From:	Mark A Shieh SHODAN+@***.EDU
Subject:	things that go boom in the night!
Date:	Mon, 1 Mar 1999 16:00:13 -0500 (EST)

"Neil Clark" <neil.clark@**********.com> writes:
> this is a pretty short question: I have a group of runners that are
> intent on using grenade launchers to blast away all opposition, and as a GM,
> my sense of balance is disturbed--the rules for if launched minis go off on
> contact are vague, but SR3 seems to suggest that they explode on impact. I
> don't want to play the escalation game with them. any suggestions to
> dissuade them from this?

Let 'em. Paying Street Index, marked up some more for a fixer
with a higher negotiation than the runner (he does it for a living,
after all), and another 10% for GM Fiat (A fixer who doesn't
specialize in high-grade ammunition), the runners might pay upwards of
300 nuyen per shot. In addition, they may only be supplied a small
number each month or so...

If they actually use such a noisy weapon often enough to be
spotted, read the other thread about highly armored vehicles and
likely responses. :)

> perhaps house-rule it, and assign a lesser damage code to the
> minigrenades, given that they're "mini"? cause dire consequences to fall
> upon them for using such a conspicuous, attention-grabbing weapon? or use
> the setting, Bug City, as a keep-away device?

Oh, even better. You can only carry so much ammo (What's a
minigrenade, 1/5 of a kilo?), and if you can keep the MGL-6 out of
their hands, they're restricted to a SS weapon that takes up a lot of
space. They're also trapped in a place unlikely to have a
mini-grenade stash, with a sought-after weapon and a lot of people
scrounging for weapons and ammo. You could even be generous and give
them a nice offer for the mini-grenade launcher and ammo the first
time they run into a friendly face.

Mark