Sniper... or not?, annoying player Options

[Brambles]

Hi there,

I recently started my first campaign, with all SR newbies (myself included).
One of my players always dominates over the other players, so I thought I had a great idea: I made him warm for the sniper idea.

In our first run everything was more or less fine. He set himself up in a tree around the villa, and sniped the guards (I admit I forgot to ask how he could put a sniper in a tree) :sleepy: I also made sure he couldn't enter the villa (one of his contacts was inside, and he didn't want to be recognised)

The second run he got back to his old habits.
He took his sniper rifle, used it as a normal rifle and killed without trouble all the monsters I had set up (it was in a sewers, with devil, or was it demon, rats and wererats). He also has a katana, wich he never uses... I think he'd rather use his rifle as a club. At last, I made one of the wererats pin him to the wall to make him stop using it. And with the money he got from the 2 runs, he upgraded even more, so he always hits.

Are there any special rules for sniping? Do you have any ideas on how to handle him? Do you use any house rules for these situations?

Thanks in advance,
Brambles.

[Chibu]

make the 'monsters' stronger. give them higher armour or something.

[Tarantula]

How is he getting the gun around? Have cops spot it, they aren't exactly tiny or anything. At least make rolls to have cops spot it, things of that nature, etc. The ammo is rather gun specific too, hows he getting more ammo? Does he have only one contact that can get him it? Maybe someone kidnaps that contact because they heard they can get this ammo, but the contact wouldn't sell, now he has to rescue his contact, but can't go get more ammo before-hand to do so.

[Austere Emancipa...]

[Rolemodel]

Well. I suppose you could start by having his rifle bust in twain next time he uses what should be a fragile, highly precise instrument of long range destruction as a club. Or, really, any time he brings it into a motion intense situation. Such as battling wererats.

Afterall, last time I checked, snipers lay very still, and wait hours to take the perfect shot.

Afterall, a sight that's a hair of a milimeter off will really screw your aim over when you're sighting out two klicks.

-Now- as far as actually toning him down? I'm really not a fan of player censorship. If he happens to create a powerful concept within' the structure of the game, I applaud him. Perhaps you aught to suggest a few helpful augmentations to your other players, and include parts of your campaign that cannot be solved by mere combat alone.

For instance, give those electronics skills a spin. Or perhaps give your ex-KGB agent a chance to put his covert operations skills and stealth to use. And it never hurts to have a car chance, though I'd recommend you fudge the rules - Matrix/Vehicle rules have potential to bog your game down in sludge thicker than the coffee I make every morning.

-RoleModel

[Tarantula]

Another option, make it an infiltration style run, he can either play over-watch and stare at windows all day long (while the real base happens to be underground), or, move in with the rest of the team, include a crawltunnel that while the teamembers can fit, the 6foot long sniper rifle can't, because it doesn't have a waist to bend at.

[TheOneRonin]

And don't allow him to use the bonus from the rifle's scope when he is in anything resembling CQB.

Apply some common sense here. A non-carbine rifle is very likely to "hung-up" when fighting in close quarters. And have you ever used a scoped rifle IRL? Scopes tend to have a narrow field of vision, and short range moving targets have a very easy time escaping that field of vision.

Like AE said, make sure you are applying all the proper target number mods. If he is in the prone with the rifle sitting on a bipod and the target is standing still, it SHOULD be easy for him to kill it. However, if he's running around in doors, treating his rifle like an SMG, his T#s should much, much higher.

Don't let the rules override your common sense.

[nezumi]

And, of course, the enemies could always use camouflage, or hide behind corners, or just be in a difficult place for you to get a shot (say doing something in the basement or deep within a building.

Give him jobs where he has to get his butt in the mud. Set up jobs where the emphasis is on speed, or where there can be no sign of his passing.

And then, of course, there's the fact that what goes around comes around. Remind him subtely (or not) that the bad guys can snipe too. See what smart tactics he comes up with then so he realizes NPCs don't always wander around in the open picking their noses.

[TheOneRonin]

[Tarantula]

I'm pretty sure the description for the barret rifle in the book says 5 or 6 feet long, and as I said, because the rifle doesn't have a waist to bend at. Quite simply, put in a 70º bend in said crawl-tunnel, enough so that someone can gradually bend themselves through it (requiring some athletics (escape artist) checks of course) however the dimensions of said rifle won't allow it to go. People can bend, a rifle can't. make a part where there is no physical way to fit a 5foot long chunk of metal through it, and now he has to leave it while they go in, or keep it and watch the exit.

[mmu1]

Hmm... If anything, people usually complain about the use of sniper rifles from a distance, when the enemies have no chance to shoot back... but anyway:

You should post again and list what equipment he has on that rifle, which rifle it is, exactly, and how he actually uses it in "normal" combat. For example - he's not using the bonuses from the scope and a smartlink at the same time, is he? Also, a list of his vision mods would be useful...

Finally, you have to keep in mind that a properly designed team of runners that has adequately prepped for a run should be blowing through most enemies with little effort expended and little or no damage suffered - eventually, even the best team will run into bad luck, and someone will go down, but unlike in, say, D&D, the fact that no one got hurt isn't really indicative of an encounter that was too easy.

[durthang]

Also keep in mind he isn't the first person to snipe. Any facility that someone is going to pay shadowrunners to break into is going to have built their defenses with a sniper in mind. Here are just a few ideas off the top of my head.

1.) Terrain. Something as simple as a wall can provide partial to total cover. Moving things indoors eliminates the possibility to snipe entirely. Depending on who owns the surrounding land, they may also have cleared it of trees and bushes that would provide cover for a sniper.

2.) Another sniper. Put the defending sniper up in a tower with a clear view of the surrounding terrain and he should be able to give your sniper a challenge to take out.

3.) Tightened security. When the perimeter guards stop reporting in, someone is going to notice. If the rest of the team still have to get inside to do whatever it was the Johnson wants when the place seals up tight and the HTR teams are called out, he may have to rethink his strategy.

4.) Drones and sentry guns. Unless he is using AV ammo, it isn't too hard to make that sniper ping off the side of a drone or vehicle. Sentry guns can go undetected until someone is unfortunate to trigger them. That will give the other runners something to deal with even after all of the guards have been sniped.

5.) Grenades, mortars, etc... Chances are the defenders will have a general idea where your sniper is after a shot or two. Some explosives lobbed in his general direction may not take him out, but will probably keep him too busy to snipe.

6.) Smoke/IR Smoke. Instant cover, especially if the defenders have ultrasound scopes or ware to defeat the smoke will the runners and sniper have to deal with the full modifiers.

[GrinderTheTroll]

[Kagetenshi]

[Backgammon]

[RoaminNose]

I didn't see anyone mention this, so....

In the core rulebook, the section about the Ranger Arms sniper rifle says that because of its precisely aligned parts and whatnot, it doesn't stand up well to normal combat use. The number of turns it is used in a normal combat role becomes the chance on a 2D6 roll that its precision parts become unaligned, giving it a +2 TN modifier to all tests (scoped or not). Now, I don't know anything about rifles, so maybe the RA is just a really lousy gun or something, but it seems to me that all sniper rifles should suffer that same penalty (except maybe the Walther MA-2100 which specifically says it is free of design instabilities).


Also, can I ask what you used as the Availability limit for your starting characters?

[Kagetenshi]

So basically you could weaken the option with a lot of house-rules. You can do that already.

~J

[GrinderTheTroll]

[hahnsoo]

[Foreigner]

Tarantula:

IRL, the Barrett Model 82A1 (known to the U.S. Military as the M-107) is 57 inches (144.48 centimeters) long, has a 29-inch-long (73.67 centimeters) barrel and weighs 34.6 pounds (11.9 kilograms).

It also can be disassembled for transport: just remove a couple of pins, and the upper and lower halves of the receiver separate. When disassembled, it will fit in a medium-sized carrying case--the longest part is only 38 inches (96.52 centimeters) long.

Here's a link: Barrett Rifles: M-107

Here's a disassembly video (you'll need RealPlayer): Barrett M-82A1 Field Strip video

TheOneRonin:

You left out a couple:

H-S Precision Takedown Sniper Rifle System ;

EDM Arms ;

and

Barrett Model XM109 25mm Semiautomatic Payload Rifle

The latter is probably the closest thing to a real-life Panther Assault Cannon.

--Foreigner

[Rev]

The main solution without a house rule is to start having the npc's play smarter.

When the first guy dies to a sniper all the others hide and backup is on the way. Backup that knows they are facing a sniper and so are ready for it with big elementals, astral guys to find the sniper, drones to snipe back, heavy weapons that out range the sniper, high force bullet barrier spells, etc.

But a house rule would also be nice, because shadowrun doesn't have a rule to prevent this.

If the guy is a real jerk the next time he starts to climb a tree just say "roll body against 14S APDS".

[TheOneRonin]

[Weredigo]

[hahnsoo]

[mfb]

given the high power of most sniper rifles, few free spirits are going to be laughing them off.

[Austere Emancipa...]

I'll have to disagree with you there, mfb. It's easy for a Free Spirit to get a few points of Spirit Energy, and even F4 + SE4 makes the Materialized form of the spirit immune to all Sniper Rifles, F4 + SE3 against non-Explosive ammunition. It's not even a stretch to have a Force 6 Free Spirit with 6 points of Spirit Energy and the Personal Domain Power, for a whopping Immunity: Normal Weapons-36, and a slew of other kick-ass abilities.

Unless of course you declare that because of the wording of the Spirit Energy section in mits.114 SE doesn't count as bonus Force for Immunity, in which case it has to be a Force 7/8 Free Spirit.

[Edit]Note: I am not endorsing the use of powerful Free Spirits -- in fact, I rather they be few and far between. I am merely pointing out that they can be plenty powerful, and hard to stop through use of (non-magical) force.[/Edit]

This post has been edited by Austere Emancipator: Feb 23 2005, 08:27 PM

[kerensky]

Or just use magic to make his sniping life a lot harder.

[FrostyNSO]

Cops remedy this problem for me easily.

Have more runs take place in public joints.

[mfb]

i tend to assume that there are a lot more force 3 0SE spirits running around than force 3 3SE spirits, AE--lots of weaker spirits, in other words, and progressively fewer stronger spirits. that's not backed up by anything in the books, though.

[Austere Emancipa...]

Certainly not by the fact that every spirit going free automatically gains 1 point of Spirit Energy, or the fact that it only costs a meager 5 points of Karma for the spirit to gain 3 points of SE. Also, the PCs in my games tend to rarely summon (non-Watcher) spirits of Force lower than 4, so I tend to think that others will generally go for F4+ too.

Although, with only one clear way for Free Spirits to gain karma, and that requiring a lot of interaction with people, I can see how GMs might opt for rather low SEs for most Free Spirits.

This post has been edited by Austere Emancipator: Feb 23 2005, 08:34 PM

[hahnsoo]

A simpler thing would be having a Free Spirit who knew the Bullet Barrier spell.

[Austere Emancipa...]

Since one point of Spirit Energy is very cheap Karma-wise, is the equivalent of 2 points (or 4 points, if the sniper is using APDS) of Bullet Barrier, and is extremely useful for a number of things other than just protection, I rather go with that. But of course not all Free Spirits have choice in the matter, having been given the ability to cast spells before going free.

[Garland]

[Shockwave_IIc]

[mfb]

no. all materialized spirits get 2*force hardened armor against normal weapons; SE is added to force for all force-dependent effects.

[Endgame50]

First, don't use house rules to bring him down. It weakens your position as a source of authority because the players will see you "breaking" the rules to pull down one of their own, and they're going to be more likely to argue with you the next time you need to make a ruling where canon is ambiguous. The players aren't the enemy, but use all caution when dealing with them.

Second, there aren't special rules for sniping per se--it's just using a sniper rifle to pick someone off from a hopefully hidden position. You could apply things like called shots and taking aim (which I hope any good sniper would do) to make it an actual "snipe", but there aren't official rules for it. Nothing really says you can't use it up close, though it'd look damn silly.

Third, the rules are your friend. As someone mentioned, remember to apply all TNs. Lighting is rarely perfect. Remember smartlinks and imaging scopes can't be used together. People move, have cover, concealment, and so on. Raise the target numbers. Make the enemies smarter. If he begins to snipe, maybe one resourceful person will pull out a smoke grenade (and have thermo so he can see through it) or a thermo smoke grenade (and ultrasound vision [which is a crappy penalty, but it'll probably be lower than his]). Don't forget having most firearms without a permit is illegal--and that Star Beat Cop has his intellegence vs the rifle's concealability to notice it. If he does have a permit, what about a valid SIN? if it's fake, it might fail against a verification test. If it's real, what the hell is he doing carrying a sniper rifle down the street anyway?

Fourth, try runs that don't directly involve killing things. I mean, as a twist you can throw in a combat or two, but the original plan wouldn't involve it--a few runs where the one trick pony can't do his silly trick might encourage him to diversify. (Careful with this one though, don't overdo it)

Finally, what's good for the goose is good for the GM. in my old D&D games, my players and I had a kind of "truce" where neither side would use overly deadly / cheesy tricks. They enjoyed it because I didn't through instant death spells at them until one failed a saving through by sheer statistical probability and I enjoyed it because the "boss" fights were interesting and memorable. If your player is willing to be cheesy and snipe all day, try using enemy snipers in your plots. It might get the point across.

[Clyde]

In the excellent Cyberpunk sourcebook "Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads" they suggest the following technique for players who constantly use tactics that are within the letter of the rules but defy common sense:

Use their own tricks against them.

Next time they go on a run, have every guard armed with a sniper rifle and using it in close combat. Then you can say to your player: "All right, you're very smart for figuring out that sniper rifles make powerful weapons even in close combat. But we both know that while it's legal under the rules it's a silly thing to do. Let's both just quit and play the game with an idea toward common sense realism and not just clever rules lawyering."

Whenever you have a rules lawyer munchkin out there, call him on his bluff by using his techniques against him. He'll be quick to realize how dumb he's being.

[Charon]

I just ask my players to please behave, if not realistically, at least in a similar fashion as characters from grounded action movies like Ronin would. Heck, even characters from a Bond Movie or MI. But if, for example, they can't think of a single movie in which a character is using a sniper rifle to storm a building, there's probably a good reason for it...

There are many good reasons for not using a sniper rifle as if it were an assault rifle. I told my PCs that if they forced me to make up tons of pointless houserules just to curb behaviors that everyone know intuitively to be absurd, It would piss me off. And when I'm pissed off, PC die more easily. ;)

[Tarantula]

[mfb]

i like Charon's answer, myself: "stop being stupid."

[toturi]

[mfb]

yeah, but those stat blocks are only suggestions, not The Canon Definition For All Secguards.

[hahnsoo]

It doesn't have to be all the secguards, just the one or two that happen to be close to the sniper in question. *grin*

[Foreigner]

Here's a thought, mfb:

A large-caliber Capsule round filled with a small explosive charge (think of a Gas round) and FAB bacteria.

What would THAT do to a free spirit?

Or, for that matter, any other magically-active or dual-natured lifeform?

--Foreigner

[hahnsoo]

[kevyn668]

[BitBasher]

Still a force of 1. High force takes up meters of space, IIRC.

[mfb]

in open air, yeah. should be able to compress them, though i'm not sure how healthy that'd be for the bacteria.

[Arethusa]

It's fine in most cases, assuming you can sustain them (agar nutrient solution, whatever).

[Kanada Ten]

It's probably cheaper (per effect) to anchor spells to the bullet than get all wonky with FAB.

[Arethusa]

Yeah, and given the volatility of suspended bacteria in transportable state intended for munitions diffusion, probably both safer and more reliable.

[kevyn668]

[mfb]

there aren't any strains of FAB that are really all that useful for direct use against single magical threats. i mean, sure, if you pop a force 10 cloud at a mage, he'll lose 1 magic point every few hours, but there aren't many cases where a timeframe like that is useful at all, unless you're talking about razing all magical activity in a large area.

[Westiex]

[Arethusa]

Or, you know, don't resort to asinine contrivances to stop sniping.

[mfb]

it's not the sniping that i think is problematic. it's the part where he's using a sniper rifle in non-sniping rolls. like, y'know, close combat.

[Charon]

[kevyn668]

[mfb]

the problem, really, is that sniper rifles in SR are ridiculously overpowered. there wouldn't be a problem with them, if they did 9S. instead, nooooo, sniper rifles are the friggin' katanas of gunplay, so they do jesus goddamn christ D.

and, honestly? for the precision you get from a rifle that's designed for sniping, i don't think the frailty rules used for the Ranger are a bad idea to slap on all "sniper rifles".

[Arethusa]

This is actually something i brought up years ago when I was first introduced to SR; specifically, pistols, SMGs, carbines, etc see none of their real benefits in close quarters while rifles, sniper rifles, assault cannons, etc see none of their very real disadvantages. There is nothing (unless you count that one silly sniper rifle that can't be so much as dragged through combat without falling apart) in the rules that ever covers this.

My solution at the time, which eventually became a part of Canon Revision (which never materialized thanks to real life and lack of interest, but run a search if you're morbidly curious), was to apply specific sets of modifiers in close quarters (defined as ranges < 10m). Pistols got -1 TN, SMGs and short carbines got +0, rifles got +1, long rifles (like sniper rifles) got +2, and heavy things like an assault cannon clocked in at +3 and up at GM discretion. There were other modifiers that got more specific, but that covers the most pertinent stuff. I was never exactly happy with it, but I still feel it's the best solution ever reached (and, as far as I've seen, possible without a major reworking of the current ruleset).

[mfb]

yeah, i've discussed the same idea myself. if there's an SR4, something like that ought to go in it. it'll come right after the sane shotgun spread rules.

[Arethusa]

[kevyn668]

I may have missed it but which rifle does the character in question use?

[mfb]

sure, nothing made for killing is that fragile. what might be worth considering is, instead of raising the TN for shots made with the weapon, just reduce the rifle's range to that of a normal hunting rifle until it's re-tuned.

[Crusher Bob]

The real problem is that an Alpha loaded with EX rounds and firing a burst does 13S, the sniper rifle firing a single normal round does 14S. The Alpha is good for 14 (?) bursts, the WA-2000 knock off hold 10 single rounds so there's hardly any loss of readly ammunition capacity.

And a magazine of 42 EX rounds for the Alpha costs 630 Y (!) on the street...

[toturi]

Factor in the added difficulty in dodging a burst as opposed to a single shot. I do not think that recoil should come into play, since I think it is a reasonable assumption that recoil compensation should be more than sufficient.

[Arethusa]

+1 dodge TNs is nice, but not usually that significant. Not enough to truly save the Alpha in that comparison, anyway.

[Crusher Bob]

hmm, lemme run some numbers:

iirc, dodging is norammly TN 4 with a +1 for bursts?

Assuming:

Body 4 runner with 6/4 armor
and has 6 CP available

Assuming our shooter (in either case, gets 4 successes)

Against the Alpha, they get 2 successes and resist 7D with body.

Against the Sniper Rfile (firing normal ammo)
They get 3 successes and resist 8S

I guess it's worth something after all...

[Johnson]

You have to remember that when being Sniped at you don't get to role dodge, its a full element surprise, so unless you have very good body guards. But Sniping is aspected to that only.

If you are going for close quarter assasination, it personal very close and personal and a chance of attrition to take its toll.

In both cases you are highly specialized.

Sniper
Right place right time, make every shot count.

Up colse and personal.

Right place right time, know the ground area you are fighting on and make it work for you. Every attack has to count.

[toturi]

You don't really use a Assault Rifle to snipe, you use a Sniper Rifle.

[Crusher Bob]

In that particular comparison, we were comparing the CQB abilities of the Alpha and the Sniper rifle. Almost any gun can kill someone with no combat pool available:

Sample: 22 LR Sport Rifle (doing 6L)

Sniping runner in the above example:

(Body 4, 6 Armor)

Our sniper is rolling 8 dice at TN 2, getting 7 successes.

Our target is rolling 4 dice against target number 2, and gets 3 successes, still taking a serious wound.

Had the sniper been using any sort of 'real gun' or had just a bit more skill (so more CP could be used on the shot) mr runner would be busy bleeding to death already.

[Johnson]

[Arethusa]

[Weredigo]

[Arethusa]

Well, I'm expecting you get to get slammed for this too, but I just don't care enough to do it myself.

[Johnson]

[Sandoval Smith]

[Crusher Bob]

Saying the little prayer: "free pizza for the GM if this works" seems to be pretty effective.

[Austere Emancipa...]

There's no good reason to use anything but a high-powered rifle, though, no matter how high your skill is. Ammunition weight and cost, weapon weight, concealability and maneuverability, aural signature of firing -- none of these change. By going from Sniper Rifles to Sporting Rifles you get off cheaper, but you also lose a lot of your ability to affect armored vehicles or to engage targets at very long ranges, neither of which you skill can really compensate for.

[Kagetenshi]

Easier to explain at the airport?

~J

[Dissonance]

That's why the Decker is your friend. Gee, I can't imagine why that metal detector didn't go off or why that suitcase only showed clothing and a shaving kit.

Of course, that'd require a very good decker friend and a rifle that you could actually hide in a suitcase.

[Austere Emancipa...]

Try taking any kind of rifle to the airport and explaining your way out of it. Maybe if you were a post-SoTA64 adept...

[Johnson]

I would expect that a good portable Snipers rifle would be able to brake down in to a suite case.

Barring the Hi calibre Drakenov. and some other military types.

[Austere Emancipa...]

In SR, you can design any kind of rifle to allow breaking it down into a suitcase. The only Rifle (that is, a Rifle that you shoot with the Rifles skill) that I'm aware of (that appears in the books) that can break down is the Ranger Arms SM-3, which is presumably chambered for a very powerful round, since it does far more damage than a Heavy Machine Gun.

Most RL sniper rifles are in fact not capable of being broken down into small bits. Several are, but especially in the military it's quite rare (which, supposedly, is why neither the Barrett M121 nor the Walther MA-2100 can do this -- or that's the logic I'll happily use anyway).

The SVD Dragunov (alt link) is not of a particularly powerful caliber. It is chambered for the 7.62x54mmR, which is more or less equivalent of the 7.62x51mm NATO caliber used in many/most western sniper rifles and MMGs. It is certainly more powerful than assault rifles and the kind, but would reasonably stand at around a Damage Code of 9S in SR (since it is basically a Sporting Rifle and GPMG/MMG caliber). "Large caliber" in sniper rifles these days usually refers to specialist weapons meant for extremely long range sniping or, more commonly, anti-material work, in calibers such as the US .50BMG/12.7x99mm or the Russian 12.7x108mm, both of which generate 3-4 times as much kinetic energy at the muzzle as the 7.62s mentioned above.

[Brambles]

Many people asked for his equipment.

I don't have his papers here, but it's more or less like this:

He has the only sniper rifle in the book (Ranger Arms I believe)
- It has a bipod, and is smartlinked and scoped (thanks for the smartlink-scope thing, I didn't know it)
- thermographic vision
- he recently got vision magnification
- he has a camo suit (woods), but someone assured me camo suits can be overpainted as many times as you want

He has no B/R skills, but it's something I didn't think of... So next time I'll talk to him about it, or either let his weapon rust.
He got the weapon trough some maffia connection in Antwerp (UNL). He always carries it in corporate looking briefcase (a large one), so it is concealed. I make very sure he can never carry it trough detectors.

To make the characters, I used the rules in the sr3.

Someone pointed out the problem might be with the GM and the player... Well, this is my first time GM'ing seriously... ever. For a new game. I've read dumpshock since a while, and I really feel I'm getting better tough. Hopefully :grinbig:

Thanks,
Brambles

[Luke Hardison]

You may have given him an advantage of which you were unaware. The availability for the Ranger Arms SM3 is 12/7 days. So he can't start with it (Starting characters can't have avail > 8, unless you house rule that part), and getting ahold of one before your first run can be tough, TN 12, 7 day wait, and base price of 16000, before the fixer tries to negotiate with you. That thing should be a PRIZED posession .. it cost him more than a vehicle! I don't think he'll take many chances with it when he realizes how much time, effort, and money it will take to replace. If he will, make the danger of losing it or having it fail very real if he mistreats it. Like if an officer finds it ... maybe that Lonestar beat cop has a kid with a disease, and the ~8 grand he can get for the rifle sounds better than getting a free arrest ... and he'll just take it from you.

It sucks to forget something during chargen and then have an overpowered character running around with that stuff indefinately. This would give you a chance to renew the balance ... generate a scenario when he needs to get it back that makes it just a *little* easier to get, to throw him a bone for his lost 4k in starting resources.

This assumes that you unintentionally allowed him to have the weapon in the first place. If you did it on purpose, none of that will really apply. If that's the case, then take more of the other suggestions on this thread, especially applying every modifier that is appropriate to the situation. Do this for bad guys, too, and for every combatant, not just the sniper. It makes for more cinematic firefights, anyway.

[Jrayjoker]

It is always good to brainstorm. I like the use of cover after the first shot and counterstrike force called in ASAP.

Does the Smartlink 2 + rangefinder combo stack?

[mmu1]

[Charon]

[mfb]

[Kagetenshi]

Can the sniper rifle perform suppressive fire?

~J

[mfb]

we call the ones that can "HMGs". hoo, i kill me. seriously, though, i'm not sure what you're trying to say.

[Kagetenshi]

I suppose it wasn't clear; that was a rhetorical question. You have a point, though :)

~J

[mfb]

you post, ninja-fast, before i edit!

[Garland]

Only if it's an FA sniper rifle. (Egah!)

[Jrayjoker]

That is the shortest full auto burst ever....

bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-click.

:D

[Critias]

Dragunov's have a full auto setting, IRL.

[Garland]

[Arethusa]

I imagine it's possible.

As for automatic sniping in general, the sniper rifles Counter-Strike made famous (SG550 and G3/SG1) may be nothing like their ingame counterparts, but they also come in FA varieties. Despite what computer games say, this can actually be useful in the right setting (ironically, I think The Bourne Identity shows this fairly well), though I wouldn't personally make a habit out of it.

[mfb]

yeah. "anything that's worth shooting once is worth shooting twice" trumps "one shot, one kill" every time.