Pistol Shotguns

[WhiteFox1618]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

It doesn't negate bonuses from rapid fire, but the bonus from Gunslinger itself does go down if you're firing at more than RoF 3. You only get the full Acc of your weapon if you're firing a one-handed weapon firing "single shots", defined as RoF 1-3. If the weapon is either two-handed, or a higher RoF, then you only get half the weapon's Acc. So a pistol shotgun could indeed be a way to get full Acc with Gunslinger, if you allow shotshells to count as "single shots". Personally, I'm a bit skeptical - I prefer to interpret Gunslinger a bit more fuzzily, and I don't think RoF 1X9 would fall into what I'd call a "single shot" anymore. But I can see the argument that, by the RAW, it's correct.

I went back to read things extra carefully to make sure our group hasn't been doin' it wrong this whole time (like that one 3.5ed advantage which shall remain unnamed):

On B58, Gunslinger says: "when firing single shots (RoF 1-3) from a one-handed weapon," etc...

B270 explanation of RoF says: “mxn (e.g., 3x9) means the weapon can fire a number of shots per attack equal to the first number (m), and that each shot releases smaller projectiles equal to the second number (n).

Noteworthy that the rules describe the xn as "projectiles" rather than "shots."

The description above the little table on B373 refers to shots per attack, though, so maybe the xn of mxn doesn't count towards the Bonus to Hit... huh, never noticed that before. :/

Our group is usually pretty hard-nosed about gunslingers not using machine guns or assault rifles to hose the enemy down, it's an unspoken rule: you just don't do it, it's not proper. Shot-shells are okay, though being a more "point and click" action, rather than spraying everything in sight, if that makes any sense.

I say "one of the few ways" to get a RoF bonus, because while Gun-Fu has perks that extend the utility of Gunslinger, (frex, Army of One allowing someone to use Tank Cannon and hip fire dual HMG's with gunslinger),* I have yet to see any way for Gunslinger to take full advantage of High-Cyclic rates of fire.

*(Considering the rather stiff ST requirements for this, it's rarely been a problem in our games... apart from one particular bioroid cyborg battlesuit trooper who we don't talk about anymore). X3

The Gun-Fu perks are pretty OP in many cases, but they're a great way to let players distinguish their Gunslingers from each other... if one has Army-of-One and another has akimbo, they aren't gonna be stepping on each others toes so much)...

I think some of the most fun I've had in GURPS was with a half elf gunslinger with a pair of Gauss Shotgun Pistols, Dial a Yield, Akimbo, Bank Shot, and the full selection of warheads in UT (one particular crowning moment of awesome comes to mind wherein an evesdropping Robobug was spotted, and I managed to peg it with a Gauss SG Pistol loaded with a smallshot shell... I forget what the RoF was, but I think I got +5 for it, which made the difference on the to-hit roll).

At any rate, that's just my 2c... it's late, I'm rambling. I've played too many shot-gunnists, sorry. X3