This is my first post on the site, so I guess I should say that even though I'm new to the "Powered by Apocalypse" system, I'm totally in love with it. In the past, the most rules heavy system I enjoyed was Dark Heresy, so being able to play something both gritty and action packed without so much time spent rolling for combat was a bit of a Godsend. Seeing my players actually roleplay is an amazing experience.

That being said, I have a few questions on combat. I've only run about three sessions now, with very little fighting. (Most of the warfare has been psychology.)

Is it generally to be presumed that unless otherwise stated, when an PC "seize by force" to make an attack, the NPC will always counter attack? What happens in positions where the NPC is unable to fire back? (For example, someone is shooting from stealth, or the NPC only has a melee weapon in a gunfight.) The PC's wouldn't suffer any harm in those situations, but the book seems to makes the presumtion any violent action will result in some kind of harm to the players.

Another question, the book mentions that NPC's can't roll, right? So what happens when an NPC wants to take initative, or tries to seize something by force themselve, or even go aggro? Do I just ask the players to "act under fire"? I'm just not used to a system where the NPC's are more reactive, rather than having more agency.

Sorry for my questions seem rather noobish, as I said, I'm new to the system!

Edit: I also have an additional question and how people use the "reload" stat in their game. For example, shotguns and revolvers have reload, but they might still have a few bullets in them. So, do GMs/do your GM's always make you reload, even if logically your character only used one bullet? I want to make use of the full game mechanics, but I can't help but feel in a lot of situations, the reload skill might get in the way of some more fun moments.