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Message no. 1
From: Jeremiah Stevens <jeremiah@********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Gun Construction (Was: SR3 Wishlist)
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 16:37:39 -0500
Here's my idea: Give each weapon a quality rating, and then have the GM
roll against the rating using a number of dice equal to the number of
rounds fired that action. Weapons would be damaged by the severity of the
failure with one success meaning the gun jams, but is undamged, 2
producing light damage, 4, moderate damage and so on. Thus, single shot
weapons are not likely to be damaged by failures, whereas full automatic
weapons are. This reflects the complexity of a fully automatic weapon
versus the relative simplicity of a single shot.

Now, for the difficult part: devising weapon creation rules. Obviously,
firearms B/R or Gunnery B/R would be used, and a full shop would be
needed. Each weapon type would have a target number, say 3 hold out
weapons, 4 for light pistols, 6 for heavy pistols, sport rifles and
shotguns, 8 for SMGs, 10 for assault rifles, and 12 for sniper rifles and
assault cannons. miniguns have a TN of 14, cannons, a TN of 16 and require
a Gunnery B/R skill. Finally, high-tech weapons like lasers would have a
TN of 18.

Additional features would raise the target number: +1 for
semi-auto for weapons other than SMGs, Assault rifles, light pistols and
heavy pistols (it is assumed that these are already semi-automatic
weapons), +1 for burst fire, +2 for full automatic,(full auto includes
burst fire option) +2 for integral smartgun link, +1 per point of recoil
reduction, +1 for caseless ammo, +1 per point of damage above base, +1
per point of concealability below base).
(I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten, as well as features not
used in SR like quick-change barrels and cooling systems) Next, there
would be a number of factors which reduce the target number. A CAD/CAM
system, for example, would provide a -1 per level.

The actual design would be a two step process. Frist, plans must be
devised. Designing the plans for a weapon has a base time of 90 days, with
a minimum time of 7, and the TN is that of the weapon being designed. Each
set of plans has a rating, which is equal to the base B/R skill plus
the total number of successes rolled by the character designing the
weapon. This rating is then subtracted from the TN for the actual
construction of the gun, along with the CAD/CAM modifiers.

Building the gun requires a base time of 60 days, with a minimum of 5.
This involves buying and preparing the materials as well as assembling
them. The availablity of parts may modify the time required. The quality
of the weapon is equal to the B/R skill of the maker, +1 per success
achieved on the B/R test.

For example, Joe wants to construct a new assault rifle, base TN of 10,
with an integral smartlink (+2), full-auto (+2), doing an extra point of
damage (+1) and with 2 points of recoil compensation (+2), giving him a
total TN of 17. Factoring in his level 4 CAD/CAM system, he has a TN of
13- a rather daunting task. Fortunatly, he has a Firearms B/R of 8, and he
manages one success. Thus, 90 days later, he produces a set of rating
9 plans for this new assault rifle. With these masterpiece plans in hand,
Joe sets out to build the new gun, this time, however, he must only make a
B/R test against a TN of 4 (17-4-9). He gets 6 successes, and so about a
week later, he has a prototype of his new assault rifle with a quality
rating of 14.

A character may attempt to build a weapon without plans, but they use the
TN equal to the difficulty of the weapon, without any CAD/CAM modifiers.
ALso, the quality is equal to only half their B/R skill plus successes.

It is possible to modify a gun or plans for a gun. Modifing a gun
without plans requires a test against the difficulty of the gun minus
half the quality of the gun plus the difficulty of the modification. The
quality of the new gun is equal to the difference in the old quality and
the number of successes achieved. If the difference is negative (fewer
successes than the quality) the quality goes down, if the number is
positive (more successes than quality) the quality is increased by that
number.
Modifing the plans of a weapon requires a test against the difficulty of
the gun, minus the rating of the plans plus the difficulty of the
modification. Again, the number of successes determines the quality of the
new plans, as above.
Finally, modifing a weapon with the plans present requires the same test
as above, but now CAD/CAM modifiers may be used as well. Also, the quality
of the new gun is determined by the same method as gun construction with
plans.
Message no. 2
From: Jeremiah Stevens <jeremiah@********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Gun Construction (Was: SR3 Wishlist)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 01:19:24 -0500
I'm re-posting this with a few corrections I have made myself.
>
> Here's my idea: Give each weapon a quality rating, and then have the GM
> roll against the rating using a number of dice equal to the number of
> rounds fired that action. Weapons would be damaged by the severity of the
> failure with one success meaning the gun jams, but is undamged, 2
> producing light damage, 4, moderate damage and so on. Thus, single shot
> weapons are not likely to be damaged by failures, whereas full automatic
> weapons are. This reflects the complexity of a fully automatic weapon
> versus the relative simplicity of a single shot.
>
> Now, for the difficult part: devising weapon creation rules. Obviously,
> firearms B/R or Gunnery B/R would be used, and a full shop would be
> needed. Each weapon type would have a target number, say 3 hold out
> weapons, 4 for light pistols, 6 for heavy pistols, sport rifles and
> shotguns, 8 for SMGs and machine pistols, 10 for assault rifles, sniper
rifles and assault cannons, 12 for machine guns. Miniguns have a TN of
16 which reflects the complexity of multi-barrel weapons, and require
> a Gunnery B/R skill. Finally, high-tech weapons like lasers would have a
> TN of 18.
>
> Additional features would raise the target number: +1 for
> semi-auto for weapons other than SMGs, Assault rifles, light pistols and
> heavy pistols (it is assumed that these are already semi-automatic
> weapons), +1 for burst fire, +2 for full automatic,(full auto includes
> burst fire option) +2 for integral smartgun link, +1 per point of recoil
> reduction, +1 for caseless ammo, +1 per point of damage above base
damage for the weapon type, +1
> per point of concealability below base concealability for the weapon
type.
> (I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten, as well as features not
> used in SR like quick-change barrels and cooling systems) Next, there
> would be a number of factors which reduce the target number. A CAD/CAM
> system (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing), for
example, would provide a -1 per level.
>
> The actual design would be a two step process. Frist, plans must be
> devised. Designing the plans for a weapon has a base time of 90 days, with
> a minimum time of 7, and the TN is that of the weapon being designed. Each
> set of plans has a rating, which is equal to the base B/R skill plus
> the total number of successes rolled by the character designing the
> weapon. This rating is then subtracted from the TN for the actual
> construction of the gun, along with the CAD/CAM modifiers.
>
> Building the gun requires a base time of 60 days, with a minimum of 5.
> This involves buying and preparing the materials as well as assembling
> them. The availablity of parts may modify the time required. The quality
> of the weapon is equal to the B/R skill of the maker, +1 per success
> achieved on the B/R test.
>
> For example, Joe wants to construct a new assault rifle, base TN of 10,
> with an integral smartlink (+2), full-auto (+2), doing an extra point of
> damage (+1) and with 2 points of recoil compensation (+2), giving him a
> total TN of 17. Factoring in his level 4 CAD/CAM system, he has a TN of
> 13- a rather daunting task. Fortunatly, he has a Firearms B/R of 8, and he
> manages one success. Thus, 90 days later, he produces a set of rating
> 9 plans for this new assault rifle. With these masterpiece plans in hand,
> Joe sets out to build the new gun, this time, however, he must only make a
> B/R test against a TN of 4 (17-4-9). He gets 6 successes, and so about a
> week later, he has a prototype of his new assault rifle with a quality
> rating of 14.
>
> A character may attempt to build a weapon without plans, but they use the
> TN equal to the difficulty of the weapon, without any CAD/CAM modifiers.
> Also, the quality is equal to only half their B/R skill plus successes.
>
> It is possible to modify a gun or plans for a gun. Modifing a gun
> without plans requires a test against the difficulty of the gun minus
> half the quality of the gun plus the difficulty of the modification. The
> quality of the new gun is equal to the difference in the old quality and
> the number of successes achieved. If the difference is negative (fewer
> successes than the quality) the quality goes down, if the number is
> positive (more successes than quality) the quality is increased by that
> number.
> Modifing the plans of a weapon requires a test against the difficulty of
> the gun, minus the rating of the plans plus the difficulty of the
> modification. Again, the number of successes determines the quality of the
> new plans, as above.
> Finally, modifing a weapon with the plans present requires the same test
> as above, but now CAD/CAM modifiers may be used as well. Also, the quality
> of the new gun is determined by the same method as gun construction with
> plans.
>
Also, the quality of a weapon may be upgraded if the character makes a B/R
test against the initial quality of the weapon. If he gets more successes
than the quality rating, the quality is improved by the difference. If,
however, he gets fewer successes, then the quality is decreased by the
difference. This means it is relatively easy to improve low quality
weapons and very difficult to improve high-quality weapons.
Plans may also be improved using the same method, although the quality of
plans may never go down.
Message no. 3
From: Mike Bobroff <AirWisp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Gun Construction (Was: SR3 Wishlist)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 00:54:58 -0500
In a message dated 97-11-13 01:20:29 EST, you write:

> > Now, for the difficult part: devising weapon creation rules. Obviously,
> > firearms B/R or Gunnery B/R would be used, and a full shop would be
> > needed. Each weapon type would have a target number, say 3 hold out
> > weapons, 4 for light pistols, 6 for heavy pistols, sport rifles and
> > shotguns, 8 for SMGs and machine pistols, 10 for assault rifles, sniper
> rifles and assault cannons, 12 for machine guns. Miniguns have a TN of
> 16 which reflects the complexity of multi-barrel weapons, and require
> > a Gunnery B/R skill. Finally, high-tech weapons like lasers would have a
> > TN of 18.
>

How about this for a series of target numbers ...

Base Target Number for a weapon is the going to be the power of the weapon
(.i.e an Ares Predator II would have a base design target numbre of a 9).
For weapons that just lob things (like grenade launchers), the target number
is the effective 'strength' of the launcher (as strength is what determines
the range of a thrown weapon).

Modifiers to the base target number ...
SA ............................. +1
BF ............................. +3
FA ............................. +5
Lobs something .......... +1
Special types ............. +5 and up

By special types I am referring to things like lasers, cocktail guns ...

As for the base design time ... (end target number) in months time ...

Construction time ... (End target number) x (Highest modifier) in days ...

How does this sound,

Mike
Message no. 4
From: Jeremiah Stevens <jeremiah@********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Gun Construction (Was: SR3 Wishlist)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 01:20:37 -0500
On Tue, 18 Nov 1997, Mike Bobroff wrote:

> In a message dated 97-11-13 01:20:29 EST, you write:
>
> > > Now, for the difficult part: devising weapon creation rules. Obviously,
> > > firearms B/R or Gunnery B/R would be used, and a full shop would be
> > > needed. Each weapon type would have a target number, say 3 hold out
> > > weapons, 4 for light pistols, 6 for heavy pistols, sport rifles and
> > > shotguns, 8 for SMGs and machine pistols, 10 for assault rifles, sniper
> > rifles and assault cannons, 12 for machine guns. Miniguns have a TN of
> > 16 which reflects the complexity of multi-barrel weapons, and require
> > > a Gunnery B/R skill. Finally, high-tech weapons like lasers would have a
> > > TN of 18.
> >
>
> How about this for a series of target numbers ...
>
> Base Target Number for a weapon is the going to be the power of the weapon
> (.i.e an Ares Predator II would have a base design target numbre of a 9).
> For weapons that just lob things (like grenade launchers), the target number
> is the effective 'strength' of the launcher (as strength is what determines
> the range of a thrown weapon).
>
> Modifiers to the base target number ...
> SA ............................. +1
> BF ............................. +3
> FA ............................. +5
> Lobs something .......... +1
> Special types ............. +5 and up
>
> By special types I am referring to things like lasers, cocktail guns ...
>
> As for the base design time ... (end target number) in months time ...
>
> Construction time ... (End target number) x (Highest modifier) in days ...
>
> How does this sound,
>
> Mike
>
It would work, and it is much simpler than the rules I posted. However, I
don't think power is an accurate reflection of the complexity of a gun,
which is what the TN should reflect. Granted, the physics involved in
containing and effectively channeling the blast become more difficult with
higher calibre weapons, but the overall complexity comes from rates of
fire (which you included) as well as the type of weapon and all sorts of
other features. [New TN modifier for my system: single shot only -1]
Also, your system would not work well with grenade launchers, since the
'strength' comes from the grenade, not the launcher. However, I would say
that with a few modifications your system would work quite well.

Its nice someone finally commented on this.
Message no. 5
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Gun Construction (Was: SR3 Wishlist)
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 18:29:42 -0500
In a message dated 97-11-18 02:53:54 EST, AirWisp@***.COM writes:

> By special types I am referring to things like lasers, cocktail guns ...
>
> As for the base design time ... (end target number) in months time ...
>
> Construction time ... (End target number) x (Highest modifier) in days ...
>
> How does this sound,
>
Not entirely bad, now all we have to do is merge it with the "How to Build a
Corp" guidebook....

-K

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