Ok, here's my problem. I have a player who has ALL the (useful) eye mods in his cybereyes, up to the 1.2 max. He uses the gyrojet pistol. Whenever he takes a shot, no mater what range up to the max of the gun, his TN is almost always 2 unless I throw in some cover mods. He picks out guys and kills them in 1 hit before they can even see him.

Now I'm all for players being able to purchase cyber to make themselves a cut above the opposition, but my real problem is with image magnification.

I have trouble seeing how being able to zoom in with your eyes on your target makes your shot more accurate. The scope on a rifle is one thing: it's fixed to the stock, so whatever your scoping on, your gun is pointing at. But your head is not connected to your gun. So how does zooming your view mean you'll be aiming better? So with the very cheap and affordable eye magnification, you guarantee all shots you will ever take will be base TN 4. Add smartlinking and basic visual amplifiers and you're looking at usual shots of TN 2-6 tops.

Anyway, any "canon" tricks on limiting TN 2 always shots before I break out the bag of House Rule whupass?

Only one "visual" mod can be applied when shooting. So you use either Smartlink, or Laser Sight, or Optical Mag, but you can't combine them in any way.

Edit: I'm not sure about the Laser Sight + Visual Magnification. The entry in the BBB p280 says that Visual Magnification can't be used with a Smartlink, but doesn't mention Laser Sights.

If a target stands out in the open, then I really don't have a problem with a PC getting a low TN on such clean shots. They have the skills and the gear - let'em have TN 2.

My suggestion would be to consider using more cover, particularly if the targets are aware they're being shot at. In buildings, there should be more cover than you can shake a stick at - corners, desks, filing cabinets, etc. In cities, it's the same thing. Cars, corners, bomb-resistant trashcans, etc. You don't regularly have combats on open football fields, do you?

Where does it say one cannot reduce the base target number for distance using an electrical or optical magnification on a cyber eye and the -2 bonus from smartlink at any time?What about the mods of thermographic and lowlight which can be used at the same time for the layering rules of visibility modifiers?

So, in further reading and culling through most of my sources, I find nothing that prevents using a laser sight and Visual Magnification together. Score another one for the much maligned laser sight, I guess. The typical laser sight only goes out to 50 m, with reduced ranges for rain, smoke, fog, etc. There are expensive high-powered lasers that go out to 500 m available as well.

Also, from the Shadowrun FAQ:

Oh finally a ruling on that. Long ranges are usefull again!

Also not that a lot of people care, but the FAQ says
The rules state that image magnifying scopes are not compatible with smartlinks, but what about cybernetic vision magnification or the equivalent adept improved sense?
While a character may be simultaneously equipped with a smartlink system and an imaging scope/vision mag cyberware/vision mag adept power, the modifiers from both may not be used at the same time. So a samurai could use vision magnification to reduce the target number when shooting a target at long range, and then switch to using a smartlink to reduce the target number against a target at short range--but he couldn't use both the smartlink and vision mag modifiers on the same target.

Great! Now I can stop some of the rampit sniping. Makes it harder on my NPCs, but....

ram...pit... what the hell is that??

Oh, "rampant". Woah, rampit had all sorts of weird images in my mind.

Also, in a gunfight, EVERYONE should be diving for hard cover, it keeps you alive!

There is something in CC about Rangefinder+SL2, IIRC it reduces the penalties for the ranges beyond Medium or something. It's a small snippet somwhere.

Part of the problem is the Gyrojet pistol, too. Those things are sick.

a compiled list of NPC tactics that keep them from getting venilated so damn fast:

1) cover. even two points is nice.
2) smoke grenades.
3) flashlight-equipped weapons (glare)
3) hide-and-seek (shoot, duck out of sight, move to a new location, force a perception check and a surprise check)

feel free to add.

Not to mention, since the Gyrojet rounds are rockets, they leave a nice little contrail leading right back to the gun. But as a pistol on land, they have shotgun ranges.

And there are two types of ammo for the Gyrojet - regular Gyrojet Rockets: 12M(12S underwater), and Plus Rockets: 12M(12S underwater), but the PLUS Rockets use the rules for APDS, *AND* they're anti-vehicular (AV).

And availability is only 14, compared to 16 for "regular" AV rounds.

But the downsides are noise (Rocket launching, and explosion when it hits), Contrails that lead right back to the gun, a pretty distinctive sound, and they require their own special skill - not Pistols.

Flash-paks, weather (it is gerenally raining in seattle), fog, smoke, glare, movement, etc. It all adds up rapidly.

Whatever PCs can use, so can NPCs. Just raise the threat level.

the hi-power laser sight has a range of 500m at night, 150 during the day. the normal laser sight has a range of 50m. moreover, the bonus from a laser sight is negated completely by an form of smoke, mist, or rain.

Not to mention that the target of the laser sight or his buddies can make a perception test to see the laser dot. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the hero of a TV show notice the laser dot and jump out of the way just before the sniper fires. It's practically a TV action scene cliche.

I have no problem with a sniping character on a clear day against an unmoving target having a target numbers of 2 for the first shot. After that, he should either have to deal with targets taking full cover (8 points) or running and dodging.

I don't think that the scatter rules apply to the Gyrojet since it's a Quickness based skill rather than a Int or Str based.
Although if I'm wrong I'll blame it on the lack of reference books.(Hobbit snot on my CC finally gave out)

hm. they are rockets. i don't remember--do they have an area effect?

They may use miniature rockets for ammo, but the Gyrojet still follows the same rules for Pistol ammo - so there's no scatter, etc. Normal Rocket rules don't apply.

Well, they're not listed as having an area effect and they're only 6mm, so I would say no. On the other hand, one has to wonder if the other rocket rules apply.

Normal Rockets have scatter, and scatter distance listed, which the gyrojet lacks. For the sake of convenience, let's assume it doesn't have scatter, especially since they go out of their way to mention the seeker heads do have scatter.

The rule I'm wondering about is SR 3 p 120: All missiles and rockets arrive at their target at Combat phase 1 of the last initiative pass of the combat turn in which they were launched. Since it does mention they're rockets, I don't see why this wouldn't apply--which means I wouldn't touch a gyrojet with a reach 2 collapsable bo.

A revision on those ranges, unmodified extreme is 9, so SL2 would be seven, and rangefinder+SL2 would be 5. Although, correct me if i'm wrong, but if you're firing at something over half a kilometre away, wouldn't you need some sort of magnification to actually see your target? And what effect is a rangefinder actually meant to have? Does it allow you to calculate the trajectory of your bullet? If so, wouldn't that be useful only outside of the bullet's effective range, when it really starts to arc?

stop. just stop right there. whenever someone starts trying to figure out how smartlinks work, bad things happen.

bullets arc over the entire course of their flight. there is no part of the bullet's flight that is not a curve.

Nice try RunnerPaul, but bullets won't keep a perfectly straight line, especially on the way down. After they've had to turn around.

disregarding factors like wind, a bullet fired perfectly straight up (or down) will not arc. few shots are fired perfectly perpendicular to gravity (or whatever you call it when your line of effect is directly through the center of a sphere), though so it's not really germane.

Although a line can be thought of as a curve, mathematically.

Disregarding wind, but not the effect of air resistance, a bullet fired perfectly straight up will arc. The spin to give it greater accuracy as well as very minor imperfections in the bullet itself will cause it to drift (even if only nanometers) during its flight. Especially depending on the type of bullet and its typical behaviors, tendancys to tumble for instance would really make it not straight up and down.

Also, it can be considered a curve, since it has time as a factor in it.

regardless, it's got nothing to do with the conversation at hand.

Canon Companion, pg 26:

Oh, yeah, don't forget to have someone cast a spell on him.

"I cast a spell...!" - The Dead Alewives.

bitbasher, it happens towards the end of season 1. if you haven't seen it, i don't want to ruin it for you.