Guns & Equipment

[Remy Sinclair]

One of my players wants to play a character with the powers of being able to bend and control her bullets like in the movie Wanted and like the character Rally Vincent from the manga Gunsmith Cats. She wants to be able to control the bullets and not kill her Skips (she is playing a bounty hunter).

So a Focused Practioner seems to fit the bill a Kineticmancer type. We are working on the powers and spells but we have noticed a lack of weapons and guns.

My player is wanting some stats on the type of guns and well so do I. Even some general equipment as well.

Am I missing something in my two books? Or is there a place I can get this information for this system outside of the game? Even buying one of Evil Hat's other books for the stats I will.

[Deadmanwalking]

Probably, but honestly the system isn't designed for complex equipment rules, it's too freeform for that. Guns have a Weapon rating between about 1 and 4 based on how deadly they are and, if you like, certain guns could have an Aspect or two (like "Unreliable"). Guns that can do full auto can be used to perform Spray Attacks. That's basically all there is to it.

Also, any bullet-bending will be pure spell-work. Mechanically speaking, you can make the guns their Foci but aside from that, shooting is just a special effect, the type of gun won't matter in the lest, mechanically.

[Remy Sinclair]

Bullets Per Clip and Rate of Fire per action do matter not all hand held automatics fire at the same rate of fire for instance. Also distance as well and that is hand guns and rifles.

I understand the stunts like Spray Fire but handling guns I know there are differences that can effect the stunts. I guess I might have to add my own rules and build the guns.

[crusher_bob]

The (very short) section on weapons in YS p 202, with a little bit more on YS 322, with a short mention on grenades on YS 325.

The game isn't supposed to be that equipment heavy.

But the weapon ratings would look something like this:

Weapon: 1
Some Pocket and hold out pistols, target pistols
Knives
Other "hand" weapons, such as brass knuckles, etc

Weapon: 2
Higher powered pocket and hold-out pistols, the vast majority of all combat handguns
Larger hand weapons (bats, batons, staff, very large knives, most 1 handed swords, chains, etc)

Weapon: 3
OMG! hand cannons (.44 magnum, .50 AE, etc)
Assault and hunting rifles
Shotguns
Light and medium machine guns
Extremely well made 1 handed swords, and similar
Large 2-handed melee weapons (pole arms, large axes, greatswords, etc)

Weapon: 4
Heavy machine guns (50 BMG, 14.5 mm, etc)
Anti-material rifles (50 BMG, 14.5mm, etc)
Hand grenades (+ Area: 1, or possibly only weapon: 3 for less energetic versions)
Very well made 2-handed melee weapons, or 1 handed weapons for things with hulking size

Weapon: 5
Larger explosive devices (ex: land mines, possibly + area: 2)
Ridiculous melee weapons (cars, swords the size of cars, trees, that kind of thing)
Vehicular manslaughter
Auto-cannons (such as those found on aircraft, attack helicopters, and infantry fighting vehicles)

Weapon: 8-10
Tank guns, anti-tank rockets, artillery pieces, etc

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Then for armor, really there's only (potentially) concealable armor:1 and (always) obvious armor: 2

[Deadmanwalking]

Bullets Per Clip and Rate of Fire per action do matter not all hand held automatics fire at the same rate of fire for instance. Also distance as well and that is hand guns and rifles.

Oh, absolutely. But you're thinking about this wrong: The game isn't intended to simulate reality, not all the fiddly little details anyway. Ranges are in zones, not meters, and reloading doesn't even have explicit rules (though it's easily handled as a supplemental action). And pistol and rifle ranges do differ, pistols can shoot up to two zones, rifles three. And specific number of bullets per second is immaterial, it's how effective the burst of fire is, and that's a combination of a Guns roll and Weapon rating.

I understand the stunts like Spray Fire but handling guns I know there are differences that can effect the stunts. I guess I might have to add my own rules and build the guns.

I advise strongly agains this. Adding mundane minutiae to the rules will really slow down play, bore many players, not reflect the genre this game is intended to simulate, and just generally not lead to a better gaming experience.

[svb1972]

You want to have a character who can bend the rules of physics when it comes to gun trajectory, but you're bent out of shape at the idea that the rules don't reflect reality when it comes to reloading, and fire rate?

She's playing a cheaterang.  Let her cheat.

[crusher_bob]

The way "improved" equipment would be mechanically implemented in FATE would be by either having an aspect on your character related to how cool your stuff is, or possibly by making resources (or contacts) declarations before an encounter, somewhat like you do for an ambush.

[edit]
Hmm, one possible idea is to have an "equipment" stunt that grants you something sorta like potion slots, but for mundane equipment instead.  So you'd trade out 1 refresh for 2 "equipment slots" and can do the "why yes, I just happen to have a: (pair of night vision goggles, a rope, a can of tire sealant, a GPS, etc)

[Remy Sinclair]

You want to have a character who can bend the rules of physics when it comes to gun trajectory, but you're bent out of shape at the idea that the rules don't reflect reality when it comes to reloading, and fire rate?

She's playing a cheaterang.  Let her cheat.

For the record the player is my wife, we both have 30+ experience between us, she wants to know this information as well. She is the one asking me this that started this down the path.

So don't over think it. Just wanted other people's thoughts thanks.

[Wordmaker]

Looking to the OP, I second the recommendation that her access to high-end equipment come from an Aspect like "I Only Use The Best," which can be invoked both to get bonuses for her quality gear, but also to make declarations that she's probably got all manner of back-up weapons stashed on her, in ehr car, in her home, etc.

Maybe she could take the Channelling Power with a focus on "Kinetomancy" and a custom Power like "Gun Mage" which lets her use her Guns Skill in place of Discipline in Rotes which use guns?

The combination of those two would allow for an interesting and definitely unique (Dresden-wise) character who does what your wife's after while atill being very definitely a Dresdenverse character.

And the fact that she specifically uses these powers to avoid killing her targets means she wouldn't be in violation of the Laws of Magic.

Actually, thinking on this, would you mind if I used this idea in my own game? It's too awesome. I need this to be an NPC or something...

[svb1972]

For the record the player is my wife, we both have 30+ experience between us, she wants to know this information as well. She is the one asking me this that started this down the path.

So don't over think it. Just wanted other people's thoughts thanks.

I did not mean your player was cheating.

That the character was using magic to cheat physics and her guns.  I would treat the guns like a magic focus.  What she can do with them is way more about her, than about the guns.  Besides, if she starts to get guns that are too fancy, they're going to jam and stop working at the wrong times.

A Wizard using a gun focus would /seriously/ need to be using 6 shooters, maybe the most basic of automatic pistols.
Anything newer than that is just asking for trouble.

[Bubba Amon Hotep]

Domino from the Marvel-verse.

Domino is a mutant with the ability to subliminally and psionically initiate random telekinetic acts that affect probability in her favor by making improbable (but not impossible) things to occur within her line of sight, thus causing her to have "good luck" and her opponents to have "bad luck." This phenomenon can be anything from an enemy's equipment failure to hitting just the right switch with a stray shot to shut down an overloading nuclear reactor.

I can totally see this as a focused practitioner.  You see the point you want to hit with the bullets or focus on a body part you saw before they hid behind the wall and curve your bullet around the wall to hit that body part.  Very nice very simple.  No need to over think.

I would take the suggestion that others have given about the weapon types and keep it simple.  Revolvers, and other hearty weapons.  You get into any modern military fully automatic and you are asking for a wizard to hex your weapon and make your character useless.

I like the idea your wife came up with.

I see a NPC taking shape in my mind.  A small girl.  12 years or younger.  Teddy bear backpack, and front pockets stuffed with marble sized shapes. (silver and iron ball bearings).  On her wrist a custom hello kitty slingshot.

Doesn't matter that she isn't strong enough to pull the slingshot WAAAY back.  She reinforces the "bullet" with magic increasing damage, and aims it with magic.  So yeah the slingshot is simply her "wand".

[JustinS]

Or, just take the aspect "I bend bullets", and use gun skills to do maneuvers instead of attacks, and invoke it a lot.

[swordsman]

Interesting....

So, how would the spell go?

I'm thinking a Discipline roll modified by her Guns, aiming (heh) to put a "Can't use cover" aspect on the target. Maybe a block to prevent cover-like maneuvers or full defense?

Should an attack spell cast through the gun (revolver?) get a free Weapon:2?