This came up in Coriolis and in Forbidden Lands and the rules-as-written are not very clear and we can interpret it in few ways. The situation is: PC is having ranged weapon and shooting at a distant target. The PC is also attacked in melee by another opponent. Are there penalties to the RANGED COMBAT roll?
The rules state that you get -3 at close range only if you target the person that you are engaged in melee with, but nothing states if you shoot at someone else!
For me there should be at least opportunity attack or same penalty as if you are targeting the melee attacker, but I don’t see anything in the text.
If there’s nothing in the rules I guess you’re house-ruling it.
If you’re being attacked in melee, how could you even focus to shoot someone other than your attacker? It also means you’re not trying to defend yourself against the melee attacker because your attention is elsewhere - you’re looking elsewhere.
So, I would say the same -3 applies to the player’s ranged attack roll. In addition, I would give the melee attacker a +1 or even +2 to their roll.
May the Lady of Tears shepherd the hero’s soul…
Yes, nothing that I found as a rule for this situation. So I am going to rule for Coriolis that -3 is applied to the shooter, and +3 to the melee attacker.
I was considering to give the melee attacker an opportunity attack, but modifier vs. free attack that is reaction is not the best from balance point of view. And consistency
Good: I think that will discourage anybody from trying to shoot a third party while being attacked.
To be fair to the players, I would tell them about the modifiers before they commit to the action. They should have a chance to decide this is a very bad tactic.
As with any house rule I use, I announce it before we start the session or the game. Such things should not be said in the middle of the combat, especially with Coriolis’ system of high lethality.
