[PauloAM]

Morning guys,

I'm having a little trouble fitting a Sniper in the group. I need ideas for "sniper friendly" missions, so the player doesn't get bored with nothing to do. I gave him a Cavalier Arms EBR, which doubles as an assault rifle if the need rises...

I'm also concerned about mission difficulty for him, because of his range, most targets are caught unaware, so its easy for him to take out many foes. How do you guys handle Snipers?

I thought about having him roll for stealth each time he fires a shot, to KEEP his position hidden. I also thought about ruling that once the first target is hit, the others aren't unaware anymore, even if they don't know the sniper's position, so they get the defense roll normally. What do you think about it?

Thanks!

[MijRai]

Wet-work, guardian angel work (protection jobs), surveillance work, all of those should be in a sniper's bailiwick. 

Well, the easiest way to up the difficulty for him is pretty simple; don't let him stay on his perch outside.  Make him have to work for a good spot to fire from.  I mean, a sniper as per the role is somewhat useless when you walk through the door inside, excepting the chance for windows.  Upping the difficulty because they're shooting through windows is another option; shooting through glass is generally harder than it looks, and you have to penetrate it. 

If he isn't running with a suppressor on his rifle, people should be able to spot him after firing.  If he does, though...  A suppressor generally integrates a flash dampener as well as the sound suppression.  Make rolls to find him, but make them hard if he's got that; people would basically have a chance to guess where the shot came from to look that way.  That's by the rules; real-life sniper rifles are not suppressed because the round breaks the sound barrier anyways, making the extra weight pointless.  Subsonic ammunition is an option there as well. 

I would definitely say if they see their ally go down in the first shot (or hear it) they aren't caught unaware; that said, there should be penalties if they don't know where the attacks are coming from.  If they don't know, they can't defend as well.  Maybe even have a few of them take cover from the opposite direction; when he shoots an easy target like that, everyone will have a better chance of figuring out where he is. 

[PauloAM]

Thanks for answering!

How does this look:

1) First target is always caught unaware
2) After each shot, roll stealth vs perception
3) Enemies who beat his roll run for cover in right direction and can roll defense for other shots. Next turn they can try and spot him.
4) Enemies who don't beat his roll...I dunno...what do you suggest? They panic and are still considered unaware?

Thanks!

[Beta]

Just remind him that when he's off on a roof-top, he's not getting good matrix or astral protection. 

Typical magician response to sniper fire, assuming they aren't dead yet: a) go invisible, b) send spirit up a hundred metres or so to get a bird's eye view, to try and spot the sniper, c) send spirit to eat sniper.  And of course, sometimes they'll have a watcher or spirit on high patrol before the shooting starts.

Minus the going invisible part, if a rigger can get cover and send drones, a decker can get cover and try to lock the sniper down ...

Snipers are deadly, but they are not the only ones who can strike at long range.

[farothel]

not to mention that if a sniper has line of sight to a mage, the mage obviously has line of sight to the sniper to drop a fireball on that position.  The nice thing about fireballs is that you don't have to be very accurate.  As long as the sniper is in the blast radius, he's going to be crispy.

Snipers are very good at surveillance, so he can do that instead of a rigger and his drones if you don't have that role.
Also make sure he has a secondary skillset which he can use, so you don't always have to include a sniper perch in your missions.
Thirdly, snipers get tired.  If I recall correctly, modern police forces (like the FBI HRT) don't let their snipers operate more than 30 minutes on the rifle.  Then they switch with their spotter (who is also a sniper of course) and they become spotter.  So after a long time in one spot without moving, have his muscles cramp up (I'm not sure what to roll to see if it happens), make fatigue rolls which can give penalties, and stuff like that.  The same you would do if someone wants to drive a long time without a rest.

[adzling]

A full time sniper will be very hard to fit into most campaigns due to engagement distances typically being very short and often on the fly/ unpredictable.

I would counsel him to build a regular sam with a focus or proficiency in sniping so he can snipe when the opportunity arises (not very often) but otherwise function normally.

[Kirito99]

Sniper is very problematic for rest of the team - typically he lack of social/b&e skills to get unnoticed to roof of the very high building , alsbo there is problem with palmprints, face recognition,cameras etc. Typically this is adventure in adventure to get sniper to right position, only for one shot. It's very uneffective method and kind of frustrating for rest of the team.
If player is typical lone wolf I would advise to have technomancer with high sniping skills and decent social abilities - this is most effective approach to be not a burden to the team.

[Sgt.tau]

Depending on how you run your team, a trained Scout / Sniper can be a centerpiece of an operation. The team is important for gaining access to and securing the position. The movie American Sniper makes use of that a lot, especially at the end. Once your Sniper is in his hide and behind the gun you want to have a security team in place, especially after the shot has been taken and all hell breaks loose.

Ideally Snipers are not only highly trained Marksmen, but also trained scouts and stalkers. They could easily fill the role of a regular shooter if necessary.

[Kiirnodel]

Also, as far as the Sniper getting to make all their attacks against people with no defense, remember the following:

Defenders are only considered Unaware for the first attack. Once someone is engaged in Combat, they are considered "aware" of potential attacks. See the text for "Defender Unaware of Attack" on pg. 189 of the Core Rulebook.

So, likely, if you're going after a big group, the Sniper might get one attack off for free, but after that, the sniper doesn't just get free pot shots. They might still get really easy shots (you get the +2 Superior Position bonus, plus the time to Take Aim and whatnot), but people are going to start ducking, taking cover, and whatnot so they still get a defense once they are aware of the threat (even if they don't immediately notice where the sniper is).

[All4BigGuns]

If the sniper is a well-built character, the only issue should be giving him opportunities to showcase his sniping ability because if he's well-built, he'll be almost as good with some other gun as he is with sniping (or at least carrying a shotgun in case he needs to get 'up close and personal').

[Spooky]

My character (Spooky) is an ex-military scout/sniper. His main skill set includes sniping (Longarms), scouting (Perception,Sneaking, Disguise) , weapon repair (Armorer), and locksmithing. He is also capable at using AR's and Pistols, and can fight with knives (Blades) and unarmed. I can post the full skill set if it will help you see what i have done, and why I did it.

[Hobbes]

Really the difference between a Sniper and a normal high Agility combat focused character is they have Longarms skill instead of Automatics.  They should still have decent combat augmentations or powers, Sneak skills and a splash of B&E.  The main problem will be the everyday carry weapon of choice isn't going to be concealable.  The player will likely want to have a back up weapon of some kind, either melee or pistol for "walk around" and keep a Shotgun and Sniper Rifle in the truck of a car (or whatever). 

Most Samurai and/or Adepts go with two combat skills, Ranged and melee.  A sniper character will have the same options.  Pistol and shotgun are decent runner weapons, with a Sniper Rifle handy for when the situation is right. 

So unless the character is built really odd, they  should be able to fulfill the Combat/B&E roll that most Samurai or Adepts do without difficulty.  Setting up the occasional spotlight moment with the Sniper Rifle is fairly easy.  "Guardian Angel" is a iconic tactical role for a sniper, and can be worked into most runs at least once. 

[shreck]

its not only on the run he can shine .
i woud advice against it (spliting up the groep once combat starts is a bad idee for the lone char ) .
let him shine during the meeting whith the johnson ( someone outside on rooftop to keep a lookout while the rest of the party is in the bar talking to the johnson ) .
once the run is done the exchange of the "packidge" is olso a good option .
if its done in a industrial/construction site mention a crane in the neighberhood ( so he can do the climbing/stealth for a great birdseye spot) .
backup during the recon fase of the run ( one person does the sneeking to place some cameras or other stuff while sniper does the overwatch ) .
its olso not only the killing part that makes him good .
add a run where thy have to shoot a line from one skycraper to another one and do the glide over a cable at 800m+ above street level .

[Jack_Spade]

The main problem will be the everyday carry weapon of choice isn't going to be concealable.  The player will likely want to have a back up weapon of some kind, either melee or pistol for "walk around" and keep a Shotgun and Sniper Rifle in the truck of a car (or whatever). 

That problem has been solved by Hard Targets. With the powered easy breakdown mod you can have your rifle out with just two complex actions.
Still, the quickdraw pistol/taser should of course be present.

[Mirikon]

Haven't read all the responses, but here's my take on things.

1. Every well-designed character should have more than one role. If they are hyperspecialized in one thing, then they're going to be bored a lot of the time. Plus, assuming a group of 3-6 players, there are a lot of roles that need filling, anyways.

2. Countersnipers. Basically, the other side has snipers, too. Take care lest the hunter become the hunted.

3. Unaware only lasts for the first shot. Once people know they're under fire, the situation changes (its just returning fire that gets difficult until they spot where it is coming from).

4. The other side isn't (always) stupid. If they know there's a sniper on your team, they'll set up meets indoors, for instance, or in public spaces where a sniper attack will draw all kinds of hell down upon the team.

5. Snipers are virtually useless inside office buildings.

6. Every well-designed character should have more than one weapon skill if combat is any part of their role. Yes, they may have a 6(+2) for Longarms (Sniper Rifles), but it would be really good if they had a 2(+2) in, say, Blades (Swords) or something. Yes, I am fully aware that a katana is not very concealable. However, especially in some parts of the sprawl, an openly carried blade is far more acceptable than a sniper rifle, even in 'decent' company. Same with a pistol or staff.