Is there a reason why there is no table for submachine guns in GURPS Lite 4e?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by copeab

4e Lite is a bit less generic than 3e Lite. 4e Lite doesn't have any magic rules (although one could argue the 3eL rules are so minimal they aren't of much use)

Yeah, I'm not sure what you could really do about that. I suppose you could include the rules for Wildcards and the Magic! skill, or something equally broad.

and 4eL devotes space to the World Jumper advantage which is of extremely limited value outside of, oh, an Infinite Worlds campaign).

Yeah, I really don't understand what Jumper is doing in there. It's hardly useful in most games. If I was to re-compile Lite, I'd try to focus it on being able to handle rules light games in a few less crunchy genres (Low Fantasy, Tea Cozies, Science Mystery).

Originally Posted by Frosty

Then what game am I supposed to run with it?

Seriously? How many genres absolutely need SMGs? WWII or early Cold War Spec Ops? Don't run uber-detailed gun-bunny games with GURPS Lite. You can still run lots and lots of games, basically anything that doesn't require modern milspec hardware or supernatural powers. Historical Low Fantasy, Police Procedurals, Tea Cozies, Wilderness Survival, most Horror, most (non-mil, not Space Opera) SF.

So why is it still there?

No idea, I guess they didn't consider it errata. You can always fudge something. It's no worse than a lot of rules light free systems in that.

I couldn't agree more, sir_pudding.

Then what's the issue exactly? If it didn't have sufficient detail in the traits, then it wouldn't be as useful to a player in a "full" GURPS game, would it?

If it is possible to see GURPS Lite in action without the (missing) rules and mechanics of how to mediate and determine the consequences of situations, then please do explain how.

Don't run early 20th gun-bunny games. You should try to emulate some Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, John London, John Grisham, Issac Asimov, or like 90% of the fiction ever written, that doesn't feature SMGs.

Except that you have to resort to third-party content and fan sources to make parts of the game work.

No you don't. You need to buy the full product if you want to use all of its features. This isn't any different from demonstration versions of most things in the world.

But information on how to deal with situations concerning certain content is missing and, to me, that makes them junk.

I thought you agreed that that content is useful to GURPS player that doesn't own the Basic Set.

I don't like fudging numbers, especially considering that I have a limited understanding of GURPS (and much less of what goes on behind the curtain). I resort to third-party sources and fan projects, and find the most common denominators.

If you are going to run a demonstration game, don't try to break the system. To go back to your car analogy, you wouldn't try to test drive a car on the beach, in the rain, at 180mph, would you? Don't try to run Uber-Psionic-Gun-Bunnies-with-Magic-and-Kung Fu with GURPS Lite. It's a demo, run something simple, that covers the basic mechanics of the system (character creation, skill rolls and damage).

What irritates me is that they didn't take out the content that had no resources to back it up.

Again, if they did it would be less useful to somebody who is playing in a game that uses the full rules.

How am I supposed to tell a player that they shouldn't take the Missile Weapon (Submachine Gun) skill because the game doesn't provide weapon stats for a submachine gun?

"Why would a Caveman/Edwardian Schoolmarm/Hard-boiled Detective/Xeno-Biologist need a submachine gun, Larry?"