Was just digging through GURPS books, trying to figure out sizing for different types of guns, and noticed a disagreement.
In Basic Set, a 5.56mm assault rifle is bulk -4, and a 5.56 carbine is -3. In High Tech, the assault rifle is -5, and carbine is -4. The higher bulk stats seem more realistic, to keep small SMGs and longer carbines and assault rifles from overlapping in size so much, but as a player I would undoubtedly want the smaller bulk, because nothing much good comes from high bulk.
I've noticed this across many systems and books, little inconsistencies between them in how things are handled that don't specifically say "the other book says this for genericness, but if you're using this book you obviously want more depth, use these rules". Does the more focused book's rules win out, or treat it as a case-by-case basis?
You've already hit on it. The gun in the Basic Set isn't the same gun as in High Tech. Full Stop.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's happened in GURPS before I waited for High Tech to come out for 4e before I attempted to play it.
The actual methodology for determining the bulk of a gun wasn't settled until High Tech hit the printer, you can see the inconsistency in Ultra Tech as well.
Pretty soon you're not using the basic set for any equipment.