I see that the errata for run and gun is out, and it is making me wonder again if I should buy it.
At the moment I’m running a one player game, and the player is running a shaman. We have a small stable of NPC that are generally available to help with runs, who are more or less under the players control from a tactical point of view (although I try to keep it down to one or two actively taking part in a run, to limit the number of dice to be rolled). The only one of them that is heavily combat oriented is Backbeat, the charming elven thug/gun-lover/bass-guitarist, and I don’t see any particular need to give that sort of NPC flourishes like martial arts. There are a couple more NPC that can run drones, but I don’t think R&G adds combat options for those? And of course everyone has some sort of firearms skill, but firefights are never the focus of adventures.
Which leaves the opposition. I’m all in favour of having distinctive, sometimes downright quirky, opponents. They are more memorable, and help make encounters more distinctive. (my biggest hit so far is George the grossly obese troll mage-for-hire. Body 11, agility 1, almost always hunkered down behind wards in a hard to access location, making life difficult by sending out fire spirits and his astral form). I’d be interested in less used combat actions, distinctive gear, maybe even a martial art that changes up what you expect of melee combat, things like that which could keep encounters and opposition interesting.
Given the above, sell me on Run & Gun….or not. For a campaign that doesn’t really care a lot about shiny toys that go boom (although shiny toys that go ‘vroom’ do form a key component), and where the biggest use might be to help make NPC more distinctive, does it offer enough to justify buying it? Or for the same money should I just buy a bottle of rum and do some brain-storming of my own?