Stephane

A RL .22 round is about 3.5 g, including 2.6 g of bullet. Assuming a 3 g shot (thanks to plasticase) and .2 gram link this put the 1 500 round belt at 4.8 kg.

As for volume, a .22 round is roughly 6 mm diameter and 20 mm long, roughly 0.5 cubic centimeter. Assuming close packing (stacking cylinders wase some space), this means at least 1 liter volume just to pack the ammo.

Most optical systems work by focusing the incoming light onto a sensitive area where a image is formed and detected, be it a camera (lenses + CCD/CMOS/whatever) or human eyes.

A laser dazzle by emitting an intense light that is focused by the optical part on the "detector", putting a lot of energy onto a really small area. A small overload will translate into a "white out", briefly saturating the sensor, larger overload may produce permanent damage, no matter what's the detector (biological or not !).

I think an electronic sensor is likely to recover faster from overexposuser than a human retina, and it can probably tolerate more ligthing, but you can fry it as well. But it's easier to replace 8).

Sure, the crew of a vehicle vith camears and internal "TV" screens would be unharmed by such an attack, but the vehicule will be "blind" in the optical spectrum (including thermal imaging), which is likely to reduce it's combat effectiveness 8).

...for close range assissantion only ! This is definitely not an ideal combat round 8)

This exist in Shadowrun, but I've never heard about the equivalent for Cyberpunk. Sorry I can't help you more

This sounds too fast. A good sprinter on a stadium track, carrying nothing, in straight line and nobody to slow him done covers around 300 meter in the average response time...

1d6 minutes sounds more plausible, unless they put a really huge amount of money into a network of cameras, several mainframe for image interpretation and automated police dispatch to have a patrol in the vinicity of each and every possible crime (and this requires a lot of staff too for 24/24 cover, with "off" times and a bit of adminstrative tasks you may have at best 1/4 of the staff on "active" duty, and reallistic figures are probably even lower).

With a 9mm real-life HK maybe, but I strongly doubt a (fictionnal) .44 Magnum/12 mm Caseless SMG allow similar full-auto control - even if fitted with compensators.

Yes, I should have written that. MA damage bonus is applied only to melee use of the gun (base damage 1d6 to 1d6+2 for a heavyweight handcanon).

I suggest treating them like full-borgs, cyberform and other "mechanical" autonomous mobile systems.

REF, BOD, INT and MA (to figure out how smart they may be tactically-wise), SP and SDC for each body area, no need to save against Stun or Death. 2/3 SDC lost and the area is disabled, 1xSDC and it is "destroyed", amputated or blown into bits, exact effects varies with location.

What I give was a custom set of rules, I can't remember what the "official" version was (I think it's in Pacific Rim and I don't have this book).

Those rules were deliberately altered to turn the thing into something relatively powerful but not devastating, and difficult to find and learn because we didn't want to see it on each and every player's sheet ("wow, a single x2 skill making me a god with a gun and in hand-to-hand !!! I want it *now* !").

You may want to extend the use of the skill to short-ranged shots, but be warned that with handguns this means 12 m - more than enough for most firefights - a rule-lawyer style may even argue his two SMG allow him to gun-fu up to 50 meters away - and full-auto...

If you like games fulls of guys jumping all around the place with both guns blazing it's not a problem, but if it is that easy to find a teacher bad guys should have it often too, and this can be deadly for PCs.

To Rockwolf66 :

The "ambidextrous shot" penalty is -3, and your rule negates 4 points ? I suppose it is -3/-3, -2/-3, -2/-2, -1/-2 and finally -1/-1 at level 9+ ?

Gun-fu - the munchkin's best friend...

Rules were given in a book, but I can't remember which one. So here is the adaptation I use (really sparingly, you'll see why).

This skill is based on the use of the handgun as an extension of the body, and it's main tactic is rushing to the target, shove your gun in his stomach and empty the clip...

Key attacks :

Weapon +0, Block +2, Dodge +3, Escape +2, Sweep +3, Grapple +3

IP cost : x3

Weapon : allow you to use your "gun-fu" skill to use a handgun as a melee weapon (without damaging it). By "Handgun" I mean exactly this (and possibly not too big SMG), you can't gun-fu with an assault rifle ! So definitively forget anything with a concealment higher than J. You can also use your gun-fu skill for shooting the weapon, but only at point-blank range. Beyond that, use "hangun" skill.

For such shots (and only for them) the multiple actions penalty is reduced by 1/4 of the skill (&-3 = no effect, 4-8 = -2 instead of -3, 9+ = -1 instead of -3).

The trick is this "martial art" is a Triad thing, and a rare one ! so finding a master to teach you mean you need hardened criminals agreement, and then you owe them big... Failure to repay your debt (and it can take a lifetime) is likely to be deadly, not only for you, but for anyone you ever cared for.

You probably can't access the extra memory at full speed (the Wiseman net interface goes slower and slower as you put more memory inline), meaning you can load large pices of software or big chunks of data (say 80 units), but need at least one Net-action to swap contents between the cybermodem's "integrated" memory and "external" memory. This way you can take a complete software library, but need a bit of time to configure your tool adequately for the system you're in (but much less than logging out, swapping program cartridges and jacking in again...)

But you may do things like carry a powerful "transportable" computer for multitasking, or a bunch of low-end cybermodems loaded with "Igor" or "Thugs" semi-autonomous programs to act as decoys or net-assistants without slowing you down.

The cigarette-pack size is for the "internal" models, designed for integration into a cyberlimb. Looking into the few illustrations in the rule book or Chrome books (mostly III and IV), I think the average "stationnary" deck is roughly the size of one to four VHS tapes stacked together, smaller models being generally the less powerful or the most expensive - you can have it cheap, powerful or small - choose any two 8...

If things are going to continue in this direction (international policy/legitimity), I suggest we open a new thread in a more appropriate area of the forum.

Probably not much more, the extra room in "larger" models is used for goodies like extra set of plugs, videoboard, chip encoder... Lower integration may save you a bit of money in building and make repairs easier (and cheaper).

You can probably put some kind of "storage memory" allowing you to transfert datas from your target without clogging your deck's main memory. I'd add a built-in computer with CompuMods (for those little helps like Techscanner, electronic security breaking...) for data analysis on the spot, extra power packs and maybe a second deck in case you seriously fumble the job 8)

Rather a proximity sensor - with a few inches range - not very useful, when it's this close it's often too late 8)

Also you probably need a lot of training to interpret this new sensory input.

If you really want quasi-surnatural awareness of your surrounding go for an internal, full-coverage millimetric radar with some kind of visual splice.

The initial purpose of slugs was hunting robust animals like boars that a pellet load will make mad but won't stop (unless into really uncomfortably short range, even with 00 load) The mass and size of the projectile translating into massive damage and huge stopping power.

Just keep in mind that as the PCs increase in ability and hardware they can go for tougher nuts to break, so you can expect the level of armor/weaponry of the opposition to rise accordingly.

Sure, they could go for easy picks with "overkill" stuff, but a bunch of nutcases outfitted for 'borg hunting assaulting a seedy dive for pocket change are likely to attract some attention...

I think it's a mixture of both. Physical sensations and motor neural responses are used for control and quick assessment of status, but you also have visuals popping up for more detailed, technical infos, like overlapping a grid on a rough ground or icons hovering over an area or vehicule (like "threat", "locked" or "refill point here"), or "windows" for zoom, detaliled status repor, navigation maps...

I may be wrong, but from "Hardwired" (the novel, I don't have the CP book) it sounds this way. Cowboy has visual readouts, but also "became" his panzer, feeling the rush of alcohol in his heart and the like.

Normal sensory inputs from the body are overlapped and you need something really intense (like the heat of a burning cockpit) to go through.

It *can* do this if you choose so.

Since it's artificial, polymer fibers implanted in the skin to replace hairs, you can make them in a wide range of look and feel, from natural looking but easier to keep looking good to damn weird.

Glowing pink and green feathers, optical fibers (like those lamps with a light in the base and a bunch of fibers with a bright dot at the end of the fiber, where the light escape), rubber tubbings, porcupine quills, color change... you name it, they can probably make and implant it for a price.

AFAIK there are no "official" stats for this weapon.

I think you can use something along those lines :

Acc : +1 Conceal J magazine 20, rof 2, maybe 3 (light recoil make accurate multiple shots easier), range 50 m

For damage I personnaly use 2d6+1 with 2/3 soft armor and full damage behind (this light , high-velocity round punch well through Kevlar but has a hard time defeating rigid stuff, and tumble "nicely" inside the target for fast energy transfer), you may want to adapt this.

Quote (psychophipps @ Sep. 22 2002,22:21)

That 1800 rpm rate is insane!  You have your boys ripping off entire magazines in 1 second because they swapped from safety to the wrong setting in the heat of the moment and you'll be resupplying them every 30 seconds, fer chrissakes.

I gave a quick look at the article. Isn't this high RoF used only for the girst two rounds of the burst, with the weapon returning to a more normal 600 rpm in case of a long trigger pressure ?

Well, a switch. What kind exactly is more a matter of taste and budget, as anything able to provide a on/off info will work.

And for multi-settings devices you can use a simple switch with sequential control (*clik* color 1 *clik* color 2 *clik* color 3 ... *clik* off *clik* color 1...).

Here is a small list of trigger systems lifted from a site I forgot (sorry I can't credit properly the author, it was a fine work).

Basic subdermal swith

A small, flat semi-rigid unit embedded under the skin, you press it to switch on/off. It can be detected by touch, but can be placed nearly anywhere on the body for more discretion as long as you have minimal support from muscles or bones (like under the scalp or in the roof of the mouth - you press with your tongue).

"Mouse" subdermal swith

Nearly the same as above, but you need to approch a specific "mouse" chip (generally implanted at the end of a finger) to actuate the switch. This way only you can operate the switch. And with positions like into the mouth it reduce the chances of accidental activation.

Neuromuscular trigger

The kind of stuff used for wolfers or other implanted blades, a specific sequence (like clenching the fist or taking a deep breath and exhaling forcefully) trigger the device it's connected to

Neural command

The most suble (but also most expensive) system, it's the "real" mind switch.

Technical note

It's UV fluorescent green light here, meaning there is a protein in the hair which catch UVs and release the energy in the green band of the visible spectrum. So the light probably won't produce more than a slight green hue to the hair unless you're in a low-light, high UV place like near a "black light" in a club.

One reason is cost, another is bandwidth

Some components like the video board can be chosen from a wide range of model (and prices), but need to exchange datas at a really fast rate not available whthout a "direct" connexion - read insertion in a slot.

Others like hard disks or cd-roms need a casing, more expensive connections and possibly an external power supply to work separately (just look at the cost of a "naked" system and the cost of the same in a stand-alone package - 50 to 100% increase !). If you put them in the box it's cheaper, you put simple flat ribbon cable and cheap connexions instead of shielded pairs and connectors / high bandwith remote link / whatever fancy stuff needed to reliably interconnect stuff up to several meters away and allow good transfert rate.

If you want glowing hairs for hitting the club scene and still do covert work, go for a wig or TechHair you can switch off ! Same for glowing tatoos, have them with a switch or stick to removable fluo bodypaint.