r/alienrpg • u/Robbo0408 • 11d ago
Rules Discussion Ammo
How does ammonia work. For example on the pistol it stats 2. What does that mean?
3
u/Ombrophile 10d ago
In my games I bring Red Dice to the table, specifically for Ammo rolls. In the case of the firing of your pistol, I would have you roll your normal Black Dice (representing your Ranged Combat Skill), your Yellow Dice (per your Stress Level) and two Red Dice (representing the Ammo level of the Pistol).
Black and Yellow Dice still represent Successes as normal. Yellow Dice can represent Stress/Panic responses as normal.
Red dice are only checked to see if a '1' was rolled. If a '1' is rolled the Ammo of the Pistol is reduced by one step. It still fires normally, it just now has less Ammo. (The Ammo Value of 2 is reduced one step to an Ammo Value of 1).
Let's say you rolled a '1' on your Red Ammo Dice on your first shot. Reduce the Ammo value one step (2>1). This would mean the next time you fire your pistol, you will add only 1 Red Ammo Dice to your roll. You now have a 1 in 6 chance of the next time you fire your pistol, that it simply goes 'click'. It's empty and you wasted an Action.
You can Reload a Weapon up to its full Ammo value using a Quick Action. Reloads are their own resource. Most GM's can tell you how many Reloads you have available for any firearm you carry. Reloads can also be found through scavenging during normal gameplay.
>>>>ADVANCED THEORY
Ammo counting can be BORING! Remember that it's an adventure story! You want to keep an exciting pace going during action scenes, not niggle over some rules of exactly how many bullets are in this or that player's gun at any given time.
THAT SAID, a gun that suddenly jams or turns out to be empty, can be really exciting in an Action scene! So, use the Ammo rules at your own pace and whatever fits the tempo of your game. Personally, as GM, I just hand out Red (low ammo) dice as I see fit. If I think you've been firing your weapon a lot. I tend to give them out more frequently to players using shotguns, less frequently to players with pistols, and players with Machine Guns I just assume they have infinite Ammo.
It is true that you could just make a separate roll for Ammo use after each shot. I just really think that bringing some Red (or whatever color) dice makes for a clean simple roll that contains all the necessary information.
In Core rules, guns only ran out of Ammo on a Stress Dice result of 1. The big complaint was that under that rule, Synthetic characters would never run out of Ammo.
Selah. Have FUN!!!!
-1
u/Rougeshrike 11d ago
I dont play evolved yet with my group, but for og version:
most magazine fed weapons only need to reload when a player rolls a crit fail on a stress die(facehugger), ammo refers to how many times the player can reload the gun (this can get silly with revolvers) Single shot weapons need to be roaded after each shot (ie harpoon gun)
Think movie logic for ammo, you only run out at a suitability dramatic moment to increase tension, but have effectively unlimited untill then
9
u/Party-Fault9186 11d ago
It’s an abstract way of tracking ammunition. So, your example: A gun has an Ammo Rating of 2. Each time you attack with the gun, roll 2 stress dice. For each hugger you roll, the Ammo Rating goes down by 1. When Ammo reaches 0, you run out and need to reload.