Weapon Wear Values

[Raellus]

In my current T2K PbP, the PCs recently captured a marauder group's MG3 machinegun and have just turned it on its previous owners. I decided that the weapon has been in combat service for about three years, with only basic field maintenance during that time, and hasn't had a barrel replacement for over a year. This to me, strongly suggests that the barrel is close to worn out, and accuracy would be affected to some degree. My problem is that I don't know to what degree and how to adjudicate this using the rules.

Weapons,despite the reputation of the venerable and ubiquitous AK series, are not indestructable and they won't last forever. AFAIK, however, T2K game rules (versions 1 through 2.2, at least) do not take weapon wear into account in any sort of quatifiable way. For example, a worn out barrel will reduce a weapon's accuracy- the greater the wear, the greater the degree of inaccuracy. Modern firearms often have quite a few parts and if one or more of those parts fail, the weapon will cease to function properly (if at all) and/or, in some cases, become a danger to whoever is attemtping to use it.

The T2K rules deal with wear on vehicles; why not firearms? Seems weapons wear rules would also make the gunsmithing skill a lot more useful as well.

I have a couple ideas on how to handle firearms wear but I'm interested to read if/how others deal with it. Do any of you have any rules on how wear affects a firearm's funcionality and accuracy? How would you handle the situation that I described.

Thanks.

P.S. If someone cites a page number where the published rules deal specifically with this very issue, I'm going to feel like a total boob.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

By my recollection of the rules, you're absolutely correct, there's nothing dealing with wear on anything other than vehicles.
Seems to be part of the larger issue where "wear & tear" from everyday use is mostly ignored in all the game systems I'm familiar with.

Way back, one of the guys I knew decided to use the vehicle wear rules for weapons, basically to modify the purchase/resale value of the weapon. He liked the idea, we didn't because it meant some extra book keeping.
In hindsight though, the extra book keeping was a quite trivial addition to keeping track of food, fuel and ammo.
I have used something related to this where I had all the general equipment using Wear Values. For every skill check using that equipment that resulted in a Critical Failure, the Wear Value was increased by one point. Once the Wear Value reached 10, the equipment was too worn for its purpose but might still have some use for other things e.g. rappelling rope was too worn for safe use but it could still be used to tie down a tarpaulin.
Special circumstances could also increase the Wear Value, e.g. a backpack partially singed by a fire would get a one point increase, if it was partially burnt it would receive a two point increase. If it was actually hauled out of a fire it would automatically be set to Wear value 10 (the damage causing a loss of overall integrity blah blah blah).

I did this because I think for any post-apocalypse setting, a wear value for items enhances the sense of decay that supposed to be portrayed.

Enough waxing philosophic... rules for weapon wear could go something like this: -
1. All weapons have a Wear Value just like vehicles (starts at 0 & ends at 10, a 0 Value indicating hardly any use/factory new while 10 indicates a weapon so badly worn it's probably not even useful for spare parts)
2. Wear Value affects cost like it does for vehicles
3. For every day (a full 24 hours for the purpose of book keeping) that a weapon is used in a combat situation without being maintained an increment of 0.1 is added to its Wear Value. Once this increment has gone from 0.9 to 1.0, the Wear Value of the weapon is increased by 1
4. The increment increase will be halted by proper maintenance of the weapon after it has been used (maybe it resets the increment climb back to zero perhaps?)
5. A successful use of Gunsmithing can decrease the Wear Value by one full point. Outstanding success reduces the Value by two full points. A failure on a Gunsmithing test means the weapon was not repaired, a Critical Failure increases the Wear Value by one full point.
Special Weapons that are not stored properly when not in use incur the Wear Value increment but at a rate of 0.1 increase per full month. Exceptionally bad storage (such as being buried in damp soil or left near sea water without protection) increases the Wear increment by 0.1 per full week.

I must admit something of a dead end when it comes to incorporating barrel wear. I was thinking this would be something of a judgement call because of the volume of use a machinegun barrel gets compared to a combat rifle let alone a hunting rifle. Thinking again, it could be something like the Special rules listed above but along the lines of for every combat engagement were a barrel change did not take place, the Wear increment is increased by 0.1 point for the barrel. However, we'd still have to figure how this affects Small Arms Skill Checks.

You could even use Wear Value to influence the results of a weapon malfunction from a failed skill check. Using something like the rules mechanic for end of career/start of the war, a malfunction occurs and then the Player rolls 1d10. If the result is equal to/greater than the Wear Value, it's a minor malfunction. If the result is less than the Wear Value, it's a major malfunction (or even a breakage of some part in the weapon?)

Everybody else, feel free to critique, the more feedback and ideas we can get, the better rules set we can devise.

[Badbru]

I like all of SSC's answer it's similar to what I implemented in a TNE game I ran. TNE has more or less identical wear value rules from memory so I added them to all equipment and weapons. Again as with SSC's example, not so much to punnish accuracy but more for buying selling and trading.

For accuracy however it seems to me there'd be two ways to approach it.

First the wear value of the weapon could simply be added to the "To Hit" roll so needing to get 12 or less on a D20 roll with a wear 5 weapon actually means you need to roll 7 or less.
or
Since accuracy is closely tied to range as a mechanic of the game you could reduce the base range by the wear value, or some factor x the wear value.
It requires a few more calculations but only when the wear value is determined and is not as harsh a penalty as option one. I'd suggest reduce base range by wear value for pistol calibers wear value x2 for intermediate calibers 5.45 5.56 7.62s etc and wear value x3 for full rifle and large calibers 7.62N and 7.62L 30.06 etc.

[Raellus]

I like both of your ideas, SSC and Bru. I was already thinking about knocking down the range bands for weapons with worn out barrels and the idea of assigning wear values for weapons could work. I like the suggestion of adding wear points for catastrophic die roll failures. It'll mean some more bookkeeping for me, but it shouldn't be too difficult to keep track of.

I just know that firearms can only handle so many rounds before components start to fail, and it's not realistic to have well-worn weapons continue to function flawlessly for years on end. This needs to be reflected in games and it's also important for post-T2K world building, or any post-apoc game/setting really.

[leonpoi]

Good idea. I'd suggest adapting the vehicle wear rules.

Something like this but maybe the flow/logic could be changed a bit:


Can adapt the vehicle rules:

* On a critical failure (perhaps a 20 on the to-hit roll) roll a d10

* If the result is <= wear value then the weapon has a Jam

* A Jam does not mean the weapon has actually suffered a serious malfunction. Avoiding a serious malfunction is a task (Difficult: Small Arms or Gunsmith) performed by the character who did the last maintenance on the weapon.
* A jam requires one full combat turn to clear. Clearing a jam is Average: Small Arms

* ???


Serious malfunction

* The current wear value of the weapon is the D10 roll for the chance of a major breakdown. Else it is a minor breakdown
* Major Breakdown = ???
* Minor Breakdown = ???



* After a weapon has suffered 10 serious malfunctions, its wear value is increased by 1. A weapon with a wear value of 10 which suffers its tenth malfunction at that
value is no longer repairable, and is good only for salvaging parts.
* A Difficult Gunsmith test can be used to Repair a weapon - use something similar to the vehicle rules

[Bullet Magnet]

It may add to the bookkeeping, but I was thinking maybe after a set number of rounds fired ("Damn, gotta bring my rifle in for its 3,000 round tuneup soon."), the wear value might go up, unless the weapon in properly maintained by someone with Gunsmithing skill.

It's just a thought.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

NOTE: I'm referencing 2.0 / 2.2 edition rules throughout.

Overall I'm liking the idea of this, I think the drop in range due to excessive wear is a good idea but I think it should also give a reduced accuracy so that a really "clapped out" weapon is something a knowledgeable person would only use as a last resort. While everybody can look at a firearm and see if it's been treated badly and can even tell if some parts are worn, it really takes a Gunsmith to know if it's bad (thus further enhancing the Gunsmith skill in game).
I am leaning towards the incorporation of both Badbru's ideas as the one mechanic for Wear and its effects on firearms.


I'm thinking that Wear Value should also be assigned to Body Armour but with a much simpler implementation. The idea being that after every X number of hits (or alternately, after X amount of damage is accumulated), the Wear Value increases by 1 full point.

Effects would be that for Melee Combat, at Wear Value 5+ it only absorbs half the listed Melee Damage and at 10 it's too worn to stop any Melee Damage.
For projectiles of all kinds, I have an idea that is easy to incorporate but seems kind of harsh... if a projectile penetrates worn armour then it does a small amount of additional damage. The more worn out the armour, the more damage.
Starting at Wear Value 2 the damage is just +1 to the total rolled in the weapons damage dice. At Wear Value 3 it's +2 etc. etc. until Wear Value 10 is admitting another +9 points of damage.

This does negate the loss of Damage Dice that armour gives according to the rules but then, that's the entire point - worn out armour does not stop damage. The loss of Damage Dice would still be implemented as this makes the less worn out armour more valuable for protection.
Armour at Wear Value 10 might be enough to protect you from some of the lower powered handguns but it should be next to useless for protection against everything else.


I think that although these ideas increase the Player and Ref's book keeping, they would enhance the feeling of everything breaking down. I also think it adds to the overall game in that it becomes another part of what the PCs are doing, that is, the search for decent weapons and armour becomes as important as the search for food and fuel.
Again, these are up for debate so feel free to dismantle them!

[Targan]

I'm waiting for our resident RL gunsmith Brother in Arms to chime in on this discussion. I think he'd have some really good info on just how much accuracy is lost due to a heavily worn barrel.

[pmulcahy11b]

This would really apply to weapons like the M16EZ and the shot-out AK-47s the Russians gave to their Mobilization-Only troops.

[WallShadow]

Perhaps this might be pie-in-the-sky thinking by one who has little understanding about the process, but, given a source of chromium and the right components (solutions, source of electricity, etc) how hard/practical would it be to chrome-plate the bore and other surfaces of a firearm to a. reduce wear, and b. restore some worn-down surface? Would this offset the "shooting down the lands" of a shot-out barrel, assuming a touch-up on the bore was done, and the barrel re-chromed?

[Targan]

I'm no expert but my guess is that re-chroming a barrel wouldn't return any accuracy, it would just slow down further wear.

[Raellus]

@Targan: Does Gunmaster have any rules on firearm wear as it might pertain to accuracy and/or system failures?


I'd like to factor weapon maintenance into this too. If a PC spends adequate time on cleaning his/her weapon, it shouldn't wear out quite as fast or malfunction quite as much as a neglected weapon likely would.

So, we need to take into account:

1. Accumulated wear and tear and its effects on accuracy.
2. Accumulated wear and tear contributing to system malfunctions.
3. Routine care and maintenance mitigating any/all of the above.
4. Gunsmithing skill checks to repair damaged firearms.
5. Gunsmithing skil checks to improve accuracy of firearms.

This is getting complicated, but I think that creating a practical game mechanic for this stuff is a good idea. I don't want it to get too crunchy- after all, as a GM, I've got to keep track of most of this stuff- but it's an important piece of versimilitude that I think a proper, realistic post-apoc game needs. Heck, I think even the Fallout series of video games has a system to address these inter-related issues.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Raellus

@Targan: Does Gunmaster have any rules on firearm wear as it might pertain to accuracy and/or system failures?

My books are all packed away but from memory the relevant firearm stats would be Weapon Quality (WQ) and Inherent Accuracy (IA). I'm hazy on Bill Gant's rules for firearms deterioration if any (haven't played for some years now) but those two weapon stats gave me the basis for house rules we used. Poor maintenance/number of rounds through the barrel/damage to the weapon etc could reduce WQ and that in turn could reduce IA.

Alot of it came down to common sense. My players were pretty ok with a consensus on how a weapon's accuracy and reliability would be affected by wear and tear, use and damage. WQ x 5 would be used as a basis for a kind of "saving throw" (maybe positively modified by firearm skill or gunsmith skill and further modified by situational factors as determined by the GM) to determine whether a weapon's IA decreased due to wear/damage.

[Brother in Arms]

So I guess the question would be how much has the gun been shot?

MG-42 type firearms have very high rate of fire which can cause much more than average barrel wear. They also have a quick change barrel which solves the problem of barrel wear effectively.

The thing that is different with machine guns is accuracy is a relative term. The point of an MG is to have dispersion and not pin point accuracy.

You could shoot a machine gun till the rifling was totally worn out and it would still function though the bullets would lose a lot of energy due to the gas passing around them.

Chromium helps slow down wear and corrosion. But repairing a shot out barrel isn't really an option. Other parts can also wear out but the MG-42 parts wise is pretty reliable. That being said heat can damage anything specifically extractor claw and springs.

I guess I am not really sure what you want to know.

[Brother in Arms]

Did you ever come up with weapons wear rules?

Thanks
BIA

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Brother in Arms

Did you ever come up with weapons wear rules?

Thanks
BIA

I did come up with a short blurb for rocket launchers and ATGM in Care and Feeding of the Antitank Launcher (or something like that) on my site. I would think that other weapons might have something similar, especially tricky weapons like the Ma Deuce.

[Apache6]

Weapons used by low skilled personnel should wear out at a much faster rate. I'd suggest that a weapons skill roll should be a huge part of the equation on getting/keeping a weapon in action. That being said most issue weapons should still be functional if they have received normal wear (not having been found in a bomb crater where it sat for six months...).

M-16s, G-3s or FN FALs, and AK-47s if maintained should not wear out in ten years. Magazines can be a issues but I've got twenty year old rifle magazines that work fine. I've seen Ak-47s, Iranian G-3s and other weapons captured in caches that were covered with rust, but still functioned.

I've got a 1903 30-06 springfield bolt action rifle. My specific rifle was manufactured in 1928 and was purchased as surplus around 1950. It has been used for hunting and shooting fairly regularly since then, it gets cleaned after its shot and wiped down with oil every 6 months or so. I'm confident it would be reliable in combat. Bolt action rifles if maintained will not wear out with normal use.

Machine guns are a little different. Skilled machine gunners will employ their weapons in short bursts and change the barrel regularly, allowing the weapon and barrel to cool. Untrained personnel are less likely to properly clean and lubricate the weapon (and if applicable set the headspace and timing) and much more likely to fire the weapon at the cyclic (maximum) rate without changing barrels. This will shoot out the barrel, the barrels on certain weapons specifically including the M-60E3 can get so hot they will slump until the rounds punch through the barrel.

[Brother in Arms]

These are all excellent examples Apache.

my only concern is do the players and or Story teller need more things to keep track of? The O.P. wanted to know about MG3 and I tend to agree with all that has been said so far about MG's My other question is why woudln't there be a serparate barrel for one kicking around? Especially if was captured from german troopes. They would likely have spare barrels.

BIA

[.45cultist]

Originally Posted by Apache6

Weapons used by low skilled personnel should wear out at a much faster rate. I'd suggest that a weapons skill roll should be a huge part of the equation on getting/keeping a weapon in action. That being said most issue weapons should still be functional if they have received normal wear (not having been found in a bomb crater where it sat for six months...).

M-16s, G-3s or FN FALs, and AK-47s if maintained should not wear out in ten years. Magazines can be a issues but I've got twenty year old rifle magazines that work fine. I've seen Ak-47s, Iranian G-3s and other weapons captured in caches that were covered with rust, but still functioned.

I've got a 1903 30-06 springfield bolt action rifle. My specific rifle was manufactured in 1928 and was purchased as surplus around 1950. It has been used for hunting and shooting fairly regularly since then, it gets cleaned after its shot and wiped down with oil every 6 months or so. I'm confident it would be reliable in combat. Bolt action rifles if maintained will not wear out with normal use.

Machine guns are a little different. Skilled machine gunners will employ their weapons in short bursts and change the barrel regularly, allowing the weapon and barrel to cool. Untrained personnel are less likely to properly clean and lubricate the weapon (and if applicable set the headspace and timing) and much more likely to fire the weapon at the cyclic (maximum) rate without changing barrels. This will shoot out the barrel, the barrels on certain weapons specifically including the M-60E3 can get so hot they will slump until the rounds punch through the barrel.

In 1995 I was issued an original Colt USAF Model 604. "M16" marked, 54,000 serial range and about 10 years older than I was. Worn just enough to prefer semi-auto. When we were burning up the excess blanks, I switched to "Full", it should have had a "J" for "Jam".

[simonmark6]

These are the rules I used when I had finicky bean counters as players. If each player has a primary and secondary weapon then it's just complicated. If they have several weapons, NPCs and vehicle weapons it becomes very boring.

Another way I worked on it was that any Critical failure caused another roll and if that was a 20 the weapon was broken. Players could also sacrifice kit for a reduction in a wound, usually $10 of kit for one point less damage.

Here are the rules: they are long, boring and probably unworkable in any campaign apart from Accountants and Auditors.

Suggested rules for weapons wear:
1) Condition of a weapon:
The weapon’s condition is very important. It determines the following points:
Maintenance Time (MT): How long it takes to do basic care of the weapon. This is in minutes for basic care and hours for work a gunsmith needs to do.
Maintenance Interval (MI): The number of firefights a weapon goes through before it must be maintained. If no maintenance is done at this point it drops a level. If a weapon is not being used, this is months rather than firefights.
Accuracy: This is a penalty to the hit roll if a weapon is deteriorating.
Range: The lowering of range for deterioration.
Reliability: The lowering of the JAM roll.
2) Effects of Condition:
0: Factory Fresh: MT: Value in Dollars/10/mins. MI: 10 firefights
1: New used: MT: Value in Dollars/10/mins. MI: 9 firefights
2: Great condition: MT Value in Dollars/10/mins: MI: 8 firefights
3: Good condition: MT Value in Dollars/10/mins: MI: 7 firefights
4: Starting to show wear: MT Value in Dollars/10/mins: MI: 6 firefights -2m range
5: Worn: MT Value in Dollars/10/mins: MI: 5 firefights -2m range +1 JAM
6: Quite Worn: MT Value in Dollars/10/mins: MI: 4 firefights -4m range +2 JAM -1 Acc
7: Very Worn: MT Value in Dollars/8/mins: MI: 3 firefights -6m range +3 JAM -2 Acc
8: Worn Out: MT Value in Dollars/6/ mins: MI: 2 firefights -8m range +4 JAM -3 Acc
9: Wreck: MT Value in Dollars/4/mins: MI: 1 firefight -10m range +5 JAM -4 Acc
10: Total Wreck: MT Value in Dollars/2/mins: MI: 1 firefight -12 range +6 JAM -5 Acc
3) Determining Condition:
This can be GM mandate or depend on certain circumstances or quality of the weapons.
User’s Experience: This is based off Initiative.
6+: Best of the best: Weapon Condition 1.
5: Veterans: Weapon Condition 2
4: Experienced: Weapon Condition 3
3: Regulars: Weapon Condition 4
2: Green: weapon Condition 5
1: Untrained: Weapon Condition 6

Other Qualities:
Antique: Weapon is from before WW1: -4 Condition
Old Timer: Weapon is from before WW2: -3 Condition
Long in the tooth: Weapon is from before 1980: -2 Condition
Poor storage: -d6 Condition

Note: This is general advice. In the end, the GM may mandate condition according to the demands of the story.
4) Losing Condition:
Eventually weapons wear out no matter how well they are looked after. Weapons lose condition under the following circumstances:
No maintenance: -1 Condition for every MI missed.
Bad shooting: -1 Condition for every critical miss.
Poor maintenance: -1 Condition for a critical failure of maintenance.
Bad use: -1 for any excessive abuse judged by the GM.
5) Restoring Condition:
Condition can be restored but only if a spare with the right parts can be found. One level of condition can be restored at a time.

Finding the parts: A looted or found or bought weapon of the same type can be used for spare parts. The number of parts that can be gained is equal to the Condition minus 10. To determine if the parts available solve the problem, roll a d100 and check the weapon’s Condition. There is a -10% chance of gaining the right parts for every point of Condition so a Condition 6 rifle has a 40% of finding the right part from a spare.

Eg:
Tommy has a battered M16 with a Condition of 7. He finds another M 16 in a wrecked M2 that is condition 8. He strips it for two parts and rolls to see if either can improve his gun. He rolls a 19 and an 87 with a target of 30%. He gets lucky and finds one part to help him. He fits the part successfully and his gun goes up to WV 6 and loses several minuses to his abilities.

If there are several guns that could be fixed, roll for each weapon. Once the parts have been rolled for they cannot be used for that weapon again until it drops a Condition band. You can roll again for a different rifle however.

Note: No weapon can rise from 1 to 0.
6) Magazines:
Magazines also wear out and have the following issues:
Condition ranges from 0 to 10 and lose condition as follows:
-1 for every 10 reloads or top up (effectively every 10 firefights)
-1 for bad use
-1 for a monthly roll (roll a d20 and on a 20 lose a point)

Magazines cannot be maintained or fixed.

Effects:
0-5 No effect
6-10 -1 chance for JAM per point. Can be cleared with a recharge.
7) Brass:
Reloading brass can wear it out too.

Every time brass is reloaded it gains one point of wear. A failed gunsmith roll adds an extra point.

Effects:
0-5 none
5+ -1 chance of JAM per point.

Brass cannot be repaired
8) Other issues:
If the GM wishes, the following qualities can be given to guns:

AK: Parts can be gained from any AK family weapon
Lemon: - 1 to wear value
Reliable: Halve MI and MT
Complicated: Double MT

[headquarters]

Barrels wear out - cheap and inferior ammo hasten this in some cases.

Our HK416s are guaranteed for 8 000 rounds from HK given the ammo we are obliged to use in them.

With other types of ammo I am sure You could quadruple that amount before barrel wear is significant. Other parts may go before though.

I like the idea in game terms and try to give weapons individual stats to reflect it. ADnD style - to hit if it spreads..roll another d10 for a certain percentage check to see if it jams or misfires every time the player rolls a 10 when firing.

alter stats - say shorten range to reflect greater inaccuracy etc.

[Raellus]

On a 20 on a to-hit roll, I roll for a stoppage check. Right now, I keep it simple. I roll a two-sided die. On a one the weapon continues to function. On a two, there's a jam (double feed, FTF, or something to that effect) and the player has to spend at least one turn clearing the jam. If I had the time, I might adjust these procedures to reflect weapon wear, increasing the odds of a jam and time to clear it for a weapon with greater wear value. ATM, I just don't have the time to keep track of weapon wear. Keeping track of battery charge/life for my players' electronics is a real time suck and I'm not inclined to do both.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Raellus

On a 20 on a to-hit roll, I roll for a stoppage check. Right now, I keep it simple. I roll a two-sided die. On a one the weapon continues to function. On a two, there's a jam (double feed, FTF, or something to that effect) and the player has to spend at least one turn clearing the jam. If I had the time, I might adjust these procedures to reflect weapon wear, increasing the odds of a jam and time to clear it for a weapon with greater wear value. ATM, I just don't have the time to keep track of weapon wear. Keeping track of battery charge/life for my players' electronics is a real time suck and I'm not inclined to do both.

not to mention all other variables that hey tend to forget - encumbrance, fatigue, rations etc... having npcs snuff them is so right sometimes...

[swaghauler]

Carried an M60E2 on my HEMTT when I served with the 10th waaaay back in the 90's. The easiest way to use Weapon Wear values without hassle would be to simply reduce the base range band on worn weapons. The M60E4 lost out to the M240B in DOD tests and will be replaced by the MK48 simply because it could only go 1950 mean rounds between failures and the MK48 went almost 2600. That's 10 belts for the PIG. I did a 3 week security detail in Afghanistan about 6 years ago and the troops at Baghram were playing with an AK-47 that had roofing nails where the pins used to hold the trigger assembly in. The barrel was shot smooth. That gun flawlessly cycled about 20 mags as we played with it. Accuracy was s**t, but it still ran. These and other experiences (I shoot 3 gun and IDPA) have told me that a jam mechanic is an unneeded complication. If your gun won't run dirty or worn; there's something more wrong with it.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Raellus

On a 20 on a to-hit roll, I roll for a stoppage check. Right now, I keep it simple. I roll a two-sided die. On a one the weapon continues to function. On a two, there's a jam (double feed, FTF, or something to that effect) and the player has to spend at least one turn clearing the jam. If I had the time, I might adjust these procedures to reflect weapon wear, increasing the odds of a jam and time to clear it for a weapon with greater wear value. ATM, I just don't have the time to keep track of weapon wear. Keeping track of battery charge/life for my players' electronics is a real time suck and I'm not inclined to do both.

Roll a D10 and use the wear value as your target number. Higher than Wear Value equals NO JAM. Wear Value OR Less equals a "Tap, Rack, Bang" drill.

[Cdnwolf]

TWILIGHT 2013 did an extensive look at wear and repairs.

Copyright of the following belongs to those dudes....




Wear

The Reflex System measures the amount of abuse an item has
endured with Wear. The higher an item’s Wear value, the more
worn-out it is. A factory-fresh item has Wear 0, while any item
that reaches Wear 10 has fallen apart and is good only for salvage.

Accruing Wear

A factory-fresh item begins with Wear 0.

During play, each of the following events adds 1 to its Wear value:

It receives sufficient damage to disable it, as per the rule
in Chapter Five for damaging items. In the case of a vehicle, this
criterion is “receives a hit that results in one or more major damage
results.”

It undergoes one period of use (see following) after which it
does not receive preventive maintenance.

While using it, an Unskilled user fails a skill check with a
MoF of 5 or more (butterfingers!).

It receives particularly egregious abuse or misuse (GM’s
opinion; dropping electronics from shoulder height onto concrete,
smashing a car through a chain-link fence after an off-road chase,
or burying a firearm in mud and firing it without cleaning are all
appropriate conditions).

Except at the GM’s discretion, no single item’s Wear can
increase by more than 1 in any given scene.

Effects of Wear

As an item accrues Wear, it exhibits signs of decay in both
appearance and performance. Its reliability declines, making it
more likely that it will break down at an inopportune moment.
Whenever an item accrues a point of Wear, the GM secretly
rolls 1d10. If the die result is less than or equal to the item’s new
Wear value, the item will break the next time it is used (unless it
receives maintenance first - see following). An item that breaks
due to Wear is considered disabled, just as if it had received a
damaging attack.

Severe Use (period of 1 day):

At this level, the equipment
is being sorely taxed and requires constant attention to remain in
good working order. For electronics, severe use is continuous
runtime for more than a week. A vehicle undergoes severe use if it
sees 1,000 road kilometers or 200 off-road kilometers in a single
day. A firearm that fires 250 rounds or more in a single day is
undergoing severe use.

An item’s operating conditions can also affect its use. Use is
considered one level higher if the item is being used in conditions
of excessive humidity, dust, sand, or corrosion (including sea
air). Conversely, the default rules for use assume field conditions;
if the item is being used in the equivalent of complete shelter,
reduce its use by one level for a mechanical item or two levels for
electronics.

Maintenance

After a device undergoes one period of use, it requires
preventive maintenance to maintain its current Wear value.
Preventive maintenance is not intensive mechanical work;
rather, it involves cleaning, lubricating, tightening bolts, checking
connections, running diagnostics, and other time-consuming but
largely trivial tasks. This process requires a number of hours of
work equal to the item’s Maintenance trait, as well as a skill check.
This latter can be either the skill appropriate to using the device
(COG, TN +3) or ATS (COG, TN +5). Alternately, if the character
has at least a Novice rating in either skill, he can expend one unit
of maintenance supplies appropriate to the device for automatic
success. With success, the device does not accrue Wear for the
period of use that just ended.

Example: Leslie’s G36 has Wear 7. Over the past week of play,
Leslie has been involved in three firefights and has expended several
hundred rounds, which constitutes heavy use of the gun. The
weapon now needs maintenance or it will accrue Wear.

Leslie is Unskilled in the Mechanics[Gunsmithing],
but has sufficient skill in Longarm to handle the task.
She makes a Longarm (COG, TN +3) skill check. The G36 is a
fully automatic firearm, so this task requires one hour. Despite
the -3 penalty for the item’s existing Wear value, she succeeds
handily, and her G36’s Wear stays at 7.

The following table lists
suggested Maintenance values for specific broad categories of
equipment.

Weapons

Item Type Maintenance (hrs)
Close combat weapon 0.25
Firearm, simple action (revolver, bolt-, break-, or
pump-action) 0.25
Firearm, semi-automatic 0.5
Firearm, fully automatic 1
Heavy weapon, unguided 2
Artillery 2
Heavy weapon, guided 4
Electronics
Item Type Maintenance (hrs)
Electric light 0.25
Personal entertainment device 0.25
Night-vision optic 1
Radio 2
Computer 3
Sensor (geiger counter, gas detector) 4
Tools
Item Type Maintenance (hrs)
Simple hand tool (personal water filter, multitool) 0.5
Simple large tool (group water filter, parachute) 2
Complex hand tool (sextant, chainsaw) 2
Complex large tool (portable darkroom, hydraulic
power unit) 5

Reconditioning

Preventive maintenance is a vital part of keeping a survivor’s
gear in working order. However, it cannot improve an item’s
condition, only keep it from degenerating further. Actually
restoring an item’s condition (thereby reducing its Wear) is a more
involved task.

Reconditioning an item is a supply-dependent action
requiring one unit of parts. It takes a number of hours equal to the
item’s current Wear times its Maintenance value, as well as an ATS
(COG, TN -2) skill check. With success, the item’s Wear value is
reduced by 1. With a margin of failure greater than 5, the attempt
does more harm than good and the item’s Wear increases by 1.
Reconditioning can never reduce a device’s Wear to 0.

Example: Tired of missing easy shots because of her G36’s condition,
Leslie turns over the gun to Matt for reconditioning. Matt
digs out his stock of spare parts and sets to work. The rifle has
Maintenance 1 and Wear 7, so the task takes 7 hours. It also consumes
one unit of small mechanical parts. Matt makes a Mechanics (COG, TN -2) skill check, suffering an additional -3 penalty for
the gun’s Wear. Despite the penalties facing him, he succeeds.
The G36’s Wear is reduced to 6. While that isn’t enough to completely
remove penalties, it’s a good start.

Cannibalization

Desperate times can call for desperate measures. While
a survivor might not yet be desperate enough to eat his friends,
it’s quite likely that he will at some point find himself taking
components from one disabled device to keep another operational.
This practice is known as cannibalization.
Cannibalizing an item effectively destroys it as the mechanic
disassembles it for useful components. This task takes twice the
item’s Maintenance and requires an ATS (AWA, TN -2) skill check.
With success, the process yields a number of units of parts equal
to the margin of success. With a margin of success of 0, the item
yields no parts but is not (yet) destroyed, and the mechanic can try
again. No cannibalization attempt can ever produce more parts
than (12 - the item’s Wear).

Cannibalization and Reconditioning

Once an item is cannibalized, the parts it yields can
immediately be used to recondition another identical device. If
a character chooses this option and has a Novice or better ATS
skill rating, each reconditioning attempt made with a unit of these
donor parts succeeds automatically and takes half the normal
time. If the parts are saved for later use, this benefit is lost (unless
you really want to engage in the bookkeeping necessary to track
the source of every unit of parts you salvage).

Example: Matt finds another G36 and decides to strip it for parts
for Leslie’s. The donor rifle has Wear 8. Matt makes a Mechanics
(AWA, TN -2) skill check, suffering a -4 penalty for the gun’s
Wear. Matt succeeds with a margin of success of 3 and receives
3 units of small mechanical parts (the maximum he could have
received was 4).

Matt decides to use 2 units of the donor parts to restore Leslie’s
gun from Wear 6 to Wear 4. This takes a total of 5.5 hours (3
hours to reduce Wear 6, plus 2.5 hours to reduce Wear 5) and requires
no skill checks. He tucks the third unit of small mechanical
parts away for later use.

Reconditioning in this manner can reduce a device’s Wear to
0. However, taking a device from Wear 1 to Wear 0 requires 10
units of parts, at least half of which must be cannibalized.

Repair

When a piece of equipment becomes disabled, whether
through combat damage or Wear accrual, it must be repaired
before it can be used as anything but a blunt implement.
Repairing an item is a supply-dependent action requiring a one
unit of parts. It takes a number of hours equal to the item’s current
Wear times its Maintenance value, as well as an ATS (COG) skill
check. With success, the item is repaired and is no longer considered
disabled. With a margin of failure greater than 5, the attempt does
more harm than good and the item is destroyed permanently.


GM Hint: Wear Descriptions

GMs may find the following material useful in describing
the apparent condition of an item.

Wear 0: The item is mechanically and cosmetically
in perfect condition. If it isn’t factory-fresh, it has recently
undergone detailed cleaning and rebuilding at a manufacturer’s
reconditioning facility or the equivalent.

Wear 1: “Only used once; like new.” No cosmetic
deterioration is apparent, and all parts are in working order.

Wear 2: The item has started to show the effects of regular
use, but is still fully functional.

Wear 3-4: The item has started to show signs of heavy
use and internal components display the first hints of erosion.
However, it is still perfectly usable.

Wear 5-7: The item has started to show considerable
signs of use. Working surfaces and delicate components are
wearing down. At this point, its reliability may be suspect, and
its condition begins to complicate attempts to work on it.

Wear 8-9: The item looks, and is starting to function, like
it was dragged down a stretch of bad road and then back up for
good measure. By this point, it is held together by little more
than chewing gum, baling wire, and wishful thinking. It is in
such bad shape that only a specialist will be able to keep it in
working order for any length of time.

Wear 10: The item is no longer functional. Its cosmetic
appearance is deplorable at best. With luck, some parts may still
be salvageable for use in other devices.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Apache6

Weapons used by low skilled personnel should wear out at a much faster rate. I'd suggest that a weapons skill roll should be a huge part of the equation on getting/keeping a weapon in action. That being said most issue weapons should still be functional if they have received normal wear (not having been found in a bomb crater where it sat for six months...).

Machine guns are a little different. Skilled machine gunners will employ their weapons in short bursts and change the barrel regularly, allowing the weapon and barrel to cool. Untrained personnel are less likely to properly clean and lubricate the weapon (and if applicable set the headspace and timing) and much more likely to fire the weapon at the cyclic (maximum) rate without changing barrels. This will shoot out the barrel, the barrels on certain weapons specifically including the M-60E3 can get so hot they will slump until the rounds punch through the barrel.

This is all VERY true. During RESTORE HOPE, we changed the barrel on our M60E2 after TWO 100 round belts. The Stelanite? lined barrels would turn red at the reciever as it heated up. Getting a barrel "white hot" virtually "welded" the barrel into the reciever.

Main bitches with the M60E2:

Bipod on the barrel, carrying handle on the body (forcing gunner to hold the body up during barrel changes). Bipod made the spare barrel bulkier than it needed to be. With the bipod "out front," you couldn't
use it as a forward grip while standing. M60E3 fixed this. Now the gun could hold itself up and the handle made removing a hot barrel easier.

Gas piston would "Disassemble" itself during firing. You could also put the back of the 2-piece gas piston in backwards. This converted your M60E2 into a single shot weapon. That is the reason all M60's have that wire wrapped around the front sight. To hold the piston assembly together.

Fixed front sight on the barrel. Every time you changed barrels, you would have to check your zero on the rear sight (we posted our settings for each barrel on the top cover) very much a hassle in a firefight. E3 fixed this too.

The retaining clip on the right side of the reciever would get loose and periodically fall off. This allowed the trigger group (including the pistol grip) to drop off the gun. This happened to me on a 10 mile road march. That road march quickly became a regular "Bataan Death March" as we searched for the missing trigger group.

The feed ramp was hinged and the flexible ramp would fail and bind the gun's ammo belt. We would tape a soup or C-Ration can under it to hold it stiff.The E3 fixed that too.

The most dangerous defect of all was the top cover. The feed rails were not beveled and extended farther back under the cover than they needed to. If you closed the top cover with the bolt FORWARD; the cover would bind. Experienced M60 gunners would open the top cover and pull the bolt to the rear. green M60 gunners would slam the top cover bending the feed tray system and rendering the gun INOPERABLE until fixed by an armorer (or a really experienced M60 gunner). Thankfully the E3 fixed this too.

The M60E2 was well balanced though, and it had a very user friendly 550 round per minute ROF. Double taps were easily achieved and you could hold it on target even in Full Auto.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

Roll a D10 and use the wear value as your target number. Higher than Wear Value equals NO JAM. Wear Value OR Less equals a "Tap, Rack, Bang" drill.

I really like this. It's simple, logical, and adds realism without adding a lot of paperwork.

-

[swaghauler]

I do my jams just like you (rolled for only on a fumble). One thing I forgot to add in my original post is that I also add a "catastrophic failure" effect for rolling a 10 on the Jam Roll. I consider this to be a malfunction so serious that only an Armorer/Gunsmithing (and it MUST be this skill- no Small Arms substitution here) roll will fix it (taking several minutes). This renders the weapon inoperable for the rest of the combat AND INCREASES its wear value UNLESS the weapon is serviced by someone with Gunsmithing skill and they succeed at an AVE:GUNSMITHING skill check (in addition to the check that restores the weapon to function). A Catastrophic Failure on this roll renders the weapon broken and only suitable as a "parts gun." An Outstanding Success REDUCES the weapon's wear value by one. If the Gunsmithing check that restores function to the weapon is an Outstanding Success; NO wear roll must be made. The weapon remains at its current Wear Value. A Catastrophic Failure on the function check results in the weapon being broken and suitable only for parts (again without the wear prevention roll). This is really the only way I follow weapon wear in my game (there is just too much other crap to worry about). FAIR WARNING! This rule WILL make a "combat skills heavy and maintenance skills light" team stomp their feet and cry.

[swaghauler]

I was called out on my Jam Mechanic by a new player the other night. Eric is so new to gaming that he only has 2 game sessions under his belt. However, he is a very experienced hunter and competitive shooter. He gave me this simplified version of my own Jam Mechanic.

When rolling under the weapon's Wear Value to see if it has jammed; a Roll of 1 on the INITIAL JAM ROLL CAUSES A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE in a weapon with a Wear Value of 6 or greater. A roll of 1 or 2 on the INITIAL JAM ROLL CAUSES A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE in a weapon with a Wear Value of 10.

If a Catastrophic Failure does occur; It requires an AVERAGE: Gunsmithing (no Small Arms here) roll to restore the weapon to function. This task takes 2D10 +10 minutes and requires Small Arms tools (mechanic's tools may be substituted but this makes the task DIFFICULT). At the GM's discretion, This may require 1 unit of small arms parts (as per 2013's rules) to fix the failure. The weapon WILL increase in Wear Value by 1 level (with Wear Value 10 weapons becoming inoperable). If an OUTSTANDING SUCCESS occurs during this roll, NO Wear occurs and NO parts are needed to restore function. If a CATASTROPHIC FAILURE occurs on the Gunsmithing roll, The weapon is NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL and is only good for parts salvage.

My friend (who is a machinist) also suggested that half of all gun parts taken from a weapon (if your using the 2013 Salvage Rules) be Specific to THAT Weapon's Model (ie barrel, bolt, sear, etc...) and the other half (the larger half if there is an uneven number of parts) be "generic" gun parts (pins, screws, and springs) usable on any project.

This reduces the number of rolls from 3 (in my old system) to 2 (as above). Anything that reduces the number of skill rolls is welcome in my campaign. Fresh Minds, New Ideas.