Question of Rules: Laser Sight (TL8)

MCutter

Mongoose
Hello
I have a question about the laser sight.

One rule says you have to aim to get +1 and the
other rule says you get the +1 without aiming but only in short distance.

What rule should I apply ?

A device giving +1 without "advance payment" seems unballanced to me.
I really would like to reward my player with "magical-devices-giving-bonus-anywhere-anytime",
that can not be bought at the local Laser Sight Store.

What would you advise ?

Best Greetings
MCutter

Main Rule Book p.102:
Laser Sight (TL8 ): Integrated optics and laser sights give an extra
+1 DM bonus to any attack that has been aimed (see page 61 for
the aim action). Cr 100. At TL 10, x-ray lasers and improved display
technology removes the tell-tale ‘red dot’ of a vislight laser. Cr 200.

Central Supply Catalog p.54:
Laser Sight (TL8 ): A laser dot pointer can be fitted to most weapons.
It is not useful beyond Short range but at Close or Short range it
grants a +1 DM on all hit rolls. Cr. 200, negligible weight. At TL
10, the use of more advanced optics eliminates the beam-and-dot
signature of the basic laser, at no increase in cost.
 
My Cr0.4 on this (it used to be Cr0.1 but its the inflation these days)

If you spend a minor action aiming you gain +1 to hit, stackable to a max of +6. So two entire rounds just aiming makes that sniper shot very likely to hit with +6 and do something special with 6+ effects.

A laser sight adds +1 to the aiming bonus, it doesn't say if it is capped at 6 or allows +7. For muself I would say it still caps at +6, the laser rangefinder and scope allows you to get your eye in just a few seconds quicker.

The spot dot is a classic red/green/blue dot of death that you see often in movies. It should be lined up with the barrel and tell you where the bullet will hit when you fire. +1 to hit isn't a large modifier in a fire fight, once you start adding penalties for cover etc. Restricting it to short range also reduces how effective it can be, yes it grants +1 to hit in those starship corridors but as soon as you open the range a bit you gain no benifit.

Put the target dot on your pistols and sub guns, its wasted on a rifle unless you are going close quarters.

The laser sight should be on rifles and is a handy bonus since if you have the time you should take a minor action to aim with every shot.

Using a bullpup or carbine with both could be done since they do not work together. You get +1 for the sights even if you are aiming at short range.

I have both a dot and laser sights on a bullpup assualt rifle in a current game, it isn't overpowering though to be honest I mostly shoot people with ram grenades :twisted:
 
Captain Jonah said:
I have both a dot and laser sights on a bullpup assualt rifle in a current game, it isn't overpowering though to be honest I mostly shoot people with ram grenades :twisted:

And then the rest of us have to clean up your mess.
 
I've seen a RPG explosion ... if that is your 'attack of choice', then I hope that you have LOTS of room (to avoid the old school 'fireball spell in a corridor' scenario.)

On-Topic ... yeah, they seem to describe the difference between a laser-rangefinder targeting scope for a sniper rifle (which you Aim) and a red dot for a pistol (point and shoot at close range). Two very different systems that are described in similar terms.

The red dot, no aim, point and shoot, short range "scope" sounds too expensive at 200 cr (US$1000?) - I found rail mount lasers that should do the same task (+1 at short range) for less than US$200 (Cr 40?).
 
What would you advise ?

Ah, Central Supply Catalogue. How often you tell the rest of the core rules to get lost...

My response would be 'pick one'. Which isn't, of course, helpful.

Do your players all have the core rules and/or do they all have CSC? If they have a single source of truth they're using, go with that.

What rule should I apply ?

My personal view is that CSC is better than the core rules on this one. A laser sight doesn't account for wind, bullet drop with range, etc, etc, but it also doesn't require you to be necessarily eye-to-the-sights with your weapon. In short, it benefits you most for snap-shots at short range, whether you've aimed or not, which is right for CSC.

12 metres (the maximum range of the bonus) isn't that far. And yes, I'd say from the ruling that both stack with aiming. However if you're within 12 metres of a target, spending two full rounds aiming is a questionable tactic...
 
Back
Top