Hey there guys, I've a character that uses shock weapons (tasers) and have been getting into disagreements with my GM about how the things work. Tasers come with damage codes like standard pistols, but there are a specific set of rules that relate to any shock weapon. Namely SR3 says that when a character is hit with a stun weapon:

"stuns the target for a number of turns equal to the power of the attack, minus one-half (round down) any impact armor worn, and also minus the successes generated from a Body or Willpower Test (whichever is greater) made against a Target Number 4. This state of disorientation imposes an additional +2 target modifier to all tests for as long as it lasts."

So, my question is that given that the target of the stun weapon is making tests against a set modifier, does it matter what the actual damage (Serious or Deadly) of the weapon is? The book was alittle unclear (to me) and I'm not sure as to whether a character actually takes any stun damage or if they just suffer the above mentioned modifiers. This is a source of contention between me and my GM, with myself saying that the target would still take stun damage, and he saying that they would not. Could ANYONE please help and weigh in on this with either rule clarifications or personal experiences? Thanks.

The victim takes stun damage resisted per normal. As a separate test, if the victim is still standing, make the Body/Will test to find out how long the temporary stun modifiers are going to last.

The Serious vs Deadly comes up in the first half of the test, but does not impact the second test against the actual stun penalties.

IIIRC, if the victim is able to completely shrug the damage, the stun modifier can still come into play. Also note that non-conductive mods to your body armor will apply to help reduce the power of the attack for both tests.

BTW--This sub-forum is for PbP games. The next time you need a rules clarification, the main Shadowrun Forum will probably get you an answer in shorter order.

Have a good day!