Zed's Shadowrun Page

For when you need someone dead from a klick away. Depending on GM and mission these can be fantastic or terrible. You have two problems: Indoor targets and getting into position. The former is adventure specific, and the latter depends on what your GM thinks of large duffel bags. If you aren’t doing many assassination missions, these tend to not be worth the serious cash they cost.

CORE

Ares Desert Strike: The basic sniper rifle, and the stick by which others are measured. It doesn’t come with anything interesting, unless you count a scope. 

Cavalier Arms Crockett EBR: Compared to the Desert Strike, you lose a point each of AP, damage and accuracy, in exchange for six more rounds per clip, a much cheaper price and burst fire mode. I’d say this is for budget sniping.

Ranger Arms SM-5: The suitcase sniper rifle. It’s got great stats (with one more point each of damage, accuracy and AP compared to the DS), but it is fragile and unsuited for anything other than sniping. This is what I’d try to end up with as a sniper character.

ASSASSINS PRIMER

SVD: A rock solid budget weapon, and something everyone who took Longarms should have. It’s got below average stats for a sniper rifle, but you get what you pay for.

RUN AND GUN

Terracotta Arms AM-47: This weapon befuddles me. Not only is it downright impossible to get into position without notice, it has a Rating 5 commlink built in. Why? That probably drives up the price considerably, and it’s an expensive gun to begin with. Not to mention it’s a poor choice for a primary commlink, given it’s hugeness and illegality. Even so, if you CAN get it into position (probably with a Powered Takedown mod) it’s insanely effective. Probably the best sniper rifle in terms of stats.

Onotari Arms JP-K50: It’s a slightly better Crockett EBR that you can’t start the game with, for slightly more money. That really sums it up, honestly.

Pioneer 60: If it weren’t for the SVD, this’d be a must buy. It’s a cheap yet effective weapon, it’s just not as effective as the SVD and not much cheaper. I guess you can arm a militia with these, should you feel the need.

Not, nightclubs, though those are indeed a Shadowrun staple. No, I mean the weapons. Clubs fill a different niche than blades. Blades are designed to stab a fucker so he dies. While you can certainly bash someone’s head in with a club, there’s also more room for dealing stun damage, thanks to stun batons using the skill. Additionally, the scarier clubs are more likely to be legal.

CORE

Club: To quote the book, it’s the weapon the named the skill after. It’s decent, but inferior to the Blades its size. Even if you have more Clubs dice than Blades dice, the low accuracy screws you. 12 dice, the minimum for a core skill, hits the limit on the average roll. You’ll regularly go over. Personalized Grips help, but you can’t smartlink it or extend the barrel, so you’re stuck at 5 Accuracy, 6 if you’re an adept and took the Enhanced Accuracy thingamajig. That’s pretty low. A budget weapon.

Extendable Baton: Interestingly, it’s more effective than the Club for better concealment. You lose a point of damage, and gain a point of Accuracy. Worth it.

Sap: It’s your concealed option. Compared to the extendable baton, all you lose is 1 Reach, in exchange for -2 concealability. Really, it’s personal preference which you carry.

Staff: For all you Gandalf posers. Interestingly, it’s the most effective club in core, which I guess makes sense. But like the Polearm in the Blades post, I can’t help but think it shouldn’t be used indoors.

Stun Baton: If you’re going to put any points at all in Clubs, buy this. It’s effective, it deals electricity damage, and it’s damage code is fixed. Even a Strength 1 character can use this effectively. Sadly, it’s restricted.

Telescoping Staff: It’s like an extendable baton, but worse. You gain a point of Reach, but lose a point of accuracy and two points of concealability when compared to the extendable baton. Not worth it.

RUN AND GUN

Sometimes you can’t afford the cutting edge, but still need something functional. These weapons are for those times. They’re adapted from Fourth Edition material, namely the book that shares this post’s name and Gun H(e)aven 1-2. Weapons on this list are rarely originals, and are instead usually underworld copies. At least they don’t have serial numbers.

Note: All guns listed here have the Vintage quality.

HK416 (Assault Rifle):  Accuracy: 5 Damage:  9P AP: -2 Mode: SA/BF/FA RC: 1 Ammo: 30c Availability: 4R Cost: 450¥

Entry text: This is a more modern (as of circa 2020) M4 carbine. Exact historical details are sketchy due to the Crashes, but they were primarily used by mercenary units. 

SIG Sauer P298 (Holdout): Accuracy: 4 Damage: 6P AP: 0 Mode: SA RC: 0 Ammo: 7c Availability: 3R Cost: 110¥

Entry text: These were used by Polish MPs when they needed to be subtle, and were also popular stateside in the instability that was the 30′s. You can actually get an original pretty easily, though it’s not recommended.

Beretta 92SL (Light Pistol): Accuracy: 4 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: SA RC: 0 Ammo: 15c Availability: 2R Cost: 100¥

Since I just covered the blades of SR5, I figured I might add some I thought were missing.

Ninja-to: Accuracy: 7 Reach: 1 Damage: (Str+2)P AP: -3 Availability: 8R Cost: 600¥

Entry text: The traditional weapon of ninja (or so the general public thinks), the Ninja-to is designed for concealment first and foremost (concealability +2). It is straight edged, and designed to be concealed in the small of the back. There isn’t actually any real historical evidence for its usage, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful.

Note: The idea behind this is to provide a similar option for melee characters that ranged character get with SMGs, in the sense it’s the scariest thing you can actually conceal.

Heavy Sword: Accuracy: (Physical Limit-3) Reach: 1 Damage: (Str+4)P AP: -1 Availability: 9R Cost: 1200¥

Entry text: This isn’t an actual historical style heavy sword, such as a claymore or nodachi. Instead, it’s designed for cosplay, with all the impracticality of design that entails. This is Cloud Stryfe’s sword, or any other preposterous anime sword. It really hurts when you get hit by one, but that’s not likely given it requires excellent strength to use accurately. 

Butterfly Knife/Switchblade: Accuracy: 6 Reach: 0 Damage: (Str+1)P AP: -1 Availability: - Cost: 30¥

Blades are the bread and butter of most melee characters. The upside? They can be concealable, and they can also be terrifying. The downside? There isn’t a blade in the game that does stun damage without changing the skill used or using a called shot.

CORE

Combat Axe: The deadliest blade you can start the game with, though it sacrifices accuracy for that honor. Really, it’s either this or the katana as a main weapon for starting characters.

Combat Knife: This is your concealed weapon. With Strength 6 (which is really the minimum for Strength based melee characters) it has heavy pistol level damage at light pistol concealability. At higher strengths, it’s closer to shotgun capability, with no loss to concealment. Something every blades character should have.

Forearm Snap Blades: These are pretty much ganger trash, for use by gangers who want people to think they have spurs but lack the cash or connections. They have worse stats than the Survival Knife at twice the cost. Unless you can persuade your GM that they have better concealability than a knife, you have no reason to buy these.

Katana: The alternative to the combat axe. You lose a point of AP, a point of Reach and two points of damage, in exchange for three points of accuracy. Your dicepools will determine whether that’s worth it. 

Knife: Uh, don’t use this? Not if you can help it, anyway. This is for when you’re escaping from somewhere and can’t find something better, not when you need a real weapon. At least it’s cheap, I guess?

Polearm: I sort of see the appeal, but the Reach isn’t worth the loss of accuracy (when compared to the Katana) or the damage (when compared to the Combat Axe). Plus it’s probably pretty unwieldy in confined spaces (like Corporate hallways).

Survival Knife: This is something every runner should have. It functions as a burner commlink, for the price of a burner commlink, and also works as a tool, as a weapon, as a tiny smuggling compartment, and as a GPS. Whether you use it as a knife or not doesn’t matter, because it has so many other uses.

Sword: It’s a worse katana for cheaper. Sure, it’s slightly more concealable, but it still isn’t practical to take places (+4 isn’t much better than +6). Use if you’re using a specific martial art that requires a specific type of sword, or if you just want to roleplay as someone with a cutlass or something.

RUN AND GUN

Highland Forge Claymore: The best non-concealable blade in the game. Period. Get this as soon as you can, as you can’t start with it.

Horizon-Flynn Rapier: It’s another worse katana for cheaper. In this case, it sacrifices damage. Use it for RP, martial arts requirements or not at all.

Victorinox Memory Blade: The be all end all in concealed bladery. You get to conceal this as a belt, and then use it as a sword. Cool, neh? Admittedly, it’s not much more effective than a combat knife (actually, less effective if you’ve got good dicepools) but concealment pays.

Ares “One” Monosword: I had to check the errata on this one, yet the stats are correct.. It’s a monosword, yet it has the AP of a combat knife or katana. In fact, thanks to the lower accuracy, it’s worse than a regular sword, for more money. Not useful at all.

Cougar Fineblade: It should be noted these have Accuracy 7, not 6. I’m not sure what to think of these. The bigger one is a (slightly) worse katana for cheaper, but how small is the small one? Can I hide it? If I can, it’s pretty solid.

HARD TARGETS

Collapsible Scythe: Besides being fucking badass, I don’t see a use for this. It’s worse than a combat knife, though I guess you can hide it in plain sight if you can disguise it as a cane or something. It’s also mighty expensive, and even Prime Runners can’t start with it.

Sapphire Knife: Compared to a combat knife, you lose a point of accuracy in exchange for immunity to MAD scanners. Worth it.

Ceramic/Plasteel Knife: A worse Sapphire Knife for much cheaper. 

Victorinox Collapsible Hatchet: I view this less as a combat implement (a role it handles poorly) and more as a survival implement. It’s good for a bug out bag, and less good for a fight.

Cougar Collapsible Spear: Now we’re talking. It’s concealable like a knife, but can become a spear. It’s quite effective for what it is. You can even use it as a knife, though a piss poor one.

SAIL AWAY, SWEET SISTER

Vibroknife: Somehow worse than a regular combat knife. Shame, it could’ve been awesome. At least it’s futuristic, I guess?

Time for some random gear.

Horizon Activewear™ InteractHat: Availability: 4 Cost: Capacityx75¥ (Max 8 capacity)

 Available in a wide variety of styles, the InteractHat is really just a hat with AR glasses and headphones built in. It’s designed for people who want enhanced senses on the go, without paying in blood for an implant. They’re inconspicuous, but they aren’t exactly high fashion. In point of fact, they’re associated with tech geeks more than anything.

Drum Mags (Weapon Modification): 50¥, 8R Availability

Every now and then, one of your players wants a pet. Maybe they’re fresh from DnD and they want to play a ranger. Maybe they figure that having a sniffer dog has its uses. Maybe they caught GlowKatts™ fever. No matter the reason, I figure some rules are in order.

For pets with no mechanical benefit, just use the Dependents quality from the Corebook for 3 Karma. Easy enough. Any benefit to die rolls, or die rolls for the players’ benefit on the pet’s part constitute mechanical benefit. Examples include housecats, pet mice, gerbils, etc.

For pets with mechanical benefits, you must pay for the pet itself, as well as take the Dependents quality. If you have Running Wild (a 4e supplement) then use those costs. If you don’t, ask your GM. Prices for mundane animals should be lower than in real life, thanks to cloning, while prices for paranormal animals should be very high, thanks to the inability to clone them, scarcity, the danger of handling them, and legislation restricting their use. A trained hellhound should be well out of the player’s budget (250,000¥+), while a cloned, well trained guard dog should be somewhere between 2,500¥ and 22,500¥ depending on training quality.

Sorry for the late update, I ran out of steam for weapons. So I’m doing something different.

Different GMs have different opinions on music. Some view it as a distraction, while others see it as an opportunity to set a tone for a scene. I’m in the latter camp. The way I see it, music can be integral to a campaign if you pick the right stuff. Emphasis on “the right stuff”.

There are a couple of factors that determine whether something is “the right stuff”. First of all, it can’t be familiar. Sure, Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence is hella cyberpunk, but it’s a song someone from your group will almost certainly identify as being from 1991, not 2075. It kills immersion when that Novahot nightclub is playing an 80 year old song (Imagine a nightclub playing Count Basie today!). That doesn’t mean you can’t play any DM, it just means you need to pick a more obscure song. Unless one of your players is a DM fan, that is. 

Secondly, you need different music for different scenes. Running the Food Fight module? Get a cheap, tinny mobile speaker and play pop music to represent the built in audio system of the Stuffer Shack/McHugh’s. Running in the Barrens? Ambient jazz can get pretty desolate. A magic shop might play New Age music. There’s a sound for every mood, you just need to find it.

With those points in mind, I thought I’d share some tunes you might use.

First of all, you need ambiance. Sometimes (hell, most times), there just isn’t a source of music in the scene. For this, I’d recommend a band called Bohren and Der Club of Gore. They’re ambient jazz, and they sound pretty darn cyberpunk. Plus, there are no lyrics to distract, and the songs blend into each other. Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ukI6uTGFw

Then there’s actual future music. This is where you got to customize things a bit more so your players won’t have heard it before. Obscure pop is rare stuff indeed, especially obscure pop that won’t make your ears bleed. So rather than give out specific band names, I’ll list some genres.

Retrowave: Retrowave is the 80′s all over again, in the most cyberpunk way possible. Essentially, it’s the genre of 80′s sci fi soundtracks reborn. Think Escape From New York’s synthiness, but a bit less subtle and more dancable.

Vaporwave: Vaporwave is weird, man. It’s more of a subculture than a musical genre. The vast majority of vaporwave is by nobodies, and most artists change names every album to avoid growing popular. The aesthetics (or should I say A E S T H E T I C S ?) of vaporwave revolve around classical sculpture, 90′s computer tech and 80′s/90′s hyperconsumerism. I’m sort of an outsider, though, so what do I know? Vaporwave sounds sort of like a synthy 90′s infomercial soundtrack, slowed down.

Indietronica: I’ll be honest, I just googled Miami Horror and checked what genre they are. Really, what I mean here is contemporary electronica that sounds retro. Stuff like Miami Horror, MGMT, Foster the People, etc. This stuff was pretty popular a few years ago, and might still be, but I don’t listen to the radio anymore. So, you might want to check with your players to see if they listen to the stuff. In any case, since they can’t fully recapture the sounds of yesteryear, it ends up sounding oddly timeless.

New Wave: I’m referring to later New Wave here, so A-Ha and Depeche Mode, not Talking Heads and the B-52s. Find obscure stuff, and roll with it. A-Ha made music at a consistent level of quality until 2009, so that’s a good place to start. Unless you’re Norwegian. Remember, your players shouldn’t have heard it.

Cabaret: Uh, I can’t really describe this as anything other than Steampunk. Steampunk, of course, is quite in fashion as of 4e, and possibly 5e. This is for the “in” crowd. Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHaSbR1f_Es

Chiptune: I figure nerdy decker types like this stuff. Technomancers might even prefer to to a bizarre degree. If you need non-recognizable chiptune, C64.com has a stream of classic SID chip tunes that people won’t recognize unless they had a C64 and played games on it. Which basically no one did, at least in the states. I think the thing was more popular overseas. I blame the IBM PC.

Mossberg M10M (Shotgun): Accuracy: 4 Damage: 13P AP: -1 Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 14(m) Availability: 8R Cost: 950¥

Entry text: Designed for civilian and SWAT use, the Mossberg M10M was trying to appeal to too many people at once. The pump action mechanism and lack of included mods discouraged law enforcement purchases, while the overpowered cartridge and high price (the M10M is over three times as expensive as an Ithaca 62) discouraged civilian use. Deciding to cut their losses, Mossberg offloaded the guns to several major crime syndicates and a multitude of independent arms dealers. These are great pieces for Shadowrunners and mobsters, because they’re legal and can reliably drop most targets in one hit. The M10M utilizes a twin tube magazine, allowing it to hold much more cartridges than the competition.

Remington Elite Sporter (Shotgun): Accuracy: 6 (8) Damage: 11P AP: -1 Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: (1) Ammo: 8(m) Availability: 10R Cost: 1100¥

Entry Text: Designed as a high end hunting shotgun for enthusiast buyers, the Elite Sporter is available in a variety of camouflage patterns, including designer geometric art for the style conscious consumer. It comes with a shock pad and a smartlink.

Makarov (Light Pistol): Accuracy : 5 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 8(c) Availability: 2R Cost: 150¥

Tactical Knife (Blade): Accuracy: 5 Reach: 0 Damage: (Str+2)P AP: -1 Availability: 2 Cost: 50¥/80¥

Entry text: This is a survival knife without any fancy doodads. It’s cheap and reasonably effective in the right hands, but it’s inferior to a real combat knife. This is the street cutter gangs usually use, since it’s cheap and easy to find. The different prices reflect fixed blade and switchblade versions, respectively.

Grenade Tube (Grenade Launcher): Accuracy: 4 Damage: (As Grenade) AP: (As Grenade) Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 1(b) Availability: 6F Cost: 1100¥

Entry text: This is your basic grenade tube, similar to the classic M79, but with updates for the Sixth world. These are smaller than most grenade launchers (concealability +4)  and with a shortened barrel and removed stock they can be used one handed. Multiple manufacturers make these, but different models are functionally identical.

Ithaca Model 62: Accuracy: 4 Damage: 10P AP: -1 Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 5(m) Availability: 4R Cost: 300¥

Shotguns are strictly close quarters, and in that role they excel. Nothing clears a room quite like a combat shotgun, and civilian shotguns are affordable and effective. What shotguns don’t have a lot of is range- they are about equivalent to a SMG when firing slugs. Know when to use them, and when not to.

CORE:

Defiance T-250: This is a favorite of gangs, mainly because they can afford it. This is strictly a budget piece. There's only one other shotgun with damage as low as the T-250, and it has otherwise mediocre stats. The sawn off version is even worse. This is a gun to avoid.

Enfield AS-7: The best shotgun you can start the game with. It’s Burst fire capable, has high damage, accepts drum magazines and comes with a laser sight. This gun will make you hell on wheels. You’ll want to upgrade to an Auto Assault 16 at some point, though.

PJSS Model 55: It’s highly accurate,and gets average damage, but you only get two shots. Use this as part of your hunter disguise, or not at all.

GUN H(E)AVEN 3:

Krime Boss: This has great stats, until you get to the accuracy. It’s Accuracy 3, so you’ll have to mod it a fair bit to get it usable. I recommend Personalized Grips, Long Barrel and Smartlink as mods, which’d bring accuracy up to 7. Once you’ve done this, the Boss becomes the best legal shotgun in the game.

Winchester Model 201: This is the PJSS taken to its logical conclusion. It’s accuracy is twice that of most shotguns, and it’s still only got two shots. I guess it’s okay if you have insane dicepools (24 seems right) and don’t mind reloading way too often.

Winchester Model 2066: This is your basic lever action shotgun, with average stats. This is what I’d consider the minimum level of effectiveness for a shotgun. I’d use this for either a cowboy build, or a Terminator 2 sawn off lever action one handed kind of character. It’s not bad, it’s just not good.

Winchester Model 2054: This is your basic semi auto, tube fed shotgun. It’s unremarkable in just about every way. 

Shiawase Arms Rain: This is a T-250 that is a muzzle loader. It is identcal in every other way, including magazine size and price. You should avoid it for the same reasons as the T-250.

Cavalier Falchion: This’d be a competent gun if it weren’t extremely hackable. You can’t even fire this thing offline, so you’d better have a great commlink and a permanent decker buddy.

RUN AND GUN

Auto Assault 16: Death incarnate. This is an AS-7 with full auto capability and an ever bigger drum. If it’s in range, it’s pretty much dead, barring dragons and creatures with Regeneration, and sometimes even then.

Mossberg AM-CDMT: This is accurate and hard hitting, and it’s the only full auto capable shotgun you can start with, but it’s clip is tiny, so you can’t really use full auto with it anyway, and you can improve accuracy, so you’d be better off with an AS-7 or AA-16.

Franchi SPAS-24: As passable alternative to an AS-7. It’s got one less point of damage, but it comes with a smartlink.  Other wise, it’s pretty similar.

Branding in Shadowrun is everywhere, especially with guns. That’s not just any pistol, it’s an Ares Predator. That’s not just any Raiden assault rifle, it’s a Yamaha. But sometimes, it just doesn’t matter. A sawn off, double barrel shotgun doesn’t vary much in terms of statistics, and neither does a generic .357 revolver, or any of the “wondernines” that are sure to flood 2075′s firearms market as much as 2016′s.  So here are stats for generic firearms.

Combat Magnum (Heavy Pistol): Accuracy: 5 Damage: 8P AP: -1 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 6(cy) Availability: 6R Cost: 350¥

Entry text: This is your basic full frame .357 Magnum revolver, of the kind cops used to carry before they began using semi-automatics. It’s reliable, affordable, and not as effective as a semi-automatic. There’s a reason these fell into disuse.

Sawn Off Double Barrel Shotgun (Shotgun, duh): Accuracy: 4 Damage: 9P AP: -1 Mode: SA/BF  Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 2(b) Availability: 2R Cost: 200¥

 Entry text: This is Mad Max’s gun, as well as any other sawn offs you’ve seen in fiction. They’re cheap, widely available, and fairly effective for the price. They’re mainly used by street gangs as “sidearms”. These use Heavy Pistol ranges, and are concealable at +2 (there’s not much to them.).

Wondernine (Light Pistol): Accuracy: 6 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: Special Availability: 2R Cost: Special

Sporting rifles sort of confuse me by their very inclusion. What kind of runner would use one? Why are there so dang many, particularly compared to holdouts and tasers, which are things runners actually use? Why are they so expensive for what they are? Well, if you want one, I guess they’re decent as budget sniper weapons, even though they have half the range of a real sniper rifle. Here’s a guide on them, though I recommend shelling out for an Ares Desert Strike instead.

NOTE: Listed here are the Remington 950 and Ruger 101. They’re listed under sniper rifles in the core book, but that category is specifically mentioned to include sporting rifles. In my opinion, they use sporting rifle ranges, because otherwise they’d be overpowered. If you disagree, fine, but don’t blame me if your players (or NPCs) get super affordable, effective-at-a-kilometer firepower in a fracking street trash game.

CORE

Remington 950: One of the finer examples in this category, but also one of the more expensive. Good AP, Good damage, Good Accuracy, at the cost of being single shot and only holding five rounds. It’s fine as a budget sniper rifle, but you should never, ever get in close quarters with this thing. That said, I can’t help but think a Springfield M1A would work better for you, and that’s cheaper.

Ruger 101: Crap. I’d pay 800¥ max for this thing, but it costs 1300¥ instead. Given the sporting rifle market is for those on a budget, the low price might recommend this,  but a Marlin 3468SS serves that purpose rather better.

GUN H(E)AVEN 3

Springfield 2003: The quality of this gun really depends on what mods you want on your sporting rifle. Due to the Vintage quality, electronic mods such as smartlinks are straight up impossible, and everything else costs twice as much. That said, this thing has insane stats- Accuracy 9 is more than most guns get with a smartlink. Unless you have somewhere in the ballpark of 27 Longarms dice, I’d avoid this, because that accuracy comes at a cost, a cost of costing 3600¥, which is way too much for what should be a budget gun.

Winchester Model 2024: Worse than the Springfield M1A, for 100¥ more. It’s ugly, too, and I say that as someone who likes lever action rifles. This thing really has no upsides. Avoid.

Marlin 3468SS: Your classic .45-70 repeater. Low accuracy and low capacity, but killer damage and price (1000¥). Accuracy can be improved handily, and low accuracy is only a problem with larger dice pools- which you shouldn’t have with this, because you should be  operating at Extreme range, and a character with high dice pools shouldn’t buy budget guns. This is what I’d recommend f you don’t want to spend much money at all.

Springfield M1A: The M1 carbine updated to fire heavier ammunition (I assume, given it’s on par with the Garand), hold more rounds, and have a longer barrel, as well as have some cool mods thrown in. Thanks to its semi auto capability and high capacity, this isn’t awful in close quarters, and it’s pretty affordable at 1700¥.

M1 Garand: The classic WW2 gun, with no updates. It costs 100¥ more than the Marlin 3468SS, but one more point of accuracy and one less point of damage. What kills it is the vintage quality. Use this to kill Saeder Krupp employees while calling them krauts and The Hun, or not at all.

Springfield Model 1855 Reproduction: It’s a musket, and it’s utterly useless. If you get this, get a Bayonet, or bludgeon with the stock. It’s not useful as a gun, under any circumstances. If Object Resistance mattered for alchemy, I guess it’d be useful for that, since you’re using lead balls, but Object Resistance doesn’t matter.

Marlin 3041 BL: It’s cheap, but the  Marlin 3468SS will serve you better in that arena. Do not buy.

Marlin X71: You get a lot of mods for cheap, including an imaging sight that inexplicably holds 4 spaces of mods. Good damage, good AP, and average accuracy. This forms a comfortable middle point between the M1A and the Marlin 3468SS, though I wouldn’t want to use it in close quarters, since it’s single shot only.

Marlin 79S: A plinking rifle. If your GM enforces ammunition costs for practicing skills, and if you can convince him to allow you to pay less for .22LR, this might be useful for practice. Never, ever use this in a fight.

Manufacturing went a long way after the Awakening. Nanoforges are the latest tech, but even old processes like metal stamping and 3D printing have gone a long way. Thanks to public domain law, firearms from the 20th century are available for production with no license or royalties. Some firms even iterate on designs, like the high end 1911s from the early 21st century. While classic designs may be out of date, they’re still functional for those on a budget. Here are some Fifth World firearms found as copies. These firearms have been updated to allow for electronics, even if they do not include them, and as such do not carry the Vintage quality.

Low End M1911 (Heavy Pistol): Accuracy: 5 Damage: 7P AP: -1 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 7(c) Availability: 2R Cost: 280¥

Entry text: A M1911 with no bells or whistles. These are typically sold legally to SINners as home defense pieces, with advertisements with “America” written all over them, with bald eagles flying over purple mountains majesty. They’re also sold to gangs, since they’re cheap and reasonably effective. It should be noted that this is less expensive than a real budget 1911 (Which costs around $500), but manufacturing costs being lower in the cyberpunk future and all, I think that’s reasonable. Plus it makes more sense from a game balance perspective.

Medium End 1911 (Heavy Pistol): Accuracy: 6 (7) Damage: 7P AP: -1 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 7(c) Availability: 4R Cost: 470¥

The Low end model with better rifling quality and a laser sight. You can get it without a laser sight for 70¥ less.

High End 1911 (Heavy Pistol): Accuracy: 6 (8) Damage: 7P  AP: -1 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 2 Ammo: 7(c) Availability: 6R Cost: 3000¥

Entry text: For SINners with way too much money, or those who value style over substance. Gas vent 2, smartlink, improved range finder, and custom engraving all standard. Otherwise, it’s identical to the medium end model, minus the laser sight.

Browning Hi Power (Light Pistol): Accuracy: 7 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: SA Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 13(c)  Availability: 8R Cost: 400¥

Entry text: The original wondernine, and the precursor to the Browning Ultra Power. The Power in question isn’t stopping power, though, it’s staying power; the Hi Power was the first gun to use a double stack magazine. These are more SINner pieces than anything, as you can get a more modern gun for cheaper. That said, it IS stylish...

Bolt Action Rifle (Sporting Rifle): Accuracy: 5 Damage: 12P AP: -1 Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 5(m)* Availability: 4R Cost: 250¥

The assault rifle is a terrifying instrument of death. If you took Automatics as a skill, you need one, plain and simple. They’re great when you need a lot of baddies dead fast. They’re not as terrifying as combat shotguns in close quarters, but they get much better range, to the point you can snipe with them in some situations. Thanks to autofire, they’re forgiving to use, so really every archetype can make use of them.

CORE

AK-97: This is what I would characterize as the “basic” assault rifle. It’s got average stats, is legal to own, and won’t break the bank. I recommend this for two reasons: Firstly, it’s legal, so you have fewer problems with cops. Secondly, it’s cheap, so a character who isn’t specced for combat can use it easily. This is for deckers and mages everywhere. It should be noted the 97 stands for 1997. This thing’s been in use for 78 years, so you know it’s quality.

Ares Alpha: Depending on who you ask, this is either the best assault rifle in the game, or the second best behind the Yamaha Raiden. It’s got great damage, good accuracy, an integral smartlink and grenade launcher, and two points of free recoil compensation. This is a must have for Automatics gunslingers, though depending on preference you might replace it later. It’s not clear to me what stats aftermarket underbarrel grenade launchers have, so the included one might be better, worse, or identical.

Colt M23: Ganger trash. It’s got crap accuracy, crap damage, and nothing to make up for that. I would say it’s a decent budget piece, but you’d be better off with an AK-97, which still doesn’t cost much. Even for Priority E Resource builds, this is a mere maybe. This is a gun for gangs, not shadowrunners.

FN HAR: This is the Colt TZ-120 of assault rifles, designed for corporate response teams to use as standard armament. It’s identical to a AK-97 if you ignore the integral mods, and depending on if you think integral mods take up a space this might be better or worse.

Yamaha Raiden: Compared to the Ares Alpha, you lose a grenade launcher, a point of recoil compensation, and semi auto capability in exchange for a massive magazine, an integral silencer and an extra point of Accuracy. Seeing as you can add an aftermarket grenade launcher, and semi auto doesn’t matter much for an assault rifle, that might be a worthwhile tradeoff, depending on playstyle. You can’t start the game with this, sadly.

RUN AND GUN

AK-98: An AK-97 with an integral grenade launcher, with no other mods. Due to the grenade launcher, it’s illegal, nixing the main advantage of the 97. While the launcher has low accuracy, thanks to the way grenades work it doesn’t actually matter, since you only need three hits anyway.

Ares HVAR: I think there’s some German errata that makes this thing fire faster (thanks Catalyst, because I totally speak German),  but even then it’s subpar. It hits like a submachinegun, without any of the concealability  or affordability of one. Hell, this thing has the gall to cost more than twice the superior AK-97. What were you thinking, Ares?

HK XM30: I’m not really sure what to think of this one, because of one unanswered question: Do the different configurations change concealability? If so, you might be able to sneak the carbine around, which makes it the best “SMG” in the game. If not, you have a (admittedly low powered) sniper rifle that fits in a duffel bag, which makes overwatch that much easier. Either way, don’t use this as an assault rifle, because it’s not good in that role.

Nissan Optimum II: This is a crappy assault rifle glued to a crappy shotgun, for way too much goddamn money. It’s once again more expensive than the superior AK-97, even when you account for the smartlink.

GUN H(E)AVEN 3

Shiawase Arms Monsoon: Monsoon indeed. This gun holds 120 rounds in six separate barrels, barrels that can accept different ammunition types. This gun serves as the gun for suppressive fire, suppressive fire that can last 6 combat turns (or around 18 seconds.) I recommend getting two of these and a reloading drone, because reloading this thing yourself would be a godawful pain. For some reason you lose a point of AP, though I’d say it’s worth it.

Colt Inception: This is a DMR, not an assault rifle. If you’re okay with that, it’s a solid option. Once more, there’s inexplicable AP loss, and the damage is merely average, but the accuracy is excellent.

Krupp Arms Kriegfaust: It’s a Colt Inception with one less point of damage and one more point of accuracy, with a drum magazine that only holds 25 rounds for some reason. Give this an ammo skip system, extended drums and load it with all sorts of crazy things. Use this if you have the insane dicepools necessary to make use of its accuracy.

SBd-44: One word: Drones. This is the cheapest assault rifle in the game, with an accuracy low enough to reflect that, but since drones can use their Sensor Rating as their accuracy stat, it doesn’t matter. Under no circumstances should you use this yourself.

Ultimax Rain Forest Carbine: There are two statblocks for this thing, one in the book and one in Missions errata, so I’ll cover them separately.

Ultimax RFC Vanilla Version: Holy cow, what? 14P Damage? Semi auto only? You sure this is an assault rifle? This is a short range sniper rifle, more like. This thing should be used as a light assault cannon, especially when loaded with explosive rounds. I don’t recommend using this particular statblock.

Ultimax RFC Mission version: With the addition of burst fire and the change from 14P to 11P damage, this thing becomes an upgraded Colt Inception. Use as a DMR, not an assault rifle. This is the statblock I’d use.

Ah, Zipguns. They’re ever so cool, and every one is unique. They’re ghetto trash, of course- no runner would be caught dead with one. But when you’re SINless, barely make enough money to feed yourself, and live in the Barrens, you need one. Prices listed are for making it yourself, which should be around an extended test with a difficulty listed in the description, with the usual modifiers for blueprints and such. Finding a blueprint is quite easy, being a Difficulty 2 Computer test, or a availability test equal to the availability of the firearm in question. If you’re buying one instead, pay 50% extra to represent profit margins.

Zip-Heavy-Pistol: Accuracy: 3 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: SS Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 4(b) Availability: 2F Cost: 30¥ 

Entry text: Little more than four PVC pipes attached to each other with duct tape, with a handle made of 3D printed plastic and a nail as the firing pin. It loses a point of AP because the blast is not confined. Difficulty 4 to make.

Zip-SMG: Accuracy: 3 Damage: 7P AP: 0 Mode: FA Recoil Compensation: 1 Ammo: 30(c) Availability: 3F Cost: 150¥

Entry text: Somewhat more advanced than most zipguns, in the sense that it has an actual magazine and the blast is confined. Typically based on the grease gun, the sten, or any number of ancient submachineguns designed to be produced cheaply and in the millions. This is unrifled, so while it is SMG sized it should use the Machine Pistol range table. It has a fixed stock made of 3D printed plastic, and no other mods. Difficulty 8 to make.

ZipShotgun: Accuracy: 3 Damage: 9P/10P AP: 0 Mode: SA/BF Recoil Compensation: 0 Ammo: 2(b)  Availability: 2F Cost: 50¥

Entry text: Two PVC pipes taped together with a handle, a trigger, and a nail as a firing pin. Comes in sawn off and full size varieties, with the former dealing 9P and the latter dealing 10P. These are primarily hunting weapons for those that carry them, as many SINless shoot Devil Rats and wild dogs for food. Ergo, they are typically loaded with shot. Choose a shot spread (Narrow, Medium or Wide) when you buy the gun. You can’t fire on other settings. Difficulty 5.

Use these guns as things the very poor will have. Even gangs have enough money for better things, so runners might not encounter them much, but it’s good to have the stats around.

Note: While my previous firearm posts have been in alphabetical order, the guns are spread out through multiple books and those books are frequently not in alphabetical order. So now I’m just going to sort by sourcebook.

SMGs. They’re the biggest thing you can use one handed (aside from maybe a sawn off shotgun, I’d allow it) and the biggest thing you can actually conceal. They’re also respectable weapons for beginners, what with the crutch autofire provides. However, they have a similar problem to machine Pistols: namely being outclassed by the Savalette Guardian and Fichetti Executive Action unless they can fire full auto. They’re not as bad as machine pistols in that regard, but they’re still bad. Anyway, let’s do this.

MACHINE PISTOLS

CORE

Colt Cobra TZ-120: This is a Corpsec gun, nothing more, nothing less. It’s the kind of thing adopted by corps who don’t want to individually modify their firearms, but would like mods to be present to aid poorly trained guards. It’s not bad by any means, and if you rule that integral mods don’t take up a mod slot you get some pretty solid recoil compensation.

FN P93 Praetor: This is the best SMG you can buy in character creation, but it has the notable downside of being SUPER illegal. Not garden variety, we-caught-you-with-a-grenade illegal, but an offense to the fracking Corporate Court. If you GM is of the sadistic variety, he will come down hard on you for this, so know your GM if you want this. Or don’t, if your character is the reckless type.

HK-227: Decent stats, and somewhat unremarkable, except for one thing: the 227 is suppressed and legal, which is pretty unique.Get this if you have the right fake licenses and want something the cops won’t hassle you for, and you don’t want a Smartgun X.

Ingram Smartgun X: Grade A Bang Bang says the book, and it’s right. Full auto mode, a decent clip, lots of mods (including a gas vent AND a suppressor, go figure) and it’s legal. This is what I’d go for if you want a legal SMG.

SCK Model 100: Semi auto and burst fire only, with quality accuracy and damage. That said, you’d be better off with either a Praetor or Smartgun X, depending on whether you like legality or not.

Uzi IV: Cheap, but not cheap enough to make it worth buying. Burst fire only, low accuracy and damage, few integral mods, and nothing to redeem any of that. If you’re thinking of getting this, buy a Steyr TMP. It’s better and cheaper.

GUN H(E)AVEN 3

Krime Spree: Low accuracy and damage, and a point of recoil compensation from out of the ether. Full auto only, but with a clip that backs that up. It comes with free Metahuman Adaptation, so it’s a decent budget piece for a troll or dwarf.

Ares Sigma-3: The effectiveness of this gun depends on whether your GM thinks the drum makes it harder to conceal. t’s a respectable gun if you can hide it. 50 rounds, so you’ll never run dry, and good damage.

Cavalier Arms Gladius: Junk. Accuracy only a point better than a musket, low damage, and nothing to redeem it. It’s main selling point is its price, but since you need mods to make it usable that point is moot.

RUN AND GUN

Ares Executioner: This is a suitcase gun, for use when you need a gun in a suitcase. It has low stats, so don’t use it if you don’t need to sneak it somewhere.