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Naval Shotcannon

Started by RobSkib, September 19, 2017, 12:11:30 PM

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RobSkib

Some of you may have seen my Naval Armsman from the Mercy Megathread, and you may note she is equipped with rather a vicious-looking weapon.



At first I was playing with the idea of having it as a grenade launcher, but when someone inquired if it was a big-ass shotgun, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to make an armsman wielding a naval shotcannon. I had a quick browse through Marco's revised armoury and was shocked(!) that this incredibly specific weapon had not been catered for, so I had a go at assembling one with the rules I had.

Type:   Basic
Range:   E   
Firing mode:   Sg/Sm(2/4)      
Accuracy:   –
Damage:   D6+2*
Shots:   14      
Reload:   3   
Encumbrance:   50   
Special:   DM, Jam Prone
Rarity: UnCm

It uses the stats of a full auto shotgun, with the large caliber and drum mag special rules, with scatter shells loaded:

Scatter Shot (Common)
"A very standard loading, a standard shot shell fires a small cloud of lead projectiles at the target. They have poor armour defeating capabilities and the projectiles rapidly disperse, but the effect of multiple projectiles impacting in the same instant can be especially effective against un-armoured or lightly armoured targets".

Range E; D6+1 damage

*Multiple hits (1 hit per Degree of Success up to a maximum of 3 hits, all to the same location)

Large Calibre
+1 Damage. Gains Considerable Recoil rule . +5 EncPump Action, Lever Action, Auxiliary and Dual Magazine shotgun magazine sizes reduced by 1. (-1 to both Magazines on the Dual Mag)Semi-Auto, Auto and Bullpup Auto Magazine sizes reduced by 2.

Drum Magazine (DM)
A very easy modification to fit, as it's a simple magazine swap. Weapons which can take this modification are marked with "DM" under the Notes column.
The weapon's magazine capacity is doubled, Enc is increased by +5, the Reload stat by +1 and the weapon gains the Jam Prone special rule.   

Now this seems largely okay on paper, but comparing it to the stats from Rogue Trader, a shotcannon does 2d10+4 damage compared to a shotgun's 1d10+4, and has 24 rounds in a magazine. Firing mode, range and unreliability all seem present which is good, but it seems a bit lacking in punch.

What do you think? Is it meaty enough for its size, or could it do with a bit more welly?
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MarcoSkoll

I know I've already briefly commented on Facebook, but I'll comment here too, in a more rulesy fashion this time.

The scatter/spray shot is part of the reason the Large Calibre modification for the shotgun is a seemingly weedy +1 damage. This is fairly minor on a 3D6+1 solid slug, but when a hit with scatter shot can quite easily inflict three hits, that adds up to an extra 3 damage, and a significant increase to the chance of those hits doing two injury levels rather than one (or defeating armour).

RIA's scatter shot can be absolutely brutal against lightly armoured targets, frequently inflicting three or more injury levels from a single hit.  (And it isn't even shabby against armoured targets if you're using the "Lucky Shot" rule - every 6 on the damage die is automatically a maximum damage roll and would get to add an extra die).

I'd suggest trying it as is first, and seeing how nasty it is. If it feels lacklustre, you could either bump it up an extra damage point, or possibly allow it to inflict a maximum of 4 hits.
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