Re: tech code blues

"Brent L. Woods" [email removed] writes:
>
>      How about a laser?  Now, *that's* a weapon that requires careful
> aiming.  Not to mention the problems one would have if one trained
> with weapons from the tech level just *below* that of the introduction
> of man-portable laser weapons (actually, I consider them to only be
> semi-portable, since the power pack is so heavy and unwieldy).  Imagin
> having to adjust to a weapon that feels different, has different
> aiming characteristics (you don't have to allow for drop, or lead a
> moving target), and has no recoil at all.

That's why there are different skills for different types of weapons.  If
one trained on lasers which were not man-portable, the skill one would have
is Heavy Weapons (Lasers).  There is, as Brent points out, a big difference
between lasers (no drop, no recoil, no leading a moving target) and, say,
an ACR (with all three).  Therefore, there are the separate skills Combat
Rifle (usable on all sorts of rifle, from bolt-action to gauss) and Hand
Lasers (usable on all sorts of portable lasers).  Personally, I'm not sure
if laser pistols and laser rifles/carbines would need separate skills; in
the rules, they don't.

>      What, you may ask, is the point of all this?  Well, that's a good
> question.  I was beginning to wonder myself.  Upon reflection, though
> I think I'm saying that there should only be a penalty *where
> appropriate*.  Appropriate places would be where the higher-tech
> weapon is of a different type (e. g., lasers versus slug-throwers), and
> where the weapons require a high degree of precision (e. g., single-
> projectile slug-throwers [pistols, carbines, rifles] and laser weapons).

Different type means different skills.  There isn't a penalty; perhaps the
referee may allow a portion of, say, a character's Laser skill to be used
on slug throwers, otherwise the character gets skill 0.  High precision
weapons use an otherwise unmodified roll; rapid-fire weapons get a bonus
for auto-fire.  (I still prefer Ye Olde Traveller, or Striker, where each
weapon had its own DEX modifiers - DEX 6 incurred a penalty on precision
weapons like pistols, but not on easier weapons like SMG's.)

- --
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  [email removed]
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   [email removed]