Message no. 1

From:	S.R.Bailleul@*********.salford.ac.uk
Subject:	DIY Guns
Date:	17 May 96 16:16

The question of whether to allow selfmade weapons or not has come up quite a
few times with my gaming groups. I have ruled, that it is possible to build or
modify your own weapons, if you have got the skill and at least a Weapon Kit
(as in Electronics Kit) to modify, and a workshop to build your own weapons.
The question of reliability is a very important aspect of weapons. A weapon
that jams on you every 20-30 rounds is of no use, obviously. Unfortunately,
FASA has not seen it fit to give their weapons reliability ratings: a major
shortcoming. The author of FoF has seen this problem, (see the entry on INGRAM
WARRIOR, he`s talking about reliability there) but he failed to provide hard
rules on the subject. We have now given a reliability rating to ALL ranged
weapons, making some formerly favourite weapons rather, ..um.. rare in player
hands. It has also helped to bring the players back to relatively small weapons
(guess what, revolvers are really hip now). These ratings are still not "hard"
as in requiring dice rolls, but act more as a roleplaying guide. (I and
sometimes the players, too, use the sudden jamming of a weapon to further the
suspense) Of course, most industrially manufactured weapons are quite reliable,
but what about the Sandler TMP or the AUG CSL system? The shadowtalk mentions
some problems with usability there. And remember Assault Cannons, who use a
"more stable" compound for the explosive heads? What happens if they DO
malfunction? Oops.
Anyway, we are normally handling selfmade weapons as low-grade weapons with
specific uses. Normally, the players rely on standard guns, except if they need
a specific gun for a specific purpose and no such gun exists. Then, sometimes,
one of them is going to build something special. Or if we need a weapon with a
specific design. Ever seen "The Man with the Golden Gun"? One of my friend`s
sams has just entered TnO with one of these Lighter/Pen/Cigarette Case Combos.
(He`ll still need to find ammo, but 9mil Ammo is not going to be as hard to get
as a gun) The reliability of the DIY Gun normally depends on preparation of the
design (requiring Firearms Design Skill or default +2t# Firearms B\R) and the
overall number of successes. One of my character has become rather good at
building guns now, and his weapons DO match standard specifications by now.
(you need practice for everything, but if you get it you can become rather
good)


Sergej