I have a character who wants to use a Micro Flare Launcher (3rd Ed, 293) as a weapon. He's a bit fire-focused, and while it won't be his primary, he's going to try it often enough for it to be a problem.

3rd Ed provides damage and ranges for it, but my question is what skill should I use, assuming that the character can't take points in Micro Flare Launcher? Would it default to SMGs (since it uses SMG ranges)? If so, would I have to apply a penalty for defaulting to a skill, or would I just use SMG skill with the +2 TN modifier specified by the book?

And before anyone says anything, yeah, I know it's not exactly... discreet to employ a low-powered incendiary that lights up a city block as a weapon.

It may use SMG ranges, but that's to reflect it's a pistol sized device that launches the flare farther than a pistol round would go. I'd say it'd default to launch weapons, or pistols.

Launch weapons, in my mind, because it amounts to basically a portable rocket.

Fair enough, makes sense to me.

So, now, using Launch Weapons, do I apply a +2 for defaulting to the skill with something that isn't really designed to be a weapon on top of the +2 denoted in the launcher's description, or just the latter?

I'd say just the penalty for defaulting, because in the case of the flare launcher, 'not intended for use as a weapon' is more of a semantic arguement, since it does launch an incendiary at high velocities.

Alright. It seemed to me that the penalty denoted in the weapon's description was probably the same thing as the defaulting penalty, but I wanted to get a second opinion. Thanks.

But its simply not made to be accurate hence the extra plus 2, it's designed to hit the sky, in that general direction, not a person sized target. It likely it isn't even a stabilized round, and has a lot of simple randomness to it's flight path.

Good point. I was just picturing a flare flying out in a straight line, not thinking about how when your only real goal is to get altitude, straight becomes a very relative term.

indeed. maybe things will be different in 206x, but the flare rounds i've seen used rebel fiercely against the straight-line autocracy imposed upon them by the Man.