LoneStar Gear, Revising SR4 canon Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

[sarcasm]Oooooh, that's a good idea. Let's give every police officer a Ruger Super Warhawk with EX-EX as a carry piece. :)[/sarcasm]




[edit]Added for the benefit of the sarcasm-impaired.

[Omer Joel]

[Grinder]

[Tarantula]

Well, for all those who don't know, the ruger thunderbolt was a three barrelled pistol chambered to fire shotgun slugs in a burst only. By burst, it means all three barrels fired at once. Check page 19 of cannon companion for a description. The biggest key phrase in that is "it is the chosen weapon of Lone Star, officers of that organization can recognize the sound of a Thunderbolt being fired from a considerable distance, and will harass and/or detain any non-Lone Star person carrying one."

It is the sidearm of choice in SR3, and I see little reason why that would have changed (beyond it probably showing up in Arsensal). Till then, super warhawks probably make the best substitute, except the fact that they're SS, and the thunderbolt fire twice each pass.

[Butterblume]

Just look at (paramilitary) police forces like the Gendarmerie Nationale (France), Guardia Civil (Spain), Carabinieri (Italy).

Since their founding in the 18th and early 19th centuries, they are equipped with military grade weapons, and continue to use them. (The word carabinieri is derived from the carbine).

Of course, traditionally those police units where (and still are) mostly stationed in rural areas, where reinforcements might take a while to arrive.

[Austere Emancipa...]

[Moon-Hawk]

Shotgun slugs? Three barrels? If you're going to quote the description of the weapon, quote that stuff as well.
IIRC it looks like a regular pistol, fired regular pistol ammo (9M), and that damage code of 12S is just factoring in the BF, since it has no SA mode.

[Edward]

Dam, missed out.

I was going to point out the lack of evidence for the warhawk having 3 barrels or firing shotgun rounds in canon companion.

[Gauvain]

[Glorian]

[Butterblume]

That must mean that the thunderbolt is a metal storm weapon ;).

edit: Meaning, something like the sakura fubuki.

[Shrike30]

[Voran]

[Shrike30]

Back when the Ares Predator with Firepower ammo was new, my brother's game had them restricted as hell. The only people who could get the gun or the ammo were members of Lone Star's anti-cyborg unit. I've taken EX-EX out of my game entirely... maybe I should have it be something these units hand-make? :vegm:

[eidolon]

[Shrike30]

SR4 stats shouldn't be that hard.

5/-1, 12©, BF, heavy pistol ranges. Integral laser sight or smartlink.
No recoil on first burst, -4 recoil on second burst.

I don't remember it having any other mods than this... i just remember pretending the damn thing didn't exist :P

[Omer Joel]

So here are my current SR4 LoneStar stats:

LoneStar Patrol Officer (Professional Rating 2)
Race: Human

[Crusher Bob]

No athletic related skills? How about running and jumping.
A cop with next to no social skills?

Also, the 190 points in stas is over the top, that is runner level stas for an ordinary street cop.

Also, I think your weapon skills are quite inflated, especially when it's 4 different weapon skills. Assuming that cops are built with karma, I would expect the training program to take advantage of the relative cheapness of specializations:


something like:

Stats: average of 3, 2 random stats at 4


pistols 2 (semi-auto)
longarms 1 (rifles) (most cops don't train extensively with long arms)
(see discussion elsewhere about how a rifle or carbine is probably a better idea than a shotgun)
Unarmed 1 (or 2?)
clubs 2 (stun baton?)

eqiquette 2 (street)
con 1 (fast talk)?
intimidation 1 (interrogation)?
negotiation 2 (sense motive)?

running 2 (or 1)
climbing 1
gymnastics 1
perception 2

pilot ground vehicle 1 (cars)
first aid 1


KS: police procedures 3
KS: Law 1

[Omer Joel]

Thanks for your excellent suggestions. Correction made.

[Red]

Given the relative power of non-lethal firearms in 4th edition, I'm surprised that stick-n-shock, and gel rounds haven't played a greater role in this discussion. Consider the fact that a stick-n-shock round has the same power regardless of the firearm, and it is extremely capable at putting down any metahuman subspecies with a simple double tap. It has no overpenetration issues to speak of, and even if the enemy is wearing armor that armor is highly unlikely to make any significant difference unless they've invested in non-conductive modifications. Even if a round goes wild they are significantly less likely to cause a bystander significant injury or death, thus reducing the liability for officers firing in a chaotic environment. Finally, stick-n-shock rounds are the only ammunition that enables a common beat cop to have any kind of chance against powerful spirits. Consider a single net hit on a stick-n-shock allows a mere beat cop to beat the immunity to normal weapons of a Force 7 spirit. The only real disadvantage to stick-n-shock is the relatively high price, and the fact that it can't (or shouldn't, the rules are not explicit here) penetrate even the lightest cover.

[Tetsuyama]

Why a Signal 6 radio rather than a Satellite Link in the car? And a possibly more loony question: anyone want to try statting out the car's node? You *know* the PCs are going to hack in to try to cut the Stars off from backup.

[Red]

Be careful there. If you stat the commlinks inside a LoneStar patrol car too well, then they become bait for theft. 10,000+ nuyen worth of computers inside? Delicious. Besides, in order to make a solid matrix defense you require at least two decently statted commlinks. (One chokepoint, the second being the workplace)

[Stan Dard]

[Red]

It was based off the idea that elemental attacks half armor. So one could call it a gray zone in 4th ed. But it was explicitly valid in 3rd.

[Geekkake]