are reaction enhancers, (or reflex enhancers), and a reflex recorder, the only "upgrades" that increase the dice for it?

aren't there quickdraw holsters in SR4? i could also see a skill being created for it.

I wouldn't create a distinct quickdraw skill, but it would certainly be a valid specialization. I would probably apply the specialization bonus to the drawing roll and the shooting roll, primarily for fairness. (And because the idea of your best shot happening during a quickdraw is cool and dramatic for a cowboy type character.)

For some reason, I thought Palming could be used for quick-draws. Maybe that was another game.

What do you mean by quick draw?

If you simply mean drawing and firing in the same round, you need to get 3 hits on an agi+weapon roll, and then have the highest init. So yeah, reaction boosters are the only real need. If you can't get three hits on agi+weapon consistently, you probably shouldn't be getting in to quick draw contests.

The quick draw holsters lower the threshold on the agi+weapon roll.

And adepts can quick draw anything with the .5 pp power. Which is absolutely amusing.

Me: "I quick draw my MGL-12."

GM: "Uh, you can't."

Me: "Adept, baby!"

GM: "I hate you."

Me: "It gets better. I fire a grenade, then drop it, and quick draw my Stoner-Ares, which I then fire in a long wide burst."

GM: *Pulling out lighter* "Let me see your character sheet"

two words: arm-slide

edit: "hidden arm slide" in fact, but it is rarely really hidden (I don't see how you could hide an Ares Predator IV up your sleeve while wearing a full armor suir…)

see, i view that thing as an excuse to have whatever specialized quickdraw machinery makes sense (loosely speaking). for instance, you could have an underarm holster that tosses your weapon over to your opposite hand. you could have a holster at your lower back that pops the gun out for you to grab. whatever, y'know?

Good answer. Have a cookie.

are you sure quickdrawing is a free action in SR4? in SR3, a lot of people make the mistake of thinking it's a free action, when it actually just combines drawing and firing into a single simple action--no free action required. don't recall if that changed in SR4 or not.

I dont' have street magic handy, maybe the power description is 'free action' to quickdraw under the power?

Damn, now I'll have to look this up when I get home!

No it isn't a free action but it does allow you to draw and fire in same simple action...so the scenario above would still work, as you could make two quick draw tests with a threshold of 2 because of the power and use your one free action to drop your first weapon inbetween the shots.

West End Games Star Wars had system for handling quick draw. It was this: each character would subtract a number of dice from their weapon skill. They would then roll these dice and the highest total won (or something like that) and got off the shot first.

In SR, you might do the same, but use the number of success rolled to determine first shot. This of course implies that drawing faster would reduce accuracy.

The GM might also allow a Quickdraw special skill to supplement this. The dice from this skill would be added to the other two for: AGI + (skill) + Quickdraw. Yes, that does give an advantage to someone with the skill, but that is as it should be. Many people know how to shoot, but very few bother to pratice quickdrawing in a meaningful way. Think of it as the difference between a skilled Old West shooter and a professional Gunman. The shooter might be able to shoot the hair off a peach, but the gunslinger could do that AND draw his pistol in the blink of an eye.

I would limit the Quickdraw skill to a single weapon. The character could learn it for knives, swords or pistols. That skill would not cross over to any other another type of weapon.

But then you're breaking SR4's theoretical streamlined system.

In addition, you're running in to the same issues you get if you break up the weapons - you create so damn many skills you can't reasonably get them all.

I should point out even with the adept power that lets you quick draw anything you can draw your grenade launch, and then drop it and draw your stoner ares. However you still could not do a long wide burst since you just spent one simple action, and a long wide burst is a complex action. However you could still do a single shot, or a normal burst. It sounds bizarre, but its supposed to be literally magic pushing the human body to do bizarro things. I mean adepts can already do things like not leaving foot steps, seeing in thermographic, being able to hit as hard as a sniper rifle.

There shouldn't be another skill set or rule set for quick drawing, as there is alreayd a rule for the quickdrawing of pistols, all you need to do is expand the rule to include other types of weapons.

The rule currently is that if you want to draw and attack in the same simple action you roll your Pistol skill plus reaction with a threshold of three. All you need to do to dot he same with another weapon is substitute the weapon skill of that weapon in place of the Pistol Skill. Whoever shoots first is already figured out in you initiative order.

Edit: Others are faster than I.

if you were to add the skill "Quick Draw"
how about something like this
Quick Draw (Initiative):
if combat has not initiated and no one is surprised (neither you or your opponent have fired), you both make an opposed Initiative test, adding quickdraw skill, the highest score attempts to draw first.