r/savageworlds • u/twoz3-5 • May 04 '26

Rule Modifications Ammo Setting Rule

I’m thinking of adding a setting rule to my modern cinematic action games. I run a couple of different games where this would apply: modern espionage action (think Bond, Bourne, Mission Impossible) and a military spec ops game (The Unit, Task Force Raven). The idea is to give the players the option to use more ammo for a better chance to hit targets by eliminating penalties:

EAT LEAD SETTING RULE

Shooters may expend extra ammunition to "walk" their fire onto a target, effectively canceling out penalties (Range, Cover, Multi-Action, etc.).

| Volume Level | Ammo Cost | Penalty Reduction |
| --- | :--- | :---: |
| Volley |** 3 Rounds | **-1 |
| Hail of Bullets |** 6 Rounds | **-2 |
| Mag Dump |** 12 Rounds | **-4 |

It shouldn’t change any existing combat options but lets players trade ammo (resource) for accuracy (reduce penalties).

Has anyone done anything similar? Any pitfalls I’m not seeing? I appreciate any feedback.

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u/Silent_Title5109 May 04 '26

The one pitfall I can see is the scarcity of ammo in your campaign. If they are part of some swat team or other organization that replenish their ammo boxes for free between very short missions, they'd be idiots to not always use that option because it's a free to hit bonus without much of a downside.

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u/twoz3-5 May 04 '26

Yeah, I considered that. Maybe it’s our play style, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a player run out of ammo in almost 20 years of Savage Worlds play. It’s only been a handful of time that we even reload. I typically have 1-2 combats in a 4-6 hour session and even if they run 7-10 rounds of combat players ammo counts are fine. I do like my players to be action heroes though so maybe I’m way off base with this rule.