Weapon conversion question.

[Gideon020]

I've been lurking for a while and this forum's given me some good ideas, but I need some help on something. One of my players has something of a mad-on for the AA-12 shotgun and the Frag-12 explosive rounds and in a moment of weakness, either that or I was high on human kindness, I finally caved.

Now I can figure out some kind of fluff about both gun and ammo being super-rare, issued only to special forces, requiring some pretty tough rolls to find the stuff to make it in the field, and so on and so forth.

The real problem is I have no idea how to stat it up beyond grabbing the stats for the USAS-12 and Explosive Frag Shells off PMulcahy's website. Should I go with that and tell the player to like it or leave it, or does anyone have any advice on how I can actually expend some effort into making some decent stats?

[WallShadow]

If you want to swing to the other extreme, fudge up some stats that are workable, let him have his munchkinesque wet-dream weapon and ammo, then on a critical failure, have it jam/break. He will spend the rest of his game life trying (unsuccessfully) getting it fixed or finding ammo for it. You can use it as a pull to drag him and his buddies into lots of interesting situations--better than being pushed by that pesky Speznatz kill-squad.

To Dream the Impossible Dream.....

[Gideon020]

I was planning on having him pry it off the dead hands of some enemy soldier kitted in heavy body armour as well, so that works out nicely.

Thanks for the advice, this should shut him up. Who knows, maybe if he gets the hint, I'll let him find someone who can fix the gun so it can fire at least standard shot shells.

[Targan]

What timeline is your game set in, Gideon? If it's your standard T2k v1/v2/v2.2 timeline (and your game is occurring in 2000) the only AA-12s available will be the Atchisson originals, or MPS versions in prototype stage at best and there will be no such thing as Frag-12 ammunition (although I guess there may have been prototype batches manufactured before the war but you'd have to be desperate or insane to load and shoot 4 to 5 year old prototype explosive ammunition).

It would be making an already implausible backstory even more implausible not to have both weapon and ammo coming from the same stateside source so I guess if the player is to get what he wants, the weapon and ammo are going to have to be from an MPS test batch, possibly provided to the US military at least 8 years earlier than occurred in real life (and again implausibility rears its ugly head) because in RL the USMC only got to start testing the new MPS version of the AA-12 system in 2004.

If your campaign is set in the CONUS then I guess this whole scenario becomes slightly less implausible but if it's set in Europe how does an enemy soldier end up with such a rare weapon in useable condition with a big enough supply of incredibly rare, prototype ammunition that makes it worth taking into the field?

If your game is set in your own, custom timeline or T2013's timeline then all bets are off, I'm sure you can create a much more believable backstory.

[manunancy]

A quick look at wikipedia show up a possible alternative : the Daewoo-made USAS-12. It was in prdouction in the mid-nineties and it isn't too far-fetched fro one to have been 'liberated' on the eastern front and to filter back into the european theater.

[edited] oops I just saw you already know of the USAS-12. In my opinion the only difference in stat will be the magazine capacity (5/8 round magazine or 20/30 drum vs the 10 rounds magasine or 20 round drum of the USAS).

[Gideon020]

@ Targan: As entertaining as the original T2k timeline is, I prefer using a custom timeline as it allows a little more freedom when it comes to weapons, vehicles, and equipment.

That, and I don't like the T2013 ruleset.

But for the most part, I usually use the 'in-field testing' excuse for any rare weapons in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the weapon had a limited production run, was issued to various units and improvements were supposed to be enacted from their reports in the field.

Frag-12's for instance would be given to special forces and defensive formations for light anti-vehicle work while the AA-12 might have been issued to a force that would see a lot of urban combat and thus would need a weapon with a lot of close-range stopping power when clearing buildings. And that's mostly from the top of my head. In most other cases, the weapon belongs to elite enemy squads and would have been liberated from bases, rear-area supply depots or testing facilities.

But you are correct, I wouldn't have likely caved if it was the canon timeline.