In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 13):

OOC: Good questions. The Judge sees a distinction between the rules, and the circumstances under which rules might apply. The Judge might make different rulings in different situations. As far a the rules go:

Getting up from Prone is a move action (2" worth). Whether all the way to one's feet, or just to a crouch or knee.

Crouch is -1, Prone -2 (p65)

Notice checks can be made while prone.

(In this circumstance, the Judge has already ruled that Jacob cannot see the opponent because of his position. Therefore, moving to a crouch, or crawling while prone or something similar is needed in order to look for his opponent up the ridge. Or, Jacob could do a Notice, looking around at the area that he can see from his current position. Maybe, the varmint has already moved . . . )

P.S.
"A nice one, not too expensive."

True . . . however, an ace or a snake eyes can change things quick, even with a strong -2 or +2 modifier in place. You haven't rolled an ace yet, so you haven't felt the adrenaline surge. Again, aces work both ways, as do snake eyes for NPC Wild Cards.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 20:39, Wed 22 Aug 2018.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 11):

OOC: Wait, the Judge was incorrect about the Joker and the +2. Jake was correct. The Joker's Wild adds to that rule ... each PC gets a benny when a PC draws the Joker.

So Jake's hit would have been a Shaken and Wound on AFJ. However, AFJ would have spent a benny to "Soak" the Wound, and the Vigor roll would have applied to the soak, ending in the same result (the roll succeeded, soaking the one Wound and removing the Shaken result at the same time). AFJ would have been able to attack and still would have missed. He probably wouldn't have used a benny to re-roll that first attack bu he might have. So the Judge will say he has used two bennies (one for soak and one for Shooting re-roll).

The situation now didn't change, just the events that led up to the now. It is still Jake's initiative in r2.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Wed 22 Aug 2018.

I envy you your memory -- 'tis much better than mine! :)

So . . . if I understand you correctly, if Jake fails his Notice Check, he will not know AFJ's location for sure until the following round (based upon the muzzle-flash of AFJ's rifle, I assume) -- but even if he fails he can rise up and fire at AFJ's previous location, hoping that the man has not moved (which means that he may or may not have wasted a cartridge).

Do I have that right?

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 17):

Yes, essentially, but if he does both Notice and Shooting in the same round it will be -2 for each trait test.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 18):

Thanks. I need to post in another game, so I may or may not work up an IC post for Jake tonight. Should be able to get to it by tomorrow evening, at the latest (tomorrow morning and afternoon are shaping up as pretty busy for me in RL).

This message was deleted by the player at 02:44, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

~Waal, hellfire!~ Jake thought to himself as he realized that he could no longer see the man who was shooting at him. The Texan had no way of knowing whether the would-be bushwhacker had stayed put after the Texan disappeared down into the underbrush, or had moved to a different position.

Jake slithered over some four yards to his right, moving away from where he thought he heard the slug from his foe's round hit. That way, if the man fired at the spot where he had seen Jake drop prone, the rifleman wouldn't be there anymore.

The Texan then concentrated on trying to spot his opponent's location up on the ridge, reasoning that he now had a different line-of-sight than he had had before. Plus, even if he didn't spot the man, if the fellow fired at him again, Jake would see the muzzle-flash for certain-sure.

---

OOC:

Move: Jake will stay prone and slide 2 inches (four yards of IC movement -- see p. 16) over to his right. Since he is prone, this is his full allotted movement.

Action: 22:47, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 4,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Notice Check. Success!

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 21):

Jacob, or Jake as he was sometimes called, crawls a ways towards his right, hoping to spy the bushwhacker up yon ridge. The Texan figured it out pretty quick, as he saw the muzzle flash in the dim, pre-dawn light. Maybe the bastard had stayed exactly where he was when the Texan had moved, fired and gone prone. The rifleman, still on his belly, hears his opponent's weapon report; the bullet buries itself some three feet away along the path that Jacob had intended to slither, spewing grit and dust.

A miss, but durned close for comfort. Despite the adverse conditions, the bush whacker had come close. Richardsen couldn't help but feel a bit pinned down. Clearly, this prone position gave him good cover, but not much advantage other'n'that. Not against a marksman like himself. He wondered for a moment about his pards, but even if they had heard the reports, they were likely minutes away back at the camp.

OOC: The Judge counted these modifiers:

-1 dim, -1 JR's Dodge, -2 prone, 0 distance = -4
+2 Marksman, AFJ didn't move
net result -2  so the roll was d8-2,d6-2 . . . no ace and low rolls (not snake eyes) so a plain old miss

Obviously, Jake's Notice was successful; the Judge described that in the narrative -- Jake knows where the man is, right now. Before next round initiative.

The Judge drew the initiative cards for r3.

Jake: Two
AFJ: King, Five (King wins)

AFJ has the initiative.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 22):

The bush whacker wasn't giving Jake much of a chance, but he couldn't find his mark in the dim light. His third round, fired almost immediately after the second also buries itself in the ground, this time just a little behind the Texan. Apparently, Jacob's opponent had overcompensated. Still, no great comfort to the rifleman.

Richardsen sees the muzzle-flash and then sees the silhouette duck behind a rock outcropping.

OOC: The Judge isn't rolling well and the -2 net isn't helping. Jacob's action now, end of r3. He knows where the man is . . . AFJ still has cover even after moving, maybe better cover, but Jacob doesn't know how well it will protect the bush whacker.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:38, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

OOC:

I want to double-check the modifiers for Jake's shot before I make his roll, so that I can set it up properly.

I am guessing a net +1 for Jake: (-1 Dim, -1 Cover, -1 Target crouching) vs. (+2 Improved Trademark Weapon Edge, +2 Marksman Edge).

If AFJ has totally disappeared behind his cover (at least initially), Jake will hold until he has a target to shoot at. With only two people being involved in the fight, that shouldn't matter as much as it otherwise might.

Thanks.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:54, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 24):

OOC: The net is correct. -3 +4 = +1 (it is simply +2 for cover overall).

It seemed to Jake that the hombre up on the ridge must have a pretty good idea where the Texan was, because his shots weren't all that far off the mark. The good news was that Jake had the man spotted now, and he squeezed off a shot.

He was pretty sure that his bullet went where he had aimed it, but he couldn't tell how much it had hurt the bushwhacker.

---

OOC:

Move: None.

Attack: 00:08, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 3,3 using d10+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2.  Winchester Shot, Round 3.

00:09, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 10,3 using d10+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 9,2.  Bennie Re-Roll, Round 3. A hit, with one Raise.

00:10, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 3 using 2d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  Damage, Round 3.

00:27, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 7 using 2d8, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4.  Bennie Damage Re-Roll (Blood & Guts).

Total Damage: 10 (A Raise, I think.)

Notes: Jake burned two Bennies this round, one on his Attack Roll and one on his Damage Roll (Blood & Guts Setting Rule). I'll be curious to see whether they were well-spent. :)

After I had rolled for Damage, I noticed that a Raise on one's Attack roll gives an extra d6 of Damage, so I added that roll after the fact.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:51, Fri 24 Aug 2018.

OOC:

I have a rules question for you. You wrote in pertinent part (Msg. #23):



How is it that AFJ can both move (my reading is that he crouched down to find better cover) and also use the Marksman Edge (I believe that I saw somewhere that AFJ is using that Edge -- which certainly made me sit up and take notice -- you are right that AFJ surely is no slouch!).

My understanding was that moving (even crouching) would prevent one from using the Marksman Edge that round.

Thanks.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 27):

OOC: That's a good catch, Jake, re: Marksman Edge. AFJ shouldn't have been able to move that round. Still getting used to the Initiative in SW and when AFJ got two actions in a row, I got mixed up. You are correct that AFJ would need to stay in place. So he stayed in place.

The modifiers for Jake are the same; however. I was going to give AFJ the same +2 Jake was getting for medium cover (prone is medium cover) whether he moved or not, based on the circumstances. The benny for the attack roll was well spent, as it was a hit.

The benny for damage re-roll is valuable, but it would only be a Shaken result. You don't add the two damage rolls together. You can use the benny to re-roll, looking for a better result, which you got with the 7. They way you did it, 7 would be the total.

Moreover, you didn't account for the extra damage die you get for getting a raise on the Shooting attack, in your original roll. As per p67, a raise on the attack (hit and raise) earns an extra 1d6 in damage (one time bonus, no matter how many raises on the hit). As with other damage rolls, this die can ace.

So, you should have rolled 2d8,1d6 for damage. You could still have re-rolled with the benny if the total roll was low (e.g., let's pretend Jake rolled a 1 on the d6 for a total of 4, he could re-roll the whole thing by spending the benny as per Blood & Guts). However, what if the original d6 had aced? Maybe spending a benny for re-roll wasn't needed.

Since this is just a test, let's just go with it. He decided to spend the benny and now he still gets to roll the remaining 1d6 as part of the re-roll, possibly getting enough for a raise.

OOC:

Here is Jake's re-roll of the extra d6 of Damage:

12:17, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Benny Re-Roll (Raise Damage From Hit).

That ups his Damage total by one, I think -- to an 8. Not enough for a Raise on the Damage, I don't believe -- I think that AFJ's Toughness is good enough to prevent that.

I didn't realize that one went with the higher of the two Damage rolls -- I'm used to adding them from all my d20 games, and did it that way out of habit. I probably wouldn't have spent the Benny on the Damage re-roll if I had realized that, but let's go with it -- as you say, this is just practice.

The only reason that I  questioned AFJ's movement is that I had read up on the Marksman Edge (since Jake has it as well as AFJ, as you know) and was aware of the "no movement" rule.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 29):

OOC: No, still a slight misinterpretation here.

The damage roll for Jake was 2d8 + 1d6 (sorry I didn't make that clear). As per page 67, when you get a raise on an attack roll you get to add 1d6 to the total.

So, if we say Jake spent the 2nd benny to re-roll damage, his new result is 3+4+4 = 11. That is enough for a success and a raise on damage against Toughness 6, so once again Jake gets a good result -- Shaken and Wound against AFJ.

AFJ chooses NOT to spend a benny to soak the wound. He will get a chance at a Vigor roll on his next action to unshake. (This is a gamble, as Jake might get the initiative and fire again before AFJ gets the Vigor roll.)

That decision made: the Judge draws the next initiative round (still from unshuffled deck as the Joker hasn't turned up since the shuffle after r1).

Jake: Eight
AFJ: Ace, Four (Ace wins)

AFJ has the initiative. The Judge will post his next action soon, beginning with the attempt to unshake.

AFJ had been in tetchy situations more than a time or two. He respected the shooter below, who had managed to hit with his long arm despite the bushwhacker's superior position. Regardless, this was no time for mutual admiration meetings.

Shrugging off his opponent's bullet, AFJ calls out -- some sort of bird call. He then slides backwards, into the brush along the ridge.

Jacob Richardsen hears the call, but he loses sight of his previous target, the silhouette melting into the landscape.

OOC: AFJ achieved a success on the Vigor roll and is no longer shaken. He now has one wound. Normally, that would incur -1 to all Trait tests, but AFJ has "Nerves of Steel" and therefore ignores the penalties from the first wound. The Judge rolled for the Injury suffered from the wound.

Jake's action.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 31):

OOC:

Given that Jake has lost sight of AFJ once again, he will need to make a Notice Check if he wishes to try and spot the man, correct?

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 32):

OOC: Yes. If he can be spotted. Jake may need to move again before he could succeed at a Notice test.

OOC:

Okay, thanks. Yeah, Jake changed his position (and his LOS) last time, and was able to spot AFJ. Maybe it will work again, maybe not. :)

I'll post IC for Jake tonight if I have time -- if not, it'll be some time tomorrow.

Jake scowled as the man up on the ridge above him suddenly disappeared again. The bushwhacker had dropped hisself lower down, stepped back, or gone to the left or right, out of Jake's line of sight -- or maybe some combination of the three.

Moving a little had helped the Texan spot his foe the last time, so Jake tried it again, scootching over a little to his right. The rifleman had faintly heard what sounded like a bird call from the ridge up above him, and wondered if it was the man up there who was signaling someone -- or something . . . it didn't seem likely to the Texan that a real bird would be singin' out and bringin' attention to hisself in the middle of all the fuss and noise of a gunfight.

~Is he signalin' to his pards, maybe? Or to his horse? Has he got his horse trained to come to him when he signals, like Cole? Could be that he's had enough -- or maybe my shot hit him hard enough that he's ready to back off an' try his luck with somebody who's got a mite less sand than I turned out to have.~

With a shrug, the Texan got down to work trying to spot the man up above him. His new position afforded him an excellent line of sight, where the sun wasn't in his eyes, and he was able to take a good, long look . . .

---

OOC:

Move: Jake will scootch over 2" to his right, staying prone.

Action: 12:42, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 2,17 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+6+5)17.  Notice Check.

Notes: Wow. If that had been a Damage roll, or Jake's Wild Die roll whilst the Texan was shooting . . . This "Acing" can pile points onto a roll in a hurry.

On another note, I couldn't remember whether it was Travis or Cole who had trained his horse to come to him when he gives a signal. I took a guess that it was Cole, but if'n it's Travis, I'll edit. :)

OOC: yeah, like I said, pard, we hadn't experienced an ace in this combat yet. Now you have a feel for it.

I'll post later today.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 35):

Jacob stays prone, inching a few yards further and straining to look up the slope in the dim pre-dawn light. Having afforded himself a clear view, he still cannot locate his opponent, at least not visually. The Texan felt sure that the bush whacker wasn't in his line of sight. With his good ear, Richardsen hears something from above -- it sounds like movement -- and it is not getting closer.

OOC: Jake's Notice roll was successful, but from his current position it isn't possible to see AFJ. Therefore, the Judge ruled that the Notice resulted in hearing something (in SW the Notice skill covers more than just "looking for" something and in this case, it made sense to rule in this fashion).

The Judge drew r5 initiative:

Jake: Nine (diamonds)
AFJ: Eight, Nine (clubs)

Both have Nine, reverse suit order breaks ties, so Jake has the initiative.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 37):

Jake found himself wondering if the bushwhacker was playing a cat-and-mouse game with him, trying to humbug the Texan into rising up out of his cover so that the man up-slope would have a clearer shot.

~Reckon I'll stay put for a mite,~ the rifleman thought. He aimed his rifle-barrel at the top of the cover up on the ridge, so that he would quickly be able to target his foe if the man suddenly appeared in the hopes of catching the Texan with his britches down, so to speak.

---

OOC:

Jake will Hold his actions this Round, and will seek to interrupt the bushwhacker's actions if the man suddenly reappears on the ridge above him.

Edit: Replaced "fool" with "humbug" in the first sentence of the post.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Sat 25 Aug 2018.