Barf Forth Apocalyptica
barf forth apocalyptica => Apocalypse World => Topic started by: Erfeo on March 31, 2017, 11:37:18 AM
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So I just bought this and I have a question about the custom weapons on the Battlebabe playbook.
Specifically: hi-powered (close/far, or +1harm at far)
I didn't grasp what this meant both mechanically and in fiction, so I looked to the main book for help:
3-round burst (close/far)
Hi-powered (+1harm)
That does make sense to me, a controlled burst might give close to a weapon that only has far and vice-versa.
So is that an error on the playbook?
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When you say you looked in the book, do you mean 1st or 2nd edition? Cause my 2nd ed says the same as the playbook (pdf p. 28): high powered is either close/far or +1-harm at far.
3-round burst is just +1-harm.
So if you add high-powered to a pistol, it gains the tag close/far, but if you add it to a rifle, it gains +1-harm.
Did that answer your question?
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This is second edition. I was looking at p.232 (custom weapons) and the playbooks pdf. I hadn't looked at p.28 which indeed lists the same tags as on the playbooks pdf.
What I don't get is that the way you describe it, hi-powered functions the same way as scoped but they are written out differently.
close/far implies to me that the weapon gains close or far depending on what it didn't have already. But then or +1harm at far would give you another option if the weapon already had far. Which would be an option within an option, which seems confusing.
So a on a handgun it's straightforward: it gains close/far
But on a rifle you would get a choice: it gains close/far or +1 harm at far
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Close/Far gives it the ability to function at both ranges. If it already had one, cool; now it functions at both. +1 harm at far gives you the option of taking a harm bonus at far. You get to choose one: do you want this rifle to gain the "close" tag, or the "+1 harm at far" tag.
Did that clarify? If not, can you elaborate on what you find confusing?
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Mechanically I get it I guess, but the p. 232 rules still seem more sensible.
First of all a choice within a choice is kinda odd, it doesn't happen among any other choices (gangs, holding etc.). But maybe I'm overthinking that.
But more importantly close/far for burst and +1harm for hi-powered makes more narrative sense to me.
So I'm wondering what is the correct one.
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My intuition is to go by the playbooks. They get a shit-ton more scrutiny than the gear+crap section. It's the playbooks that people actually look at and play by.
That said, hey, I'd be perfectly happy to hear Vx chime in with the errata.
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Yeah, the rules obviously contradict themselves. My gut would also be to go with the playbook, if for no other reason then because, that´s the part of the rules most accessible to the players. But I´m sure it won´t break the game if you decide to go with what you like best.
And for the record: I don´t interpret high-powered as a choice: If you add it to a weapon with the close tag, it gets close/far, and if you add it to a weapon with the far tag, it gets +1-harm (making your rifle shoot more powerfully doesn´t add to its ability up close). So functionally equivalent to adding a scope.
Again though: It probably won´t ruin anything if you allow the choice.
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Go with which ever seems more Okay to you rationally.