Rangefinders, Getting their measure! Options

[Fortune]

What's the deal with Rangefinders? Why is it that they have to be installed in a gun if a character already has an implant that does this very thing? If a characvter didn't have Cyberware, is there any way he could use a rangefinder, considering he doesn't have the required implant?

Don't we make single-unit rangefinders nowadays?

[mfb]

you and your 'common sense' and your 'basis in reality'. you make me sick!

honestly, though? in order for smartlinks to calculate ballistic arcs, they really should have rangefinders built in. i suppose it could be argued that smartlinks base their calculations on the user's own visual perception, but that's... i dunno. that's a lot of extra work for the smartlink; it'd be cheaper and easier to just put a rangefinder in.

[Jason Farlander]

The range finder weapon accessory is the device that actually determines the distance to the target. You could probably get a digital readout of the range. The smartlink-2 subsystem integrates the data recieved from the rangefinder into its targeting algorithms.

Without the accessory, there is nothing to actually determine the range (you need to bounce some wave off of the target, probably an infrared laser, to actually determine its distance... guns cant do that by themselves)

Without the cyberware, the smartlink cant use the information provided by the rangefinder.

You might want to give a -1TN mod to extreme range for people using the rangefinder accessory without the SL2 subsystem, or you might say that simply knowing the range isnt worth an appreciable TN mod.

[Teulisch]

well, im just happy that a rangefinder is lightweight, and dosent affect concealability any.

its worth it, since it makes long range more effective (but magnification 3 is still better at extreme), but the extra cost and weight is annying.

and besides, what exactly is the rangefinder cyberware? acording to the SR2 street samuri catalog: "is identical to the weapon-mounted rangefinder system" and works for either where you look, or where you aim a smartlinked gun. of course, the sr2 version gave no actual TN bonuses.

so either you need both, or the cyberware is mostly useless. the only thing it does thats unique is the gernade launcher bit.

[Fortune]

I would think that if you have the rangefinder as an eye implant, you shouldn't need to also have a redundant system on the gun itself.

I also think that non-cybered people should be able to utilize a rangefinder, which would be somewhat difficult if they had to have both parts.

[Jason Farlander]

If you have an eye rangefinder you do not need a gun-mounted rangefinder. You do, however, need one of the two rangefinders to use the SL2 rangefinder subsystem.

[Fortune]

[Fresno Bob]

Smart Goggles.

[toturi]

I see the range finder attachment as something that provides the raw data, the RF cyberware integrates the data into something the SM2 can use to enhance your shot.

[Jason Farlander]

Voorhees:

There are no SL2-specific smartgoggles, and only SL2 systems benefit from rangefinders, so Joe Unaugmented would not benefit from a rangefinder if he were using smartgoggles. In your game, maybe. Not in mine, and not based on any canon rules. (please provide a sourcebook quote to back up any disagreement you have with these statements... I personally do not have access to my books at the moment, but do not recall ever seeing anything to the contrary when I was checking the rules for my earlier posts)

Fortune:

The CC description of the rangefinder does not mention any benefit to users without an SL2 system, so I am going to assume (though I cant be certain without current access to my books) that the eyesystem rangefinder does not mention any non-SL2-associated benefits either. As I mentioned earlier, you *might* want to houserule that Joe Unaugmented would get a -1 TN to extreme range fire, if you think that knowing the exact range would be sufficiently beneficial to the firer to warrant a TN mod, or if you simply want the rangefinder (cyber or not) to have some use on its own.