Guns

Sometimes you just need to shoot things. Thankfully, there’s a skill for that. With a gun, you can shoot up to two zones  away—possibly three or more, if it’s a rifle. Unfortunately, without a gun at hand, the skill isn’t much use. Characters with a high Guns skill are masters of death; as a result, it’s rare to encounter one who doesn’t have a healthy respect for the dangers inherent in bringing out the weapons. Such characters include policemen, soldiers, assassins, and hunters.

If someone is devoted to using Guns as a strong component of his fighting style, it can safely be assumed that he possesses at least one or two guns, regardless of Resources rating (though whether or not he will be allowed to carry such things wherever he goes is another matter entirely), so long as it fits the concept.

### ***Aiming***

*One popular **maneuver** among Guns users is aiming. This is done like nearly any other maneuver, with the idea that you take an action to place a temporary aspect on your target—e.g., In My Sights. On the subsequent exchange, you tag that temporary **aspect**  to get a +2 on the roll, assuming the target hasn’t done something to rid himself of the aspect.*

### ***Gun Knowledge***

*Guns users are also well-versed in a variety of small arms, large arms, and ammunitions, as well as the care and maintenance of firearms. You may use this skill as a limited sort of knowledge and repair skill covering those areas.*

### ***Gunplay***

*Guns is an **attack** skill, by and large, though a creative player will undoubtedly come up with some maneuvers to attempt when shooting. As far as mundane, mortal weapons are concerned, guns are at the top of the heap in a fight. They’re deadly—getting large stress bonuses on successful hits, forcing consequences, concessions, and taken out results faster than other means of attack. Better yet, they operate at range, forcing unarmed opponents to take cover or close with you in order to be effective. As an attack, a gun also limits the defensive options available to a target. Targets are generally only able to roll **Athletics** as a defense, representing their ability to dodge and get out of the way of the gun—or otherwise present a difficult- to-hit target, like taking cover—before the shot’s taken. And guns are often the weapon of choice for an ambush which, when done right, leaves the victim’s defense skills locked down at **Mediocre**—easy to deliver a devastating shot.*

*There are two downsides. First, a gun can be taken away from you, rendering this skill useless. Second, you can’t ever use the Guns skill as a defense, which means you need a strong Athletics skill to cover you, just in case. As a result, Guns ends up being a bit of a one-note wonder—and while that’s one hell of a note, it can be pretty limiting at times, especially in neighborhoods where you’re likely to get the cops responding to reports of gunfire. Remember: when a gun is drawn, it’s a statement of intent to kill people. Even a great many supernatural creatures will take pause at the sight of a gun barrel pointed their way.*

### ***Other Projectile Weapons***

*You can also use Guns to cover non-gun weapons that shoot at a distance, such as bows and other such artifacts, though usually with a penalty (–2) if you aren’t trained in their use. If, at the time you take the Guns skill, you decide your character is focused on using a method of shooting other than a gun, you may rename this skill to something more appropriate (e.g., Bows) and face the familiarity penalty when using actual guns instead. Under such an option, most Guns related stunts are still available with the unusual weapon.*