House ruling firearm skills?

ed_209a · 06-12-2009, 11:34 AM

I am considering a house rule defining the Guns skill by how you shoot, not what you shoot. This will involve folding all handguns and all longarms into Guns(Pistol) and Guns(Rifle).

It seems to me that the real skill in using a firearm is in aligning the weapon with target, and then triggering the weapon without pulling the weapon off target. That is what you spend hundreds of hours honing. That shouldn't change whether you are firing a .38 revolver or a blaster.

Really, I believe a pioneer with a TL5 flintlock rifle could pick up a TL8 assault carbine, and be up to speed in a few hours of training. Having fired a modern reproduction of a TL6 rifle, I can assure you it goes the other way. You just need to learn the quirks of the weapon. This is exactly the concept of Familiarity, rather than separate skills.

As a related house rule, I am considering putting the diversity back into the Guns skill family, but only at high level. Up to a reasonably expert level (14- maybe?) Guns(Rifle) or Guns(Pistol) covers everything. After that point, further training is so specific that it only applies to a limited scope of weaponry. Then at an even higher level of skill (18- maybe?) it becomes even more specific, to a single model of weapon.

For an example, a hypothetical Olympic rifleman might have Guns(rifle)-14, then Guns(Marksman)-18, then Guns(Anschütz Super Match 2013)-20.

Note that the additional entries on the char sheet are not a separate skills. You only pay for the difference from the previous tier.

So, what do you think of these? Any pitfalls you see?

06-12-2009, 11:34 AM	#1
ed_209a Join Date: Sep 2004	House ruling firearm skills? I am considering a house rule defining the Guns skill by how you shoot, not what you shoot. This will involve folding all handguns and all longarms into Guns(Pistol) and Guns(Rifle). It seems to me that the real skill in using a firearm is in aligning the weapon with target, and then triggering the weapon without pulling the weapon off target. That is what you spend hundreds of hours honing. That shouldn't change whether you are firing a .38 revolver or a blaster. Really, I believe a pioneer with a TL5 flintlock rifle could pick up a TL8 assault carbine, and be up to speed in a few hours of training. Having fired a modern reproduction of a TL6 rifle, I can assure you it goes the other way. You just need to learn the quirks of the weapon. This is exactly the concept of Familiarity, rather than separate skills. As a related house rule, I am considering putting the diversity back into the Guns skill family, but only at high level. Up to a reasonably expert level (14- maybe?) Guns(Rifle) or Guns(Pistol) covers everything. After that point, further training is so specific that it only applies to a limited scope of weaponry. Then at an even higher level of skill (18- maybe?) it becomes even more specific, to a single model of weapon. For an example, a hypothetical Olympic rifleman might have Guns(rifle)-14, then Guns(Marksman)-18, then Guns(Anschütz Super Match 2013)-20. Note that the additional entries on the char sheet are not a separate skills. You only pay for the difference from the previous tier. So, what do you think of these? Any pitfalls you see? __________________ “Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"