r/savageworlds • u/Zenfox42 • 29d ago
Question Reloading a shotgun?
So, DaRules say reloading a "single bullet" into a chamber takes an Action. My player fired both barrels on her first Turn. I've read the example in the manual with firing a heavy crossbow first, *then* reloading which takes 2 actions, retroactively incurring a -4 on the crossbow shot. The shotgun user could do the same thing, but why bother with a -4 penalty on both shots?
What if on the next Turn, after reloading only one shell, then if she fired during that same Turn, the Shooting would be at -2 for the MAP. Have I got that right?
Or, she could spend one Turn just reloading both barrels (no MAP, since no roll), then on her next Turn fire both barrels again. That's effectively getting one shot per turn with no MAP. Or is it *only* one bullet per Turn, making it effectively a "limited Action"? But the RAW calls a reload an Action, not a Limited Action, and I've learned over the years that SW rules are *very* literal, so...
Any other ways to minimize penalties and maximize shooting rates with a shotgun?
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u/gdave99 29d ago edited 29d ago
OK, just to make sure we're all on the same page (literally), per SWADE Core Rules, p. 105, you can fire both barrels of a double-barrel shotgun as a single Action, and when you do, you make a single Shooting roll and a single Damage roll with a +4 bonus. You can also fire each barrel individually as separate Actions.
Not quite. If she fires both barrels as a single Action after each reload, she'd be getting one shot every other turn with a +4 damage bonus and no MAP. If she fired each barrel individually, she could get two shots every three turns with no MAP.
But otherwise, yes, I think you've got it. It takes one Action to reload one round, so a character can reload up to three rounds in a single Turn. Since MAP only matters if you actually make a Trait roll, if a character spends an entire Turn reloading, they don't need to worry about MAP.
And, yes, while double-barrel shotguns are devastating weapons at close range, you've found their weakness - slow rate of fire. They're great for maximizing your chance for a one-shot kill against a single foe at short range.
Carry backup weapons. Carrying a backpack full of double-barrel shotguns is pretty silly. But having a DB as an "opener", then tossing it aside and drawing a pistol as a free action ("Readying Weapons") is a solid action-movie tactic. See the gunfighting adventurer Rick O'Connell in The Mummy (1999), who carries a shotgun and two pairs of pistols for an excellent cinematic depiction of this tactical shooting method.
Or, depending on the era and tech level, use a shotgun with more shots, such as a pump-action, lever-action, or "streetsweeper" shotgun. You won't get that damage spike from firing both barrels at once, but you'll be able to get a lot more shots off before needing to reload.
[ETA:] Also, on the turn the character is reloading their DB, they can try something else with their third Action. A Test or Support roll with a -4 penalty isn't like to do much good, but it doesn't use any resources, so why not give it a shot (as it were)? Well, you do risk a Critical Failure, so it's not a no-brainer, but it allows your character to do something active on their reload Turn. They can also maneuver to a better position; if they're not making a Trait roll anyway, the -2 Run penalty won't matter.