Shooting Cold...

...or, Even the Guns Go Crazy at the Mountains of Madness!

We all know that the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos are largely immune to our species' puny weaponry; yet still, we like to weigh ourselves down with lumps of metal, chemical compounds and the projectiles that issue from their interaction. Previous posts have discussed ways to make players think twice before relying too heavily on their sidearms but, if the lesson still isn’t getting through, here are some other cunning strategies to help them reconsider their options.

Guns, like most other pieces of technology, don’t like to be exposed to extremes of temperature. In the cold especially, guns tend to malfunction more frequently. Generally speaking, the more simple the weapon the better it is able to adapt; however, even then, there are pitfalls to be discovered in relying on shooting something in order to deal with it.

Most adventures occur in places where the temperatures maintain a moderate range between upper and lower extremes. For the most part this is fine. However, there is always that adventure where the party goes to Iceland, or into the Arctic Circle, or Antarctica, and suddenly the average temperatures start to be labelled “extreme”. The tolerances of most types of technology – including guns – begin to be tested at these limits.

Certainly there are pieces of equipment that are constructed to function in these extremes; these rules don’t apply to those types of items. We’re talking only about the bog-standard weaponry that the party carries around with it on a daily basis. You never know when Ithaqua might pay a call...

Firstly, getting around in the extreme cold usually requires a few extra layers of clothing. In the days of Scott and Amundsen – and even Mallory of Everest fame – “a few extra layers” was often, literally, the normal precaution taken by these dauntless adventurers. All that extra fabric gets in the way of a character’s ability to move with any kind of grace or style. Gloves make you clumsy; goggles make things hard to see; thick boots mean less secure footing. Even in the modern era with extra-lightweight, extra wind-proof fabrics, the sheer novelty of the rig makes re-learning all your combat finesse a painful but necessary task. In these instances, the Keeper is free to impart a -20% penalty on all Combat and Movement rolls required when “in costume”, as it were; once the player has made three successful rolls under these conditions, or a single Critical Success, that particular skill is no longer affected by the penalty.

Note however, that the penalty returns if the roll has to be made under conditions of duress – time pressure, surprise, etc. Sometimes there’s just no getting around the fact that you’re wrapped up like the Michelin man, with sausage fingers and inconvenient eyewear.

Some canny players might do things to avoid these strictures, such as spending time in alpine areas acclimatising before undertaking this particular quest, or modifying their weapons (for example, cutting off the trigger guards) so that shooting in gloves is easier; this is fine – remember that, when push comes to shove, that penalty will still apply despite all their training. And those guys without the trigger guards will have to just live with accidentally shooting someone nearby when they fall over (or when they re-holster their weapon with a little too much gusto).

Of course, character backgrounds and the party’s normal turf may mitigate these limitations entirely, as the Keeper sees fit.

As far as guns are concerned, in these modern times the best rated weapons for extreme winter work are built to withstand temperatures as low as -40°C; in Gaslight Cthulhu or Classic Era Call of Cthulhu, these types of guns are a distant fantasy. Nevertheless, even in those settings, a party may find itself experiencing the kind of cold that really counts. Keep in mind that in Antarctica – the coldest place on Earth – the mean temperature pushes -60°C; and the wind-chill factor can push this even lower: the lowest temperature recorded on land there was -89.2°C.

Guns don’t take kindly to being warmed up suddenly, especially if they go from a really cold start. Players who take the time to warm their weaponry – holding it (unloaded!) near a fire for example, or keeping it in a special case – will go some way towards avoiding damage. Automatic or rapid fire weapons shouldn’t be completely spent from a cold start: a few single shots should be attempted before emptying the clip.

If precautions aren’t taken, on a Malfunction score, the barrel of the gun fractures and the gun becomes useless – no jamming; it’s dead. If a Malfunction is rolled and precautions to offset the cold were in place, have the player roll a D6: on a 1 or a 2, the barrel shatters anyway.

Using autofire, or otherwise expending the entire clip, from a cold start imposes a -10% penalty on that weapon from that point onwards, as the barrel begins to warp. This penalty is cumulative for that firearm.

Another issue is more subtle, and occurs when a gun has been used in the extreme cold and is then brought into a warm environment. Condensation forms on the metal from the surrounding heated air and, if the gun is then taken back out into the cold, this moisture will freeze into ice. In these instances, if a Malfunction score is rolled, have the player roll the D6: on a 3 or 4, the frozen gun has become inert and won’t fire again until the ice inside it has been melted. An easy way to obviate this situation is to leave your guns at the door before subjecting them to a temperature slide.

An unpleasant codicil to this is the fact that at extreme low temperatures, the oil used in the gun also starts to freeze. Today’s best cold-weather gun lubricants are rated to a temperature of -50°C but these are rare, usually only distributed to military or other specialist organisations. For players operating without this kind of refinement, increase the Malfunction score of their weapon of choice according to the following table:

Temperature Celsius	Temperature Fahrenheit	+ to Malfunction score
0°C to -10°C	32°F to 14°F	+5%
-11°C to -20°C	12.2°F to -4°F	+8%
-21°C to -30°C	-5.8°F to -22°F	+10%
-31°C to -40°C	-23.8°F to -40°F	+13%
-41°C to -50°C	-41.8°F to -58°F	+15%

Finally, as if all the above wasn’t bad enough, as air gets super-chilled, it becomes more dense. This means that accuracy and trajectory become severely impaired. Use the following table for when things get really cold:

Temperature (°C)	Temperature (°F)	Skill Modifier	Range Modifier
0°C to -10°C	32°F to 14°F	-5%	-10%
-11°C to -20°C	12.2°F to -4°F	-5%	-15%
-21°C to -30°C	-5.8°F to -22°F	-10%	-25%
-31°C to -40°C	-23.8°F to -40°F	-15%	-35%
-41°C to -50°C	-41.8°F to -58°F	-20%	-50%

Some Keepers might think that these sorts of mechanics might lend an air of authenticity but require too much number-juggling; that’s fine – just let your players do the maths. There’s no reason not to let the players keep track of the modifiers and penalties themselves – most gamers actually enjoy crunching the numbers, since it lets them feel as though they’re more involved in the process.