That's My Gun

Originally there was a Weapon Creation system in GGG, though it was at the very back of the GM's section. That would be because it was too crazy for its own good and using the default Weapons was almost never worth it once you figured out how to exploit it best. Given I would rather not include something than include it to the detriment for the game, it was axed. Things have changed since then, and I figure it is worth another shot.

There is a lot to be gained from including such a system after all. Most weapons can be easily reskinned into whatever it is suits your fancy, but there's still holes that make things difficult for certain character concepts. Sure, the freedom and creativity inherent to RPGs means people have been making up their own content since day one, but it never hurts to save them the work of coming up with supposedly balanced options beforehand - if anything it makes the job of creating more stuff later on easier for them!. There is also another bonus in that a lot of people enjoy the minigame of optimizing character performance, and customizable abilities are akin to taking them to the candy store and letting them pick anything but not everything.

But there are also reasons it wasn't the default system for GGG in the first place. For one, generic customizable options have even less flavor to them than effects-based ones, which might not seem like such a big issue but really hurts the game when you're first starting up and have no idea what everything is supposed to represent. This is why Weapons come separated into five types and why oh so many weapons are similar in concept but different in the mechanics, it helps make everything distinctive.

Furthermore by making every Weapon unique and balancing them by giving each of them a specific niche, I could afford to make them stronger without risking to make any one of them the "best" Weapon that can do everything better than others. Without weapon types or fixed weapons, the risk of a single combination of options outperforming all the rest is greatly diminished. Weapon Types and "Prebuilt" niche Weapons should, thusly, not only continue to exist but also need to be supported by (and ideally also support in turn) a generator instead of being counter to each other.

But enough theory, let's see some practice. The easiest method to see this goal is to make a template for each Weapon Type and assign points to the various modifiers and special abilities they can be granted, then let people take away or slap things to it as their UP allows. All I would really limit is to place a maximum of +10 to combined Accuracy or Penetration plus a hard cap of a 5 UP cost on things to prevent 10-point murdermonsters.

I started with the following templates and modifiers, using the game's current pricing system as guidelines, as an aside, I wish blogger allowed tables so this would be less of a hassle to read:

CQC
Areas: Arms or Legs
Base Cost: 1
Range: 1
Accuracy: +1
Penetration: +1
Energy: 0
Special: Melee

Vulcans
Areas: Any Non-Core
Base Cost: 1
Range: 1-3
Accuracy: +0
Penetration: +0
Energy: 0
Special: Ballistic, Mobile

Eye Beams
Areas: Head
Base Cost: 1
Range: 1-3
Accuracy: +2
Penetration: +0
Energy: 1
Special: Beam

Bombardment
Areas: Any Non-Core
Base Cost: 1
Range: 2-7
Accuracy: +0
Penetration: +0
Energy: 0
Special: Missile

Damage
Cost: +1
Effect: The Weapon gains a +1 to Accuracy or Penetration. May be applied up to ten times total.

Mobile
Cost: +1
Effect: As the ability of the same name.

Long Sights
Cost: +1
Effect: +1 to the Weapon's Maximum Range if it is Melee. +2 Otherwise. Cannot go higher than 7.

Versatile
Cost: +1
Effect: Enable the Weapon to be allocated in any Non-Core Area.

Blast
Cost: +2
Effect: As the ability of the same name.

Remote
Cost: +2
Effect: As the ability of the same name.

Chain Reaction
Cost: +2
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

IFF Failure
Cost: +2
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

EMP
Cost: +3
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

Power Down
Cost: +3
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

Immobilize
Cost: +4
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

Expose
Cost: +4
Effect: As the Condition of the same name.

Reliable
Cost: +4
Effect: As the ability of the same name.

Hungry
Cost: -1
Effect: Consumes 1 additional Energy. Melee, Beam and Aberrant types only. May be applied up to five times.

Short Sights
Cost: -1
Effect: -1 to the Weapon's Maximum Range. Cannot go under the minimum Range.

Recharging
Cost: -1
Effect: As the ability of the same name. Ballistic, Missile and Aberrant types only. Cannot be combined with Technique or One-Shot.

Technique
Cost: -2
Effect: As the ability of the same name. Cannot be combined with One-Shot or Recharging.

One-Shot
Cost: -3
Effect: As the ability of the same name. Ballistic, Missile and Aberrant types only. Cannot be combined with Recharging or Technique.

And I took it out for a test ride, with the following results.

Stunlocker
Areas: Arms or Legs
Cost: 5
Range: 1
Accuracy: +2
Penetration: +2
Energy: 1
Special: Melee, Condition (EMP)

The Hit-n-Runner
Areas: Any Non-Core
Cost: 5
Range: 1-7
Accuracy: +1
Penetration: +1
Energy: 0
Special: Ballistic, Mobile

Stacking Funnels
Cost: 5
Areas: None
Range: 1-3
Accuracy: +2
Penetration: +0
Energy: 1
Special: Beam, Remote, Reliable

Missile Massacre
Areas: Any Non-Core
Cost: 5
Range: 2-7
Accuracy: +0
Penetration: +0
Energy: 0
Special: Missile, Blast, Condition (Chain Reaction)

There is no incentive to attach drawbacks to these things when you can just pay up more points instead, furthermore the lower average power encourages you to try and break them in weird ways - usually abusing Conditions. Evidently I still have quite a lot of work to do, but I know where to go from here.

-Weapon Types need more style and personality to them, having unique modifier tables for each would definitely help with that front, but the generic weapons still look same-y and bland. Not sure how that can be fixed though.
-Anything to do with Areas is pointless when it comes to custom-made Weapons, which does not help considering making all generics 'Areas: Any Non-Core' really hinders the personality thing from above.
-Drawbacks could increase the cap to 10 UP and enable the use of Conditions.
-More templates with different Ranges might be necessary.

And that is a wrap for now, the puzzle itself was more complex than I thought it would be (and when isn't it, really?) so it will be solved later. In the meantime, if you feel like using this despite the caveats mentioned, feel free to.