Gun jams and malfunctions in D20 modern(or any other game with guns)

[D-rock]

Has anybody come up with a system to determine when a gun will jam or break down. I was thinking that there would be a percetage chance on a critical failure, or maybe just when the gun is shot. Not all guns are created equall though and I was wondering if anybody has come up with how often a certain gun would jam. Also, what other kinds of malfunctions could they have besides just breaking down. Perhaps you could have a automatic gun's trigering mechinism break so that it will not quite fireing even after you release the trigger.



I was even thinking of applying this to D&D. I could just see it.
DM:A bid ugly Ogre jumps out in front of you.
Player:Ok I'm going to charge it with my greatsword(after a few rolles where he gets a critical miss)
DM(rolls some dice)well not only have you missed but the blade on your sword broke away from the handle and you have now managed to impale your own foot to the ground. You might want to talk to that shopkeeper if you live through this.

 

[dpmcalister]

Spycraft has an error range mechanic for each weapon, similar to the critical range (although at the bottom end of the die - 1, 1-2, 1-3, etc). If you roll this number naturally during your attack then you have scored an error (or critical failure). The GC/GM then spends Action Dice to decide the severity of the failure (1 action dice for a simple jam, up to 4 for a breach explosion - which ruins the weapon and causes damage to the PC).

Spycraft Lite shows this for "generic" weapons and is available for free from the official Spycraft site: http://www.spycraftrpg.com/resources/

If you like what you see then I'd recommend the Modern Arms Guide (also for Spycraft).

 

[D-rock]

Thanks, I will have to check it out.

 

[Petrosian]

One of the WORST ones i saw was in Storyteller.

It had gun jamming occur on a botched attack roll.

While on the surface that might make sense, it really is criminally stupid.

In storyteller, the most influential cause for botches occuring was a high DIFFICULTY on the task. The higher the difficulty, the greater the chance of a botch occuring.

Well, the difficulty in to-hit (at least back then) was based on how hard it was to hit the target.

So...

your gun jams more often if you are shooting at targets further away, where the to hit rolls difficulty was higher.

your gun jams more often if the target starts dodging or is hiding behind cover or concealment, where the to hit difficulties were higher.

etc...etc...etc.

it was so funny.

 

[Zenon]

One of the WORST ones i saw was in Storyteller.

Preach it!

I have some friends who played Storyteller system and I think they mentioned that this changed in later editions (although it was the way you said when I played it).

To the original question: Sidewinder: Wild West d20 by Citizen Games also has some rules in it for misfires.

Guns have a misfire listed, say 1-2 for example. A natural 1 misfires, the -2 part is a negative applied when consulting a table for results. The lower the roll on the table, the worse the result.

Sidewinder also include in the misfire description what skill roll DC and/or action and amount of time it takes to fix-or-repair the misfire.

 

[Bagpuss]

The only thing that bothers me is do guns really jam, have dud rounds, misfire, etc as often as 1 in 20 shots?

If so you would never be able to empty a magazine from most assault-rifles without it jaming. Having a gun jam in the D20 system on a fumble just seems to make it happen way to often.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

If so you would never be able to empty a magazine from most assault-rifles without it jaming.

*cough cough* M16 *cough*

 

[Henry]

Not the newer varieties, as I understand it.


But with respect to a misfire, why not treat it as critical hits are treated?

If you roll a "1", then roll again. If you miss the target again, it's a jam or a dud. If your confirm roll would hit, it's a simple miss.

 

[DanMcS]

Not the newer varieties, as I understand it.

But with respect to a misfire, why not treat it as critical hits are treated?

If you roll a "1", then roll again. If you miss the target again, it's a jam or a dud. If your confirm roll would hit, it's a simple miss.

And then you're more likely to jam your gun if the target is far away.

I've done a lot of shooting, and I've never had one jam. Even when I missed the groundhog

With a properly maintained gun, it shouldn't ever misfire. I guess they would tend to do that more when dirty, or using crappy ammunition or something. But then you have the AK-47, which can reputedly be frozen, urinated on to thaw it, and then fired with nary a problem.

On the other hand, it's occasionally dramatic for a gun to jam on a roll of 1, so if you like it, do it. In the modern game I play in, two NPCs both rolled 1s nearly simultaneously, giving my teammate an astonishing chance to escape (he didn't take it, but that's his own fault).

 

[Bagpuss]

How about if you really must have jams....

on rolling a 1 on an attack roll.

Make a Craft (Gunsmith) check

DC 5 if last shot was semi-auto
DC 10 if last shot automatic or burst
DC 15 if last shot was part of a full attack action that contained multiple burst or automatic fire.

If your good at maintaining your weapon then its less likely to jam. You can take opt to 10 on the roll if you have any Soldier or Gunslinger class levels.

You could then increase the difficulty if say the weapon had been submerged or the firefight had been going on for a long time.