I have two quick questions, which I should probably know the answers to, but I can't decide.

1) If ultrasound vision and another vision mode are used together, does ultrasound vision halve the base vision modifier or the one for the special vision mode? Ie, in low light conditions, would a PC have a +3 modifier or a +2 if he had both thermo and ultrasound (both cyber). What if he had natural thermo?

2) Does image magnification affect the TNs for throwing weapons? I'd guess yes, but I'm not sure.

I'm not too sure about that first question.

As for the second, i would think the numbers would stay the same because it's all based on strength. Even if you can SEE someone 100 meters away, you might not be strong enough to huck a knife at him. No matter how big he looks, he's still out of range.

1) You almost always use the best vision modifier available for multiple systems.

2) Vision magnification lowers the range of any ranged attack test, of which Throwing Weapons is.

That's crap

hear, hear.

with ultrasound, i usually halve the final modifier, after other mods have already reduced penalties. that's probably not a correct interpretation of the rules, though.

and, yeah, vision mag reduces TN for all ranged attacks.

IIRC the ultrasound 1/2ing of penalties is applied to the cyber thermographic's +4 for a final TN of +2.

One thing, since thrown weapon ranges vary based on strength wouldnt that essentially increase your characters strength attribute for thrown weapons? Its obviously not a matter of seeing farther, its a matter of throwing farther (ie. just because I can zoom in until I can see the trolls nosehairs doesn't mean I'm suddenly Nolan Ryan for lobbing that grenade at him).

not really. your maximum throw is still limited to your Str--an effective increase in Str for thrown weapons would increase the maximum distance you could throw.

The rules for Vision Magnification are just crazy anyway. Apparently, Level 1 is only sufficient enough to magnify your vision 5 feet if you're packing a hold-out pistol... but it jumps all the way up to 150 feet if you pick up a missile launcher. Go figure.

No easy way around that unless you want separate ranges for vision/environment-based inaccuracy and weapon-based inaccuracy.

i dunno, seems like it shouldn't be too hard to whip up a -(x) modifier for every 50x magnification, with a maximum magnification multiplier (say that five times fast) limited by weapon type. it wouldn't be wholly true-to-life, but it'd be a step up from where we're at now.

or, how about this: each weapon type has a magnification increment. for holdouts, it might be 10x; every 10x of magnification lowers the TN by 1. for sniper rifles, it might be 50x, same deal. max magnification might be limited to a set number of increments--5, maybe, so that the maximum useful mag on a holdout would be 50x and the max mag on a sniper rifle would be 250x. you'd have to play around with it to make it more closely mimic reality, but how's that for a starting place?

Unless you're running smartlinked or with a laser pointer, magnification without the use of a scope should mess up your accuracy since you're basically altering your frame of reference in relation to your gun. I may be zoomed in on the target, but I'm not as able to tell just where my barrel is pointed in relation to it. You have to be able to see things from the guns perspective in order to benefit from magnification.

indeed.

Well the theory goes you're staring at the target through the weapon's sights. It's not like you're going to use vision mag and fire from the hip or something; that *would* be silly.

Also note that smartlinks and vision mags are incompatible, so a SL wouldn't help you use a vision mag either way.