[swaghauler]

Shotguns in Twilight are entirely too powerful when compared to real life shotguns (especially when using buckshot). I have made some changes to the rules which I will list here. Use them or ignore them as you choose:

Range of Shotguns:

The Range Bands for Shotguns ADD the base range bands instead of DOUBLING the base range band. A shotgun which has a base (Short) range of 20 meters with a slug will have a 40 meter Medium Range, a 60 meter Long Range and an 80 meter Extreme Range with that slug.
The Exception to this rule is if the shotgun is using a Rifled Barrel. Rifled Slugs fired from a Rifled Barrel double their Base Range Bands just like all of the other weapons in the basic Twilight2000 rules. "Added Range bands" are indicated by brackets like this, [20m], to differentiate them from doubled range bands.

Ghost Ring or Rifle Sights: These add 5 meters to the Base (Short) Range of Slugs and Sabots (both smoothbore & Rifled) and 2 meters to any Buckshot or Flechettes.

Chokes: I only use three chokes in my game. They are;
Cylinder Bore: This is the "base" choke for all shotguns in the game.
Modified Cylinder Choke: This choke adds 1 meter to the shotgun's Short/Base range.
Full Choke: This choke adds 2 meters to the Short/Base Range of the shotgun. Full chokes also make it unsafe to fire slugs through the gun (due to increased pressures from the choke). This choke is unpopular for Military and LE applications because of this.

Shotgun Short Ranges Based on Barrel Length:

For ease of game play; The Short Range of any gauge of shotgun is based on barrel length. The gauge of a shotgun only affects the number of pellets or size of the slug that shotgun shoots. Consult the list below to determine your Base/Short Range and then add any "Range Bonuses" to this Short Range. While this really "oversimplifies" real world shotguns; It is easy to apply in game.

Shotgun BUCKSHOT/SLUG Range By Barrel Length Chart:
8" Barrel or Less: 5 meters/8 meters
9" to 12" Barrel: 6 meters/14 meters
13" to 15" Barrel: 7 meters/18 meters
16" to 18" Barrel: 8 meters/20 meters
19" to 21" Barrel: 9 meters/22 meters
22" to 24" Barrel: 10 meters/24 meters
25" to 27" Barrel: 11 meters/27 meters
28" to 30" Barrel: 12 meters/30 meters

Remember that Rifled Slug barrels are treated like normal rifle barrels.
Add 1 meters to this base range, and 1 to Recoil for a 3" Magnum Shell
Add 2 meters to this base range and 2 to Recoil for a 3 1/2" Magnum Shell

Buckshot in the Game:

Buckshot in the real world expands at a rate of one INCH per YARD (or meter) of travel. Because of this, most buckshot will hit only a single location at ranges out to 10 meters (a 10" spread of the shot). Shorter barrels tend to "open up" the pattern of the buckshot they fire sooner (although this isn't always the case). This is why range is the primary tool I use for demonstrating the difference between barrel lengths. To simulate this behavior; in game Buckshot behaves as follows:
At Short Range: Buckshot is considered a single shot for the listed damage to ONE location.
At Medium Range: Buckshot is rolled like a 9 shot burst from a rifle. Each hit causes 1 Die of damage. *As an optional reality rule you can roll the first hit normally and then roll each additional hit location by rolling either 1D6 for an initial upper body hit or 1D6+4 for an initial lower body hit depending on whether the FIRST hit was upper or lower body oriented. This would represent the "pattern" being either high or low on the target's body. This rule would be implemented at the Gm's discretion.
At Long Range: The Buckshot would now be rolled as a 5 round burst. and the shooter would have a +1 bonus to hit due to the shot spread. Each hit does 1D6 damage.
At Extreme Range: The Buckshot would now be a 3 round burst with a +2 to hit bonus due to shot spread. Damage would be 1D6 per round that hits
Bird Shot:
Bird shot has a very bad reputation for poor penetration in human tissue. Most bird shot won't penetrate 4" of Ballistic Gel. The FBI states that 12" of penetration in Ballistic Gel is needed to reach the vital organs of a human being. That being said; If all you have is Bird shot, then Bird shot IS what you will use. This poor effect can be modeled in game by treating Bird Shot
as Buckshot; BUT each hit does only ONE POINT OF DAMAGE (not one die) to the target. Birdshot would give bonuses of +1 at Medium Range, +2 at Long Range, and +3 at Extreme Range due to the number and density of pellets in the load.