Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Long-Arms and Scope Power (x)

JanMikal · 07-03-2017, 03:05 PM

Hello, all. I am really confused about the rules for Scopes (HT156-156 & RAW412). I can't figure out what the Magnification/Power of a scope adds to the user's Gun skill. I thought I had it figured out. It says:

"...+1 ACC per full doubling of magnification."

Okay, great. So, I figure, that means that a x2 scope gives a +1, x4 would be +2, x8 would be +3, x16 would be +4 and x32 would be +5. (No need to go further - my character has a Springfield 1903 and it's ACC is 5).

However, a little later it says, by example:

"...A TL7 fixed-power 4x scope gives +2 Acc..."

Okay, makes perfect sense, by my 'chart' about. 4x gives a +2. Great. But then:

"...A TL8 variable-power scope with 3x, 6x, and 9x (written 3-9x) gives up to +3 Acc..."

This makes no sense to me. I mean, okay - x3 is between x2 and x4, so gets +1. x6 is between x4 and x8, so gets a +2, and x9 is between x8 and x16, and gets a +3. So...why change it from x2, x4, x8 to x3, x6, x9? Is there a practical reason for this, game-mechanically speaking? Do the magnification numbers matter in some signficant way, other than being there to mathematically figure out the bonus to skill? I'm really confused about this.

07-03-2017, 03:05 PM	#1
JanMikal Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: St. Louis, MO	Long-Arms and Scope Power (x) Hello, all. I am really confused about the rules for Scopes (HT156-156 & RAW412). I can't figure out what the Magnification/Power of a scope adds to the user's Gun skill. I thought I had it figured out. It says: "...+1 ACC per full doubling of magnification." Okay, great. So, I figure, that means that a x2 scope gives a +1, x4 would be +2, x8 would be +3, x16 would be +4 and x32 would be +5. (No need to go further - my character has a Springfield 1903 and it's ACC is 5). However, a little later it says, by example: "...A TL7 fixed-power 4x scope gives +2 Acc..." Okay, makes perfect sense, by my 'chart' about. 4x gives a +2. Great. But then: "...A TL8 variable-power scope with 3x, 6x, and 9x (written 3-9x) gives up to +3 Acc..." This makes no sense to me. I mean, okay - x3 is between x2 and x4, so gets +1. x6 is between x4 and x8, so gets a +2, and x9 is between x8 and x16, and gets a +3. So...why change it from x2, x4, x8 to x3, x6, x9? Is there a practical reason for this, game-mechanically speaking? Do the magnification numbers matter in some signficant way, other than being there to mathematically figure out the bonus to skill? I'm really confused about this.