Scopes (again)

[Vespers War]

The rule for telescopic scopes is one of the things that appears to have never really sat well with players, given that it received a Challenge article and has been brought up here a couple times before. I have a proposed system that I’d appreciate feedback on.

For this system, each magnification multiple (rounded down) extends the Aimed Shot range by 5% and provides a bonus to shots at Medium range or longer that’s equal to its multiple but cannot improve the score higher than the base score for the next shorter range. That’s a bit of a complicated concept to explain, so let’s run with an example.

A character has a combat asset of 12 with rifles. They have an old M1891/30 with a 3.5x PU scope. Normally they’d have a Rng of 75 with the required rolls for Aimed Shots being 24 at Short range, 12 at Medium, 6 at Long, and 3 at Extreme. With the 3.5x scope, they get a 15% increase to range, up to 85, and their rolls are 24, 15, 9, and 6. Note that a 4x scope would not improve that last number, since the effective skill level at Extreme can’t be higher than the base skill level for Long. Note also that under this system, using a scope does not make Extreme shots a difficulty level easier.

Effectively, this rule improves Medium and Long range shots while making Extreme shots a bit harder unless the scope's magnification is equal or greater than 1/4 the shooter's combat asset. It also slightly reduces the range increase on most rifle/scope combinations.

One possible additional rule I’m considering is to limit the effect to the lower of the magnification or the shooter’s skill, so someone with STR 10 and Small Arms (Rifle) 2 isn’t able to get the same advantage from a 5x scope as a better-trained shooter.