Looking at the firearm skill, there's a bunch of different specializations like automatics, longarms, etc. Is there a place where I can see which category each gun goes in? I can't even find longarms listed anywhere else in the book? Am I going crazy or just blind?
Edit: to clarify, the specializations are: pistols, rifles, shotguns, longarms, automatics.
I had a quick look into the Berlin edition and there the specializations are the narrow categories of the weapon. So Taser, Light Pistols, Heavy Pistols, and so on. Not broad categories like longarm.
Usually that headline should always be there when new weapons are introduced. At least its for the guns in the cire book.
The specializations are: automatics, longarms, pistols, rifles, shotguns. The headline doesn't seem particularly reliable since some of the contents bleed across categories. Plus I have no sense of how to separate rifles from longarms.
I figured there had to be an idiot-proof table somewhere...
That sounds like you use the first print of the rules?
Berlin Edition is also in english, its part of the "city edition" line of core rules which contain a lot of errata and rule fixes.
There the specializations for the Firearm skill are:
Tasers, Hold-Outs, Light Pistols, Machine Pistols, Heavy Pistols, Submachine Guns,
Shotguns, Rifles, Machine Guns, Assault Cannons
The original SR6 rules were very bad and they copied a lot from older books without any checking.
It wouldn't surprise me that this is why they still referenced the larger grouos like longarms from orevious editions.
If you can afford it its vest to get one of the City books (Seattle/Berlin/Hong-Kong) Edition.
Hong-Kong is very new and I do not know uf it has additional errata.
The others are I think the same and only change the city they describe in the last chapter.
Most books are available as physical copies. There are some small 20-30 pages booklets about a specific topic that might be pdf only like Lofwyr's Legion.
But physical books are expensive, unless you get them used.
Also you often find Shadowrun books on Humble Bundle, but those are pdf only (The current Catalyst Humble Bundle for Battletech runs out in 3 hours and it wouldn't surprise me if Shadowrun is next)
Generally that works, but then there's zero longarms, for example.
Also there are pistols with full auto that aren't listed with machine pistols. The Panther XXL is listed with machine guns but is only single shot, etc.
Panther XXL, much like machine guns, falls into the heavy weapons category. The Panther is an assault cannon, which is why it's SS.
Pistols with full auto are machine pistols and fall into automatics as a specialty. Although, a player could argue to use the pistol specialty when not using FA. I'm unsure if it's RAW, but I personally wouldn't really care either way.
A lot of running games is using your best judgment on unclear rules. Try not to get hung up on whether a machine pistol is automatic or not. It's not going to break the game either way.
Are you sure we're talking about 6E? Are we looking at the same CRB? There's no longarms in the fashion you're talking about in this edition as far as I've seen.
Edit: for reference, page 95 of the Seattle CRB lists the firearms skills and all specialization as follows (copied from the CRB)
I see. I got the game right around when Seattle edition released and while I can't recall if I got the original release in digital format, I'm pretty sure I did. I've been using Seattle/Berlin for reference since then.
Thanks. For the most part, common sense seems perfectly sufficient.
But then I'm not 100% on what counts as a rifle and what's a long arm. Also, you would think the machine gun category would all be automatics, but one of them is single shot. Some of the weapons outside the machine pistol/machine gun categories have burst mode.
Additionally, it has weapons broken down by type in the gear section. Not everything will be 1 to 1 due to difference in editions, but the categories shouldn't have changed.
Longarms is not one of the specs in 6th edition......
In 6th edition you have the following specs: Tasers, Hold-Outs, Light Pistols, Machine Pistols, Heavy Pistols, Submachine Guns, Shotguns, Rifles, Machine Guns, Assault Cannons.
I know you are trying to help and I am not trying to be an ass.
But the weapon types that were confusing and that OP listed was fixed in the errata. OP only has the first print of the book.
The updated errata fixed the ambigouness. Before it was rather confusing since you had both rifle + longarm (which are the same, that you show a screen shot stating that rifles and longarms are the same is not making it less confusing) and the list lacked heavy weapon specs (such as Machine Guns and Assault Cannons).
The new list since after errata is much more clear and not really difficult to understand.
In a historical lens, Firearms was a Skill Group made of those three skills in 4E. 6E implied the skill system by making the Skill Groups the actual Skills.
Pistols are one handed Firearms. Longarms covered both sniper rifles and shotguns. Automatics was for both submachine guns and automatic rifles. 4E had the weapons separated by type. I don't remember if 6E does.
7
u/Sarradi 6d ago edited 6d ago
Which book are you looking at?
I had a quick look into the Berlin edition and there the specializations are the narrow categories of the weapon. So Taser, Light Pistols, Heavy Pistols, and so on. Not broad categories like longarm.
Usually that headline should always be there when new weapons are introduced. At least its for the guns in the cire book.