The rules seem to mention that firing through an occupied square gives the target cover. With cover your suppose to figure out what body parts are covered.

When you fire through one combatant at another I see no real way to figure out what parts are covered. So far we have gone through a couple different rules for it.

1. If you hit you roll a random spot to be the covered spot and then if you hit that spot you hit the interevening combatant instead.

2. Just cant.

3. -20 to hit and if you miss by 20 or less you hit the guy in the way.

How have you guys handled Ranged through occupied(especially friendly) squares?

Another question...is Righteous Fury optional? Using rule 3 I hit my buddy tonight with a 10. I didnt want to roll for extra damage of course. I also argued that since I had just 20% to hit him I should only crit on 20%.

Wakrob

For nearby friendlies outside melee combat, I'd just assume that the torso location of the enemy is in cover. Either hope he's lucky or call a shot to another location and be done with it.

I considered called shot. But Called Shot is -20, and we were imposing a -20 to shot through someone....so you would never not use called shot. But with no penalty I could see that working.

Another issue is how many characters can you shot through? If there are three people in the way do you randomize which gets hit as cover?

If the PCs are all in a group, I use the rule from the tabletop game that you can shoot through friendlies, who are assumed to move slightly to give you a clear shot.

I would like a better idea of exactly what we're talking about here ... do you mean to indicate firing at someone in a crowd who would be dodging and using human cover, or someone using a captive as a human shield?

If the former, I'd say use Called Shots, assuming that if the PC misses he hits a bystander instead. (really it shouldn't matter where, do whatever is more dramatically appropriate, though the chest would be the norm) Additionally, I'd not allow the attacked to use an aim action, as the crowd would be constantly moving to interfere with a prolonged aim attempt.

If the later, I'd treat it as any other form of cover, granting the target an AP bonus of twice the hostage's Toughness bonus in the torso region and equal to the Toughness bonus in other areas. Of course, the hostage is going to take damage from the shot as if he were the target, too, so you might well kill he individual in the process of shooting through him. (better to shoot the leg out, so the hostage can't support himself and becomes too cumbersome for the person using him)

Wakrob said:

I think this depends on how you view righteous fury. If you consider it merely a lucky hit, then yes it can happen anytime - you're friend happened to move into the attack at the wrong moment. If you assume it to be a moment of pure inspiration bestowed by the God Emperor of Mankind - May the stars quake beneath his might - then no you could not do it on accident.

Personally I like the Call Shot mechanics here - take -20 to avoid hitting your friend, but you don't get to choose locations. In this case it will be a drawback to have friends in the way even if you have Deadeye Shot.

Realisticaly you could never guarantee not hitting your friend, but realisticly it's more dificult to hit a specific body part no matter how skilled you are, and more difficult to hit at long range no matter how used you are to sniping. The rules are not realistic.