Al-dog's page

I totally missed that sniper weapons weren't on the list. Good catch.

Odd though. Longarm and heavy are both options for mazecore. Sniper class weapons are pretty similar to longarms, so it wouldn't be a surprise to me if that's just an oversight. Even if it's not, and there's a specific reason they excluded sniper from mazecore....i don't think it makes my original point entirely moot.

mazecore is essentially a rule that allows you to wield more than 2 hands worth of weapons on a character with only 2 hands, and switch from one to the other with a single swift action. The ability to do this is strictly better than the quick draw feat.

I've only read the one entry for mazecore on the srd, and if there are additional rules elsewhere i'm not aware of, feel free to change my mind about this but....

I don't see how you could find 2 guns (that are valid options for mazecore) and get away with saying "now i'd like to mash these together for half the price of the cheaper gun"

If I find, say, a level 14 laser weapon, but what i really wanted was the level 13 laser weapon...for reasons...I can't say "these are both laser weapons, and mine is more expensive, so i'm changing it to the level 13 version. I'd have to take apart the level 14 laser, and i'd be allowed to apply 10% of it's cost to the new item I was making. Which would still cost me quite a few credits.

mazecore is described as "multifunctional devices using an adjustable component known as a maze-core. A maze-core device acts as two different pieces of equipment, though it can function as only one of the two at any given time"

I read that as basically....more complicated in design than cramming two guns together.

Even if it's something you can do more or less on the fly, over the course of a campaign it's going to cost a fair bit more than a single 150 credit purchase you can grab at level 1.

I can totally understand the inclination to say "yea, that could work." Especially if you toss in a little fluff description of how it works/looks. I can totally imagine a big futuristic sniper rifle with a little rectangular attachment under the barrel that fires a smaller caliber bullet. But I think, basically, you're kinda gaming the system, and if i were GM'ing, I'd have to say no.

Because essentially:

"Dear mister wise and goodly GM sir, I'd like to duct tape this here gun to this here gun, and craft myself a dubba-gun for 150 creds, because I'm certainly not taking no quick draw feat. No sir."

Looking at alternative ways of accomplishing same/similar thing:

-A grenadier bracket costs 400 creds. Also imposes some minor drawbacks: half ammo capacity of the launcher you're using, and some potentially serious bulk. Also, this option exists because there's real world precedent. Attaching a grenade launcher to a big rifle is a thing we do. Attaching a pistol to a sniper rifle barrel isn't a thing we do (unless I'm watching all the wrong movies). This, though, is the only option that makes me think...maybe, just maybe, i'd let a uniclamp work this way....

but...

-Level 2 mechanic trick Concealed Device. In my opinion, a seriously sub-optimal pick for any PC mechanic. But in a galaxy full of spies, thieves, smugglers and the like, probably a staple of back-alley NPC mechanics just about anywhere.

"Starting at 5th level, you can conceal the functional parts of a technological item or a ranged weapon inside a technological object of the same size, as long as that object is at least 1 bulk. For instance, you can conceal an azimuth laser pistol inside a large-enough musical instrument or a pulsecaster pistol inside a beacon. Concealing a weapon in this way imposes a –2 penalty to attack rolls with that weapon and reduces its range by half. This requires an additional hour of work and an amount of UPBs equal to 10% of the concealed item."

I can totally envision pop-up ad's for "Big Bob's Mod's: If it's big enough to hide a gun in, I'll hide a gun in it."

Obviously, you don't want to take a -2 to all of your pistol attacks, despite how thematically appropriate this option is...

"Dear mister scary looking BBEG, I surrender, and put my hands in the air, but really I don't because TRICK: there's a gun in my gun!"

-someone recommended maze-core. My first time doing more than just briefly skimming the srd entry. Potentially cheaper than a clamp for your first double gun. But playing a campaign relying on this....oof. I don't think you can take 2 guns you find as loot, and simply maze-core them together. I think it's more like: if you want a maze core double gun, you have to design and build it from scratch. You're probably never going to find one as loot. And you're going to spend your entire campaign not wanting to use found guns. So while your friends are constantly finding upgrades, you spend a sizeable chunk of your credits on full-price purchasing 2.5 guns at once, whenever you want a gun upgrade.

Which is a bit of a bummer, because I liked Kiera's gun from Continuum, and a Sniper rifle that folds down into a very heavy looking pistol, that you then attach a folding grip to, so that it folds down even smaller, and then you can sleight of hand palm your sniper rifle... is a pretty cool concept.

But based on how rough these last two options are, a simple 150 cred uniclamp seems...not fair, to avoid a quick-draw feat tax.