Hacker Chronicles 2/HACKER2.BIN/1126.AMMO.TXT

Text File | 1993-10-24 | 31KB | 510 lines

                              Ammunition
           An Extended Discussion of Ammunition in Shadowrun

     Nothing is more important to the range and power a firearm has than
the ammunition load.  Match a light round to a powerful gun and you have
a weapon with longer range but lower power.  Match a heavy round to a
weak gun and you'll have a weapon that has good power close, but rapidly
degrades and is useless over longer distances.  Put a heavy round with
a powerful gun, and power and range are respectable.
     In short, what you load is atleast as important as what you load it
in.  It's worthless to have the most powerful handgun in the world if
you're loading the weakest ammunition in the world.  This is an extended
look at all the published ammunition types in Shadowrun, as well as
introduction of new types.  Some of these are commercial "mixes" of
ammunition, available in the same manner as other ammunition types.
Others are military specificiation ammunition, like APDS, and will have
to be obtained through less official means.

**Regular:
     Standard round.  Caseless in all forms.  Generally is lead, a lead
like substance or some other material that has similar properties;
namely being mass in a small form (dense).  If you wanted to get
*really* technical, you would have to say that there should be a
different weight for each "class" of rounds, and possibly multiple
ammunition types in each "class".
     However, the first reason you wouldn't want to do this would be
simplicity.  It's simpler to just have the uniform guidelines.  A case
can also be made for the sizes of the ammunition.  Weapons that fire at
automatic speeds such as Assualt Rifles and MG class weapons generally
load lighter rounds than do weapons that rely on lower numbers of rounds
to inflict their damage, such as Heavy Pistols.
     But for those of you who would like to have that greater "realism"
and precision, this is an attempt to change the "regular" class into
something a bit more specific.

                         Damage   Weight per     Calibre
        -Class-           Code     10 rounds
Holdout                    4L        .3 kg      .22 short
Light Pistol               6L       .35 kg      .22 long
Heavy Pistol (base)        9M        .5 kg    9mm standard
Submachine Gun             6M       .45 kg         9mm
Submachine Gun             7M        .6 kg    .45 (11.43mm)
Assualt Rifle              8M        .4 kg     .3 (7.62mm)
Shotgun
     00 Gauge, Scatter   10D(f)     .65 kg          -
     00 Gauge, Solid       10S      .65 kg          -
     10 Gauge, Scatter    9D(f)      .6 kg          -
     10 Gauge, Solid       9S        .6 kg          -
     12 Gauge, Scatter    8D(f)     .55 kg          -
     12 Gauge, Solid       8S       .55 kg          -
Sport                      7S       .43 kg     .308 short
Sport                      9S       .45 kg      .308 long
Sniper                     14S      .55 kg    .4 (10.16mm)
Light Machine Gun          7S       .65 kg     .3 (7.62mm)
Medium Machine Gun         9S        .8 kg     .5 (12.7mm)
Heavy Machine Gun          10S       .8 kg    .6 (15.24mm)
Assualt Cannon             18D      1.25 kg       40mm

     Ok, now some explaination.  Through the heavy pistols, things are
fairly uniform.  SMGs have lower base damage codes (while still having
equal or larger calibers) as Heavy Pistols because their muzzle
velocities are lower.  Shotguns through Snipers should be uniform as
well.  The MGs are fairly simple, base LMGs firing at fairly high
velocities.  MMGs fire a larger round a bit slower, and HMGs have a
slightly larger round than MMGs.
     Hopefully, this makes sense and doesn't confused anyone.  All I can
say is that I'm still not terribly happy with the results I've come up
with above, but I can't think of anything better.  Part of the problem
is a small notation in "Never Deal with a Dragon" (Robert Charrette)
that establishes the Ruger Super Warhawk as an 11mm (about .45) calibre
weapon.  You can make of things what you will.

**Explosive
     Not something that gets a lot of use by shadowrunners, but when you
do end up in a situtation where you can get away with loading these,
they're fun.  Not so much for the power increase, which is only minor,
as for the knockback and flamable effect they have.
     The +1 power level is minor, but is certainly nothing to sneer at.
But the explosions are very adept at chewing through objects, and for
knocking even the largest target flat.  I don't know how other GMs might
handle this, but for knockback purposes I count each round that impacts
the target as an +1 to the power level.  It only makes sense to me, and
makes it realistic to get slammed across the room after getting a six
round burst of SMG explosive sparkled across the front of your armor.
     For all classes of explosive rounds, increase the weight by .25 kg.

**Flechette
     These are often overlooked by people who number crunch the straight
stats and decide they're not worth anything.  Flechette rounds are
positively lethal if used properly.  Against armored targets they loose
their increases and the target resists with double his highest armor
rating, ballistic or impact.  Against unarmored targets flechettes get a
Damage Class raise.
     The way to use flechettes is to aim specifically at the target;
don't load them with the intent of walking your fire or placing shots on
the targets' chests.  Load flechettes and aim for heads, faces, arms,
feet; anything unarmored.  Unstoppable.
     For all classes of flechette rounds, use the "regular" weights.

**Gel
     I have to admit that I've never used these, so I'm not much of an
expert on them.  I feel if you really need to take someone down without
killing them at firearms ranges, use a taser or chemical weapon; not a
firearm.  But if you like these, use the same general principles as for
flechette rounds.  Aim specifically.
     After all, think about it.  "Lethal" rounds don't transfer much of
their energy to the target, they generally punch *through* the target
and cause their damage in that fashion.  But a Gel round is basically a
less lethal version of a squash head round; it transfers nearly all of
it's energy into the target.  If you have trouble picturing that, or
picturing it as useful, just think of a punch hitting the target at
bullet speeds (mach one plus, right?).
     As a result, I use double the Gel attack's Power Level for
knockback purposes.  For all classes of Gel rounds, use half the
"regular" round weights.

**Stun
     I have used these occasionally, but that's only because I've always
been a sucker for a great shotgun.  They're exactly the same as Gels
though, just fired from shotguns instead of everything else.

**APDS
     Now we're getting into the fun stuff.  Armor Piercing Discarding
Sabot.  This is an adaptation of the type of ammunition that 90s main
battle tanks use; a standard size round that "splits" when fired.  The
outer "shell" falls away almost immedietly after firing, leaving only
the slimmer, smaller core to go down range and hit the target.  The core
is a dense material, and is going very fast, with a small impact area.
This combination of high mass and speed and small impact area give such
rounds incredible ability to penetrate.
     Shadowrun hasn't noted exactly what the composition of APDS rounds
is, but it is safe to assume some fairly advanced composites are
involved.  The Street Samurai's Catalog mentions "high-tech neo-carbide"
as materials, so I will leave it at that.  Whatever you might choose to
pick as a specific material should be fine, if you and your players need
that level of detail for some reason.
     Because very little of the projectile energy is transfered to the
target, use half the round's Power Level when determing knockback.  One
thing that was changed, apparently, in SRII from SRI was the damage that
APDS did to target armor, something that I miss.  This is an attempt to
put that back without unbalancing the firearms game; I suspect the armor
damage was taken out because the new armor rules combined with the new
damage codes had finally made firearms combat lethal enough without
also allowing the ability to strip a target's armor off too.
     When a target is hit with APDS rounds, what was done is important.
Light and Moderate wounds to the target (after resistance tests) do
nothing.  Serious wounds lower the armor rating 1/1 (-1 to both
Ballistic and Impact ratings).  Deadly wounds lower the armor rating 2/2
(-2 to both).  Further, every two addition successes above deadly damage
that the attacker scores lower the armor rating 1/1 (-1 to both).  This
last is done even if the target reduces the damage below deadly, or even
below serious.  And the armor damage won't "take effect" until *after*
the damaging attack.
     For all classes of APDS rounds, use half the listed weight.

**APDU
     Armor Piercing, Depleted Uranium.  These are hideously expensive,
outrageously illegal, and incredibly effective.  Where as APDS is some
unnamed, but fairly common (in materials circles, anyways) material;
Depleted Uranium has some very unique properties.  First off is it's
density, far greater than other materials; this gives a penetrater rod
of DU much more mass than an identically sized rod of some other
material.  And that translates out to much better penetration.
     DU also has something called an "Impact Threshold".  I'm not a
physicist, so I can't explain it in detail; but I know the results.
When DU hits something hard enough (for game purposes, I'd call "hard
enough" anything moving as fast as even a slow bullet), it ignites.
What was dense, solid metal becomes a burning mass that is impossible
to extinguish and is at very high tempatures.  So you not only have
great penetration qualities, but you have incendary damage as well.
The effect only lasts about fifteen seconds (arbitary game decision),
but that should be more than enough to ruin any target's day.
     Because DU is so dense, not all firearms can fire it.  Holdouts,
Light Pistols and Machine Pistols may not load APDU rounds.  If they do,
the weapon will explode in their hand; the weapons simply don't have the
power to move the heavy DU rounds.  Further, reduce the range (reduce
each range catagory) by twenty-five percent due to the weight; and
apply heavy weapons recoil rules for any automatic fire with APDU
rounds.
     Increase the Power Level of APDU rounds by 2.  Use the same armor
(only 1/2 available to resist with) and armor damage rules as for APDS.
Targets are affected by seventy five percent of the attack's Power Level
for knockback purposes (multiply the Power by .75, rounding down, to
determine the knockback Power).
     The incendary effect is the fun part, however.  Any Light damage
attack with APDU may be assumed to have not been in the target long
enough for the heat to affect it.  Moderate damage victims have
momentary exposure to the heat.  The target must resist 5S from this
heat (in addition to the initial damage of the round), and may be
assumed to be cauterized from the heat (not bleeding).
     Serious damage attacks are where things get deadier for the target.
Such an attack may be assumed to have, for whatever reason(s) or
factor(s) that the GM decides make sense, to have been stuck in the
target.  This means that the incendary effect will apply until it
either burns itself out or is removed from the target.  Every turn that
the target is exposed a resistance test against 10S damage.  Remember
that this is damage coming from something *inside* the target, so armor
(dermal included) will not have an effect.  Deadly damage attacks would
act the same as a Serious in incendary effects, though this is academic
at best.
     Against Vehicles, APDU is very effective; after all this is a
direct adaptation of tank killer ammunition.  Any firearm loading APDU
may damage a vehicle as if it were a heavy weapon (it does not suffer
Power Level or Damage Class reductions).  The incendary effect is still
10S damage for as long as it's stuck in the vehicle, but a Moderate or
higher wound affects.  Some intelligence will be needed on the part(s)
of the GM and players when applying this to vehicles, which are larger
and more "compartmentalized" than an organic body.
     For a Moderate wound, if the vehicle has armor, assume that the
round is stuck in the armor and is burning there.  That will damage the
armor on that area (every round of burning lowers the Armor rating by
1).  For a Serious or Deadly wound, assume the round has penetrated to
the interior of the vehicle, to either the crew compartment or the
mechanics areas, and is burning there.  Either of these may inflict
damage on the Body of the vehicle if the GM desires (burning away at the
vehicle's superstructure).
     As noted earlier, APDU is highly illegal and very expensive to
make.  APDU rounds are 40% heavier than a "regular" round of their class
would be (multiply the regular weight by 1.4 for the APDU weight).  Cost
(per ten rounds) for APDU is 300¥.  Availabilty is 17/21 days with a
Street Index of 5.5.
     If caught with APDU rounds, use half the Class J (Military Weapons)
stats for fines and jail time.  Further, they would automatically make
any deaths that were inflicted with APDU rounds Murder 1 if it could be
proved that the defendant knew he was loading such rounds.  Any
property damage done by APDU might also be charged as Arson.

**Squash-heads
     This is an intermediete step between gel/stun rounds and regular
rounds.  The nose of the round is a soft material that flattens out on
impact.  This reduces the penetration ability of the round, and acts in
a manner similar to gel/stun rounds.
     Reduce the Damage Class by one for squash-head rounds.  Increase
the Power Level for knock back purposes only by 50% (multiply the Power
Level by 1.5, rounding down).  The higher of either ballistic or impact
armor may be used.
     Squash-heads are 30¥ per 10 and weigh 10% less than a standard
round of their class.  Availability 3/36 hours, Street Index 1.1.

**Wadcutters
     A variation of squash-heads.  The round is still a flattening
round, but now it's of a slightly harder material and is cut so it
fragments.  Use the same knockback as for squash-heads, but there is no
lowering of Damage Class.
     Wadcutters are 45¥ per 10 and weigh the same as a standard round of
their class.  Availability is 4/48 hours, Street Index 1.3.

**Talons
     A variation on Wadcutters.  The head of the round is hollow and cut
so that it peels backwards on impact.  Inside the space is a second
penetrator point that allows the round some measure of penetration, but
not as much as is achieved with standard rounds.  The head peels into
four or eight seperate "panels", each razor sharp and pointed.  These
add to the damage inflicted as the round plows through the target.
     Increase the Damage Class for Talons by one against any target
armored with a ballistic rating of 3 or less.  Against targets exceeding
that level of armoring, the Damage Class remains the same.
     Further, extracting such rounds from targets is exceedingly
difficult to do; both so as to not injure the victim further and for the
attending medical person to avoid injuring himself or his instruments.
Increase the target numbers for medical treatment of the wound by +2 if
all due caution is being taken to avoid injuring the patient or care
provider further.  Not using this modifier inflicts an automatic Light
wound every five minutes of time spent working on the patient, and risks
injury to the care provider (1-2 on a d6 inflicts a Light wound on him
as well).
     Talons cost 55¥ per 10 and weight the same as a standard round of
their class.  Availability is 6/48 hours, Street Index is 1.75.

**Hollow Points
     A low tech, inexpensive way to achieve an explosive effect on
targets.  The tip of the round is hollowed out, and explodes outwards
on impact.  Against soft targets, this has a drastic effect; against
hard targets it worsens the preformance of the round.
     Any target with a ballistic rating of 3 or less is a "soft" target
for these purposes.  Increase the Damage Class by one.  "Hard" targets
(those with ballistic ratings of 4 or higher) use half the Power Level
of the attack, rounding down, when making their resistance test.
     Hollow Points are 40¥ per 10 and weight 5% less than a standard
round of their class.  Availability is 4/48 hours, Street Index is 1.5.

**Mercury Tipped.
     The next step after hollow points.  The space in the round's head
is filled with mercury.  Because mercury is a fairly dense liquid, and
toxic, this increases both the short and long term lethality of the
round to the target.
     Soft targets (see hollow points) have the Power Level increased by
2 and the Damage Class by one.  Hard targets have only the Power Level
increased, same.  For both, mercury is toxic if left in the body.  Roll
2d6 and add that number in hours to 72; the result is how long after
being shot the target will live untreated.
     Treatment to remove the mercury from the body is not difficult by
2054 standards, just extensive.  Complete blood filtering will be
preformed, as well as diagnostic tests and possible surgery to remove
concentrations of the mercury in the body.  Raise the Damage Class of
the wound by one for treatment purposes, for a Deadly wound add +3 to
the target numbers.  If the target did not suffer atleast a Light
Physical Wound from the mercury round, he is immune to the poisoning.
     Mercury rounds are 60¥ per 10 and weigh 10% more than the standard
round for their class.  Availability is 6/72 hours.  Street Index is 2.

**Timed Explosive
     The next logical step after Explosive rounds.  The problem with
standard explosive rounds is that they detonate on impact with the
target, spending most of their energy on the surface and away from the
target.  Detonation inside the target will yield far greater lethality.
     Microcircuitry is added to each round that delays the detonation
signal by just a tenth of a second.  As the speeds bullets travel, only
the heaviest armor will preclude this from being enough to allow the
round to have penetrated before it detonates.  For heavy armor, rounds
set to .15 or .2 second delays are advised, though this will lesson the
effects on lightly or unarmored targets.
     Divide the ballistic rating of the target by 3, round down.  If it
is less than 2, then the .1 delay is most effective.  If it is equal to
or more than 2, then the .2 delay is most effective.
     For .1 delay rounds; treat as a standard round for the class,
resolving the attack normally.  If a Moderate or higher wound was
received from the round, then the explosion will occur inside the
target; if only a Light, or no, damage was inflicted then the
explosion will occur on the surface of the target.  Then the target must
roll a resistance test against a 5M explosion, armor helps only if the
detonation was on the surface (if it explodes inside, only straight
body, without dermal or orthoskin bonuses).
     For .2 delay rounds; treat as a standard round for the class.
Against heavily armored targets (as determined above), a Moderate or
higher wound from the round itself inflicts the explosion on the inside
of the target.  Less than that inflicts the explosion on the exterior of
the target.  Against lightly armored targets, the explosion will occur
inside the target only on a Serious or Deadly wound.  On a Moderate it
penetrates clean through before detonation (explosion occurs harmlessly
past the target), on a Light it stopped before penetrating and
detonates on the surface.
     Timed Explosive rounds are 30¥ *EACH*, and weigh the same as an
explosive round for their class.  Availability is 8/96 hours, Street
Index is 2.5.

**Double Dense Rounds
     There are two key factors in the amount of damage that a bullet or
other projectile inflicts, it's target's positioning and armor
qualities not withstanding.  How fast it's going and how heavy it is.
Increase either of those two variables and you raise the effectiveness
of the rounds, all other things being equal.
     Double Dense rounds aren't actually Doubled in density, that's just
a catchy sounding name.  But they are heavier (denser) than the standard
round for the class, and inflict more damage as a result.  Some of the
weight increase is offset by a drop in velocity, but the net result is
still that delivered energy is higher.
     Increase the Power Level of DD rounds by 1, but lower the range by
10% in all range catagories.  Autofire with DD rounds is under Heavy
Weapons recoil rules.  Special composition rounds such as APDS, APDU,
Explosive, scattershot and so on may not be DD. Weight is 35% higher
than for standard rounds of the class (multiply the weight of a standard
round by 1.35 to determine the weight of a DD round for that class).
35¥ per 10.

**Titanium Scattershot
     For shotguns, this is a buckshot, or scattershot, round that uses
Titanium and other similarly hard materials for the fragmentation pieces
instead of lead and other similarly soft materials.  This increases the
penetration of the frag, and lightens the weight of the shell since
Titanium is so light for it's tensile strength.
     Treat as a standard buckshot shell (+1 to Damage Class), but do not
allow the target to use the flechette rules against it.  The titanium
penetrates lightly and heavily armored targets equally well, and thus
will not suffer preformance against armor.
     Titanium Scattershot is double the cost of standard scattershot
shells, and weighs 10% less.  Availability is 5/36 hours, Street Index
is 1.75.

**Toxic Rounds
     For when the target just won't go down from standard methods (shoot
him until he stops moving), Toxic laced rounds add new variables to the
mixture of who won and who lost.  A standard round has four shallow
grooves drilled out of it's sides, equidistant from each other.  These
groves are filled with a DMSO mixture of whatever toxin is desired, then
glazed over with wax to restore the shape of the round.
     The air friction created by the speeds bullets travel melts the wax
to where the toxin beneath is released; hopefully inside the target's
body.  Extreme range shots with Toxic rounds may not be attempted,
atleast, not if the toxin is wanted inside the target; the wax will
completely melt off and release the toxin before the target is struck.
Other than that, any physical wound (lacceration, skin contact) of the
round to the target exposes him to the toxin.  Generally this will mean
a Moderate or higher Wound, but occasionally a specific Light Wound
would qualify as skin contact or as having drawn blood.
     30¥ per 10, weight is +5% from the weight of the liquids.
Availability is 6/48 hours, Street Index 1.2

**Handloads
     All of the game rules for shooting and for weapons and ammunition
are for factory weapons and with factory ammunition.  Professional
shooters never use factory ammunition, they use handloads prepared by
either themselves or someone they trust to do the job right.
     A handload is a hand prepared round of ammunition.  The body of
the round, the warhead, the powder is all measured and placed by hand.
It is a far more time consuming process than preparing ammunition by
machine, but when completed each round is as perfect as human skill and
the skill of the preparer can make it.  This ensures that the rounds
haven't any imperfections of any note.
     The net result of shooting handloaded rounds is an increase in
accuracy and reliability, and a reduction in the possibility of jamming,
variations in the flight path or accidental detonation of the rounds in
the weapon.
     Handloaded rounds have a -1 for their target numbers.  Further, the
likelyhood of serious accidents with the rounds is rarer.  Any rule of
ones result with Handloads must be "verified".  Roll two dice (add the
dice together) against 12 minus the skill of the preparer; any roll equal
to or under this figure is a standard rule of ones result.  Any roll
above this figure is merely a minor rule of ones result, or a simple
miss, as the GM deems sufficient (ie, a minor rule of ones result would
be a jam, perhaps a dud round; not ammunition explosion).
     Handloads require a formula to prepare.  Formulas for all factory
rounds are available; if the materials are on hand they may be
assembled.  Without a formula, one must be prepared; Firearms Theory (6)
test with a base time of 1 week.  This represents testing, calculating
and so forth; a Firearms Shop and a shooting range (area to test weapons
without disturbance) must be on hand or add +2 to the target number for
EACH of these things that is missing (without either a shop or a range
it's a target of 10; assuming a firearms kit and the materials are still
available).
     Once a formula is on hand, a Firearms shop and materials are
required, and rounds may be prepared.  To keep it simple, assume that
the cost of 10 rounds is the cost of materials for 10 rounds.  Some
types of materials are a bit harder to obtain, such as depleted uranium
or explosives, but if they're on hand the handloading may continue.
     The target number for preparing a batch of handloads is the Power
Level of the rounds divided by 2, rounded down.  A standard Heavy Pistol
Handload's target number is 5; for a Sniper Rifle Handload it's 7.  Any
modifications to the rounds that increase the Power Level are included
in determining the target number to prepare as handloads.
     Involvement of explosives like in Explosive rounds increases the
target number by 1 and the base time by 5 minutes.  Involvement of any
microelectronics increases the target number by 1 and the base time by
5 minutes, and requires rolls for the electronics as well.  Involvement
in multi-step or multi-part rounds such as ADPS or two-stage rounds like
GyroJet ammunition increases the target number by 1 and the base time
is doubled (double it after any other modifiers are determined).
Preforming the work in a Firearms Facility lowers the target number by
2, but the base time remains the same.
     The base time to prepare a batch of 10 handloads is 25 minutes,
reduce the time as usual with successes.  Checking that the work was
preformed on the rounds correctly is a second Firearms B/R roll against
the same target number.  The GM makes the first roll, and should alter
the time accordingly to keep the player from judging by that whether or
not he succeeded (lower it even if the roll failed, to make them think
they succeeded).  The Player may make the second roll, but if that
fails he thinks he did everything correctly.
     Generally, handloads may not be purchased, even through a fixer.
But if an arrangement can be struck between an armorer and a character
to obtain handloads, the price for labor will generally start at 25¥ per
skill point per hour of work on the rounds, plus materials cost.  Markup
for profit, greed, illegality of the rounds and anything else the GM can
think of is unlimited.

**Custom Weapons
     The compliment to handloading your rounds is to assemble your
weapon yourself.  This isn't the standard breakdown and cleaning, this
is a total building of the weapon from parts.  You use the factory
specs, but you're inspecting each individual part for quality and using
only the perfect ones.  After assembling the weapon is test fired
through atleast three full clips of ammunition, then broken completely
down, cleaned and oiled, then reassembled again.
     If this is all done correctly, the weapon is as perfect as it can
be made.  All target numbers with the weapon are at -1, and rule of ones
results on tests must be verified as described in handloads.  If done
incorrectly, depending on how the GM feels, the weapon is either
unusuable until broken down and the problem(s) corrected or merely a
"standard" weapon like received from the factory (no Custom bonuses).
     This process is a Firearms B/R test with a target number depending
on the power of the weapon and it's class.  All Pistols and SMGs have a
base of 2, all Rifles have a base of 3.  Add one if it is an automatic
weapon, and add half (round up) the Power Level of the weapon (A Colt
Manhunter has a target number of 7, an Ingram Smartgun has a target
number of 7 as well, a Walther 2100 has a target number of 10).  If the
weapon incorporates a smartlink add 1 to the target number, and an
Electronics B/R test is required against half (round up) the target
number of the Firearms B/R test, to get the smartlink right.
     Base time is 10 minutes for Pistols and SMGs, 20 minutes for Rifles
(add five minutes for automatic weapons, add ten minutes for smartlinked
weapons) multiplied by (the Power Level of the weapon divided by three,
round up).  Base time for a smartlinked Manhunter is (10+10*3=60) 60
minutes, for an Ingram smartgun (10+5+10*3=75) 75 minutes, for a Walther
2100 (20*3=60) 60 minutes.  All of these are for the actual work
itself; time spent obtaining parts is additional.
     A Firearms B/R shop is required to preform this work.  Utilizing a
facility lowers the target number by 1 and the base time by 20%.  The
Base Cost is the retail cost of the Firearm in question (list price)
multiplied by 8.  Successes on the B/R test may be applied to reduce
this multiplier; one extra success may be used to reduce one multiplier
(a net of two extra successes reduces the multiplier to x6).  The
lowest the multiplier may go is x3.
     When completed, the armorer will have a enough parts on hand to
build a number of "standard" weapons equal to the multiplier used minus
one (if the cost multiplier was x7, then 6 standard weapons may be built
from the parts passed over).  These may be used or sold, accordingly.

     Final notes on these expanded items for firearms and ammunition.
Some players and GMs may not like these, think them too complex, too
varied, too hard to keep track of, too this, too that.  Fine.  I realise
that some groups do not like specific variables, do not like trading a
bit of speed or a bit of playing ease for the options and/or realism
that rules such as these give.  But other groups do like these options,
and I encourage them and anyone else who does to play as they see fit.
     Any additional ideas, either fully fleshed out or in outline form,
please send them in.  I am always on the lookout for new things to add
to my world, and to put in future issues of Shadowbuzz.  Remember, if I
use it, you get full and complete credit; your name and address, if you
desire, on something that can reach hundreds, possibly even thousands,
of gamers.  Couldn't hurt, right? <grin>