Missing range category

By eriktheguy, in Only War Rules Questions

Sorry to start a new topic. I've searched for this and found nothing online or in FAQs.

As I've read it the range categories for ranged weapons are as follows:

Less than half of the weapon's range: +10

More than twice the range: -10

More than thrice range: -30

There is no category for something just beyond the full range of your weapon, so I would assume anything from above half range to below twice range is just at +0. This seems unintuitive to me. Why is my weapon's range 200m if there's no difference between shooting someone 199m away and someone 201m away?

My group had had some troubles with this a well, and as ‘written’ you don’t take any penalties until its double the weapons range. After a short debate we decided what they had ‘meant’ to say was that any distance ‘exceeding the weapons ranged up double its range’ was considered Long Range, and anything exceeding that was Extreme Range.


So taking the sniper rifle in your example it would be

Short Range (+10): 3m-99m

Normal Range (+0): 100m-200m

Long Range (-10): 201m-400m

Extreme Range (-20) 401m-600m


Least that’s how we rolled with it.

That's wrong, though.

Your weapon's maximum possible range is 4x its listed range, that is 800m for this rifle.

As strange as it may seem, the categories are in fact thus:
000-100m: Short
101-400m: Normal
401-600m: Long
601-800m: Extreme

As to why the range value is 200m if there's no difference between 199m and 201m, well, they had to choose a value.
It's not like the bullet just vanishes at 800m, but that's how the game models it and so 200m is just an optimal range rather than a breakpoint per se.

Away from OW, I particularly like GURPS' way of dealing with range:
There's a half-damage range and a max range, which tends to be something like 500m/3'500m. Yes, after 3,5km the bullet still magically disappears, but chances are that you won't hit anyway. GURPS uses a logarithmic range table after all, and even shooting out to 100m is challenging. Reaching the full 3,5km would require proper equipment and skill in shooting and precision aiming, which most chars wouldn't have.

Opps I was my bad, was helping my little brother with his homework and there were a lot of x3 questions and my brain must of just ran with it.


Also I somehow managed to remember Point-Blank Range (0-2m/+30) but forgot to add over the range not under.


How embarrassing! :lol:


I’m not familiar with GURPS but its sounds like they have a solid system.

Edited by Magus Black

Well, it does make sense to have the 'normal' range category encompass the largest range of numbers.