the Suppression Fire for another Phase). The attacker's OCV is modified for the size of the area being fired into, as well as the number of shots being fired. The exact modifiers are shown below:

Using Suppression Fire on cones larger than 120 degrees should not be possible with "normal" modern weaponry; however, characters with appropriate special effects may be able to cover larger areas.

Cones are normally assumed to be more or less two-dimensional. If the character wishes to fire into a three-dimensional cone, each 30 degrees of vertical angle adds an OCV penalty of -2 and another x� to the maximum number of hits. At no point can the maximum number of hits drop below 1 (if the character's attack roll is successful, he is always guaranteed of one hit). GMs may wish to impose additional OCV penalties for characters who attempt Suppression Fire over extremely large areas.

Along with the area being fired into, the number of shots that the attacker uses will also affect his OCV. Naturally, firing a larger number of shots per Segment will give a larger OCV bonus. The modifiers are shown below.

Whenever a character enters the area being affected by Suppression Fire, or when the Suppression Fire is begun, the attacker must make an Autofire Attack Roll using the OCV modifiers listed above plus any other applicable modifiers for range, skill levels, etc. Penalties for not being able to perceive the enemy do not apply - effectively, this is an Area of Effect attack, and as such it is not aimed specifically at any individual target. The defending character uses his standard DCV, plus any applicable modifiers. Like a normal Autofire attack, the target takes one hit for every 2 points the Attack Roll was made by. The maximum number of hits is determined by the number of bullets fired per Segment, modified for the size of the Suppression Fire area.

Examples

Joe wants to use the Suppression Fire rules to attack as many agents as possible with his machine gun (which has an Autofire rate of 5). The agents are lined up 6" away, one per hex. A 30 degree arc will allow Joe to target 3 or 4 of them at -2 OCV plus Range Modifiers and will allow 3 hits maximum per agent. A 60 degree arc will get 8 or 9 agents at -4 OCV plus Range Modifiers and will allow at most 1 hit each. Assuming that Joe is SPD 3, with a base OCV of 10, and the agents are DCV 4, he will be able to attack 3-4 agents at 6 OCV, or 13- to hit, or 8-9 agents at 4 OCV, at 11- to hit. Either way, he will use up 20 bullets from his machine gun.

Greg decides to abuse the Suppression Fire rules in a superhero game. His character, Suppression Fire Man (SFMan for short), buys a 1d6+1 RKA Autofire, 20 shots maximum, 250 Charges, for a total Active Cost of 60 points. SFMan can spray a line of hexes with 20 bullets; everyone in that line is attacked at +4 OCV, and can be hit up to 20 times. If he wants to spray a larger area, SFMan can hit everyone in a 60 degree cone at -0 OCV with no more than 4 hits each, or a 120 degree cone at -4 OCV with no more that 2 hits per target. However, he burns 20 shots per Segment; assuming he's SPD 4, that comes out to 80 charges per Phase of Suppression Fire.

Abuses and Suggested Rules Changes

In the current rules, buying extra shots for an Autofire has little advantage. It enables a character to fire into more hexes than normal if attacking multiple foes, and it allows the chance of hitting a target more than 5 times - if the character makes his Attack Roll by 12 or more. With the above rules for Suppression Fire, extra shots for an Autofire attack has the added effect of increasing your OCV when using Suppression Fire, which can be a considerable advantage. The GM should consider raising the cost of extra shots to +� Advantage for every doubling of shots. (If this is done, it also becomes point-balanced to allow a +1 OCV per level of extra shots when making a standard Autofire attack, further increasing the usefulness of firing more than 5 shots at a target.)

The greatest potential abuse of these rules is using Suppression Fire with an Autofire attack bought to 0 END; this allows a character to essentially get the Area of Effect benefits of Suppression Fire without the usual drawback of using up large quantities of ammunition. On the other hand, buying 0 END plus Autofire is already a +1� Advantage, and there are generally OCV penalties involved in the attack. Since buying up the number of shots fired by the Autofire could negate the OCV penalties, adding another +� to the cost of the extra shots Advantage (for a total of +� per 2x shots) is probably a good idea.

One issue that several reviewers of this article brought up is the appropriateness of using OCV vs. DCV for a Suppression Fire attack. It could be argued that anyone is capable of pumping a given number of bullets into an area, and a defender's reflexes would not generally come into play in such a situation.

We chose to retain the OCV vs. DCV mechanic for a couple of reasons. First, OCV and DCV are an integral part of Hero. Removing them, even for just one maneuver, could have a substantial impact on game balance. (If one argues that Suppression Fire cannot be dodged, couldn't one make the same argument for all gunfire?) Secondly, several people with real-world experience were of the opinion that training with a weapon did enhance one's ability to fire in an even and consistent manner - indeed, inexperienced shooters are often not capable of limiting fire to the intended area.

If the GM disagrees with these reasons, we would suggest using � OCV against � DCV; this will reduce the benefits of a high Combat Value without eliminating them entirely.