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Originally Posted by Turloigh

So, suppose a 9mm ends up at 1D8, where does that put a .22, .32, .45, or a magnum? And, are there other opinions from the experts?

Well, BRP Zero Edition didn't classify guns by caliber but went with "light pistol" "medium pistol" and "heavy pistol" instead. Of course some of us are working on doing it by gun and caliber. Not that everyone agrees on where to set the damages.

It get complicated because each of the different options for handling injuries (general hit points, major wounds, hit locations) are different in severity. So a 7 point injury with general hit points is shrugged off, while it would be a major wound with that option, or disable a location with hit locations.

One way to adress this would be to use some sort of universal damage class chart, like 1D4/1D6/1D8/1D10 etc and then shift the damages up or down a die type based upon which options you are using. So if Major wounds are the norm, then playing with general HP would shift the damage die up, and going with hit locations would shift the damage down.

Or not, as desired. This idea would let each GM tailor the firearm (and other) damages to his personal tastes. Likewise, a similar scaling system could be done with armor to keep it's protection consistent in relation to the weapon damage.

So, for instance, if a 9mm Pistol was DC5 (1D10) and a Vest stopped 8 points, and we shifted the damage down to DC4 (1D8), the vest could scale down to 6 or 7 points.

Originally Posted by Turloigh

Also, how many shots should each be able to fire per round?

(That's why I don't mind guns doing less damage: If that "wimpy" .32 pistol can fire three times per round, that makes a world of a difference. Last time we played CoC, my character dispatched three cultists in the first two rounds of combat).

Well BRP Zero had light pistols firing 3 times per round, medium twice, and heavy once. Again, not everyone is pleased with this, and you example is the reason why. It tends to make light guns better than heavy ones in the game.

Based on real world info, it isn't quite correct either. While lighter guns can usually be fired faster, they are not 3 times faster. Plus many light guns, being small, tend to take a bit longer to reload.

Originally Posted by Turloigh

Oh yes, and while we're at it: what do you think is the best way to handle shotguns vs armour?

I've got a few ideas here.


1)Technically a shotgun blast is a bunch of small pellets. A buckshot round isn't much differerntthat a burst of of a dozen .32 cailber bullets.

So treating it as a burst attack at 1D6 damage each isn't too far off the mark. Just half the bust size at each doubling of range. So A bust of shot at long range is less likely to hit with a lot of pellets.

This could be used to fire a "burst" at adjacent targets, too.

2) Similar to option 1 but just use the normal damage and treat each damage die individually. In general, s shotgun blast is the idea attack for a ballistic vest-at least at range.

Nott hat I'd want to get shot, but if I were wearing a vest I would almost always take a shotgun blast than a bullet from a 7.62. I'd almost certainly live through the shotgun hit to regret it. I'd be bruised, have a couple of cracked ribs, and probably not want to do much except lie there and groan, but I'd be better off that having a bullet go through the armor, into me, and play pinball through my ribcage.

In you are up close, though the shot hasn't spread much and could just be treated as a slug.