How a firefight actually plays at the table — the Combat Turn and Initiative, what you can do on your action, Combat Pool, resolving ranged and melee attacks, firing modes and recoil, and how damage and the Condition Monitor work. Sources: SR2 core Combat chapter pp. 79–112 (Dice Pools p. 32).

// THE COMBAT TURN & INITIATIVE

A Combat Turn is about three seconds. Everyone rolls Initiative once, then acts in descending order; faster characters act multiple times before slower ones act at all.

1. 01

   Roll Initiative

   Initiative = Reaction + 1D6. Reaction = (Quickness + Intelligence) ÷ 2, round down. Wired Reflexes, Boosted Reflexes, the Increased Reflexes spell and similar add extra dice (and bonus Reaction). (SR2 p. 79)

2. 02

   Act High to Low

   The highest Initiative total acts first, then the next, and so on. This first pass through everyone is one Combat Phase.

3. 03

   Subtract 10 & Repeat

   After everyone has acted, subtract 10 from each Initiative total. Anyone still above 0 acts again, in another Combat Phase. Keep going in steps of 10 until all totals are 0 or less — then the turn ends and everyone re-rolls. (SR2 p. 79)

This is why initiative-boosting cyber/magic is so prized: an extra die or two can buy a whole extra action every turn. (SR2 p. 79)

// WHAT YOU CAN DO ON YOUR ACTION

Each time you act (each Combat Phase), you get one Free Action plus either two Simple Actions or one Complex Action. (SR2 pp. 81–82)

A Free Action may replace a Simple Action; you can't take a Free Action before your first action of the turn. (SR2 pp. 81–82)

// COMBAT POOL — YOUR TACTICAL DICE

// RANGED COMBAT — THE SEQUENCE

There is no separate "dodge" roll against gunfire in SR2. You resolve a shot in these steps; the defender's only active input is the Combat Pool they commit to resisting. (SR2 p. 87)

1. 01

   Determine Range

   Measure to the target and read the weapon's range band. Base Target Number: 4 short, 5 medium, 6 long, 9 extreme.

2. 02

   Apply Situational Modifiers

   Adjust the attacker's TN for cover, movement, visibility, recoil, smartlink, aim, etc. (see the table below). This is where the defender's choices — cover, motion, smoke — actually live.

3. 03

   Attacker's Success Test

   Attacker rolls Firearms (or other Combat) Skill + Combat Pool dice vs the modified TN. Count successes. (SR2 p. 90)

4. 04

   Target's Damage Resistance Test

   Target rolls Body + Combat Pool dice vs a TN equal to the weapon's Power minus the appropriate Armor (Ballistic for guns). Count successes.

5. 05

   Compare → Stage the Damage

   Net successes shift the Damage Level: the attacker's extra successes stage it up, the defender's stage it down (2 successes = one level each way). A clean miss occurs if the defender's Combat Pool successes exceed the attacker's successes. (SR2 p. 87, 91)

6. 06

   Apply Damage

   Mark the final Damage Level on the target's Condition Monitor (see below).

// HOW STAGING WORKS — THE TUG-OF-WAR

Step 5 is the part everyone misreads, so here it is in full. A hit is two Success Tests, and only the difference between them moves the damage.

Now compare the totals. The weapon's printed level (the M in 9M) is the starting point; the difference drags it one step per 2 net successes — attacker ahead → up (M→S→D); you ahead → down (M→L→none); a tie leaves base damage; staged below Light = nothing. (SR2 p. 111)

Say a 9M Ares Predator hits and you have Body 5 with 4 ballistic armor, so your resist TN is 9 − 4 = 5. The shooter scored 4 attack successes:

// STAYING ALIVE — RAISING THE SHOOTER'S TN

Since you can't dodge bullets directly, survival is about making yourself a worse target (and committing Combat Pool to resistance). Common modifiers to the attacker's Target Number: (SR2 pp. 89–90)

Vision-obscuring modifiers are halved or negated by low-light / thermographic vision; laser sights are washed out by smoke, fog, mist or rain. Full visibility table: SR2 p. 89.

// FIRING MODES & RECOIL

The weapon's Mode (on each Weapons card) sets how it fires. Recoil raises your own TN unless cancelled by recoil compensation, a gas-vent system, a gyro-mount, or bracing. (SR2 pp. 86–92)

Heavy-weapon recoil is doubled. Recoil compensation, gas-vents and gyro-stabilization are cumulative and cancel recoil first; recoil resets at the start of each Combat Turn. Full burst & full-auto damage is laid out below. (SR2 pp. 86–92, recoil table p. 89)

// BURST & FULL-AUTO — DAMAGE & RECOIL

Automatic fire trades accuracy for raw damage — the extra rounds stack onto a single target. Only weapons whose Mode lists BF or FA can do it (a SA-only pistol like the Ares Predator can't). A 6M weapon bursts to 9S; on full-auto it climbs toward 12D. (SR2 pp. 92–93)

Full-auto on a 6M weapon (e.g. the AK-97) into one target. Damage caps at Deadly at 6 rounds — past that you add only recoil and waste ammo:

Damage Level can never exceed Deadly; a base-M weapon hits it at 6 rounds. A burst that drops to a single round (clip nearly empty) resolves as a plain single shot. (SR2 pp. 92–93)

No hard cap on a burst

Full-auto has a minimum of 3 rounds and no printed maximum — you can empty the whole clip in one Complex Action. Recoil (+1/round) and the Deadly cap make anything past ~6 rounds on one target pointless. Across a full Combat Turn you're limited to the magazine, then must reload.

Splitting fire across enemies

A second SA shot or BF burst can hit a different enemy at +2. Full-auto can "walk" fire across several targets: 1 round is wasted per meter between them (smartguns waste none), plus +2 per new target. Each sub-burst (min 3 rounds) is a separate test with its own Combat Pool dice.

Killing the recoil

Recoil compensation, gas-vent systems, gyro-mounts and bracing / bipods each cancel recoil point-for-point and stack; a smartlink (−2 TN) offsets the rest. Heavy weapons take double recoil. Everything resets next Combat Turn.

// MELEE COMBAT — THE OPPOSED TEST

Hand-to-hand is different: it's an Opposed Test, so you actively defend by rolling against your attacker. Winning is your dodge/parry. (SR2 p. 100)

1. 01

   Both Roll

   Attacker and defender each roll their melee Combat Skill + Combat Pool vs a base TN 4 (modified by reach, position, wounds, etc.). No melee skill? Default to Unarmed Combat.

2. 02

   Compare Successes

   Whoever has more successes wins the exchange and hits the other. Ties go to the attacker.

3. 03

   Stage & Resist

   The winner stages damage up by 1 level per 2 net successes over the loser. The loser then resists with Body vs the weapon's (Strength-based) Power minus Impact armor — 2 successes drop the level by one. (SR2 p. 100)

// DAMAGE CODES & STAGING

Every attack has a Damage Code: a Power number plus a Damage Level — Light, Moderate, Serious, or Deadly (e.g. 9M). Power is the TN for the victim's resistance; Level is how bad the wound starts. Every 2 net successes shifts the Level one step up or down. (SR2 p. 111)

Damage is cumulative — a Light then a Serious = 1 + 6 = 7 boxes. The wound modifier reflects your total filled boxes and applies to everything you roll. (SR2 p. 111)

// THE CONDITION MONITOR

Your record sheet has two 10-box tracks: Physical damage and Stun (mental/fatigue) damage. Each fills toward Deadly at the 10th box. (SR2 p. 111)

Physical vs Stun

Bullets, blades and falls deal Physical damage; fists, stun batons, tasers, fatigue and most spell Drain deal Stun. They fill separate tracks but the wound modifiers add together.

Stun overflow → Physical

Fill the Stun track past 10 and the excess rolls over into the Physical track. Take enough Stun and you're not just unconscious — you start taking real injury.

Physical overflow → dying

Fill Physical to Deadly and you're down; damage beyond the 10th box is overflow. You can survive overflow up to your Body Rating in extra boxes — past that, the character dies. (SR2 p. 111)

Recovering

Stun heals fast (minutes to an hour); Physical needs first aid, a medkit, healing magic, or rest. See Wounds & First Aid, SR2 p. 112.

// ARMOR IN ONE LINE

Ballistic armor subtracts from the Power of guns and explosions; Impact armor subtracts from melee, thrown attacks and falls. Lower the Power and the victim resists more easily. Full ratings and layering rules are on the Armor page.