[D20 Modern] M134 (heavy machine gun)

[Sir Hawkeye]

Disclaimer: I don't own d20 modern. (I want to own it, though!)

If you want to compromise, perhaps a 15x15 area and 10d10-12d10 damage? Makes it slightly more surviveable, and probably more effective in terms of military use. There are still 10x as many rounds hitting the area, but they're more spread out.

I'm also a fan of the segmented damage idea. That should keep it from cutting through armor too strangely. I'm assuming tank armor works similarly to hardness?

 

[kreynolds]

Disclaimer: I don't own d20 modern. (I want to own it, though!)

I definately recommend picking it up. The unoffical FAQ for it has already gotten pretty damn big, but all in all, its very well put together.

If you want to compromise, perhaps a 15x15 area and 10d10-12d10 damage? Makes it slightly more surviveable, and probably more effective in terms of military use.

I thought about that, but by the time you can really afford a DC 34 weapon, your BAB will allow for multiple attacks per round anyway, so you can autofire to your hearts content. The other thing to keep in mind as well is that the M134 doesn't have that bad of a spread at all.

Also, survivability isn't really a factor. Its deadly as heck, and its supposed to be. You wouldn't want to tone down the Abrams cannon to 1d12 points of damage just so you don't kill someone too easily, now would you?

I'm also a fan of the segmented damage idea. That should keep it from cutting through armor too strangely. I'm assuming tank armor works similarly to hardness?

I'm also a fan of the segmented damage idea. That should keep it from cutting through armor too strangely.

Definately. Kudos to dkilgo for helping me out with this.

I'm assuming tank armor works similarly to hardness?

Yup. All vehicles have a hardness rating and set amount of hit points. An Abrams tank has a hardness of 20 and 64 hit points. With the damage segmented, its virtually impossible to damage an Abrams at all with an M134, and that's exactly as it should be.

 

[aurellius]

If a person happens to find themselves in the stream of lead that is coming out of any minigun, all one can hope for is a piece large enough to notify the next of kin. I am not sure how you can model any modern weapon larger than an assault rifle in a modern game without it being instant death.

As to 20 hardness for a M-1.... A tank and a person just basically cant be modeled on the same scale without anti tank sized weapons and light to heavy cannon doing tens or hundreds of dice.

So what do you do, no full blown military items, or unrealisticly low stats for them?

Marcus

PS for an idea of what modern firearms do to people take a look at a game called Phoenix Command

 

[kreynolds]

So what do you do, no full blown military items, or unrealisticly low stats for them?

Myself, I go all out.

 

[aurellius]

I like a game with all the fun military toys too.

From the discussion earlier in the thread what about a decently high reflex save and you get hit by 1 round per point failed?

BTW ever seen one of these in action? With every 5th round tracer it's like the operator is waving around a 3000' light saber...






Marcus

 

[aurellius]

Oops forgot

http://www.military.com/NewsContent?file=FL_video_121802&ESRC=army-a.nl


A Spectre Ac-130 GunShip in action in Afghan...


Marcus

 

[kreynolds]

From the discussion earlier in the thread what about a decently high reflex save and you get hit by 1 round per point failed?

Now that's an interesting option. I'll have to look into that.

IBTW ever seen one of these in action?

Only twice, but never up close. The first time I was pretty far away, but I had a great shot of the tracers. Absolutely beautiful. The second time around I couldn't see worth a damn (I was behind a crowd that was right behind it, relatively speaking), but I did get to see the casings falling out of that thing.

Let me tell you, for those of you that have never seen one of these things firing, even watching them disintegrate a steel dumpster doesn't quite give you an idea of how fast they fire until hundreds of casings come spewing out. Scary, but awesome.

 

[Fellwind]

chunks 'o damage

Makes sense to break up the damage, you're exactly right that if you don't it will buzzsaw its way through anything.

I expect there will be quite a few house rules written over the next few months for advanced weapons.

 

[kreynolds]

I added in some optional rules for unreliability if you use those rules from Ultramodern Firearms. I also cleaned up and restructured the description a little bit.

 

[Unseelie]

High end military hardware, tanks, anti-tank missiles, mini-guns, etc. are, IMO, the modern day equivalent to the critters in <i>Dieties and Demigods</i>. If you actually try to fight them, well, unless you're very clever, you die.

I'm not sure there's much point in attempting to stat them, other than as a mental exercise.

My call on your minigun would be 'all within 10x10 area save vs a high DC (30?), or die. If you make save, you are unconscious, at -1 and bleeding.'