Cover

Cover provides two forms of protection in combat:

1. Concealment, which makes you harder to hit by increasing Evasion.
2. Material protection, which absorbs or blocks damage before it can reach you.

Using cover effectively is one of the most important survival skills in the Wasteland.

You can take cover by positioning your character adjacent to a Cover Object.

🧱 Cover Objects

All Cover Objects are defined by the following properties:

• 🧱 Durability - the structural integrity of the cover (its HP).
• 💎 Hardness - damage resistance against Physical damage.
• ♨️ Energy Resistance - damage resistance against Energy damage.
• 🧩 Cover Object Qualities - special traits that modify how the cover behaves.

These properties determine whether attacks are blocked, chip away at cover, or penetrate through it.

🦵 Covered vs. Uncovered Limbs

Cover can physically protect specific parts of your body.

• If an ⚔ Attack strikes a Covered Limb, the Cover Object intercepts the ⚔ Attack first.
• Whether the ⚔ Attack is blocked, damages the cover, or penetrates depends on the cover’s 💎 Hardness (Physical) or ♨️ Energy Resistance (Energy).

If an attack penetrates, both the cover and the target may take damage.

👁️ Concealment Bonus

Cover also provides a Concealment Bonus to your Evasion, representing the difficulty of accurately targeting someone who is partially or fully obscured.

You gain a Concealment Bonus when:

• An enemy performs a Standard ⚔ Attack against you while you are in cover.
• An enemy performs a Called Shot against a Covered Limb.

Bypassing Concealment

The Concealment Bonus can be bypassed by:

• Performing a Called Shot against an Uncovered Limb.
• Flanking the target so that no limbs are protected by cover.

🧍 Half Cover and Full Cover

The amount of protection you gain depends on how much of your body is obscured by the Cover Object.

Half Cover

You are in Half Cover if approximately half of your body is protected (usually the legs).

• Applies when your Size is 1 tier larger than the size of the Cover Object.
  • Examples:
    • A human standing behind a crate or barrel
    • A Super Mutant standing behind a car
• Grants +2 Evasion as a Concealment Bonus.
• Your Legs are considered Covered Limbs.
• Can be bypassed by:
  • Performing a Called Shot against Uncovered Limbs
  • Flanking the target

Example:
A human behind sandbags is in Half Cover.
If a random hit strikes the legs, the sandbags absorb the attack first.

Full Cover

You are in Full Cover if your entire body is obscured by the Cover Object.

• Applies when your Size is equal to or smaller than the size of the cover.
  • Examples:
    • A human crouching behind a car
    • A gecko hiding under a desk
• Grants +4 Evasion as a Concealment Bonus.
• All limbs are considered Covered Limbs.
• Can only be bypassed by Flanking or by the target exposing themselves.

💥 Cover Damage & Penetration

When an ⚔ Attack strikes a Covered Limb, compare the attack’s damage to the cover’s resistance.

Let:

• D = ⚔ Attack damage
• R = 💎 Hardness (Physical) or ♨️ Energy Resistance (Energy)

Resolution Rules

🧾 Damage Interaction Summary

🧩 Tags and Special Cases

Weapon and cover Tags modify how the penetration rules behave without changing the core math.

Example Weapon Tags

• Armor-Piercing – penetration threshold is reduced (uses 1.5R instead of 2R).
• Breach – penetrating attacks deal D − R damage to the target instead of D − 2R.
• Shred – damage to cover is doubled.

Example Cover Tags

• Reinforced – penetration requires 3R instead of 2R.
• Brittle – cover takes double damage once chipped.
• Indestructible – cover can never be penetrated.

Tags allow specific weapons or materials to behave exceptionally without increasing system complexity.

📌 Quick Reference

💣 Explosives and Cover

Explosives interact with cover differently than bullets or other direct-fire attacks.
Rather than attempting to penetrate cover, explosives deal radial blast damage that is attenuated by intervening materials.

Important:
Explosives do not use the standard penetration rules (D ≥ 2R) for cover.
Instead, cover reduces explosive damage based on how much of the blast is blocked.

Line of Effect

When an explosive detonates, determine whether the target is in the line of effect:

• If there is no solid cover between the explosion and the target, the target takes full damage.
• If the target is behind Half Cover, the blast is partially attenuated.
• If the target is behind Full Cover, the blast is significantly attenuated, but rarely stopped entirely.

Explosions can affect targets behind cover even if the cover is not destroyed.

Blast Attenuation

Let:

• D = explosive damage
• R = Hardness (for Physical explosives) or Energy Resistance (for Energy-based explosives)

Apply the following rules:

• Explosive damage is never all-or-nothing when cover is present.
• Cover always takes damage if it lies between the explosion and the target.
• Damage cannot be reduced below 0.

Cover Destruction

• If the cover’s Durability is reduced to 0 by an explosion, it is destroyed.
• Destroyed cover no longer provides Concealment or material protection.
• At the GM’s discretion, collapsing cover may:
  • Create debris
  • Remove adjacent cover
  • Deal secondary damage (based on Tags)

Explosives vs Penetration

Explosives do not penetrate cover in the same way as bullets.

• The standard penetration rule (D ≥ 2R) applies only to direct-fire attacks.
• Explosives instead represent pressure waves, shrapnel, and concussive force.
• Even extremely powerful explosions are reduced by solid barriers rather than “punching through” them.

Exceptions to this behavior are handled through Tags, not new rules.

Tags and Special Explosives

Some explosives or cover types may modify these rules:

Example Explosive Tags

• Shaped Charge – Treat the explosion as directional; may use penetration rules instead of blast attenuation.
• Concussive – Ignores attenuation from Half Cover.
• Incendiary – Uses Energy Resistance instead of Hardness.
• Bunker-Buster – Full Cover reduces damage by R instead of 2R.

Example Cover Tags

• Blast-Shielded – Full Cover reduces explosive damage by 3R instead of 2R.
• Fragile – Cover takes double damage from explosives.
• Unstable – When destroyed, the cover collapses and deals secondary damage.