GURPS Tactical Shooting

[Philosopher Rogue]

I've been perusing, loving the quotes and can't wait to start a new less cinematic campaign to use this in or find some other way to implement the realism.

But any book that says "GURPS", "Mozambique Drill" and discusses Condition 3 as Israeli Style carry makes my top 5 favorite supplements of all time.

Well done.

[Þorkell]

I don't get why the KAC M4A1K is in the book. Didn't get it when I browsed through the manuscript a playtester showed me. The reason I don't get it? There were only about 20 made, and they're all with the 160th SOAR. So, unless your PC is part of that regiment how is he gonna get one?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

I don't get why the KAC M4A1K is in the book. Didn't get it when I browsed through the manuscript a playtester showed me. The reason I don't get it? There were only about 20 made, and they're all with the 160th SOAR. So, unless your PC is part of that regiment how is he gonna get one?

He could also be SHOT AT by that regiment... Still somewhat unlikely :)

[HANS]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

I don't get why the KAC M4A1K is in the book. Didn't get it when I browsed through the manuscript a playtester showed me. The reason I don't get it? There were only about 20 made, and they're all with the 160th SOAR. So, unless your PC is part of that regiment how is he gonna get one?

It's in there because the author wanted it to be in there, it's that simple.

More to the point, I wanted it to be in there because it shows what customisation can do, and what that means in the game -- mounting a short suppressor to deal with excessive muzzle blast, grinding off anything that might prevent emergency egress from a vehicle, etc.

Finally, while historically only 20 were made for the 160th SOAR, nobody prevents you from ordering more from KAC -- they are a reasonably small outfit to cater to individual requests of that kind. Hell, using Armoury (Small Arms) or the help of a gunsmith, you could even apply the same process to some other weapon, be it of the AR-15 type or even a completely different weapon.

Availability has absolutely nothing to do with it. You will note that you could apply that "criticism" to several other weapons in the book, frex the MC-51, the Stinger, the SOG M79 -- but they have all earned their place in there, in my eyes.

Cheers

HANS

[PK]

It's important to remember that PCs have a tendency to want to be Special Snowflakes. Most players want their character to have something unique and rare about them, and owning an extremely uncommon firearm is one of those things.

"You use a KAC M4A1K? How did you even get one?"

"I saved a young girl's life. Turned out that her father designed this gun; he built one by hand for me as a way of saying thanks."

That sort of thing is the reason why, though the focus of the book should be on commonly available weapons, you want the occasional ultra-rare firearm to be statted up.

[Wicked Lurker]

Originally Posted by HANS

It's in there because the author wanted it to be in there, it's that simple.

Having a bad day? It sounded like a reasonable question to me actually.

On a different note:
Did you have any preferred houserules/modifications to vanilla GURPS that did NOT make it into Tactical Shooting? I would be interested in hearing them, if so.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

It's important to remember that PCs have a tendency to want to be Special Snowflakes

Whenever I bring a gun-heavy supplement home, my gun-bunny buddies always start peppering me with the names of obscure firearms to see how "good" the supplement is. The only one to pass every test so far has been GURPS High-Tech.

For some people, obscure firearms are a major selling point of a book.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Wicked Lurker

Having a bad day? It sounded like a reasonable question to me actually.

That's also a perfectly reasonable answer, and doesn't sound particularly cranky here. "It seemed like a good idea at the time and nobody stopped me" is behind many decisions, when you get down to it.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Bruno

That's also a perfectly reasonable answer, and doesn't sound particularly cranky here. "It seemed like a good idea at the time and nobody stopped me" is behind many decisions, when you get down to it.

I'm not speaking for Hans here...I want that clear up front.

When someone not much involved with a project asks a question like "why did you do X?" and might imply that doing Y would have been a much more intelligent decision, or whatever, there's a natural tendency for me, as a case in point, to get my back up a bit.

If someone tries to rewrite a rule ("no, I'd do it THIS way") without seeing if the one that was proposed (and has gone through a proposal, a vetting with Kromm, an edit with TBTB) works satisfactorily in a REAL play test...it's irksome. If someone complains about content but hasn't stepped up to actually participate in the process (playtest, lead playtest, writing for SJG in Pyramid or e23)...well, it sets off some people's "armchair general" alarm.

Don't take this the wrong way, and it's not directed at anyone in particular. "Why did you choose that firearm" is a perfectly reasonable question, and Hans answered it perfectly reasonably. But there are some things that are going to show up in manuscripts that are there because first of all, the author thinks they're JUST COOL. They fit within the scope of the work, the wordcount was well spent, etc...but the decision was made to cut X rather than the COOL Y because, well, the author gets a lot of discretion on such stuff. He is dedicated dozens to hundreds, if not more, hours to the project, after all. ;-)

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Whenever I bring a gun-heavy supplement home, my gun-bunny buddies always start peppering me with the names of obscure firearms to see how "good" the supplement is. The only one to pass every test so far has been GURPS High-Tech.

For some people, obscure firearms are a major selling point of a book.

I had a very large hispanic man go "squee" when he was telling me about the LeMat and I pointed to its entry in HT.