Download - RQ Firearms
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 1/15
A RuneQuest 6th Edition Rules Supplement
Firearms
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 2/152
Introduction As many o you already know, RuneQuest 6th Edition is primarily designed or historial and
antasy settings. Yet some people have expressed an interest in using rearms in their games,
anything rom piratial blak powder weapons to the radium guns o Barsoom. Rather than
merely limiting the system to its deault genres this supplement shows how to tweak the game
to handle any oneivable ranged weapons, even hi-teh Siene Fition rearms.
Te ollowing rules will orm the basis or rearms in many dierent settings, whether released
as published supplements or as uture ree-to-download guides. We ully enourage Game Mas-
ters to take the ollowing ideas and adapt them to suit their own imaginative ampaigns. Enjoy!
CreditsResearh, Rules, Mehanis and Lead Writing: Pete Nash
Additional Material: Lawrene Whitaker
Editing and Layout: Lawrene Whitaker
RuneQuest is a trademark o Issaries Inc. Used under License by Te Design Mechanism. All rights reserved. Tis edi-tion o RuneQuest is copyright © 2012. Tis PDF is a ree supplement provided by personal, but not corporate or orproft use. Material ound in this book can be reerred to reely under Fair Usage, but any use o the rules or mechanics
ound herein requires the express permission and consent o Te Design Mechanism.
For details o the RuneQuest Gateway license, please contact Te Design Mechanism([email protected]).
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 3/15
RQ Firearm
3
Initial Considerations
New Combat Actions
On the ae o it modiying the ombat rules to
inlude gun ombat is rather problematial, sine
it is near impossible to avoid laser beams or bullets
whih travel aster than human reexes.
Using the rules as written, this means that unless
you try to dive lear o the area using Evade, any
hit will immediately expose the vitim to one or
more Speial Eets. It also hanges the Ation
Point eonomy. I you an’t use points to reative-
ly deend yoursel then most haraters will end
up using all their ations to blast away, gambling
on the inompetene o their oes.
o handle this paradigm shit both Game Mastersand Players may need to hange the way they
view – and approah – gun ombat. Some things
to note are:
• Gun ombat is dangerous!
• On the whole people prioritise not being shot
over shooting others
• Te most ommon method o protetion is to
take over
• Suppressing re is the best way o preventing
oes shooting bak
• Firearms are surprisingly inaurate unless
time is taken to brae and/or aim
• When you are shot, bad stu happens
Deending onesel against gunre will largely
beome a question o body armour, using over
and trying to prevent the opponent rom being
able to re bak. As suh, most gun battles tend
to beome very tatial – lots o suppressing re,
anking movement and ushing oes rom deep
over – during whih haraters may pass entire
ombat rounds being pinned down and unable to
respond until the opposition stops ring... whih
some players may nd extremely tedious.
It is peretly possible that an entire gunght
will result in no injuries, just one side giving up
due to running out o ammunition or eeing the
battle entirely. Ater all, ew people want to risk
being riddled with a burst rom a weapon on ull-
automati.
Te ollowing are addendums to the existing om-
bat rules and should mesh seamlessly with them.
o reet the gritty reality o rearms, several new
types o proative Combat Ation have been re-
ated. Some o the ollowing depend on weaponry
o a sufient tehnologial level.
Reload As per Ready Weapon in the RQ6 ore rules.
Reloading times an vary wildly aording to the
type o weapon. Single shot blak powder muskets
will be ar slower to reload than hanging an
ammunition magazine or power soure. Under
ombat onditions the ormer might take rom 15
to 20 seonds (9-12 urns) whilst the latter ould
be as ast as 5 seonds (3 urns).
Sneak PeekSneak Peek allows somebody urrently shelter-
ing behind over to take a quik look-see to
judge what the tatial situation is. Te ation is
ostensibly sae, permitting the observer a single
Pereption roll beore duking bak into over. I
the Pereption test is a umble however, they ool-
ishly overextend their head or remain in sight long
enough or an enemy to take a pot shot.
Steady Weapon Allows the harater to establish a rm ring
posture and support an automati weapon so that
it remains stable. It requires that the harater be
at least partially exposed and not ompletely pro-
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 4/154
Why is Take Cover not reactive? Whilst it might appear somewhat unair that ake Cover is not reative, there are several reasons or this. Firstly
most projetile weapons re ammunition whih travels at supersoni or light speeds. In layman’s terms this means
that a musket ball or bullet atually hits you beore you hear the sound o the shot and try to duk. Seondly it adds
a very tatial element to a re-ght, making it risky to expose onesel to take your own shot, unless you wait until
the enemy needs to reload or you have riends providing suppressing re.
On the other hand, some genres possess ranged weapons like blasters whih are both sub-soni and highly visible.
In suh ases it may be more ‘heroi’, or indeed just more un, to allow haraters the ability to use ake Cover
reatively.
teted by over. Te primary benet is that it redues the
reoil penalty o Burst or Full-Automati re by one step.
Tis eet is similar to Brae in that its benets ontinue
until the harater moves.
Switch Fire ModeSwith Fire allows the user o an automati or dual pur-pose rearm to hange the seletor on their weapon to
take advantage o other re modes. Tus an assault rie
ould be swithed rom semi-automati to burst, hoose
dierent types o ammunition (Judge Dredd Lawgivers)
or a supplementary system suh as an integral grenade
launher brought on line. Whilst modern weapons require
an Ation Point on the harater’s urn to swith modes,
sufiently advaned high-teh rearms may permit it as
a Free Ation, triggered by eletroni implants or psyhi-
ally reading the user’s mind.
Take Coverake Cover is a proative ation whih allows a shooter to
duk behind whatever over is available in their immediate
viinity, thereby gaining some degree o protetion against
inoming re. Unlike Evade it does not leave the user
prone, but does rely on some orm o over being available,or example duking bak around a orner in a orridor or
rouhing down behind a table in a bar.
Depending on irumstanes, the available over may or
may not be sufient to ompletely protet the harater.
Te type o over will also determine its protetive quali-
ties; a thik steel door or instane may prove impenetrable
to bullets, whereas a thin wooden wall might only provide
4 Armour Points. For general guidelines onerning the
protetive qualities o ertain materials, see the ‘Inanimate
Objets Armour and Hit Points’ table on page 123 o theore rules.
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 5/15
RQ Firearm
5
New Special EffectsSome players o RQ6 oten imagine that there are
ew useul Speial Eets or ranged weapons,
despite the at that many o the oensive options
are easily transposed between weapon types (seeModied Speial Eets). o redress this inequal-
ity, some new eets are presented below, spei-
ally or the use o rearms.
Circumvent CoverOensive, High-ech Firearms Only
Assuming that the shooter is using some high-teh
weaponry, they an re around the target’s over.
In most ases this will require something along
the lines o sel guided ammunition. I used as a
trik shot, or example bouning a laser blast o a mirror or rioheting a bullet o a wall, then
the speial eet should be treated as a Critial
Suess only with a ommensurate redution in
damage.
Drop FoeOensive, Firearms Only
Assuming the target suers at least a minor
wound rom the shot, they are ored to make
an Opposed est o their Endurane against the
attaker’s hit roll. Failure indiates that the targetsuumbs to shok and pain, beoming inapai-
tated and unable to ontinue ghting. Reovery
rom inapaitation an be perormed with a
suessul First Aid hek or using some orm o
tehnologial or naroti booster i suh exists in
the ampaign. Otherwise the temporary inapai-
tation lasts or a period equal to one hour divided
by the Healing Rate o the target.
Duck BackOensive, Firearms Only
Tis speial eet allows the shooter to immedi-
ately duk bak into over, without needing to
wait or their next urn to use the ake Cover
ation. Te harater must be already standing or
rouhing adjaent to some orm o over to use
Duk Bak.
MarksmanOensive, Firearms Only
Permits the shooter to move the Hit Loation
struk by his shot by one step, to an immediately adjoining body area. Physiology has an eet on
what an be re-targeted and ommon sense should
be applied. Tus using this speial eet on a
humanoid would permit an attaker who rolled
a leg shot, to move it up to the abdomen instead.
Conversely shooting a grifn in the hest would
permit seletion o the orelegs, wings or head.
OverpenetrationOensive, Critical, Firearms Only
I shooting at lineally positioned opponents orinto a densely paked group, this speial eet
allows the shot to travel ompletely through the
rst vitim to strike a seond behind them, as-
suming that it overomes the rst target’s body
armour. Te seond vitim however, only suers
hal damage due to attenuation or slowing down
o the shot. Overpenetration is generally o more
use with high powered weapons that init large
amounts o damage or those whih have some
sort o armour piering ability. Any speial eets
inited on the rst target are not applied to theseond.
Pin DownOensive, Stackable, Firearms Only
Similar to Press Advantage, this speial eet
ores the target to make an Opposed est o their
Willpower against the attaker’s hit roll. Failure
means that the target hunkers down behind what-
ever over is available and annot return re on
their next urn. Note that Pin Down works even
i no atual damage is inited on the target (per-
haps due to a suessul evasion or shots striking
their over instead), as it relies on the intimidation
eet o gunre passing very lose by.
Although a pinned vitim is unable to re bak
or the requisite time, they an perorm other
ations provided they don’t expose themselves to
re in the proess, suh as rawling away to new
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 6/156
over, ommuniating with others, reloading a weapon
and so on.
WeaponMalfunction Attacker Fumbles, Firearms Only
Te attaker’s rearm maluntions in suh a way that it is
rendered useless until time an be spent eld stripping and
leaning it.
ModifiedSpecial EffectsDepending on the type o ammunition or energy they projet, some Speial Eets should be slightly modied,
even restrited. It is impossible to over all types o ranged
weaponry as there will always be exeptions, but some
general guidelines are provided or the most ommon
eets.
• Bash: Sine Bash relies more on athing an op-
ponent o balane, rather than throwing them
bakwards by pure ore, it is peretly reasonable or
projetile ammunition to ause a target to stagger i
it strikes an extremity. Energy weapons are less likely to init suh an eet unless the physis o the beam
result in some sort o surae explosion.
• Bleed : Sine most rearms produe very narrow
wound paths, it is atua lly more difult to nik or
sever a major blood vessel than it is with a sliing
or stabbing weapon. Due to this Bleed should be a
Critial Suess only – unless the gun is some sort o
weird weaponry whih res shuriken, razor éhettes,
attened ore elds or some suh exoti ammunition.
• BypassArmour: Although Bypass Armour an os-
tensibly be used with any sort o attak, some types o
ammunition might either be prevented rom aess-
ing this eet (shot gun pellets due to their spread)
or built into their base perormane, granting it as
a bonus speial eet in addition to any others won
(eleportation rounds). Muh depends on how the
Game Master wishes to model the weapon.
• ChooseLocation: As per the deault rules, Choose
Loation should be restrited to being a Critial
Suess only, unless the target is within lose range
and is either stationary or unaware o the impending
attak. elesopi sopes may extend this range (see
Spot Rules).
• CircumventParry: Tis is obviously o little use un-
less targets are using rearm resistant shields, or you
are shooting at a lightsabre armed Jedi...• CompelSurrender: Firearms are usually very intimi-
dating weapons. Tus Compel Surrender need not
be restrited to only those targets plaed at a tatial
disadvantage; and an be utilised at a distane also.
• DamageWeapon: Sine striking a hand held weapon
at range is even more difult than targeting a spe-
i body loation, this should generally be reserved
or Critial Suesses only. Tere are several exep-
tions however, the rst being that a shield should,
by its very nature, be muh easier to hit. Te seond
onerns exoti weapons whih re a one shapedbeam able to target hand held objets within its area
o aet; or instane an indution gun that heats
metal objets.
• DisarmOpponent: As per Damage Weapon above.
Tere’s nothing quite as satisying than shooting an
enemy’s gun right out o their hands.
• Entangle: Although usually reserved or thrown
weapons suh as nets or the bolas, entangling rearms
are a staple or some golden and silver-age siene -
tion settings. anglers should be permitted aess to
this speial eet.• Impale: Te ammunition o most projetile-based
rearms will be able to impale. Game Masters may
wish to restrit or ban this eet or plasma or laser
based energy weapons. Bullets, éhettes and similar
projetiles are learly too small to impose any seond-
ary impaling eets.
• KillSilently : Obviously this annot be seleted i
the weapon is inherently loud unless it possesses
some sort o silener. In general, any gun whih res
ammunition travelling aster than the speed o sound
will make signiant noise, no matter what method
it uses to aelerate the projetile. Sniping with some-
thing like a Mirowave Laser on the other hand will
be utterly inaudible.
• MaximiseDamage: Tis speial eet should be
available or any rearm. Remember however, that
it only aets a single die. Something whih should
be taken into onsideration by a Game Master when
designing modern or uturisti weapons or their
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 7/15
RQ Firearm
7
ampaign.
• PinWeapon: Useul only with speialised
rearms, it ould be used or harpoon guns or
trator beam ries or example.
• RapidReload : Whilst useul or blak
powder or single round rearms, this speial
eet has less o an obvious appliation whenapplied to automati weapons, where the
next shot is hambered (or harged) instantly.
However, Rapid Reload ould be utilised in-
stead to quikly hange weapon magazines. It
might also be appliable or energy weapons
that possess lengthy yle times to reharge
apaitors or allow the barrel to ool.
• StunLocation: Peret or ertain types
o projetiles, it ould also be an inherent
bonus eet o non-lethal stun-ray weapons,
where the damage roll is only used to see i itoveromes any worn protetion rather than
initing a wound.
• Sunder: A somewhat unusual hoie, Sunder
would be suitable or energy-based rearms
designed to destroy ablative armours or more
exoti onepts like gravity wave guns.
• TripOpponent : Assuming the rearm atu-
ally shoots ammunition with mass, there is no
reason that this eet ouldn’t be used when
shooting at the legs o an opponent, even i
no damage penetrates any worn protetion.
Spot Rules Whilst running gun based ombat should be
relatively straightorward, the ollowing spot rules
are provided to help resolve ertain eatures and
situations aused by rearms.
Accuracy of Fire-arms over Range Whilst rearms generally have ar greater ranges
than their less tehnologially sophistiated oun-
terparts, they are still subjet to the same auray
issues when shooting at a distane. Te design o
a rearm an also have a signiant eet upon
their auray. For example, due to their short
barrel length and less stable ring position, hand-guns are typially more inaurate than ries.
In general use the ollowing modiers when using
the ‘Size and Distane Difulty Adjustment’
table:
• Pistols – Inrease penalty by 1 step
• Carbines/SMGs – No modier
• Ries – Redue penalty by 1 step
• Sniper Ries – Redue penalty by 2 steps
Remember that as an exeption to the normalrule, distane penalties stak on top o other
ranged ombat situational modiers.
Automatic FireSome rearms automatially hamber the next
shot, by using the waste gases, reoil or energy
rom the previous shot. With no need to reok,
this grants the weapon a range o dierent ring
rates, all dependent on how muh ammo the user
wishes to release.
Tese ring modes are known as Semi-Automati,
Burst and Full-Automati. Whilst this ability an
make some guns apable o dealing out ear-
some damage, trying to maintain auray with
reoiling weapons is problemati. Assume that the
ollowing rules primarily apply to projetile ring
automati weapons.Carlesn Weapon Systems 20mm Split Beam
Violator Light Repeating Blaster Rie
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 8/15
Susam, nost, saperovid quam facia
sitatur alit exero beaque lam, quam
corro corpos iur, sundae nobitatque
sunto dolore nimil idus repe ped mag
nimp erciur, nonseq
8
Semi-Automatic: Tis is atually the deault rate o re
or most guns, where eah pull o the trigger res a single
shot and loads the next round.
Burst : For burst re eah pull on the trigger releases a
short number o rounds, usually no more than three to
ve depending on the weapon. Its original purpose was topermit limited suppression re, but restrit exessive am-
munition use. It is not intended to improve the shooter’s
hane to hit sine rapid, sequential reoil ontinually
jerks the weapon o-line. Firing in burst mode imposes
a penalty grade o Hard to the attak roll. I the attak
sueeds however, the shooter rolls a die to see how many
o the rounds in that burst struk home on the target. So
a three round burst would use 1d3. Roll separate loation
and damage or eah round whih hits.
Full-Automatic: Normally used or ull blown suppress-ing re to pin down multiple targets, ull-automati an
be devastating i red into a losely grouped body o en-
emies. Te shooter deides how many rounds o ammo to
re (up to the limit o the yli rate o the weapon) whih
are then evenly distributed aross all the targets inluded
in the ar o re. Any spare rounds are onsidered lost
whilst traversing aim (thus ring 15 rounds at 6 targets
would be two bullets eah). A separate attak roll is made
or eah target, but at a difulty grade o Formidable
due to the inreased reoil eets o sustained re. Tose
targets who are hit suer a random number o rounds asper Burst Fire.
Note that only the rst shot which strikes during a burst or
ull automatic spray can benet rom special eects. Tus roll-
ing a critical attack whilst ring in automatic mode would
permit the selection o Maximise Damage, but only with the
rst shot, even i all the remaining rounds hit home.
Dual FirearmsCharaters may use dual rearms, shooting both weaponssimultaneously during their urn to gain a more rapid rate
o re. However, this omes at a penalty to auray. Fir-
ing a pistol in eah hand suers a penalty o Hard to hit
the target. Tose trying to onurrently shoot with a ar-
bine or SMG in eah hand suer a penalty o Formidable.
Fumbling withFirearms
Sine gunre is not normally resisted by an opposing skill,a speial provision should be made when a shooter umbles
their attak roll. In this ase, whomever was the intended
target is allowed to selet a umble spei speial eet,
whih the shooter then suers. See a lso the umble only
speial eet Weapon Maluntion above.
Parrying Weapon Firewith Shields
As expressed earlier, it is almost impossible to deliberately parry a supersoni projetile or energy beam. Shields how-
ever still provide a degree o protetion sine in eet they
are portable ‘over’. o utilise a shield in a re-ght, just
use the Passive Bloking rules on page 154 o RQ6.
Why is automatic fire so penalised?
It may seem that the rules or automati re are unduly harsh ompared with the apparent auray o modern re-
arms. Tere are several reasons or this, the primary ones being streamlining and game balane. Players who ritiise
their harater’s inauray should be reminded that any tweaks to the rules will be applied against them too; whih
given the lethality o rapid re should be a sobering thought.
O ourse, some o these reoil penalties an be mitigated, or example by using Steady Weapon to brae automati
rearms. Te truth o the matter is though, that re-ghts are very dierent to target shooting on a gun range (see
Te Disonnet Between Range Marksmanship and Combat). Te instint to take over when bullets are ying,
the need to keep mobile and every shot taken pinpointing the shooter by its muzzle ash or sound, oten prevents
any hane o aiming or braing. Te phrase ‘Spray and Pray’ was oined or very good reason!
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 9/15
RQ Firearm
9
With regard to more modern rearms or those o
a siene tion nature, a Game Master may wish
to grant the shield an Armour Point value rather
than assigning it a Size, based upon the inherent
material it is made rom. For example a wooden
shield might be treated as 4 Armour Points, a Kev-
lar tatial shield 8 AP, and a Ulysses 31 braeletore eld shield 15 AP.
Telescopic Sights A telesopi sight improves the auray o a
rearm over greater distanes when the user takes
the time to aim properly (see Aiming on page
159). Te most basi telesopi sights are merely
optial magniers, but as tehnology advanesthey begin to inorporate integral rangenders,
projetile trajetory alulators, air movement sen-
sors, atmospheri lensing ompensators, IR or low
light ampliers and a host o other gadgets whih
improve its eetive ‘hit’ distane.
Tus telesopi sights redue the apparent distane
(on the Size and Distane Difulty Adjustment
table) by a number o distane steps equal to the
multiplier. For example an x12 sope will extend
Close Range to twelve times its base distane, whilst additionally reduing the apparent distane
by 12 steps, or 240m (12 x 20m) beore penalties
are alulated.
The Disconnect
Between Range
Marksmanship &
Combat
Since 1970, the Firear
and actics Section o the New York City Po
Department has gathe
statistical data about p
involved rearms exch
Te results have shown
an ofcer’s ability on a
range has little bearin
what actually occurs in
combat situation.
Te ollowing statisticsthe hit percentages o t
ofcers who red duri
a gunght. Tey are n
only surprising, but al
demonstrate that some
more penalising Spot R
modelled or RQ6 gun
bat are actually very l
in terms o what happ
real lie.
• 3 or less yards: 19
38%; 1992, 28%
• 3 – 7 yards: 199
11.5%; 1992, 11
• 7 – 15 yards: 19
9.4%; 1992, 4.2
• 15 – 25 yards (19
not included in a
age); 1992, 2
• Average Hit Perc
age at 15 yards o
1990, 19%; 199
17%
Creating FirearmsGame Masters wanting to reate their own
rearms or RQ6 must take into onsideration nu-
merous aspets o weapon design and the eets
they pose on haraters.
PurposeTe rst thing to think about is what the weapon
is designed to be used against. An elephant
gun or instane has ammunition alulated to
take down harging big game, and thus should
init more damage than a normal hunting rie
intended or deer.
Te type o damage is important too. A Roket
Propelled Grenade is manuatured to be used
against tanks. Whilst it an init terrible inju-
ries, its real purpose is to destroy vehile armour,
oten with the intent to ollow up with a seond
shot to the same loation whih then penetrates
the vehile easier (see the Ablating trait below).
Tus the base damage die or an RPG need not
be that large, allowing anyone aught in its blast
radius a better hane o survival.
Other types o damage exist. Stunning or pa-
ralysis allows the reation o non-lethal weapons.
Disintegration on the other hand might init
permanent damage on Hit Loations making itvery rightening i no method o regeneration
exists!
DamageIn real lie it is quite possible to be shot by small
or medium alibre handgun rounds and still
remain untional. At the upper end o the sale,
rie rounds an init terrible damage, inapai-
tating the vitim, but still not neessarily kill
them outright. Muh depends on the ammunition
o ourse, but the objetive is generally to wound,
not ompletely annihilate the target.
With that in mind, small rearms designed or
use against humans should probably be saled at
around 1d6 damage, able to init Light Wounds
with a reasonable hane o a Serious Wound.
Tis would be something like a .38 pistol.
op tier weapons designed or use against hu-
yrell Industries .408 Recoil-less Gauss Pistol.
Nicknamed ‘Hand Cannon’
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 10/1510
mans really shouldn’t init any more than 20 damage
maximum, but averaging just over hal that, enough to
regularly init Major Wounds. A top o the line M24 or
Dragunov sniper rie might be rated at 2d8+4 damage or
instane.
Anything larger is just wasted ammunition mass or shotenergy, and works against player harater survivability
when aing equally well armed oes.
Projectile or EnergyTe type o projetile or energy shot rom a weapon will
have onsequenes on how it works. For example a vis-
ible Laser may be able to pass through bullet-proo glass,
boune o mirrors, and yet be utterly useless in og or
rain.
Whilst energy weapons are pretty muh xed as to their
eets, projetile weapons an be quite versatile aord-
ing to what ammunition they are loaded with. In at the
type and amount o damage aused depends more on the
bullet, rather than the gun whih projets it. Te latter
having more inuene over ring modes, range, auray
and suh like.
Ammunition Capacity Whether a rearm shoots physial projetiles or energy beams, it will have a limited number o shots beore
the magazine or power soure needs to be swapped out.
Tis is important, not beause o any real world or hard
siene onsiderations, but without hanging lips on a
regular basis, a reght will simply be won by whomever
establishes suppressing re rst and then walks down his
owering oes.
With no need to reload, every battle may well turn into
a bloodbath, whih is ne i you are merely expending
lones or droids, but will beome extremely rustrating to
players when rolling up new haraters or the umpteenth
time.
Modern projetile weapons urrently have magazines o
about 10-30 rounds, whih should be sufient apaity
to enable a deent amount o shooting until needing to
hange the lip. Heavier support weapons whih have a
muh higher rate o re, should possess larger magazines.
Overcoming ArmourSome previous d100 settings using rearms have ompen-
sated or the protetive value o armour by boosting the
base damage to very high levels. Although this enables
injury o those wearing signiant body armour, it has a detrimental eet o making suh weapons near instantly
lethal against unproteted oes, whih is not neessarily
realisti.
A better alternative is that rearms should redue or
bypass a ertain number o Armour Points aording to
their penetrative nature. Tis permits the base damage
o the weapon to remain within survivable limits. Some
weapons may be ompletely unaeted by armour entirely,
like eletromagneti weapons o higher or lower requen-
ies; or weapons whih init other eets, suh as brainsramblers that indue unonsiousness.
O ourse, with more exoti weaponry there should always
be some orm o ounter or protetion available to thwart
its eets. In a hard Si-Fi setting, deending against an
X-Ray Laser might require 1m thik lead-lined armour to
halve its eets (great or ross-genre Gloranthan trolls),
or onversely 150m o air, meaning that X-Ray ries are
going to be rather poor as long range sniper weapons.
New Weapon
TraitsTe ollowing list gives some new Firearm spei weapon
traits. Further traits an be designed or more exoti
weaponry.
• Ablating : Designed to diretly attak the protetive
armour o an objet or person. Damage is done to Ar-
mour Points rst. One the armour has been redued
to zero, any remaining damage ontinues through to
the target. Most HE (High Explosive) ammunition
ts this trait.
• ArmourPiercing : Ignores a spei number o
Armour Points equal to hal the maximum damage
apability o the ring weapon. So Armour Piering
rounds red rom a .45 pistol would ignore the rst
our points o any protetion, whereas those red
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 11/15
RQ Firearm
11
rom .50 alibre sniper rie would ignore 12
points.
• Cauterising : Te bolt or beam immediately
seals o any ruptured blood vessels, prevent-
ing targets rom bleeding out in the event o a
Major Wound.
• Disintegrating : Inits permanent Hit Pointdamage to the target, literally vaporising the
area struk.
• Fragmentation: Te projetile violently ex-
plodes, aeting everything within its burst.
Te radius o this eet should be listed in
parenthesis. argets within the radius o the
blast reeive hal damage to 1d3-1 Hit Loa-
tions (roll or eah wound). Some explosive
rounds (HEAP) also possess the Armour
Piering trait, so that they detonate inside an
armoured objet. Tose that do not ully pen-etrate, have their explosive damage redued
by double the remaining thikness o Armour
Points.
• Frangible: A projetile designed to disin-
tegrate when striking a surae harder than
itsel. Tese are mainly used in ragile or dan-
gerous environments, suh as the inside o a
ying airplane or a usion power plant, where
a stray hit on equipment an have potentially
atastrophi eets. Tey are generally ine-
etive against body armour.• HollowPoint:Te projetile attens inside
the target, inreasing the amount o damage
inited. Roll damage twie and take the best
result.
• Incendiary : Designed to ignite whatever the
projetile or beam hits. I the target is natu-
rally ammable it bursts into ame aording
to the Fire rules on pages 120-121. reat as
an Intensity 3 heat soure or the purposes o
starting a re.
• Knockout : Similar to the Paralysis trait, this
energy weapon does not init damage, but
renders the vitim unonsious i the target
ails in an opposed roll o their Willpower
against the attak roll.
• Para lysing : Te Hit Loation struk by the
energy weapon does not take any physial
damage, but is instead rendered inapaitated
i the target ails in an opposed roll o their
Endurane against the attak roll.
• Scatter: Te weapon or round is made o
tiny shot, éhettes or pellets whih spread
beore they strike, reduing any range penal-
ties by one step and initing damage to 1d3
adjaent Hit Loations. Tis omes at a ost
however. Firstly the weapon damage roll oreah loation is halved; seondly any armour,
natural or worn, doubles its Armour Point
value against the damage.
• SelfGuided : Permits the seletion o the
Cirumvent Cover speial eet.
• Tranquilising : Permits the delivery o a
naroti or mediine, either by injetion rom
a tiny ampoule built into the projetile, or by
the projetile itsel dissolving diretly into the
bloodstream. Depending on its nature, dam-
age might only rolled to see i it overomesany protetion worn by the target.
• Weakness: Usually applied to energy bolts
or beams, the weapon suers signiant
degradation to some orm o environmental
ondition or material substane. Te spei
weakness is normally speied as a ootnote
or as part o the weapon’s detailed desrip-
tion.
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 12/1512
Sample WeaponsTis setion provides a range o dierent example re-
arms, whih an be used as a template to model additional
weapons. Most are intended or use against humans or
modest sized animals, and little eort is made to dier-entiate between spei rearms other than its orm and
alibre.
Te ollowing weapon statistis are merely rough approxi-
mations, representing an average weapon o that alibre
and barrel length. Spei weapons may have dierent
perormane harateristis. Game Masters with a deeper
interest in rearms are ree to tinker with these values to
represent their avoured ioni weapons.
In onsideration o the nature o rearms, some o thenormal statistis or ranged weapons in RuneQuest have
been removed; suh as Fore, Armour Points, Hit Points.
Cost has also been let o sine suh things are setting
spei.
Other aspets have been modied somewhat. Firing Rate is now either a solitary number or single ation and
semi-automati weapons... or three numbers separated by
slashes; representing the rate o re or semi-automati,
burst and automati re in that order. Te latter being
the maximum yli rate o re whih an be released per
ombat ation.
Likewise reloading (depending on the weapon) assumes an
easily to hand, preloaded magazine whih an quikly be
snapped into plae by ejeting and dropping the previous
one. I a spare lip or speedloader is not available, then a single bullet or artridge an be loaded per urn.
Ranged Weapon Damage RangeFiring
Rate Ammo Load
Weapon
raitsENC
Mu Pistol 1d6 5/10/25 1 Single Shot 4 Rounds -Flintlok Pistol 1d8 10/20/50 1 Single Shot 4 Rounds 1
Flintlok Pistol, win Barrel 1d8 10/20/50 1 2 6 Rounds 2
Flintlok Musket 1d10 15/100/200 1 Single Shot 4 Rounds 3
Flintlok Rie 2d6 20/200/500 1 Single Shot 4 Rounds 3
Blunderbuss 2d6 5/10/25 1 Single Shot 4 Rounds Satter 2
Black Powder Weapons
Blak powder is a mixture o sulphur, potassium nitrate, and powdered haroal - ‘gun powder’.
Te intlok is the most reognisable blak poweder rearm. Flintloks work by striking a sharpened
piee o int against a urved, hard steel rizzen, whih is attahed to a pivot; the impat o the hammer
pushes the rizzen orward, and its bottom ats as a over or a small priming pan. Te sparks gener-
ated all into the pan and ignite a small priming harge. Te resulting ash travels through a touh-holebored into the barrel to ignite the main harge.
Tese weapons require more maintenane than their modern ounterparts. Loading any blak powder
rearm requires ammunition, whih may ome in the orm o a ‘artridge’ (ontaining a ball and the
requisite amount o powder, wrapped in paper), or simply the ball and wadding without pre-measured
powder; a ask o powder or pouring and priming; and a rod to ram the harge seurely into the
weapon’s muzzle. As blak powder weapons are muzzle-loading, it takes time to prepare eah round.
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 13/15
RQ Firearm
13
Ranged Weapon Damage RangeFiring
Rate Ammo Load
Weapon
raitsENC
.38 Pistol 1d6 50/100/200 1 6-9 3 - 1
9mm Pistol 1d6+1 50/100/200 1 6-9 3 - 1
.45 Pistol 1d8 50/100/200 1 6-9 3 - 1
.357 Pistol 1d8+1 50/100/200 1 6-9 3 - 1
10mm Pistol 1d10 50/100/200 1 6-9 3 - 1
.50 Pistol 1d12 50/100/200 1 6 Box Mag 3 - 2
5.56mm Assault Carbine 2d6-1 500/900/2000 1/3/- 30 Box Mag 3 - 3
5.56mm Assault Rie 2d6+1 600/1000/3000 1/3/20 30 Box Mag 3 - 3
5.56mm Light Mahine Gun 2d6 600/1000/3000 -/-/20 200 Belt 6 - 4
7.62mm Medium Mahine Gun 2d8+2 800/1500/4000 -/-/2250 Drum or
200 Belt
3 Drum, 6
Belt- 5
7.62mm Sniper Rie 2d8+4 900/1500/5000 1/-/- 20 Box Mag 3 - 4
.50 Anti-Material Sniper Rie 2d10+4 1/-/- 10 Box Mag 3 - 6
12 Gauge Combat Shotgun 3d6 20/100/200 1/-/88 Box Mag or
32 Drum
3 - 3
Modern WeaponsMost modern rearms lak any inherent traits, but deer their eets to their ammunition. By deault,
standard bullets possess none, merely initing the weapon’s basi damage. Speial ammunition how-
ever, an be purhased or most modern weapons however, permitting rounds with either the Armour
Piering, Frangible, Hollow Point or Inendiary traits.
Combat Shotguns are the exeption to this rule, possessing a versatile range o dierent ammunition.
Other than a plain slug, shotguns may re the ollowing types o round: Anti-personnel grenades
(Fragmentation with 2m radius), Baton rounds (Stun Loation, temporary damage), Breahing rounds
(Frangible), and Bukshot (Satter).
Energy WeaponsTe typial weapons o Siene Fition settings, energy weapons emit a beam or bolt o energy rather
than a physial projetile. Te power soure is typially a battery or powerpak held within the weapon
or arried separately and attahed to the weapon via a able. External powerpaks provide a ar greater
apaity. Laser weapons are silent, projeting a lased beam o light in a ontinuous stream. Blasters re a
pulse o plasma aompanied by a distint rakle or sound as the bolt leaves the weapon’s muzzle.
Te load rating or energy weapons represents replaing a spent power soure. Te Ammo rating ditates
how many shots an be obtained rom the power soure beore it is depleted. For simpliity, Ammo
ratings assume the weapon arries a battery or powerpak. For a separate, external soure, inrease the
Ammo rating by ten.
raits or energy weapons vary rom the preditable to the more versatile. Blasters, or instane, an be
set to stun rather than kill. Changing the setting is a Free Ation.
Siene Fition has reated some truly inventive energy weapons that have very dierent traits. Te
seletion here aptures the traditional lasers and blasters, and oers some more exoti variants ound in
dierent books, lms and V shows.
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 14/1514
Ranged Weapon Damage Range Firing Rate Ammo Load Weapon raits ENC
Blaster, Palm 1d8 5/15/90 1 20 2 Cauterising 0.25
Blaster Pistol 1d8 10/30/120 1 100 3 Cauterising 1
Blaster Pistol, Heavy 1d10 7/25/50 1 50 3 Cauterising 1
Blaster Carbine 2d6 15/50/220 1 50 3Cauterising,
Knokout2
Blaster Rie 2d6 30/100/300 1 100 3Cauterising,
Knokout3
Light Repeating Blaster 2d6 30/100/300
3 shot burst or
ull auto (up to
25 shots)
25 (250 i
onneced
to bakpak
generator)
15 Cauterising 7
Disintegrator, Pistol 1d10 8/24/100 1 15 3 Disintegrating 2
Disintergrator, Rie 2d10 25/75/300 1 10 3 Disintegrating 4
Disruptor, Pistol 1d6 10/30/120 1 40 3Knokout,
Paralysing
1
Disruptor, Rie 1d8 30/100/300 1 50 3Knokout,
Paralysing 3
Laser Pistol* 1d6+1 12/36/144 1 50 3
Cauterising,
Inendiary,
Weakness
1
Laser Carbine* 1d8+2 18/60/300 1 30 3
Cauterising,
Inendiary
Weakness
2
Laser Rie* 1d10+2 40/120/380 1
80 (800 i
onneced to
a bakpak
generator)
3
Cauterising,
Inendiary
Weakness
3
Laser Rie, Heavy* 1d12+2 80/240/1000 1
25 (250 i onneced
to bakpak
generator)
3
Cauterising,
Inendiary
Weakness
4
Phaser, Palm 1d6 4/12/50 1 12 3
Cauterising,
Knokout,
Paralysing
0.25
Phaser, Pistol 1d8 8/25/75 1 24 3
Cauterising,
Knokout,
Paralysing
1
Phaser, Rie 1d8 20/60/240 1 48 3
Cauterising,
Knokout,
Paralysing
2
Soni Rie** Speial Speial 1 20 3 Paralysing** 4
* Lasers an be aeced by deensive materials that diuse, derac or reec light, suh as anti-lasre aerosol partiles, mist, and mirrors. All and similar
will help redue or even blok a visible light laser. Games Masters should deide on the eeciveness o deterrent and redue the laser’s damage by an
appropriate perentage.
** Soni Ries produe an intense burst o sound that aecs all targets not equipped with soni dampeners or ear protecion within a 20 metre ar
direcly in ront o the rer. Do not roll or Hit Loation. Vicims must sueed in a Hard Endurane roll (unopposed) or be inapaitated until the
weapon is deacivated.
Energy Weapons
7/29/2019 RQ Firearms
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rq-firearms 15/15
RQ Firearm
Exotic FirearmsExoti rearms are ballistis, rather than energy-based, but have a wide variety o dierent traits to
distinguish them rom Modern Firearms. Tey represent uture advanements on ballistis tehnology,
some o whih are being realised in urrent weapons researh.
Ranged Weapon Damage Range Firing Rate
Ammo Load Weapon raits ENC
Flehette/Needle Gun 1d6 5/15/90 1 80 2Satter,
ranquilising
1
Gauss Pistol* 1d12+1 40/80/150 1 12 3 Hollow Point 2
Gauss Rie* 2d12+2 80/160/300 1/3/- 30 3 Armour Piering,
Hollow Point
4
Gauss Rie, Heavy* 2d12+6 160/400/1200 -/-/2280 Drum or
300 Belt
3 Drum, 6
Belt
Armour Piering,
Hollow Point
6
Snub Pistol 1d6 5/15/90 1 20 2 Frangible 1
Snub Rie 1d8 10/30/180 1/3/- 50 Drum 3 Frangible 3
Flamer, Hand 1d8 3/10/40 1 8 4 Inendiary 2Flamer Rie 2d8 12/36/150 1 20 4 Inendiary 4
Frag Pistol 1d6 10/30/120 1 18 3 Fragmentation 2
Frag Rie 1d10 15/50/220 1 50 3 Fragmentation 4
Multi-Purpose Pistol** Speial 50/100/200 1 15 3 Variable 2
Multi-Purpose Rie** Speial 100/400/1200 1/3/- 50 Box 3 Variable 4
* Gauss weapons inlude an elecromagneti array along the length o the barrel that inreases bullet veloity substantially and means that a lower alibre
o round an be used to impart signiant damage. All Gauss weapons have a power supply in the orm o a internal battery that must be replaed ater
every 50 shots.
** Multi-Purpose Weapons use sophistiated omputer and ballistis manipulation tehnology to hange the type o the ammunition being red at the
ik o a manual swith (some advaned variants are voie-acivated). Tese weapons an selec one o the ollowing raits to augment their standardammunition: Armour Piering, Hollow-Point, Inendiary and Sel-Guided. Changing the selecion uses the Swith Fire Mode Combat Acion.
A Bit Elaborate for a Toothpick...
Te example weapons provided here are not exhaustive and there are learly hundreds - i not thou-
sands - o variants. Our intention is to provide a representative sample that an at as templates or more
spei rearms, real or speulative, that Games Masters an develop or their ampaigns.
We hope you enjoyed reading this expansion or RuneQuest. With these guidelines you should be able
to reate rearms peretly suited to whatever genre you require and experiene as muh un using the
rules as we did developing them.
Feel ree to post your reations on our website (www.thedesignmehanism.om) to inspire others!