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Old 08-22-2016, 10:43 PM   #1
Seneschal
 
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Default Homing Shotgun

I've mined quite a few ideas for near-future sci-fi action campaigns from the recent slew of futuristic FPS games (Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, 3, and Advanced Warfare, Ghost Recon: Phantoms and Titanfall, to name a few). The trend now seems to be petering out, given how horridly the new Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare trailers were received (the Titanfall 2's open beta hasn't exactly had an ecstatic reception either), so the genre seems about ready to move on.

As if aware of that, Infinite Warfare seems to be going all in with the futuristic gimmicks (including zero-g combat where astronauts fire grappling hooks at one another and tear each other's facemasks off). A particularly weird gadget has appeared in one of its latest trailers - a homing shotgun (used from 4:15 to 5:00).

According to GURPS (and, er, reality), shotguns are as effective as a stiff breeze against kevlar, let alone TL9 armor, but we can chalk the whole "effective shotguns on the modern battlefield"-trope up to FPSs having to have weapon variety and balance. So, if we ignore the actual effect of the pellets, how would you mechanically stat a weapon that fires 8 homing pellets in a single shot?
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Old 08-22-2016, 10:51 PM   #2
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

The Homing rules don't actually break with high RoF, just as long as you remember that the effective skill of the attack still only hits with Margin×RcL (in this case 1, obviously) pellets.

Incidently Gun Fu has some options for making shotguns work like they do in shooters.

Last edited by sir_pudding; 08-23-2016 at 01:40 PM.
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Old 08-22-2016, 11:12 PM   #3
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

Well, they presumably aren't pellets but rather flechettes. So they probably have armor divisors. I'd consider handling them more like a launcher than a standard firearm.
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Old 08-23-2016, 12:51 AM   #4
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

I'd fudge it and assume that the shotgun is firing a single homing projectile with an explosive warhead, rather than a cluster of homing pellets. That should be possible using Ultra-Tech by the book at a sufficiently high TL. It'll give you a homing effect that makes messy holes in people (and even light armour), which is what you really want here.

(I have a Pyramid article with a shooting style for ultra-tech shotguns somewhere...)
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Old 08-23-2016, 03:57 AM   #5
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
(I have a Pyramid article with a shooting style for ultra-tech shotguns somewhere...)
"Support Shotgunner" style, in Training for the Tech, in Pyramid #3/85: Cutting Edge.

More generally I'm inclined to agree with sir_pudding: a shotgun firing eight homing projectiles at once doesn't need to be mechanically different from a high-RoF launcher firing eight homing projectiles in the same attack.
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Old 08-23-2016, 09:39 AM   #6
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
I'd fudge it and assume that the shotgun is firing a single homing projectile with an explosive warhead, rather than a cluster of homing pellets. That should be possible using Ultra-Tech by the book at a sufficiently high TL. It'll give you a homing effect that makes messy holes in people (and even light armour), which is what you really want here.

(I have a Pyramid article with a shooting style for ultra-tech shotguns somewhere...)
Yes, Guided HEMP. Pretty standard stuff for TL10 Gauss Shotguns. See the appropriate sections of UT.

In 4e UT the Guided option would be limited to projectiles of 10mm or larger. Transhuman Space was sort of 3.5e-ish and had (different sorts of) Homing projectiles without any particular size limit.
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Old 08-23-2016, 01:15 PM   #7
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

It could always be a 18mm guided missile with an annular blast fragmentation warhead. Generate the shotgun effect at the target instead of in the barrel.
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Old 08-23-2016, 01:26 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by clu2415 View Post
It could always be a 18mm guided missile with an annular blast fragmentation warhead. Generate the shotgun effect at the target instead of in the barrel.
A standard option for UT HE warheads. Just as bad as penetrating armor as shotgun pellets though.
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Old 08-23-2016, 01:34 PM   #9
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
A standard option for UT HE warheads. Just as bad as penetrating armor as shotgun pellets though.
I could see it getting a niche for downing small aerial drones. Essentially, an ultra-tech fowling gun for ultra-tech geese.
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Old 08-23-2016, 01:44 PM   #10
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Default Re: Homing Shotgun

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Originally Posted by vierasmarius View Post
I could see it getting a niche for downing small aerial drones. Essentially, an ultra-tech fowling gun for ultra-tech geese.
I'd expect to see something larger, like the FIM-92 Stinger. At least for honest-to-goodness UCAVs. Maybe something like this as an option in a high-velocity grenade launcher (like the XM25) for shooting down quadcopter-style recon drones.
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