Sniping Concerns and Suggestions

I was watching a sniping duel this morning and came across some concerns.

The system employed was that the sniper would hide:

+check stealth vs difficult (average with a stealth cloak).

Those present would look around, using either forensics or streetwise, neither of which really make any sense. It was difficult or average with some sort of scanner which no one had.

Then each round, the sniper would fire and then roll stealth again to go back into hiding.

I've only seen three rounds so far but every time the sniper has fired and the target has dodged. This seems a bit unlikely, but even worse is that nothing really prevents the target from quickshotting the hidden sniper.

My suggestions are two-fold.

First, decide on what the proper checks are to detect hidden people.

Second, either add +shoot/snipe or lay out some rules for sniping. My notion is that sniping would be at a higher difficulty than regular shooting, and could only happen every other round or possibly every third round. The upside is that targets could not quickshoot a hidden sniper and if they could dodge, it would be much harder than dodging in a regular gunfight.

What do other folks think?

We will probably lay out some rules for sniping.

It will probably include much more difficult +checks for staying hidden, but also advantages like the target +passing or the like.

Also: Forensics is the skill to "search" for hidden people. Streetwise isn't.

How do we prevent every single PC in a gunfight from claiming they are sniping and using those rules?

Sith Lightning.

(We'll see. I've come up with some clever ideas before, maybe we'll get a good one... but it's not a hugely pressing matter at this instant.)

I would like to see increasing difficulties for repeat shots, or decreasing difficulties for finding a sniper who is hanging out shooting at you. It'd also be neat if snipers may spend even more time between each shot to make sure they aren't spotted.

Example: Bob the Sniper is lying in a bush picking off travelers. Round 1, Bob shoots at traveler, with his hide check on 6, opposed by an 5 detection (whatever skill this is) check. The higher percentile "wins" the contest. If Bob shoots again on round 2, he gets +3 difficulty, if he shoots again on round 3, he gets +2 difficulty, if he shoots again on round 4, he gets +1 difficulty, and on round 5 he'll simply check again at 6. During all these rounds, the traveler may continue rolling detection each round to find Bob, but Bob may not roll stealth again until after he has taken another action (such as running around and hiding). Bob must sit still and be patient, taking no action for one round, to decrease the difficulty penalty. E.g. if Bob gets up and moves on round 2 in order to another position (in order to re-roll Stealth and try to get a higher number), he will continue to be at +3 difficulty to snipe.

This is just an idea. I think it works well, because it makes sniping very difficult and requires patience, much like real sniping. Plus, they are (theoretically) taking a huge minus to their +dodge, if they are even allowed to +dodge, and so you're doing a ton of extra damage.

Edit: A better way of thinking of this system is that you get +3 difficulty to each subsequent shot. You may decrease the difficulty penalty by one for each round you spend doing nothing but aiming.

Yeah, snipers traditionally are invisible before their first shot. But after that, it becomes easier and easier to spot where they are. ESPECIALLY if the sniper continues shooting.

I'll take it into consideration.