A Mundane Weapons Guide for GarouMUSH

Introduction and disclaimer

Weapon laws in Washington State

Guns and Garou

Using firearms on GarouMUSH

Specialty munitions

Silver ammo

Weapons that aren't guns

GMINFO and weapons

Introduction and Disclaimer

The following document is an attempt to summarize mundane weapons (mostly guns) and worldview as pertains to firearm use and availability on GarouMUSH.

Its intent is to be used as a generalized gaming resource for GarouMUSH players and GMs. This guide is not intended to be used as a factual guide to weapons possession and use in the state of Washington or any other state. This guide is also not designed to accurately reflect the capabilities of individual weapons. (Frankly, we don't care if a Marine sniper with a mil-spec sniper rifle can put holes in quarters from 2 kilometers away while tapdancing and shooting left-handed.) It is a guide for what most characters on the game are capable of.

Weapon Laws In Washington State

Background Checks

All firearm purchases require a background check. This involves querying a legal database and a social/mental health database.

You can not purchase, possess, or be in control of any firearm if one or more of the following applies to your PC:

• You have committed a violent crime, certain felony drug crimes, or vehicular assault/homicide crimes.
• You have been convicted of a felony or committed certain crimes against members of your own household.
• You have been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.
• You are under 18. (Exceptions: Those under 18 but over 14 may possess and use a rifle or shotgun if they have passed a hunter's safety course and a hunting permit or a firearm safety course, which limits shooting activities to a range or private property where permission to shoot has been granted. The minor must be under adult supervision.)
• Handguns may not be possessed by people under 21. (Exceptions: People between 18 and 21 may possess handguns if the handgun is kept in their place of abode, business, or on real property that is under the owner's control.)

Ballistic Fingerprinting

This is not currently in effect in Washington. However, individual guns leave a specific "fingerprint" that allow forensic science to determine if a gun was used in one or more crimes based upon microscopic barrel markings on the bullet.

Concealed Weapons Permit

You can carry a concealed pistol (defined as a gun with a barrel 16" or less in length) in Washington State if you meet the following conditions:

• You must be eligible to possess a firearm in Washington State. (See Background Checks above.)
• You must be at least 21 years of age.
• You have a concealed carry permit issued by either Washington State or a reciprocating state.
• You do not have an outstanding warrant for your arrest.
• You have not been ordered to forfeit a firearm within the last year by the State of Washington.

Concealed weapons may not be legally carried in the following locations:

• Any building used for, or in connection with, judicial proceedings.
• Mental institutions and hospitals.
• Any establishment that serves alcohol.
• Airports.
• Jails or law enforcement areas.
• State parks.
• Banks.
• Public and private schools and universities.

Concealed weapon violations carry a maximum 90 days in jail and/or a maximum $1,000 fine. The concealed weapon permit will also be revoked for a period of three years.

Knives, Clubs, and Other Things That Make You Go "Ow!"

It is unlawful to carry, conceal, exhibit, draw, or display any sword, knife, club, or other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily harm. These carry only a misdemeaner charge, however. So long as they aren't actually used to poke, bash, smack, or threaten people--which are all new charges!

Private Firearm Sales (Non-Gun Dealers)

You can sell a gun to someone if:

• You have no reason to believe they are ineligible to possess a firearm.
• You obtain their signature, name, date of birth, sex, height, weight, race, address, phone number, and date of the transaction.
• You record all information about the firearm (serial number, model, make, barrel length, etc.) and the price paid for it.
• You record information from two types of government-issued identification cards (driver's license and social security card typically).
• You record the nature of the transaction

Registration of Guns

Records of the gun and owner must be sent to the chief of police within six hours of purchase. A gun owner must keep a record of all guns they own and how they were acquired or disposed of. Lost guns must be reported.

Serial Numbers

Every modern gun has a serial number. Many guns that were used in a crime get their serial numbers filed off and pawned/sold on the underworld market so as to distance the criminal/shooter from the crime and prosecution at a later date. Likewise, purchasing a gun that has had the serial numbers filed off and then hanging on to them indefinitely tends to be a bad idea--particularly if you're ever caught with one or a search warrant gets issued. Ballistic fingerprinting of bullets shot from the same gun, a gun which is in a different owner's possession, even if the serial number has been filed off, may link the current owner to a crime that they never committed. Buyer beware!

Silencers

Really, really illegal in Washington state; however, they're not terribly difficult to acquire outside of Washington or off the web. Installing a silencer onto a pistol requires that the pistol be modified with a new barrel with a screw-on attachment that the silencer (about $300) can be screwed onto.

The silencer component and the extended pistol barrel effectively double the length of the pistol, increase bulk, and make it harder to conceal. This is why the silencer and pistol are often assembled right before use. These are good for about 100-200 shots.

Streetwise characters or people that are fairly familiar with firearms can make an improvised silencer from materials found at a hardware store for about $15 bucks and with a half day to a day of free time. Home brew silencers are even bulkier than the commercial ones and have to be duct-taped (or otherwise rigged to attach) to the pistol--they don't break apart or put together particularly well like the screw-on commercial silencer and barrel modification. These are good for about 50-100 shots.

Regardless of whether the silencer is custom made or commercial, getting caught with one is a one-way trip to jail. Being caught using one is automatic grounds for premeditated attempted (or succesful) murder.

Silencers slow bullets down to subsonic speeds and often alter the trajectory of the bullet in the process (particularly home brew silencers). Halve the ranges of any gun using a silencer. Home brew silenced weapons cannot use ranges beyond that of "combat range"--typically about 20-30 feet. Additionally, reduce the damage done by silenced weapons by two damage levels. "Silencers" do not produce complete silence. The gun will still make a noise at about the same volume as a normal-volume cough. Silencers work only with semi-automatic weapons--revolvers and shotguns cannot be silenced.

Waiting Periods

Washington State has a 5-day waiting period for handguns, but not sporting rifles or shotguns.

Guns and Garou

Gun Damage to Garou

Humans, garou, and other supernaturals can all soak the damage--potentially all of the damage, especially from the lighter firearms.

A garou in crinos form will take no or little damage from pistols. Rifles and other powerful weapons that can kill a human with just one shot tend to simply do moderate damage against a crinos garou, typically just slowing them down a bit. In summary, guns are not as effective against garou--particularly those in crinos when they have a supernaturally enhanced stamina and soak roll.

Garou that are not in breed form can heal 1 level of non-aggravated damage per round. Normal bullets inflict normal damage that can be healed. A garou incapacitated by bullets will be perfectly fine again and not have a scratch on them in under 20 seconds.

Normal bullets cannot kill a garou unless there is a coup-de-grace follow-up attack or a massively traumatic headshot. A garou taken down by bullets is going to get back up again unless several bullets are pumped into its brain or the head is removed--or the head is almost literally blown off by a high-powered bullet.

Guns, Renown, and Garou Culture

Garou are traditionalists when considered as a culture. Guns are still relatively new to them and are generally seen as being dishonorable weapons--particularly if used against another Garou. The Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers--long-time urban tribes--are more accepting of firearms, particularly of their utility in the cities where gunshot wounds draw far less attention than animal maulings and "bear" or "wild dog" attacks.

Garou who use firearms in battle collect less Glory than those who do not. The exception to this rule is for Glass Walkers (they're Weaver-tainted already), Bone Gnawers (they're weak and honorless to begin with), and ragabash (they're bucking the system). Ahrouns that are not Walkers will likely take a renown hit for using firearms, and a member of a strongly traditional tribe (Silver Fangs, Wendigo, etc) will probably lose more renown than they gain in a fight if they use a firearm.

Using Firearms on GarouMUSH

Introduction and Worldview

Popular TV, movies, and books will present readers with a really broad range of how guns get used. Everything from John Woo films where people gracefully deliver death from dual-wielded pistols firing as fast possible while the shooter is doing backflips across a room to GI Joe cartoons where soldiers blaze away with machineguns and never manage to shoot anyone.

Reality, as tends to often be the case, lies more in-between these two extremes.

On GarouMUSH, weapon "realism" tends to be more on the lines of X-Files or your average cop show, where people rarely hit things at range in the heat of the moment. If you've ever shot a pistol, rifle, shotgun, or machinegun in real life--you'll know that this is pretty much what happens in the really real world.

Here's the basic firearm premises for GarouMUSH:

• If you have time to stop, be still, aim for a bit, and then shoot, you can hit things at a much further distance.
• If you're in the thick of a fight, dodging blows or bullets, getting hit in any way shape or form, moving, or otherwise operating under less than optimal conditions, you're not likely to be able to hit anything at range--even if your weapon can shoot much further.
• The more bullets you try to shoot in a round, the harder it gets to hit things and the more likely it is that you'll accidentally hit something you didn't intend to hit.

Firearm Range and Damage Table

The following table will help to break down some basic information about what kind of range you can expect your gun to be accurate at. This doesn't mean you'll hit a target at that range, but that the average person with basic firearm training has about a 50/50 chance of hitting something at that range. People with little or no training will obviously have less chance to hit whereas firearm experts will have a greater chance to hit.

Suppresive Fire

Suppresive fire is the act of pointing a gun "thataway" and shooting as fast as possible. The point of this is not so much to actually hit a target, but to make opponents keep their heads down temporarily (duck for cover) in order to buy time or put some distance between the two groups.

In order to use suppresive fire, the weapon must have at least 6 shots remaining in it. Suppressive fire uses the entire magazine/clip or 10 rounds--whichever is greater--in one round.

Suppressive fire covers approximately a 15; wide area. Anything in that area or that enters that area later in the same round has about a 25% chance of catching one bullet (for minimum damage).

The drawback to suppressive fire is that anything downrange can be shot accidentally--including friendlies and other things best not shot.

Shooting or Holding Two Weapons at the Same Time

Some folks like putting out lots of lead by using two guns at once--one in each hand.

The downside of putting out all that lead is that accuracy goes way down since the character is not longer able to use both hands to aim a single weapon, and the character will be using an "off hand" for one of those weapons.

Anyone shooting (or holding) two weapons at once cannot use the maximum range capabilities of either weapon.

Anyone shooting (or holding) two weapons at once must halve the current ranges for the weapon listed.

Anyone shooting (or holding) two weapons at once must split their dice pools between both weapons--meaning they have half the chance of hitting that they had before.

Obviously, using two weapons at once is not a smart thing to do unless you're extremely experienced with firearms and don't plan to shoot anything further than about 10-15 feet away.

Specialty Munitions

Introduction to Specialty Munitions

There are a number of specialty ammunitions out there that make all sorts of wild claims. (Black Talons immediately pop into mind, reputedly able to enter the body, spiral around, bouncing off bones, and then exiting at another point in a completely different direction after having done incredibly lethal levels of damage.) Basically, these kinds of munitions are pretty much a sham to sucker in the easily impressionable and take their money. (A kind GM might lump them under "hollow points" or "armor piercing" but not both.) There are, however, a few notable types of non-standard munitions that will have some effects.

Armor Piercing

Basically designed to get a bit more penetration--like through a standard issue Kevlar vest. These will negate the effects of light body armor used by police (or the tough hide of a fomori), but will not punch holes in engine blocks or whatnot. Armor typically reduces the damage that a bullet will do by 1-3 levels. An armor piercing bullet will reduce the effectiveness of armor by 1-2 levels.

Hollow Points

Designed to expand on impact, these bullets will do ever so slightly more damage (1 extra die) to unarmored targets. However, any armored target or target behind soft cover will have better protection against these bullets. Decreasing the damage of a hollow point bullet by one level if the target is armored--in addition to the target's existing armor bonus.

Rubber Bullets

A (generally) non-lethal alternative to bullets that will leave the target incapacitated rather than dead. Just don't keep shooting once they're down. Armored targets reduce the damage of a rubber bullet by one level in addition to the existing armor bonus.

Tracer Rounds

Basically treat these as normal bullets, except that you can see exactly where the bullet flight path was. This helps the shooter in adjusting for follow-up aimed (not fired in the same round) shots to or near the same target. (+1 die for the next aimed shot in the following round--not cumulative.) It also nicely advertises the position of the shooter.

Silver Ammo

Availability and Cost

Silver bullets are available at most high-end gun stores, but almost never in bulk quantities. They're generally sold as single bullets and are used for cleaning gun bores (since silver is harder than lead and helps to blow seriously stuck-on gunk out of the barrel) or as novelty items. They're very expensive (about $50-100 per bullet depending on the size of the bullet and the rarity of the caliber) and large orders (over half a dozen) will require backordering and shipping delays.

If you have large quantities of silver bullets (over 6 bullets), you need to account for where your PC got them in your GMINFO.

Also, this is the World of Darkness and most supernatural agencies know that werewolves do exist and are vulnerable to silver. They also have long-since realized that anyone purchasing unusual quantities of silver bullets likely knows about the Garou or is one. Hence, it is not uncommon (nor unheard of) for people who purchase unusual volumes of silver bullets to "disappear."

Reduced Accuracy

When they are being made from metal molds, silver bullets shrink as they cool. This makes them more inaccurate that regular bullets because they have more room to "rattle around" while going down the gun barrel.

Cut the maximum range for all silver bullets in half.

Because of this shrinking problem, it is also not easy to make silver bullets at home unless your PC is very experienced in making custom ammunition and has the required custom equipment for making it.

PCs that know anything about guns and silver bullets should be very, very wary of anyone who gives them a homemade silver bullet. If the bullet isn't made just right, it could damage the gun barrel or even cause it to explode. This is no task for amateurs.

Silver and Garou

Nothing kills Garou faster or more effectively than silver. Garou know this. Kin know this. And lots of other supernaturals know this. And so the Garou (rightly so) have an instinctual fear of silver and react very, very, very poorly to anyone who has a silver weapon of any kind--be it another supernatural, kinfolk, or another garou.

Some game-related notes about silver and silver weaponry:

• If a garou sees a silver weapon or comes in contact with it, a frenzy roll is called for immediately--regardless of whether or not the person with the silver is kin, an ally, or friendly. If a frenzy occurs and the garou does not Fox frenzy and run away (renown loss), the Garou will attack the offender until he or she is dead--or maybe until the silver weapon is removed, broken, or otherwise no longer even a remotely perceived threat.
• Using a silver weapon against a garou is, from a garou or garou-kin perspective, seen and treated as attempted murder. The offender will likely be killed on the spot or later after a trial if the offender survives.
• Kin with silver weapons/ammo tend to have shorter lives than those without. A kin that tells a garou that they have silver, thinking that that will stay a garou, may suddenly find themselves being slaughtered by a frenzied garou. Telling a garou that you have silver simply puts them even more on edge. If kin do have silver weapons, they generally tend to hide them and not alert the garou of their existence. (There's 1 garou per 10 kinfolk. If a garou kills a kin, that's seen as merely being unfortunate--especially if provoked in any way. If a kin kills a garou (or even brandishes/uses any kind of silver weapon threateningly against a garou), the kin better hope the target garou and garou's tribe is REALLY forgiving.
• A sure-fire way to attract attention in the World of Darkness is to place a bulk order for silver bullets--and there are rumors to that effect within the garou and kin circles. If you buy silver ammo, buy only what is in the store, buy it once, don't come back to that same store, and pay with cash. People that buy silver bullets in large quantities have a habit of "disappearing" with no trace.
• A sure-fire way to get off on the wrong foot with a garou in a social situation of any kind is to have silver on you where they can see it--especially in weapon form. It's the equivalent of wandering around juggling live grenades.

Remember kids, Garou cannot soak any damage caused by silver unless they are in breed form--and metis garou always take unsoakable damage in all forms. (Sucks to be cursed by Gaia.) So a silver bullet is even more lethal to a garou in crinos than a regular bullet is to a human. (A human can soak damage from a silver bullet. Garou can't.) A single shot from a silver bullet, even from a light pistol, can potentially kill a garou.

One bullet can potentially kill a garou instantly, even if they are in crinos, regardless of whether they have a base Stamina of 5 (and thus a crinos Stamina of 8). There's roughly a 25% chance of killing a garou with a single shot from a medium or heavy handgun. And about a 50-50 chance with a single shot from a rifle or shotgun. Bam. End of story. Thanks for playing.

Two silver bullets will probably kill a garou deader than dead. Don't bother trying to Rage heal or MT.

Three silver bullets is so much overkill you're probably wiping out any Past Lives the garou victim had.

The act of simply touching silver will immediately burn a garou for 1 point of unsoakable aggravated damage per round. If a bullet (or worse, shot from a shotgun) sticks in a garou, they take 1 level of unsoakable damage per round they are not in breed form. Per round pumped into them. (Metis are screwed unless they can claw it out of themselves before they die from being cooked from within. Metis should be outright petrified of silver.)

Weapons that Aren't Guns

Tasers, Hand-Held

Handheld tasers are devices that use electricity to temporarily and non-lethally immobilize a target. In order to use one, you must engage in hand-to-hand combat with the target. This is NEVER a good idea with a garou as they have rage and multiple actions. However, if a taser is all you have, it's better than fists and harsh language.

Handheld tasers can deliver between 50,000 and one million volts of electricity. The difference between a 50K volt taser and a million volt taser is not the damage dealt, but the penetration that can be achieved and the area affected. 50K volts will knock out most humans. 150-200K volts can effectively flatten a crinos. The extra voltage is really only good for two things: 1) extra penetration if the target is wearing thick clothes (or has a shaggy fur coat) and 2) making lots of money through marketing to people who think a million volts will stop a person faster than 50K volts.

Tasers do not work instantly. A person hit by a taser still has whatever momentum they had before they were hit, so a 600-800lb crinos falling on a human/kin is still going to break a lot of bones and potentially kill them. And the taser needs to stay in contact with a person for anywhere from 1-3 seconds in order to disrupt their nervous system and immobilize them. So a tasered crinos is likely going to get a clumsy lick in before going down--maybe a couple if they blow rage. They'll definitely be off balance and not up to par for a good 5-10 minutes after even just a light tazing, though.

Tasers also do not work all the time. Once in a blue moon, some people are immune or mostly immune to them. The taser that can drop a pro-wrestler might not even phase an elderly housewife.

Tasers that are not fully charged can give mild electrical burns instead of stunning a person. These burns are not a particularly effective means of combat, but are sometimes used as a means of making people talk. Taser burns, however, count as aggravated damage (1 level per hit.)

Tasers, Pistol-Types

These are single-shot tasers that use two darts hooked up to wires that lead back to the gun. Once fired, the darts shoot out, strike the target, and send out between 50-100K of voltage. Pistol tasers do not pack as much wattage as hand tasers because the darts are designed to penetrate clothes and get directly into or near the skin of the target. The big plus with these guns is that they provide a maximum range of about 20-25 feet, putting some distance between the shooter and the intended target so that the target will not be able to get close and melee before it's too late--generally. Again, there are exceptional individuals that are immune. The big minus is that you get one shot--better make it count.

Chemical Mace and Pepper Spray

Nothing says "agony" like chemical mace or pepper spray, designed to affect the sinuses and olfactory system, applied lovingly to a crinos, hispo, or lupus garou. This stuff is bad enough to immobilize a person with their comparatively less sensitive noses, so you can imagine that chemical mace or pepper spray is even more devastating to a lupus, hispo, or crinos with their sensitive noses. Unlike tasers, where the effects can be shaken off in 5-30 minutes, chemical mace and pepper spray lingers for several hours, effectively blinding and immobilizing the target. Downsides to these weapons include their short range (10-20'). Also, they are susceptable to breezes, which could inadvertently affect (to a lesser extent) the person spraying the mace or pepper spray if the wind is blowing back onto them.

Bows and Arrows

Use the ranges for firing a shotgun with slugs on the above firearms table. Unlike other firearms, a bow factors in the strength of the user when calculating damage. There's no set of bow and arrows out there (at least commercially available) that allows crinos garou to put their full strength into them, and doing so will simply break the bow. And finding strings that don't break when pulled back by crinos claws is pretty much impossible. Obviously, bows can't be concealed. One shot per turn unless rage is spent.

Throwing Knives and Similar Pointy Objects

Use the ranges for firing a small pistol for these objects. One throw per turn unless rage is spent.

GMINFO and Weapons

If you have firearms, specialty munitions, or other weapons of note, be sure to include a few lines in your character's &GMINFO attribute.

Some things to think about:

• Where do you keep your weapons while not in use? If it's hidden outdoors someplace, how are you keeping them maintained?
• Ask yourself what weapons your character carries concealed on him or herself on a day-to-day basis, and is it practical that that large handgun can be concealed effectively on a small frame with tight-fitting clothes?
• Alter your @desc appropriately if you are concealing anything bigger than a small pistol, a knife, or brass knuckles.
• Is the weapon legally acquired and possessed?
• Where did you get it?
• How much ammo do you carry?
• Be sure to account for any illegal or potentially illegal weapon (submachine gun, assault weapon, or sniper rifle) in some detail.
• If you want to use a specific weapon name (i.e., Colt M1911A), you should include information for the non-gun-literate GM. (i.e., "X carries a Colt M1911A, which is a large-sized pistol that holds 11 bullets.) Definitely do this for any unusual weapons that people may have no clue what it is.