GunMaker Errata
Here are some issues I believe need addressing in GunMaker. I have started a discussion thread about these issues
here. Please do not clutter up this thread with discussion of these issues; rather post them on the other thread. I will update this post as the discussion evolves. Thank you.
CLARIFICATION NEEDED ON BURDEN MODIFIER FOR ARTILLERY: p. 251, the Categories table of GunMaker lists the qreBs values for artillery as -1, -2, -4, -4. However, given that a negative B modifier makes a weapon lighter, should these values not be positive? I.e. as you get to bigger and more unwieldy guns, they become more burdensome?
ASSAULT ARTILLERY DOES BANG DAMAGE AS PRIMARY: p.252. The Assault Gun (and other Assault Artillery) has Bang damage listed as its H2, Blast damage listed as its H3. Since, with all Artillery, the H1 type is the same as the H2 type, this means that the Assault Gun does more Bang damage than anything else. (p. 251: "* Hit Type is determined by other details of the weapon.") As you modify this weapon (Advanced, Heavy, etc.) it only gets louder, but does not do more physical damage.
AG-8--Wx: R=4 7500cr 7.2kg B=-1 Bang-3 Blast-2
HAG-8--Wx: R=5 15000cr 9.36kg B=3 Bang-4 Blast-2
AAG-11--Wx: R=4 15000cr 5.76kg B=-2 Bang-5 Blast-2
STANDARD SHOTGUNS ARE UNATTRACTIVE CHOICES, DESIGNATED SHOTGUNS ARE BETTER THAN SIMILARLY DESGINATED RIFLES: Generally speaking, Shotguns do equivalent damage to rifles, yet have much shorter ranges. While shotguns are slightly cheaper, and do offer a (small) benefit in CQ (Rifle=-5, Shotgun=-3), these advantages do not seem compelling enough reason to purchase one over a Rifle. Conventionally, shotguns sometimes have a wider field of fire or the ability to hit multiple targets within their limited range, but there are no rules providing for this. (Which may be as intended, but it would make shotguns a more attractive choice.) Note that Shotguns actually become better than rifles (due to price) if you select Hunting or Assault shotguns. Some comparisons are below. Note the range on the Assault Shotgun. This is because GunMaker assigns a range of 4 to any weapon with the "Assault" descriptor. I'm not sure this makes sense for a shotgun to hit targets at 500m, even with slugs (though the rules specify shotguns as shooting pellet shot).
Standard Comparison:
R-5--Wx: R=5 500cr 4kg B=0 Bullet-2
S-4--Wx: R=2 300cr 4kg B=0 Bullet-2
SR-5--Wx: R=2 600cr 2kg B=0 Bullet-3 (Survival Rifle, for comparison)
Hunting Comparison
HR-5--Wx: R=3 600cr 3.6kg B=-1 Bullet-3
HS-4--Wx: R=3 360cr 3.6kg B=0 Bullet-3
Assault Comparison
AR-7--Wx: R=4 750cr 3.2kg B=0 Bullet-2 Bang-1 Blast-2
AS-6--Wx: R=4 600cr 3.2kg B=0 Bullet-2 Bang-1 Blast-2
"LIGHT" LASER WEAPONS: There is no point making "light" versions of laser carbines or rifles. A light laser carbine has the same basic stats as a laser pistol, but is much heavier and more expensive. The same is true with laser rifles vs. laser carbines.
LtLR-10--Wx: R=4 3300cr 3.36kg B=-1 Burn-3 Pen-2
LC-10--Wx: R=4 2400cr 3.6kg B=-1 Burn-3 Pen-2
LtLC-10--Wx: R=3 2640cr 2.52kg B=-2 Burn-2 Pen-2
LP-10--Wx: R=4 300cr 1.32kg B=0 Burn-3 Pen-2
"HEAVY" LASER WEAPONS: Conversely, a Heavy Laser Pistol (HLP-10) outperforms a Laser Carbine in nearly every way except Burden. Further, it does the same damage as a standard Laser Rifle, yet is much cheaper, gives a better CQ bonus, and weighs comparably (factoring in Burden), and the same Range (see below).
HLP-10--Wx: R=5 600cr 1.72kg B=3 Burn-4 Pen-2
LC-10--Wx: R=4 2400cr 3.6kg B=-1 Burn-3 Pen-2
LR-10--Wx: R=5 3000cr 4.8kg B=0 Burn-4 Pen-2
LASER PISTOL RANGE: Laser pistols have the same range as laser rifles or carbines, which doesn't make much sense to me. Since a Laser Pistol does the same damage as a Laser Carbine there's no incentive to even buy a heavier, more expensive, worse-in-CQ Laser Carbine. IMO, Laser Pistols should have R=3, Laser Carbines R=4, Laser Rifles R=5. (Or perhaps 2/3/4).
MACHINE PISTOL POSSIBLY OVERPOWERED: The "Machine" Designation for Pistol (MP-5) creates a weapon that is superior in nearly every way to other weapons in its class. This is mostly because of the damage it does for the price and weight. Curiously, the Machine Pistol does not grant Burst or Autofire. (There is no provision for "Machine" designation on the table, p. 256) If the damage was brought down to comparable levels but the pistol was given Burst and/or Auto capacity that might make it more appropriate.
MP-5--Wx: R=3 225cr 1.32kg B=0 Bullet-3
MgP-6--Wx: R=3 165cr 1.21kg B=1 Bullet-2 (Magnum Pistol)
R-5--Wx: R=5 500cr 4kg B=0 Bullet-2 (Standard Rifle, Less Damage, Better Range)
HS-4--Wx: R=3 360cr 3.6kg B=0 Bullet-3 (Hunting Shotgun, same damage & range, more expensive, worse in CQ)
BR-6--Wx: R=5 400cr 4kg B=1 Bullet-3 (Battle Rifle, same damage, better range, more expensive, worse in CQ)
CLARIFICATION ON "ANTI-FLYER" AND "ANTI-TANK" DESIGNATION: p.244-245. "Anti-Flyer: The weapon is intended for use against Flyers, typically through a higher rate of fire than similar weapons. Anti-Flyer refers to some aspect of the weapon’s operation…" If the weapon is intended for use vs. Flyers, are there any special bonuses when attacking these targets? Are there penalties when used against non-Flyers? None are specified in the rules, making the "Anti-Flyer" weapon just as effective vs. all targets. Similarly, Anti-Tank weapons are intended against heavily armored ground vehicles but "may reasonably be used against any vehicle." Are there bonuses for use of these weapons vs. vehicles? Penalties against non-vehicle targets?
CLARIFICATION ON NON-PROJECTOR LASER WEAPONS RECEIVING POWER LEVEL CONTROLS: p. 256. "Adding Laser to Rifle adds P1-P2-P3 to become Off-Single-Burst-P1-P2-P3." This means that Laser Rifles have a variable power setting. Also on p. 256, "P1-P2-P3: The weapon has three settings for power level. The standard level is P1 and corresponds to 1D damage in each of the possible damage types for the weapon." This is confusing, since the rules also specify that Laser Rifles base damage is Burn-4, Pen-2. If the lowest setting is at P1 corresponds with Burn-1 and Pen-1, and the highest setting to Burn-3, Pen-3, how does this explain the GunMaker information for Laser Rifles? Conversely, does this mean that setting a Laser Rifle to P2 turns the damage to Burn-5, Pen-3? And if set to P3, does it become Burn-6, Pen-4? (Wow, that's going to hurt, even with the Quality check). Clarification is needed, here. (Personally, I would remove P1-P2-P3 from all Laser weapons except Projectors, where you can have a variable Laser Projector.)
CLARIFICATION ON RANGES FOR "SNUB", "BODY", and "VHEAVY" BURDEN: The table on p. 253 lists the range modification for these three Burdens with an asterisk, i.e., *2, *1, *5 respectively. There is no notation of what this asterisk means. I am assuming it means you do not modify the range of the weapon like in other Burdens, but rather set the Range to that number (i.e. All Snub weapons have a range of 2). But this should be spelled out.
CLARIFICATION ON "TARGET" STAGE: Target Rifles and Pistols are "optimized for accuracy" (p.247). However, there is nothing in the QREBS for this Stage that affects accuracy. Quality gets a +2, but Quality does not affect accuracy. Ease of Use, however, does. Should it be E instead of Q?
