Mercenary - kill shots useless?

[iainjcoleman]

Am I missing something, or is the Kill Shot rule in Mercenary entirely useless?

Normal aimed shot: aim for up to six actions, gain +1 DM to hit per action.

Kill shot: aim for up to six actions, no DM to hit but, if you do hit, get a +1 DM to damage per action.

The thing is, the effect of your to-hit roll is added to your damage. Let's see how this works. Assume aiming for the maximum six actions in each case, with no to-hit DMs other than aiming.

Normal aimed shot: Hit on a 2 or more, with +1 damage for each point the roll is above 2. If you roll a 7, you hit with +5 damage; if you roll an 8, you hit with +6 damage; if you roll a 12 you hit with +10 damage.

Kill shot: Hit on an 8 or more, with +6 damage plus an additional +1 damage for each point the roll is above 8. If you roll a 7 or less, you miss, causing no damage; if you roll an 8, you hit with +6 damage; if you roll a 12 you hit with +10 damage.

If my reading of the rules is correct, why would anyone choose a kill shot?

 

[Duroon]

I will have to look over the rule myself to say for sure. But if you are reading it right I agree, why would you want to choose a kill shot?

Anyone else have a take on this yet?

 

[B_Steele]

Unfortunately...you are correct. The original Mercenary manuscript was written when Effect was still limited by the result of the highest die (1-6) and Aiming DM had nothing to do with it. Apparently it slipped through the cracks...

I would say that a fast fix could be perhaps Kill Shots could add +2 damage per round instead of +1.

So:

Normal 6 round aimed shot: Hit on a 2 or more, with +1 damage for each point the roll is above 2. If you roll a 7, you hit with +5 damage; if you roll an 8, you hit with +6 damage; if you roll a 12 you hit with +10 damage.

New and Improved 6 round Kill shot: Hit on an 8 or more, with +2 damage for each round spent preparing. If you roll a 7 or less, you miss, causing no damage; if you roll an 8, you hit with +12 damage; if you roll a 12 you hit with +16 damage.

What do you think?

Oh, and sorry for the confusion!

-Bry

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Thanks for the reply Bry!

Hope that makes it into the Errata!

 

[Duroon]

That would definitely make it a useful choice. Especially if someone had high enough Gun Combat and DEX to not need to aim for a hit all that often.

 

[iainjcoleman]

Bry,

Thanks for responding to this. Your "Quick Fix" solution looks pretty good - it makes Kill Shots worth doing, and it also increases their lethality, which seems entirely appropriate.