Copyright (c) 1995 by Purple Kitty

The bullet damage rules in the GURPS Basic Set consist of a small table 
in the back of the book showing the difference between Hollow-Point, 
Armor-Piercing, and Normal bullets, and a sidebar telling you that 
shotguns with slugs do double damage.

GURPS High-Tech does a wonderful job of explaining how bullets actually 
wound people, and I recommend that book to anyone running a gun-heavy 
campaign. For those who don't own the book and just want the right rules 
for bullets, I have written this file (guns-dmg.gurps) which determines 
the damage inflicted by any given bullet in a simple, easy-to-follow 
list. Any statement or step in the list replaces any conflicting 
statement in the GURPS Basic Set.

I hope you find this helpful.

Purple Kitty		<pkitty@netcom.com>		Meow!

--- CUT HERE --- FILE guns-dmg.gurps --- CUT HERE ---

CALCULATING SOLID BULLET DAMAGE (from GURPS High-Tech) by <pkitty@netcom.com>

0. Note what type of bullet: Solid, Expanding (Hollow-Point), Armor-Piercing.

1. Roll damage normally. Note how many natural 6s are rolled.

2. Modify DR as follows:
   A. Solid: No change.
   B. Expanding: Double DR. DR 0 becomes DR 1.
   C. Armor-Piercing: Halve DR (round up).

3. Subtract modified DR from damage rolled.
   A. If damage does not penetrate DR:
       i. Target takes one point of damage for every 6 rolled (in Step 1),
          unless armor is COMPLETELY rigid.
      ii. Target is knocked back one hex for every FULL (3 x target's ST)
          points of damage rolled in Step 1.
   B. If damage penetrates DR, continue.

4. Modify damage as follows:
   A. Solid: No change.
   B. Expanding: Multiply damage by 1.5 (round down).
   C. Armor-Piercing: Halve damage (round down, minimum 1 point).

5. Multiply damage by bullet size modifier (see table below), round down
   (minimum 1 point).

6. Apply Hit Location modifier (round up).

7. If necessary, reduce damage to maximum allowed by "blow-through" rule;
   i.e., HT/3 to hands and feet, HT/2 to arms and legs, HT to torso, HT x 3
   to head or vitals, no limit to brain.

8. Subtract damage from target's hit points. Target takes no knockback.


BULLET SIZE MODIFIER

Less then .34 caliber/8 mm/110 gauge (Pistols/Black Powder Weapons): 0.5
Less then .34 caliber/8 mm/110 gauge (Other weapons): 1.0

.34 caliber/8 mm/110 gauge up to .39 caliber/9.9 mm/73 gauge (Any): 1.0

.40 caliber/10 mm/72 gauge up to .60 caliber/15 mm/22 gauge (Any): 1.5

Greater than .60 caliber/15 mm/22 gauge (Any): 2.0