Cinematic firearms rules for Scarlet Heroes

Recently I've been running and enjoying a lot of Scarlet Heroes by Kevin Crawford. The game is built specifically for one GM one PC games, specifically OSR style fantasy gaming. However I've found it also works with 2 PCs better than any other game I've tried and I've had a ton of fun running modern espionage games with it. In fact the games focus on a single Hyper-Competent PC makes it a natural fit for emulating spy fiction. In which focusing on a single protagonist is not only cool as hell but also emphasizes the questions of trust and loyalty that are explored within. Therefore I'd like to provide you with the tools I've created to run modern, and especially espionage, games using Scarlet Heroes. To start with we're discussing a staple of modern action fiction: guns.

 These rules for Firearms evoke action movie gunfights. Ammo runs out quickly forcing characters to get creative and actions evoking classic tropes like dual wielding pistols and rushing into close combat are rewarded. Though these rules are built with Scarlet Heroes in mind they could be adapted to other games, OSR and beyond.
  • Each attack is assumed to consist of a varying number of actual shots with the gun. An attack with a shotgun is likely one or two blasts while a light pistol attack is probably at least 3 shots. Both the amount of shots generally fired and the ammo capacity of a weapon are factored into each weapons assigned ammo die.
  • Each weapon has an ammo die that abstracts a combination of it’s ammo capacity and the amount of shots it is assumed to fire each attack. After each attack except the first made with a weapon roll the ammo die, if the roll is lower than the number of attacks made with the gun it’s out of ammo.
  • Using the Frey die to dispatch foes with a gun counts as an attack for the purposes of ammo.
  • Attacks using automatic fire have a +2 to hit and deal a die step higher damage. However each counts as 2 attacks for the purposes of the ammo die.
  • Rifles cannot be fired against an opponent in melee while pistols may be fired at a -2 penalty to the attack roll.
  • Finally reloading a gun is an action but drawing one or retrieving one from the environment is not.
  • A character can dual wield pistols to increase the damage die of their attack by one. An ammo die is rolled separately for each pistol. This bonus can be combined with automatic fire when using submachine guns. A pistol can gain no benefit from the use of another pistol with a lower damage die.
  • Pistols can be dual wielded, increasing their damage die by one step, this can be combined with automatic fire if submachine guns are dual wielded thus increasing damage by 2 steps.
  • A separate ammo die is rolled for each pistol when dual wielding.
  • No benefit is gained wielding a weaker pistol and one with a larger damage die.
Gun
Damage
Ammo die
Concealed pistol*
D4
D4
Light pistol*
D6
D6
Heavy pistol*
D8
D4
Submachine gun*
D6 (D8 autofire)
D8
Shotgun
D10
D6
Assault rifle
D8 (D10 autofire)
D8
* One handed, may be dual wielded.

Dice Step chart: D4>D6>D8>D10>D12

 Scarlet Heroes Damage Chart
Die roll
Damage
1
none
2-5
1 point
6-9
2 points
10+
4 points

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