[RPG] What does a weapon’s ROF mean and how to use it when shooting

cyberpunk-2020ranged-attackweapons

The rulebook of Cyberpunk 2020 says:

Attack up to your weapon's maxi rate of fire (ROF), or make a melee attack.

For example my PC has

Arasaka Minami 10   SMG   0   J   E   2D6+3(10mm)   40   20   VR   200m

ROF is 20. What does this mean? Does it mean I can:

  • make up to 20 separate shots with 2D6+3 damage per shot to a single target?
  • make up to 20 separate shots with 2D6+3 damage per shot to several targets?
  • make 20 shots only in fullauto mode?
  • something else?

I am confused about this part of the rules.

Best Answer

Friday Night Firefight details three operating modes for automatic firearms.

  1. Single shot: As usual. REF+Skill+d10 vs. Range+Modifiers to hit. Roll weapon damage and location if hit.
  2. Three-round-burst: As single shot, but +3 to hit at close and medium range. 1d6/2 bullets hit the target, roll damage separately for each. *
  3. Full auto: +1 to hit for every 10 rounds you fire at close range. -1 for medium range or more. The number of bullets that hit is the difference between the target number and your attack total. Roll damage for each separately. *

So your Minami 10 at close range can use a 3-round burst to get a +3 to hit and land 1-3 bullets, or use full auto with a +2 to hit and land up to 20 (but probably 3–12) bullets. An average of 70 points of damage. Certainly immediately fatal.

* The rules don't mention how to handle the hit locations with multiple bullets but my brief encounter with an AK-47 and a firing range tell me that with a 3-round burst, you should roll a single location but with full auto, every bullet hits somewhere else.


Here is an analysis of the damage potential of the Minami 10

╔════════╦═════════════╦═════════╦═══════════╗
║  DPA*  ║ Single Shot ║ 3-round ║ Full auto ║
╠════════╬═════════════╬═════════╬═══════════╣
║ Close  ║ 7 | 11      ║ 17 | 28 ║ 55 | 107  ║
║ Medium ║ 3 |  8      ║ 10 | 22 ║  9 |  35  ║
║ Long   ║ 1 |  4      ║  2 |  8 ║  3 |  18  ║
╚════════╩═════════════╩═════════╩═══════════╝

* Damage per action. The first number is the mean damage potential, the second number is the upper deviation, i.e, higher is less likely.The lower deviation is always close to or below zero.