When buying a gun illegally, i.e. from the street rather than going into Weapons World™ flashing a SIN, and paying the Street Index price; is the gun brand-new and factory fresh or does it have some kind of ‘history’ and maybe it’s even hot?

"It has only been fired once... to test it. Yeah, test, that's it" "The red stuff? Ummm... nailcolour of my sister, sure"

Well that is the difference between buying it just on the black market from a renowned weapons-dealer bringing it in from other countries in bulk or buying something "USED" from a couple of nervous punks.

There are no qualities for guns like that, sadly. GM decision. I'd give it one if it's at a discount, though, and in fact have done that before, as a GM.

Equipment traits would seem like an excellent idea to have in SR5.




-k

Yes, they indeed would.

"Item used in a crime under investigation" reduces the price by 10%, and is included as a suggestion for the Gamemaster in the Street Costs table, page 303, SR4, or page 312, SR4A.

Aside from the modifiers, I guess a gun's background depends on who you're buying it from. If you have a contact inside Ares that's quietly "losing" product and you happen to "find" it, you might well get a brand-new Predator IV in its original packaging (meaning no "history"). On the other hand, a different Predator IV that you buy from your local arms dealer might've been stolen from someone's house and fenced to them before making its way to you.

Personally, as a GM I like to use little things like this as potential RP hooks. "Oh, you just bought a new Panther? Funny, the local Ancients lieutenant had one stolen from him yesterday..."

I think for the purposes of the game, it's really GM's discretion. Statistically, most guns purchased on the street aren't going to be new. They are usually stolen and/or were used in a crime. It's a matter of taking it to a gunsmith/armorer to change the ballistics pattern or having the serial number removed. I'd say changing the serial number would be a lot more difficult.

That being said, if a fixer comes across a crate of new guns "that fell off the back of an Ares truck", then it's possible to buy a new gun off the black market. As a GM, I'd say it'd be harder to come by, and probably a bit more expensive.