Firearms and Ranged Weaponry

World of Darkness - Armory

Guns are complex pieces of machinery — if they weren’t, people wouldn’t pay hundreds of dollars for a few pounds of metal. However, guns have been around for several hundred years, and thus are a mature technology. They’re reliable (if maintained properly) and don’t require a lot of operator knowledge to be used as intended. The average shooter doesn’t need to be able to diagram the inner workings of every firearm in existence, but it does help to understand a bit about how the things function. If nothing else, maintenance is a lot easier if the user knows what general parts he’s likely to find the first time he breaks down his weapon. Likewise, the average player or Storyteller doesn’t need to be able to recite ballistics tables from memory, but a basic understanding of the subject matter never hurts when crafting a story.

Revolvers

A revolver is a handgun that eschews a single fixed chamber in favor of a rotating cylinder, which contains multiple chambers that align with the end of the barrel one at a time. A revolver was the first reliable repeating handgun to use a single barrel and firing mechanism. In the modern era, revolvers have largely fallen out of favor for combat applications due to the revolver’s relatively low ammunition capacity, greater size and slower reloading when compared to autoloaders. However, revolvers are more durable and less sensitive to dirt and grime because of their simpler construction. They also don’t jam, and most firing problems short of an actual broken gun will resolve themselves when the shooter pulls the trigger again.

Autoloaders

The term automatic pistol is technically a misnomer, as “automatic” is shorthand for “fully automatic.” To minimize confusion between semi-automatic handguns and fully automatic firearms, the term autoloader is commonly used for the former.
All autoloaders are semi-automatic and feed from detachable magazines held within the grips. An autoloader’s action visibly cycles between shots: the slide, the top part of the gun, slams back and then forward. When the gun’s magazine is empty, the slide locks in its rearmost position. After the shooter inserts a fresh magazine, he presses on the slide release to allow the slide to run forward again, chambering the first round from the magazine. If the gun is empty and the slide is forward, the wielder must pull the slide back manually and let it run forward (the familiar “cha-click” motion seen just before innumerable cinematic action sequences).

Other Handguns

The past few centuries have seen a wide variety of handguns appear on the market that don’t fall into the revolver and autoloader categories.

Submachine Guns

Submachine guns (SMGs) are compromises between handguns and assault rifles, fully automatic firearms using pistol-caliber ammunition. The result is a family of longarms suitable for close-in fighting but inferior to rifles over distance. The relatively low weight of submachine guns makes them difficult to control in fully automatic fire, so experienced shooters tend to employ short bursts while inexperienced ones typify “spray and pray” combat styles.
The term “machine pistol” derives from Maschinenpistole, the German name for submachine guns. In modern usage, this term refers to a subset of submachine guns designed to be used one-handed, including some burst-capable or fully automatic versions of autoloaders. Light weight and one-handed operation make submachine guns wildly inaccurate, but their size renders them ideal as sidearms or concealed weapons.

Rifles

The broad category of “rifles” includes an array of firearms from bolt-action .22 caliber target guns to .50 caliber antimaterial weapons. For game purposes, any longarm that uses rifle-caliber ammunition and is not capable of burst or automatic fire falls into this category, including bolt-action, lever-action, break-action, pump-action and semi-automatic weapons. The primary differences between target, hunting and sniper rifles are durability, precision and price tag. Target rifles, especially those used for high-end competitions, defy plausibility in their precision but are extremely sensitive to even casual rough treatment. Hunting rifles, which must be affordable by their target markets, sacrifice extreme accuracy for simplicity and durability. Sniper rifles must be capable of enduring extreme abuse and retaining at least a moderate degree of precision, and are usually chambered for standard military calibers and built to accept standard military accessories.

Bolt-Action Rifles

The below bolt-action rifles are sufficiently unique or iconic to merit special attention. Unless otherwise noted, all feed from internal magazines.

Lever-Action Rifles

Lever-action rifles are rare in modern use but carry an undeniable mystique for anyone who grew up on the cowboy movies of the 1930s through the 1970s. Unless otherwise noted, all lever-action rifles feed from internal magazines.

Semi-Automatic Rifles

Semi-automatic rifles are not as popular as bolt-action rifles in civilian use, and fell by the wayside in military service with the introduction of assault rifles, but semi-automatic rifles still find enough applications to be commercially successful. Unless otherwise noted, all semi-automatic rifles feed from detachable magazines.

Assault Rifles

The primary military weapons of the modern era, assault rifles are burst-capable or fully automatic firearms chambered for rifle-caliber ammunition and feeding from detachable magazines. The design philosophy behind the assault rifle is to give the individual infantryman an easily handled weapon with a large magazine capacity, fully automatic capability and lightweight, high-velocity ammunition. Modern assault rifles use lighter and shorter-ranged ammunition than older designs, a response to the decreasing average range of firefights since World War II. This has resulted in a gradual reduction of length and weight at the expense of long-range lethality.

Generic Carbine Variation

Most assault rifles are available in carbine configurations, which reduce weight and barrel length. This tradeoff makes carbines harder to handle in fully automatic fire and reduces their effective range, but is considered acceptable for troops that need weapons that are easier to handle in confined quarters (vehicle crews, paratroops and so on). A carbine’s Range is reduced by 25/50/75 and its Strength requirement for automatic fire increases by one, but its Size is reduced to 2. Many carbines are built with folding stocks.

Generic Civilian Variation

Almost all assault rifles are available in civilian “sporting” versions. These weapons are capable of semi-automatic fire only, but are otherwise identical to their parent designs. A generic civilian assault rifle has its Cost reduced by 1 (to a minimum of ••).

Shotguns

Shotguns are the predatory reptiles of the firearm world, direct modern evolutions of centuries-old designs. Shotguns feature large-bore barrels (almost always smoothbore) and use heavy, low-velocity ammunition, making them brutal at close range but ineffective over distance. Shotguns’ large ammo — a 12 gauge shell is 19.5mm wide and 70mm long, compared to a 9x19mm pistol cartridge — enables them to use a wide variety of specialty ammunition types, from the useful to the ludicrous (see p. 86). Unless otherwise noted, all shotguns feed from internal magazines.

Generic Gauge Variations

The generic shotguns presented here all have Traits suitable for 12 gauge, by far the most common. Other gauges exist. Apply Damage, Range, Capacity and Strength adjustments as follows:
Gauge | Damage | Range | Capacity* | Strength
.410 | 2 (9 again) | -10/-20/-30 | +2 | -1
28 | 2 (9 again) | -10/-20/-30 | +2 | -1
20 | 3 (9 again) | -5/-10/-15 | +1 | -1
16 | 4 | same | same | same
10 | 5 | +5/+10/+15 | -1 | +1
* Break-action shotguns' Capacity does not change with different gauges. Duh.

Generic Size Variations

The simple design of shotguns makes them easy to cut down in size for easier storage and concealment. Anyone with access to a hacksaw can cut off a shotgun’s barrel and stock to make it easier to stick under a trench coat. For game purposes, the following options are available:
Short Barrel: The minimum practical length for a shotgun barrel with any degree of useful performance is about 12 to 14 inches, while the legal minimum in the United States is 18 inches (with an overall weapon length of 26 inches). Cutting a shotgun’s barrel down from the usual standard of 21 to 30 inches decreases the size at the expense of effective range: apply a –5/-10/-15 reduction to Range and reduce Size to 2/N. This modification may be applied to any shotgun that feeds from an internal magazine.
Pistol Grip: Removing a shotgun’s stock and substituting a pistol grip reduces the shotgun’s Size to 2/N (2/L if it also features a short barrel) and increases its Strength requirement by 1. This is a common modification for combat shotguns in both police and military applications. This modification may be applied to any shotgun that feeds from an internal magazine.
Holdout Shotgun: Only a break-action shotgun can be cut down to a pistol grip and six inches of barrel. The resulting weapon is as dangerous to its wielder as to the intended target: Size 1/J, Range 2/5/10, Strength 5 and every 1 on an attack roll cancels a success.

Machine Guns

Machine guns are fully automatic firearms designed for sustained periods of automatic fire. The first machine gun design is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, but modern machine guns appeared during the late 19th century. Through the 1930s, most machine guns were water-cooled, with water-filled sleeves around the barrels to prevent overheating and catastrophic failure. World War II and later models are sufficiently robust to maintain their reliability with normal air circulation, and can fire hundreds or thousands of rounds without pausing more than a few seconds at a time.
Current machine gun designs are subdivided into three main categories: light machine guns or squad automatic weapons (SAWs), which are assigned to individual infantry squads; medium or general-purpose machine guns (GPMGs), which are mounted on vehicles or carried and served by a dedicated three-man crew and heavy machine guns (HMGs), which are not human-portable and are reserved exclusively for use on vehicles and in fixed defensive positions. Most SAWs and all GPMGs and HMGs are belt-fed. Unless otherwise noted, machine guns can be fired in bursts only.

Archaic Firearms

Firearms have had seven centuries of development to reach their current state of maturity. While no one in the present day carries an archaic firearm for personal protection or combat, both original historic pieces and modern reproductions are available throughout much of the world. The following broad categories of historic firearms provide an overview of the progress of the human-portable gunpowder weapon. Unless otherwise noted, none of the following weapons can use any kind of specialty ammunition.

Black Powder

Modern “gunpowder” is actually nitrocellulose, more properly called “smokeless powder.” Firearms built before the turn of the 20th century used “black powder” gunpowder, the traditional finely ground 2:3:15 mix of sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter. Black powder is much easier to ignite than smokeless powder, and any stray spark runs the risk of detonating. When a black powder weapon fires, it produces a massive cloud of obscuring smoke, characteristically smelling of sulfur.
Creating black powder requires eight hours and an Intelligence + Science roll. Each success yields a quarter-pound of black powder, or enough for 10 shots. See p. 115 for information on using black powder as a raw explosive.

Hey, it's the same gun!

Many firearm manufacturers stick with a successful design for years, adapting it to many different calibers. Several of the examples of generic weapons given in these pages fall into this category, and may or may not appear as examples of every caliber in which they’re available. These entries are representative, not exhaustive — we’re not writing a catalog here.
Generic Low-Quality Variation: Dozens of handgun makers cut corners in manufacturing and quality control to put low-cost guns on the street. These weapons are perennial favorites of criminals on a budget, and usually top the FBI’s list of the most common firearms used in crimes. Such a low-end weapon uses the Traits of any of the generic types detailed above, but has a Cost of only •. You get what you pay for, though: when attacking, do not re-roll 10s (or 9s or 8s, if applicable).

Collapsible Stocks

Some longarms are available with folding or telescoping stocks. A stock normally allows the shooter to brace the gun against her shoulder to absorb the recoil. Removing this makes the gun shorter but harder to control. A foldingstock-equipped longarm being fired without the stock has its Strength requirement increased by 1, but Size 3 and 2/N weapons become Size 2/L with their stocks folded, allowing concealment under a long coat.
A few handguns and machine pistols are likewise equipped with folding or detachable stocks. These weapons are designed to be fired onehanded, and use of a stock is a luxury. Such weapons have their Strength requirements reduced by 1 and their Sizes increased by 1 when equipped with their stocks. Individual descriptions note which firearms come with folding or detachable stocks.
Collapsing or extending a folding stock is a free action. Attaching or removing a detachable stock requires two turns. For more information on “Collapsible Stocks,” see p. 167.