Str does very little to mitigate recoil in real life, it's mainly Mass and skill. Mass absorbs recoil and skill lets you bring the gun back in line faster for the next shot. All strength really does in my opinion is let you carry a heavy gun easier.

I think one would come to the same conclusion if you compared the mass of a RL human to the theoretical mass of a troll in SR.

The point is that SR's recoil system is overly punitive when compared to RL recoil- which is done to maintain game balance, don't you agree?

As an aside- would you consider a "Body vs Recoil" rule more realistic than the current "Strength vs Recoil". I think its an interesting idea. And by-the-by, it would convert easily to weapons mounted on vehicles, as you could simply multiply the vehicles body by 3 (for example) and use the same mechanic.

I'd honestly think that Reaction would make more sense. Compensating for it with skill and your ability to react to it in much the same way; bringing the weapon back in line faster. You'd probably need to alter the modifier table that way, though, since the Reaction attribute has greater modifiers to it than Strength does.

'Course, Reaction makes a lot of sense for several Strength-linked skills, too. But they had to give Strength something to do beyond just melee damage codes, and Reaction already does a lot. So it comes back to the game balance issue.

I really don't agree because skill is what gives you more dice to hit with despite the recoil. That already mitigates the effect of recoil versus an unskilled person, I dont think we should double up on that. I would be happy to make recoil absorbed by body. I think I'll try that in my next game.

Actually, skill doesn't have much impact on that. All skill does is give you extra dice which only slightly increases your chances of an accurate shot with high recoil. Reaction would actually lower the effective recoil while skill would still determine your accuracy. They're complimentary more than doubling up.

body vs. recoil is much, much more realistic than strength. reaction... i dunno. i can see how the argument works, but that's not what it feels like is happening, when i shoot.

I don't know. I tend to agree with BitBasher. Reaction doesn't seem like the right attribute to me. When you shoot a pistol you focus on keeping the sights on target (using skill) and let your body (be it through strength or mass) absorb the force of the recoil.

To me, using reaction would imply that the shooter is taking taking some deliberate action as the recoil happens to negate its force (its "reactionary") and thats just not possible. It happens so fast you have to be in the proper possition with the proper grip BEFORE firing. And if you anticipate the recoil and try to actively counteract it you tend to flinch, push the barrel down or pull the barrel up- common mistakes one makes when first learning how to shoot a pistol.

But there again the attributes are abstract representations of a character's ability. You might interpret Reaction differently than I do.

yeah. recoil isn't so much something you react to, as something you prepare for beforehand.

heh, indeed.