I got a question about recoil in SR2.

When they say that burst file is cumulative ( +3 for the first burst, +6 for the second ), how does recoil compensation work?

Does it only work once? -3 recoil reduction
+0 first burst, +6 second burst

Or

Does it kill off the recoil all the way through? - 3 recoil reduction

+0 first burst, +3 second burst

or am I not making sense at all?

Option 2 is correct.

Your recoil modifers keep adding up, but your RC pulls its rating off each of those.

I have no idea how it worked back in the 2nd Edition of Shadowrun, but it's certainly like your second example in SR3. Ie it negates the recoil caused by the amount of shots indicated by the RC rating all the way through.

Thanks. Option 2 seemed the most realistic to me, but I thought I'd get a second( or eighth) opinion.

Option 2 is how we played it in 2nd Edition and how we continue to play it in 3rd. I don't think it's changed. Although I wouldn't be suprised if it worked completely differently in 1st Edition.

Option 2 is the correct one, as I remember correctly. Penalties are cummulative, but each TN is subtracted by the recoil comp. So a 10 round burst in 2 3-rounders and a 4 rounder at 1 target with gasvent rating 3 on an LMG with a smart link at medium range would be:

Burst1: 5+3-2-3= TN 3, 12D, I believe
Burst2: 5+6-2-3= TN 6, 12D
Burst3: 5+10-2-3= TN 10, 13D

Also check out Fields of fire, as your strength can give you some recoil comp.

Don

The actual Stats for RC by Strength are in the CC, the numbers in the FoF are obsolet

But the original poster is playing 2nd ed. The second ed rules are in Fields of Fire. Breaking and entering rules are in Corporate Security that reprints some sections from Neo-Anarchist guide to real life.

Don

SR1 was completely wacko - each bullet had an attack resolved individually which meant *lots* of rolling - each successive bullet had an increased recoil of 1 with the total RC subtracted from that.

Painful.

A lot more realistic, but painful.

~J