Flechette Ammo rules descripency, GMs at war over Flechette Options

[JackWill]

Ok here we go.. OK we got a game running now. its a n00b training game.. and the character line up is..

Human Decker/wheel man- Me a GM
human Combat Decker -Friend a GM
Dwarf Demo Expert - N00b
Troll Stealth Vending Machine - N00b 2nd game
Razor Child - N00b 2nd game
Troll Sparwl Ganger- Green behind the ears, but gets the rules

Ok well after the game we had a descripentcy over Flechette ammo.. when somebody used shotgun shot to blast a baby ganger into paste.

Now.. here we go.. what the rules say.. is Flechette Ammo stages up damage when used on unarmored targets, but agianst armored targets teh fair less affective double the impact rating and use which is highter. Dermal armor negates the staging affect.

Now does this mean that if i use a T250 with a code of 10S with shot 10D if i shot some one sportin an armor vest with plate (4/3).. is it 10D with armor of 4/6 or 10S with armor of 4/6?

We know that what ever the DM says goes.. but i need to get some insite on this in my futre games!

[RedmondLarry]

The T250, using shotgun ammo (not slug), against an armored target, does 10S with the target getting the higher of the ballistic armor or double the impact armor. In your example, the 4/3 armor counts for a 6 point reduction in power, exactly as you suggest. Against an unarmored target its base damage is 10D.

Against a target with dermal armor use the Armored Target rule, even if it's not wearing any other armor.

Using Slug ammo, against any target, would be 10S with ballistic armor applying.

[Crusher Bob]

As a house rule alternate, leave the staged up power (only stage down vs trolls, dermal plating, etc) to make it an actual useful option of what to put in your shotgun.

[RedmondLarry]

JackWill, one other thing to remember is that shotgun ammo spreads as it moves through the air. This lowers the Target Number for hitting someone, lowers the power of the attack, and also lets one blast hit multiple targets. You've probably already seen this on p. 117 in the main book.

When I teach new players, I suggest they stay away from shotgun ammo till they've learned basic combat. The complexity of manual choke settings, cyberlinked choke settings, multiple targets, targets behind targets, staging up against some targets but not others, varying affect of armor, and the different affect of smartlink or laser make this very complex for a new player.

[Tziluthi]

Ah, kind of off topic, but does anyone decrease the price, SI or availability of shot shells to represent the fact that they are far more common than flechette rounds would be?

[Diesel]

I think given the setting slugs would as common, if not moreso than shot rounds.

Not so many people hunting, far more security, paranormal animals, and armored target uses.

[Tziluthi]

Not to be rude, but I was talking about shot shells being more common than flechette rounds, as opposed to shot shells being more common than slugs. But I'll take that as a 'no' none the less.

[Austere Emancipa...]

[mfb]

shot rounds are flechette rounds. in SR, at any rate.

[Tziluthi]

Yes, but discounting a sudden loss of shot-producing technology, I doubt shot-shells would get as expensive as 10 dollars per shell, even by 2063. So even though they count as flechettes for rules of damage, I would suggest that shot-shells would be less expensive than their high-tech, flechette counterparts. Thus my earlier question.

Thanks for your input, Austere.

[mfb]

oh, okay. i thought you were talking just about shotguns. jesus christ, that is stupid.

[RedmondLarry]

[mfb]

hum. good point. which, honestly, means you can argue that shot rounds count as normal ammo, for price and availability. that makes a lot more sense.

[Austere Emancipa...]

[Arethusa]

Real flechettes would be a bunch of steel needles flying through the air. Don't make the mistake of thinking that SR's use of the word flechette has even the smallest resemblance to reality. Think of flechette ammo as frangible ammunition (or shot, in the case of a shotgun), and you'll be much better off. It's retarded, but welcome to canon.

Incidentally, with shotguns, I'd suggest counting flechette and slugs as normal for pricing and availability.

[Shockwave_IIc]

Something else about the flechette rulss that gets me a bit is this. How much armour do really need to have for it stop the damage lvl increase?

Taking the rules to the letter you just need some leather trousers (thats pants to you americans (which is underware to us)). Now that seems a little wrong, surly you would need little more than that.

Looks at this, Mr thinks he's a smartass (Mr ThaS) and Mr smartass (Mr S) are preping for a run. They both go out to get the various bits they need.

Mr ThaS comes back sits on the couch and spends the next 10 mins trying to get comfortable due to his lovely new dermal plating. But thinking himself all clever cos his now not effected by the Damage upgrade of Flechette rounds. But he is 6000 :nuyen: and .5 :cyber: out of pocket.

Then just as he starts thinking he really smart for his choice in walks in Mr S in his swancky new Leather Trousers and Matrix style Jacket, He is also immune to the Flechette damage increase. But Mr S is only 750 :nuyen: out of pocket (he likes his real threads), not only that but he has an armour rating of 4 to reduce the poewr by!!

Seems a little wrong (well to me at least)

[mfb]

yep.

[moosegod]

Oh no, not this discussion again.

[Shockwave_IIc]

Ok Moosegod anychance of pointing me in the direction of the thread where it was last discussed? also was there a general consence's of the topic?

[Jason Farlander]

I'm going to have to side with Crusher Bob on this one... Keep the staged up damage code to make flechette ammo (and, for that matter, dermal plating) worthwhile.

Something I just randomly thought of: Both ballistic and impact armor affect flechette ammo. Rather than doing the whole " normal ballistic or double impact" shuffle, why not just add ballistic and impact ratings to determine a total "vs flechette" armor rating? This would help balance out the retaining of the staged up DL, and it makes a decent amount of sense to me. Are there any particularly obvious reasons I've missed to *not* do this? (note that this is a random thought and doesnt represent anything I have either carefully deliberated on or used in my games)

[moosegod]

No, I was refering to the "flechettes are stupid" debate, Shockwave.

Sorry.

[JackWill]

well thanks.. so i got this...

10D versus no armor
10S agianst anything with armor.. so just sporting some balistic clothes can mean Serious or Deadly

Well the guy with the shotgun.. wanted the spread.. he wanted to just go into a room and blast and take everything out.. but hes using and Enfield with BF 99% of the time! I just used the t250 because of its simplicity.

Well that makes flechette ammo useless to a runner. I mean when have you shot at something that wasn't wearing armor.. KK my character and SJ the other character we are the other GMs we don't wear body armor unless WE ARE ON A RUN!

We have no mage power tho... i susspect us getting nailed by a spirit! :S

[Arethusa]

Seriously, have any of you considered how incredibly powerful leaving the damage increase on armored targets is? If you do that, I'll never load anything but flechettes. Take, for example, a heavy pistol against a security guard with a body of 4 and an armored jacket (5/3). A normal round will punch through with a power of 4M. With four dice to resist (ignore combat pool), he'll stage that down to light fairly reliably. A flechette round would punch through with a power of 3S, which may average out as only slightly less likely to be staged down to light, but has the added bonus of simply overwhelming characters with low body by requiring too many successes to stage down, and, furthermore, tearing anything without armor to pieces. If you want to set a limit, leave the damage at normal for anything with more than one point of impact or anything with a point of ballistic.

Shot is about the only thing that makes any sense for not staging the damage down with armor, and that's only because it is a cloud of fragments before impact and not after.

[Shockwave_IIc]

[Jason Farlander]

Lets pretend we are using the optional rule I made up.

GM Goon 1 is packing a Defiance T-250, loaded with shot or flechette (base damage 10Df) He has a shotgun skill of 4, and 4 combat pool

Average Joe, an average joe, is wearing an armored jacket. He has 3's in all of his stats except body (he has a 4 in body -- he exercises regularly), giving him a combat pool of 4.

GM Goon 1 shoots at him 1 time, using all of his combat pool. He gets the average result of 4 successes, staging the damage to 2 above deadly... ouch.

Average Joe, adding his ballistic and impact armor ratings to a total of 8, has a tn of 2. He rolls all the dice he can, 8, generating an average result of 7 successes. He is seriously hurt, but he survives and runs away

After spending some time in the hospital to recover, Average Joe is waiting for a taxi when he is approached by GM Goon 2.

GM Goon 2 is packing a Defiance T-250, loaded with slugs (Base 10S). He has the same skills as GM Goon 1. When GM Goon 2 shoots at AJ, he generates the same number of successes, staging the damage to one above deadly.

This time, Average Joe has a TN of 5 to resist the damage. Rolling his 8 dice, he only generates 3 successes... He dies.