TEXT: Guns and Ammo
  Bullet Points
  Guns and Ammo
  By James Wyatt
  Welcome to the latest installment of Bullet Points. I'm James Wyatt, designer of a lot of D&D books, plus one 
  d20 Modern book that's coming out in 2005, though I can't tell you much about that one just yet. It's my job to 
  answer your questions about the game, offer advice on tricky issues, and give you a little peek into the minds of 
  the designers (insofar as I can pry their minds open to wrest insight from them). 
  Every two weeks I pick an issue that's provoked a lot of questions or comments, begin with a general discussion 
  of the topic where applicable, and then answer specific questions related to it. If there are any unrelated but 
  pressing questions in the mailbox, I might tackle them at the end of the column, but only if there's room and they 
  can't wait for an appropriately themed column.
  Guns and Ammo
  I can give you one hint about the d20 Modern book I worked on, which is scheduled for release in early 2005: It 
  has guns in it. In fact, it features enough guns that I now feel somewhat competent to talk about them, even 
  though I have never been particularly interested in that topic. But the gun-related questions keep piling up, so it's 
  about time to take the plunge.
  Questions and Answers
  Now without further ado, let's get to those questions.
  I just recently picked up a copy of the new d20 Modern Weapons Locker book, and the chapter on 
  shotguns got me thinking. Supposedly any Medium-size or smaller gun can be fired one-handed, 
  as noted in the section on pistols. But does this rule also apply to shotguns? I know that pump-action 
  shotguns require two hands regardless of their size, but what about semi-automatic ones? Does using 
  such a weapon one-handed incur any sort of penalty?
  The only Medium-size semi-automatic shotguns in the game are sawed-off shotguns and the Reutech Protecta 
  Bulldog (revolver shotgun) described in Weapons Locker. A character can use either of these weapons one-
  handed with no penalty. The Bulldog has twin pistol grips to help the user keep the gun steady when firing it, but 
  even though this particular weapon is designed for two-handed use, it can still be fired with one hand.
  From personal experience, I have to agree that shotguns are not the great weapons that many 
  RPGs make them out to be. However, one of my players recently made a good point. Because of its 
  spread pattern, a shotgun should be a bit more effective than any other gun in hitting a target that has 
  concealment. Even if the spread is only the size of a dinner plate at its maximum, it does cover more 
  area than a single bullet would. That feature helps to explain why the military used such weapons in 
  Vietnam for jungle warfare, and why special operations units still carry them for similar situations.
  
  Guns and Ammo
  Do you think that allowing such a weapon to partially negate the benefits of concealment would be a 
  reasonable house rule? If so, would you reduce concealment by one level, or just reduce the percent 
  miss chance by, say, 5% or so?
  I would probably allow a house rule of this sort, but I'd limit it to shotguns set on the open choke setting (see 
  page 141 of Weapons Locker) and other weapons designed to spread the shot carefully (such as the Heckler & 
  Koch HK512 described on page 147 of Weapons Locker). I would also reduce the miss chance by 10%. This 
  adjustment is a lot like reducing the level of concealment by one, but the firer still has to guess the location of a 
  target with total concealment.
  I can't seem to find the weight of ammunition in the books. Can you help me out here?
  Well, you can't find it because that information isn't in the books anywhere. But yes, I think I can help you out. 
  You can use the weights given on the following table as a guideline for establishing weights for any other kind of 
  ammo.
  Ammo
  Weight
  Box of rifle ammo (20 cartridges)
  1 pound
  Box of pistol ammo (50 cartridges)
  1-1/2 pounds
  Box of shotgun ammo (10 cartridges)
  1 pound
  Quiver of 12 arrows or crossbow bolts
  1 pound
  Weapons Locker gives statistics for guns that fire many different rounds, but it doesn't give a price 
  table for the new ammo sizes. Can you find or make one for me, and for the other people who want 
  to use the really big anti-material rifles?
  Okay, here goes.
  Ammunition Type 
  (Quantity)
  Purchase 
  DC
  4.7mm caseless (20)
  5
  5.45mm (20)
  4
  5.8mm (20)
  4
  7.5mm (20)
  4
  7.62x39mm (20)
  5
  9x39mm (20)
  6*
  12.7mm (20)
  7
  14.5mm (20)
  8
  15.2mm (20)
  9
  20mm (20)
  10
  .280 caliber (20)
  5
  
  Guns and Ammo
  .300 caliber (20)
  5
  .308 caliber (20)
  5
  .338 caliber (20)
  6
  4.6mm (50)
  4
  5.45mm (50)
  4
  5.56mm Knight (50)
  5
  5.7mm (50)
  4
  6.5x25mm (50)
  4
  7.62x17mm (50)
  5
  9x21mm Russian (50)
  5
  9mm caseless (50)
  6
  12.5mm (50)
  5
  .25 caliber (50)
  4
  .380 caliber (50)
  5
  .400 caliber (50)
  5
  .454 caliber (50)
  5
  23mm buckshot (10)
  6
  20-gauge buckshot (10)
  5
  .410 caliber buckshot (10)
  6
  * 9x39mm ammunition is described in the sidebar on page 59 of Weapons Locker.
  According to the d20 Modern Weapons Locker book, Glocks are always mastercraft weapons, and 
  the price for mastercraft is already included in the Purchase DC. Would it be possible to buy a 
  mastercraft Glock and gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls instead of the normal +1?
  In theory, yes -- see page 94 of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game for details. Increasing the bonus on a 
  mastercraft item increases its purchase DC by +3. So if you wanted a +2 mastercraft Glock instead of the off-the-
  shelf +1 version, you would simply increase the purchase DC by +3, to DC 21. However, the rules say that such 
  high-quality mastercraft items are generally not for sale, so it would probably fall to a Techie hero to make such a 
  spectacular gun.
  In Weapons Locker, it says that a weapon without iron sights incurs a -1 penalty on attack rolls 
  when the scope is not used. In the text, however, the lack of iron sights does not seem to be 
  connected to the -1 penalty.&nbsp; Some sniper rifles get the penalty but have sights, and others have 
  neither sights nor penalties. Are these entries typos, or are we actually talking about two penalties?
  The text has a few errors. For example, the Barrett M98 has no iron sights, but it does have a scope mount. This 
  rifle's description says nothing about the -1 penalty for not using a scope, but it should. The FR-F2, on the other 
  hand, comes with a scope but has backup iron sights. Thus, a hero who takes the scope off gets no penalty on 
  her attack rolls (contrary to the text) because of the backup iron sights. The text about using the weapon without 
  
  Guns and Ammo
  a scope is intended as a reminder, but it's sometimes present when it shouldn't be and absent when it should. So 
  just pay attention to whether the weapon has iron sights or not and ignore the helpful reminder.
  Do you have a rules question about the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game? Send it to bulletpoints@wizards.com. 
  For the quickest possible answer, please put the topic of your question in the subject line and keep the question 
  as succinct as possible. If you have more than one question, feel free to send two or more emails -- but for best 
  results please include only one question per email unless your questions are very closely related to one another. 
  Please don't expect a direct answer by email. Check back here every other week for the latest batch of answers!
  About the Author
  James Wyatt is an RPG designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. His design credits include The Speaker in 
  Dreams, Defenders of the Faith, Oriental Adventures, Deities and Demigods, Fiend Folio, Draconomicon, and 
  the Book of Exalted Deeds. He wrote the Origins award-winning adventure City of the Spider Queen and is one 
  of the designers of the new Eberron campaign setting, which is due out in June 2004. James lives in Kent, 
  Washington with his wife Amy and son Carter.
  ©1995-2005 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wizards is 
  headquartered in Renton, Washington, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057.
  
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