Double Trouble
Minimum cost: 5 points
George: Hey, kid, maybe think about firing one piece at a time. Saves an arm for the señoritas. You know what I mean?
Nick Kang: Nah, double the pleasure, double the fun. If you’ve got enough ammo, that is.
–True Crime: Streets of L.A.
You walk in the footsteps of Miyamoto Musashi, with a deadly weapon in each hand. You have mastered techniques to create a deadly rhythm: “two drumsticks, one sound.”
Double Trouble stylists have become a staple of modern gun-fu cinema and are the signature shooting specialists of director John Woo and his admirers. Woo’s Hong Kong noir films produced a distinctive “bullet ballet” featuring dual-pistol-wielding gunfighters in highly choreographed fight scenes, combining physical artistry and finesse with gunplay – in stark contrast to the bulging muscles and fiery explosions of the One-Man Army stylists (pp. 32-33) of earlier action films.
Modern gunmen of the Double Trouble variety tend to be very mobile – leaping, jumping, and sliding through their combat scenes as they dodge and shoot. Acrobatics is essential. Gunslinger, Enhanced Defenses (Dodge), and the Flying Leap skill are also needed to fully replicate the most cinematic performances of this style. Stylists who have truly mastered Double Trouble will want Enhanced Time Sense, which allows gunmen to access Bullet Time (p. 14) for truly impressive feats, such as leaping from cover while shooting down multiple enemies with Flank Shot. Perks such as Cookie Cutter and Recoil Rocket provide cinematic flair.
The core of the Double Trouble style relies heavily on Ambidextrous or Off-Hand Weapon Training for both Fast-Draw (Ammo) and a single-handed ranged-weapon skill – normally Guns (Pistol). Many stylists will replace this with Guns (SMG) for machine pistols and submachine guns (together with the relevant perks and techniques), or at least add it. Because using two handguns is fundamental to the style, practitioners may buy the Off-Hand Weapon Training perk as soon as they’ve bought all the basic style components (instead of waiting for the usual 10 points in skills and techniques).
Style Breakdown
Skills: Acrobatics; Fast-Draw (Ammo); Fast-Draw (Pistol or SMG); Guns (Pistol or SMG).
Techniques: Close-Hip Shooting (Pistol or SMG); Close-Quarters Battle (Pistol or SMG); Dual-Weapon Attack (Technique) (Pistol or SMG); Fast-Firing (Pistol); Flank Shot (Pistol or SMG); Quick-Shot (Pistol); Targeted Attack (Pistol or SMG/Skull).
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Flying Leap; Zen Marksmanship (Pistol).
Cinematic Techniques: Timed Dodge; Whirlwind Attack (Pistol or SMG).
Perks: Akimbo (Pistol or SMG); Gun Shtick (to complete) (Stone-Cold Killer, Twirl, or Wall o’ Lead); Infinite Ammunition; Off-Hand Weapon Training (Fast-Draw, Pistol, or SMG); Quick Reload (Pistol or SMG); Quick-Sheathe (Pistol); Quick-Swap (Pistol or SMG); Weapon Bond.
Optional Traits
Secondary Characteristics: Improved Basic Speed and Per.
Advantages: 360° Vision; Ambidextrous; Danger Sense; Enhanced Defenses (Dodge); Enhanced Time Sense;Enhanced Tracking; Extra Attacks; Gunslinger; Peripheral Vision.
Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Impulsiveness; Overconfidence.
Skills: Armoury (Small Arms); Connoisseur (Guns); Guns Art (Pistol or SMG); Holdout; Jumping.
Techniques: Behind-the-Back Shot (Pistol or SMG).
Perks: Cinematic Knockback (Pistol or SMG); Cookie Cutter (SMG); Fastest Gun in the West (Pistol or SMG); Hand Cannon; Pistol-Fist (Guns); Recoil Rocket (Pistol or SMG); Supplier.
Dual-wielding semi-automatic pistols or machine pistols is a flashy shtick in cinematic campaigns, but reloading can be troublesome in games that are more realistic. A slow method to reload two pistols is this: Holster a pistol (one second or free action with Quick-Sheathe), use the free hand to reload the pistol being held (three seconds or free action with Quick Reload), then switch the process by holstering the loaded gun (one second or free action with Quick-Sheathe), drawing the empty gun (one second or free action with Fast-Draw), and reloading it (three seconds or free action with Quick Reload).
A faster method is to place both guns in one hand (one second or free action with Quick Swap) and reload both guns simultaneously (three seconds or free action with Quick Reload). In this case, the GM may allow a version of the Double-Loading technique for loading two magazine-fed weapons at once.
The Akimbo perk (p. 17), however, allows reloading to be conducted as if the shooter had one hand empty the whole time. Thus, with Akimbo and Quick Reload, the whole process is a free action! This is not realistic, of course, but it is in keeping with the aesthetics of Double Trouble in high-cinematic settings.