GunSmithing

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Basic Principles

There are two basic ways to go about gunsmithing. You can try to make up the plans to a whole new gun, or you can take a gun and tweak it to your particular needs. The first is called Design and the second is called Customizing.

Design

Designing a gun takes time, patience, and money. While it's true that a man could just sit in a dark room and sketch up some blueprints, it's not ideal. To this end, the more points in Research Resources that you have allotted, the easier it will be to finish the project. Note: Research points must be allotted PER the three categoreis. That is, a point put into range can't be used for ammo.

Once you have a plan, there's no gaurentee that it can be built. Building guns yourself is an option, if you have the proper tools available. More likely, you'll end up submitting the finished idea to Herculean Arms or some other corp and hoping they like it as much as you do.

Condition: Example	Effect on time/Difficulty
Mk. 1	-1 difficulty, base time
Mk. 2	+0 difficulty, base time
Mk. 3	+0 difficulty, +25% time
Mk. 4	+1 difficulty, +25% time
Mk. 5	+2 difficulty, +50% time
Mk. 6+: Cannons, Turrets, Etc.	+2 difficulty, +50% time and 25% more per step above 5.
Pistol	+0 difficulty, base time
SMG	+1 difficulty, base time
Shotgun	-1 difficulty, +50% time
Rifle	+1 difficulty, +25% time
Laser	+3 difficulty, double time
Explosive Launcher: Bazooka	+1 difficulty, -25% time
Uses two bullets per 'shot'	-25 % time
Uses four bullets per 'shot'	-1 difficulty, -25% time
Uses ten bullets per 'shot'	-1 difficulty, half time
Automatic (When normally not): Assault Rifle	+1 difficulty, +50% time. Consumes three times the normal of bullets in burst and gets +10 to damage modifier and to-hit and +5 stopping power.

Once you have the base difficulty and time, you must decide on the three main factors of the gun: Ammo Capacity, Range, Stopping Power

Stopping Power

Stopping power denotes how easily a weapon can punch through any given armor to inflict criticals on the target. If the stopping power is under the defensive power of the armor, no criticals are scored. If it's less than half of the defensive power, the entire attack is for nothing.

Note: If the critical states the attack lands on an unprotected area, the defensive power doesn't mean a dang thing. A shot to the eye is not stopped by a metal plate on your chest.

Base Stopping Power

Type of Weapon	Mark 1	Mark 2	Mark 3	Mark 4	Mark 5
Pistol	15	18	20	20	25
SMG: Single/Automatic	15/18	18/20	20/25	20/25	25/30
Shotgun	10	15	20	25	30
Rifle	20	25	30	35	35
Laser	10	20	35	40	50
Explosive Launcher	Depends on Ammo	Depends on Ammo	Depends on Ammo	Depends on Ammo	Depends on Ammo

Find the base stopping power of your gun. The first series of rolls you will make will be the average of Crafts/(type of gun) and Crafts/Stopping Power with a domain (stat) of Intelligence. The difficulty is 7+additional stopping power. You want 10 succs, and you roll once per OOC day modified by all the time modifiers. Every 2 points in research reduces the difficulty by 1.

Range

Like stopping power, all weapon types have a default range at which they can be used without penalty. Making a weapon that shoots further without deviation takes better planning, and is thusly, more difficult.

Type of Weapon	Range
Pistol	10 yards / 3 point blank, X 2 long range
SMG	10 yards / 4 point blank, X 2 long range
Rifle	40 yards / 10 point blank, X 2 long range
Shotgun	10 yards / 3 point blank, X 5 long range
Laser	20 yards per Mk, X 1.5 long range, / 10 point blank
Explosive Launcher	100 yards, X 2 long range, no point blank

Decide how much range you want. Like stopping power, average Crafts/(type of gun) with Crafts/Range with a domain of Intelligence. The difficulty is 7+(1 per 5% increase). Every 3 points of research drops the difficulty by 1. 10 succs are desired.

Ammo Capacity

You've read the last two, yes? It's the same deal, only now we're talking about how many bullets of whatever type the weapon can hold before needing a recharge.

Type of Weapon	Ammo Capacity
Pistol	10
SMG	30
Rifle	5
Shotgun	2
Laser	5
Explosive Launcher	1

Also like the others, Crafts/Ammo and Crafts/(type of gun) averaged with the domain of Intelligence. The difficulty is 7+(1 per 10% increase in bullets) and you want 10 succs. Every two research points will reduce the difficulty of this roll by 1.

Once you have gained 10 succs in all three items, you have your blueprints! Like coding, if at any time you botch, you lose half your built up succs for that category.

Customization -

Customizing a gun means taking an already manufactured gun and tweaking it to fit your needs. Guns can only be customized so much before you end up breaking them. Skilled gunsmiths can do more before the breaking point. There's always an element of risk, any time could be that time.

Any particular gun has 10 customization points to start with. As you tweak it, it loses one or more of these points. A gun that runs out breaks and has to be replaced. There are many sorts of customizations that can be done. Pick one from those below and get to work. All customizations take a day OOCly of work unless noted otherwise.

Semi-Automatic/Automatic Options -

Making your weapons spit out more bullets at a time is fun! Roll the average of Crafts/(Type of gun) and Crafts/Customization with a domain of intelligence vs 12. Every success under 6 is an additional customization point spent above the 1 minimum. If successeful, the gun can be fired in auto or semi-auto (You have to pick BEFORE you customize which you're adding). In semi-auto, it uses twice the ammo for +5 to the to-hit and damage rolls. In full auto it uses three times the ammo for +10 to-hit and damage rolls.

Belt Fed -

Just can't get enough ammo in there at once eh? Why not attach a belt? You can quintuple the ammo capacity of any bullet or shell fed gun by attaching a belt. Make a check of the average of Crafts/(type of gun) and Crafts/Ammo with a domain of Intelligence vs 10. Every success under 5 is an additional customization point spent above the minimal two.

Smartgun Link -

An essential for the serious warrior. Combined with a smartgun jack in the user, the smartgun link allows the user to shoot faster and get the edge over the opposition. It also opens the doorway to other gun modifications. Requires a roll of Intelligence:Science/Electronics vs 10 and Intelligence:Crafts/(type of gun) vs 10. In either roll, every succ under 6 is 1 extra customization point spent over the minimal one.

Targeting Computer - Requires Smartgun Link

Why settle for just speed? Not compatible with firearms skillsofts, this small chip is designed to slot right into the smartgun hardware and interace with the smartgun jack, improving hand-eye co-ordination. This device gives the user a +5 to-hit. If the user has both nu-eyes and a brain-com, the bonus increases to +10 AND -1 difficulty to fire. To install requires a simple Intelligence:Computer/Repair check. Every succ under 5 is an extra customization point spent over 1.

Ammo Readout - Requires Smartgun Link

Another little chip to install in the smartgun system. It requires the user has nu-ears, nu-eyes, a bio-monitor rating 2, or a brain-com. Attached to one of these systems or something similar, it displays how many bullets are chambered and are left to be shot before reloading is required. Handy. To install requires a simple Intelligence:Computer/Repair check. Every succ under 5 is an extra customization point spent over 1.

Laser Sight - Not compatible with Smartgun

A laser sight. It's really simple. So long as it's turned on and the little red dot is visible, +5 to-hit and damage. Installing is a snap at Intelligence:Crafts/(type gun). Every succ under 5 is an extra customization point spent over 1.

Ammo Efficiency -

It's not always about how many bullets you fire, but how efficiently they go to use. This modification helps to ease the pain of ammo-hogging guns. Unlike other jobs, this customization could be done more than once. Each time it reduces the amount of bullets spent per 'shot' by one, to a minimum of one. Installing requires a roll of the average of Crafts/(type of gun) and Crafts/Ammo with a domain of intelligence vs 12. Every success under 6 is a customization point spent over the minimum of 2.

Increased Caliber -

Nothing says you're serious like a bigger bullet. If successful, it increases the Mk. of all attacks with the gun by 1. If the mark is raised to 5 or higher, the ammo consumption rate per 'shot' is raised by 1 to simulate the larger bullets required. Installation requires an Intelligence:Crafts/(type of gun) vs 7. Every success under 10 is another customization point spent above the minimum 2. Increased caliber does cause some draw backs. -20% stopping power and -20% range.

Increased Stopping Power -

Put more gunpowder in, and the bullet goes harder. It's a simple principle. Of course, you stand a good chance of having the gun blow up in your face, but it's a small price to pay! for +10% stopping power, make an intelligence:Crafts/(type of gun) vs 7, with every succ under 10 being another customization point spent over the minimum 1. Any gun with increased stopping power will explode on a botched firing attempt.

Quick-Reload -

Your gun has been modified to be extremely easy to reload. If it normally took the whole round, it will only require your defensive actions. If it normally takes your defensive action, it'll just be -5 to hit to reload. Installation requires a roll of the average of Crafts/Ammo and Crafts/(type of gun) with a domain of intelligence vs 10 . Every success under 6 is an extra customization slot spent over the minimal 1.

Mine! -

A simply named security device trained to the handprint of the user. If someone other than the user grips the gun and attempts to fire it, it explodes, dealing Mk. 3 shrapnel damage at +20 to them with stopping power 25. The gun is quite destroyed. Installing requires an Intelligence:Crafts/(type of gun) with every succ under 8 being one extra customization slot spent over the minimal 1.

Lock -

Basic security. Like 'Mine!', it looks for the hand and fingerprints of the user. However, instead of exploding, it just doesn't fire. Installation is easier at Intelligence:Crafts/(type of gun) with every succ under 5 being one extra customization slot spent over the minimal 1.

Power Transformer - Lasers Only

For laser guns and rifles, this accessory allows you to plug in your toy into any power source that has a plug. A wall, your car, whatever. Watch out for dead batteries and horrifying electric bills though. Requires Intelligence:Science/Electronics vs 10 with every succ under 5 being an additional customization point lost past the minimal 2.