Weapon customization (AToW Companion)

[Acolyte]

Reading through this section I realized that the rules result in balanced weapons. My question is why should a weapon that costs up to 10 times as much be balanced?
Consider the weapon accessories and the alternative ammo in AToW. The accessories cost a lot less than a modification and have no downside. The alternative ammo gives more benefit than downside, and can simply by swapped out when necessary.

Now, companies do spend lots of money on research, but they also have to actually sell weapons, and that means they have a price point. No military is going to buy a small arm that costs a thousand c-bills when most of the market prices them at about a hundred. Most private citizens won't either. This leaves room for better weapons for people willing to pay more for quality.

Who will? Specialists. A high priced assassin is not likely to get his personal weapon "off the rack". He's going to want something better and will pay to get it.

Anyway, sorry if I seem to be ranting. In general, I find AToW and Companion to be excellent! I mean, the rank equivalency charts alone... really handy!

Thank You
   - Shane

[Kit deSummersville]

I think you answered your own question there. By definition custom weapons don't come off the rack.

[Acolyte]

Ah, but the question is "why is such an expensive weapon balanced with the standard version?"

Shouldn't it outperform? Currently, they don't.

Thank You
   - Shane

[Paul]

The easy solution there is to either allow for unbalanced weapons, or to cut the cost factor.

[Acolyte]

The easy solution there is to either allow for unbalanced weapons, or to cut the cost factor.

Precisely. The point here is that the availability and cost increase are the balancing factors.

Also consider:
AToW Companion pg. 161 "Improved precision" Reduces the recoil by 1 or +1 to attack at the cost of 1 BD and triple the C-Bills (assuming first mod) or
AToW pg. 286 Weapon accessories Recoil compensation reduces recoil by one. No change to other stats. C-bill cost 1.1x (I take that to mean 110% cost Added for a total of 210%)
AToW pg. 286 Weapon accessories Laser sight +1 attack for 25 C-bills. Does require a battery though.
And nothing but budget stops you from having both.

AP ammo +2AP for the cost of 1 BD and triple ammo cost.
Explosive ammo +1BD for the cost of 1 AP, but adds Splash damage on top and changes the AP to X (explosive). Triple ammo cost.
And I can pop the clip to change from one to the other.

Seems to me accessories can already unbalance your weapon at a pretty nominal cost.

Not meaning to nitpick here, just didn't make sense to me. Still a big fan of the system.  O0

Thank You
   - Shane

[Kit deSummersville]

The idea behind that section was to allow players to min/max weapons to increase their capabilities while still retaining balance. If the GM wants to allow 'better' weapons that are unbalanced...you don't need rules for that.

[Acolyte]

Hey, sorry man... didn`t mean to torque you off...

Just didn`t make sense - unlike the armor modding rules which made lots of sense.

Anyway, fair enough I`ll consider this answered.
Maybe I`ll make some house rules for this (I can post them on the Fan Designs forum for you to mock should you like   :)) ).

Thanks for taking so time to answer a rant - and so quickly I might add.
   - Shane

[Paul]

Nah, we're not torqued off.
Or at least, I'm not, and I'm the only one whose feelings matter. ;)

[Kit deSummersville]

No torque here. Just telling as it is.