ACC negates range penalty only?

[oma]

Does ACC ONLY negate range penalties, or does it add to skill. BASIC set says this, "Ranged weapons only. Add
Accuracy to your skill if you took an
Aim maneuver on the turn prior to
your attack. If the weapon has a builtin
scope, the bonus for this appears as
a separate modifier after the weapon’s
base Acc; e.g., “7+2.”

So my question is, I have DX 10 and no skill with Beam Weapons/Rifle. I pick up a laser rifle and my Skill is 6 (DX-4 default). I aim a shot and suddenly I am skill 18 to hit you at 2 yards away. If I do the same thing with a laser PISTOL I am only skill 12 to hit you at 2 yards away.

I understand that the higher acc is to help make long shots by reducing the range penalty, but it seems that my aimed shot with a rifle and aimed shot with a pistol at 2-4 yards should not be THAT different.

Am I missing something? Does this seem to play fine for most people? Granted, this is a moot point if shooting at a live target as no one 2 yards away is going to give you a turn to aim, but figure at a non-moving target. Hmm, well then I guess we have modifiers for 0 DX and such. I don't know, maybe I am off base here. I have no frame of reference, not having played anything but fantasy with GURPS rules.

[roguebfl]

Acc is a stat only on ranged attacks, however it does not only negate range penalties, aiming helps increase your effective skill with the shot, it typical not a good idea at close range due to they can close the gap into melee in the time it takes to aim.

[Ulzgoroth]

It adds to skill.

Using laser weapons as your example may be a little deceptive since they're extraordinarily high acc. However, I don't see any reason a more accurate weapon shouldn't benefit even at short range provided that the range is longer than the weapon itself, and of course that you're not already shooting perfectly with the less accurate weapon.

[kdtipa]

Was it the case in 3e that ACC only worked to negate range penalties? I remember that from somewhere, and have been using in my 4e campaign too.

I can't decide which way I like it better.

[Anthony]

No, it added to skill in 3e as well. It's not a particularly weird house rule, though.

[vierasmarius]

IIRC, in 3e the max Aim bonus was limited to the character's skill. So someone with a default of 6 would get a max of +6 from Acc. That might have been just an optional rule, and either way it didn't make it into 4e. Also, Acc was much higher in 3e (about double for most guns) so it was really needed to tamp down on raw recruits making incredible sniper shots just by using a scoped laser.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Anthony

No, it added to skill in 3e as well. It's not a particularly weird house rule, though.

Yeah. Unless you're firing an extremely accurate weapon and close ranges, in most cases, even with that house rule, you won't see much of a difference. Range tends to eat up a lot of skill.

[jacobmuller]

without prejudice or intent to offend: Acc adds to the Effective skill, not to your actual Skill.
I know, it's pedantic, but it might matter?

[ericthered]

I would say it should also help when aiming at very small targets, in addition to ones that are far away.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

without prejudice or intent to offend: Acc adds to the Effective skill, not to your actual Skill.
I know, it's pedantic, but it might matter?

Effective skill is what you roll against - it's the sum of all bonuses and penalties. It has no special meaning in the sense of "capped at your original skill level" or something like that.