N18 Basic Rapid Fire rules

[Aventine]

So Rapid Fire scores multiple hits- does each hit go through the full 'Resolving Hits' sequence including damage?

I have someone saying that no matter how many, for instance, autoguns shots with rapid fire hit a target, they can only ever make one injury roll because it is D1. I think they are conflating and combining stuff in weird way to get this conclusion but I wanted to make sure I wasn't taking crazy pills.
Unfortunately the person is the Arbitrator (he's also insisting his interpretation is RAW and no, he won't provide citation), so I'll have to convince him or resign to playing this funky, busted way. He seems really stuck on the "attack sequence" (whatever that is) and that a single BS roll can't cause you to go through Resolving Hits multiple times...

 

[Conspyre]

By his logic, wouldn't the only effect of higher Rapid Fire stats be increased chance of running out of ammo?

My best guess is that the part that's sticking for him is step 5 of Shooting (p. 117, N23 core rulebook): "For each BS test that is passed when making a hit roll, a hit is scored. Each hit scored is resolved as described on page 124." The actual Rapid Fire trait (p. 315, N23 core rulebook) says "When firing with a Rapid Fire weapon, a successful hit roll scores a number of hits equal to the number of hits on the Firepower dice." and then goes on with rules for ammo tests on multiple Firepower dice and rules for walking multiple hits across multiple targets. Rapid Fire is modifying the number of hits per BS roll, which then proceeds to damage resolution normally, which describes how to resolve each individual hit, regardless of the source, and Rapid Fire creates more hits, which is the only thing the next part of the attack sequence cares about- to wound rolls don't care how many BS tests you had to make.

If your group is using an earlier rulebook, I can go dig out chapter and verse from there, but I don't think that sequence has changed at all in modern Necromunda.

 

[Aventine]

By his logic, wouldn't the only effect of higher Rapid Fire stats be increased chance of running out of ammo?

Somehow (I'm not sure mechanically from his POV) the multiple hits can still take additional wounds off a multi-wound model, just not produce extra Injury rolls. He says the intended purpose is the multiple targets part, though I'm not sure how that part working is consistent with his internal logic.

 

[Conspyre]

Alright, let's look at the damage resolution rules then...

It does intersect with the least well-explained part of the basic combat rules, so I can kind of get where he's coming from there, but I think where he's coming up is the very first part of the sequence on p.124- "When a fighter suffers a Hit, follow this sequence:". The rules for inflicting damage after a successful to wound roll and failed save on the next page have as a final step "If the weapon has additional points of Damage to cause, after the last Wound has been removed, immediately roll an additional Injury dice for each and apply the result to the fighter." This isn't getting applied to the total of all Hits, it's for each individual hit, and even so, he's wrong on both counts- if a one Wound fighter gets hit with a lascannon, at Damage 3, they'll lose their single Wound, roll an injury die for being reduced to 0, and then roll two more Injury dice for the other two points of Damage. If he gets hit with an autogun that rolled three hits on the Firepower die, each hit goes through the sequence separately- each time you'll roll to wound, he'll get a save, and if he fails that, we go back to the Inflict Damage step, and roll an injury die because he's either just been reduced to 0 wounds (on the first shot), or because he's already at 0 and is taking more hits (for the subsequent shots). It also means guns with higher damage stats and Rapid Fire are potentially really scary- a boltgun at D2 can drop six injury rolls on someone (or miss completely, like mine mostly do).

 

[Aventine]

Dang, well wish I could play by the rules but already got to "Quit the campaign if you don't like it."
*sigh*

 

[Conspyre]

That sucks, I'm sorry. I've never understood how people can take having misread something so personally- getting the game state as "correct" as possible has always felt like a goal we're all working towards to me.

 

["Technic" Al]

That does suck, but at the same time, if the evidence of all battle reports of the game in existence and literally asking your peers on a forum post for their point of view, which is written to defeat the faulty logic is not enough to turn this arbitrator from their faulty thinking, you have dodged a bullet by not joining that campaign.
Necromunda is an infamously janky game, with a lot of conversation to be had between arbitrator and player on potential fixes to unclear rules. If your arbitrator isn't listening to their players about even the most basic of rules, he is going to crash and burn at a later point.

My advice is to quit the campaign. Make it vocal that it's because the arbitrator is not listening to sense (but don't cause a scene) and wait them out. Chances are high that they'll alienate the rest of the player base in due course who will either quit, or simply stop playing games, or muscle through with no real enjoyment. Three months after this farce of a campaign is concluded, offer to arbitrate for your group for a different campaign type (for example, if this group is playing dominion, play law and misrule), with the correct interpretations of the rules.