It didn't work? I do it again!!!

[noclue]

I'd even go one further and allow him to take his 'real' turn after he unloads all the bullets and realizes they did nothing. The bullets are just cool color for the story at that point, he should still get to take action.

[Tedronai]

I think there's a dangerous precedent, there, if it's not implement very carefully.

[sinker]

Good thing games do not work like courts of law then. 

[noclue]

I think there's a dangerous precedent, there, if it's not implement very carefully.

It's funny, but I'm not afraid of this precedent. Letting people narrate awesome, evocative color that has no real effect isn't dangerous. Making people choose between adding awesome narration and doing something mechanically useful, seems unwise. And making them repeatedly roll for stuff that doesn't matter is right out.

Good thing games do not work like courts of law then.  

[Tedronai]

Mostly the danger that I see is in applying that to the first exchange of gunfire, where they're just finding out that their preferred tactic isn't going to work.  After that, sure, toss in whatever narration you want that the group thinks sounds cool.
It's something of a short step from 'these bullets aren't doing any good' to 'well, apparently, I can't aim worth s***', and there lies potential for game-breaking

[Haru]

I'd even go one further and allow him to take his 'real' turn after he unloads all the bullets and realizes they did nothing. The bullets are just cool color for the story at that point, he should still get to take action.

Isn't this almost an assessment action? It starts out as an attack, sure, but all it does is reveal the aspect "bulletproof" on the target, so that might be, what is happening here.

[ryanshowseason2]

First I'd let him roll until he hit it so maybe he'd figure out it was bulletproof on his own and try something else.

Next if he continued to do the same thing I wouldn't even have him roll and I might make a hint at something *I* think would be useful, like...

The bullet ricochets off his shoulder and you hear it impact the brass chandelier above his head as it sways back and forth.

Make it more obvious at your discretion but that would be enough for most of my players to grin and bring it crashing down on his head.

[TheMouse]

"You fire, and you hit! You can see the hole in his shirt right where his heart should be... but there's not a drop of blood. He doesn't even blink. It looks like bullets don't hurt this guy and that you should think of something else."

If they want to keep firing, "You fire your gun dry and the bullets are as effective as your first shot. What do you want to do with your action?"

Nothing beats being really blunt.

[Belial666]

On the other hand, maybe it is time for bigger guns and special ammo. A few things to consider;

1) Elephant gun. It is old tech by now but a 34mm flatpoint round with a muzzle energy of 27.000j (twice that of a .50 BMG) is gonna spell bad news to most things it hits. Plus, many elephant guns are old enough not to suffer hexing.

2) Zeliska revolver with.600 Overkill rounds. Not as much firepower as a big elephant gun - but still outstrips a .45 by nearly an order of magnitude. And it is still old tech.

3) Silver-coated steel-jacket hollowpoints filled with holy oil. Vs shapeshifters, the silver coating does at least some damage before expanding. Vs fae, the silver coating fractures as the bullet expands and now the fae has a sizable chunk of steel in their body. Vs demons/undead, the holy oil might do at least some good. Of course, this configuration should be applied to whatever really large bullets you are firing out of really big guns.

[Oriande]

Nothing beats being really blunt.

I definately should have had him stop rolling dice and either asked the other player what he wanted to do while the first continued to empty his clip or else asked him what he wanted to do after it was empty during the first round/sequence of play.  

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the answer would be; "I slap another clip into my gun and continue fireing."  

Also, as the gamemaster, I clearly am/was thinking too much in terms of other table-top RPGs where the characters' action are divided into "rounds" which are a set incerment of time, and each player in turn states what his or her character is doing at that precise moment.

I think that the FATE/Dresden system is meant to be more fluid than that and I will have to pay better attention to adapt.  

[admiralducksauce]

On the other hand, maybe it is time for bigger guns and special ammo.

Wrong!  It is ALWAYS time for bigger guns and special ammo! 

On a serious note, however, Belial's absolutely right.  Through Contacts, Resources, Burglary, Craftmanship, and other possibly-applicable skills, a gunman can buy/steal/make something to let them use their apex skill on a beastie.  At least they SHOULD be able to.

Can I ask what you expected the shooter to do once he emptied his mag on the monster?  Would any Weapon rating be enough to harm it (ie, did it have Physical Immunity)?  Because enough stacked maneuvers and the right ammo will fuck up anyone's day.  Ask Kincaid.

[bibliophile20]

Wrong!  It is ALWAYS time for bigger guns and special ammo! 

On a serious note, however, Belial's absolutely right.  Through Contacts, Resources, Burglary, Craftmanship, and other possibly-applicable skills, a gunman can buy/steal/make something to let them use their apex skill on a beastie.  At least they SHOULD be able to.

Can I ask what you expected the shooter to do once he emptied his mag on the monster?  Would any Weapon rating be enough to harm it (ie, did it have Physical Immunity)?  Because enough stacked maneuvers and the right ammo will fuck up anyone's day.  Ask Kincaid.

I have but one point on where this line of thought ends: 

There's a reason mortals are collectively both before-dinner appetizers and the sleeping giant in the Dresdenverse...

[TheMouse]

I definately should have had him stop rolling dice and either asked the other player what he wanted to do while the first continued to empty his clip or else aked him what he wanted to do after it was empty during the first round/sequence of play. 

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the answer would be; "I slap another clip into my gun and continue fireing." 

"Okay, you put in another mag and burn through the whole thing. No, don't touch your dice. Bullets clearly don't do anything to this guy. What do you do with your action?"

If this continues, follow with, "Dude, he's immune to bullets. They don't do anything. You could literally continue firing bullets until the gun wears out and it wouldn't accomplish anything. What you're doing is like trying to cut a granite boulder in half with a pocket knife. If you just want to keep shooting I'm going to skip your turn. Do you want to do anything with your action?"

[Bruce Coulson]

Police refer to this as the "3-second Rule", and try to hammer it in during training.  Basically, in a fight, when whatever you doing doesn't work for 3 seconds, switch to something else.  The reason police trainers emphasize this so much is because most people do exactly the opposite.  

[devonapple]

I'm not sure this is always appropriate, but I might be inclined to start "reframing" those Gun rolls into Maneuvers - on behalf of the player - and narrate the effect of the gunfire in terms of the distraction it is causing. I also liked the suggestion of simply reframing those Guns checks into Assessment actions. It may be seen as good guidance, or be mistaken for tactical railroading, depending on the player's attitude.

When my players get into a Hammer-Nail tactical dead-end like that, I do start suggesting alternate actions. They take it well, but each player is going to be different.