I confess I never fired a real gun but I alway thought the recoil came into effect the moment the projectile, together with lots of hot air, leave the barrel.

And thus the moment the barrle could rise it was too late too change the path of the fired shot. At least on single shot.
On full auto on the other hand every bullet after the first would be affected by recoil (from the bullets fired earlier).

If that assumption is wrong please correct me.

back to topic: If I'm GMing I will have all accurate weapons deal additional damage if they are properly braced or, in the case of pistols, the other hzand is not being used for anything else.

And having the bulging biceps talent or wearing PA would not be enough to count the weapon as being braced.
I'd even think about changing the accurate rule as to take a full round action to use.

Umbranus said:

This should help: http://www.shootingwiki.org/index.php?title=Understanding_Recoil

Thanks for that link.

I'm with keeping things as simple as possible.

For Basic Weapons: RAW.

For Pistols: I think a +1d10 maximum damage to Pistol weapons with the "Accurate" quality maintains the idea that most Basic weapons have more "punch" than a similarly classed pistol but still allows for a worthwhile boost in damage.

Alternate approaches that my group has considered:

• Inventing a talent that allowed a Pistol with the Accurate quality to be treated as a Basic Weapon for additional damage per 2 DoS. Or,
• Allowing Pistols with Accurate quality to score additional damage per 3 DoS instead of the regular 2 for Basic Weapons. Or,
• Creating a new Weapon Upgrade called "Extended Barrel" which allowed the modified weapon to be treated as a Basic Weapons for purposes of additional damage based on DoS.

Ultimately, we threw those other options out because we felt that just going ahead with a +1d10 maximum on a all pistols with the Accurate quality was fine. It didn't unbalance our game but made accurate pistols a little more interesting.

Additionally, as others have mentioned, the shorter range of pistols already serves to represent the diminishing power of pistols at longer ranges. At 75m, for instance, a Longlas would have a +10% to the shot but your average pistol would be firing at long range (if not extreme range), imposing a -10% to the shot.

While others can feel free to discuss the physics behind firearms, I am more concerned with playability and balance and this house rule has worked fine for our group.

You know, as a competitive marksman (even if only on national level) who competes with both rifle and pistol, I find the arguments of the people wanting to reduce additional damage through accuracy for pistols rather strange.

I also want to remind those who want to give it to pistols only on short range or up to the listed range value, that the most common distance for accuracy contests with them is 50m (other than rapid fire that is usually done at 25m). And that you'll have to hit a target about the size of a fist to even qualify for international level contests. Like with every single shot.

That being said, there's a huge difference between pistol types when it comes to accuracy (the aforementioned PPK by the way not really shining in that field. Maybe lower average at best.) One that pretty much equals the difference between a run of the mill assault gun and a high-end sniper rifle. Also differences in punch will be included in the basic damage and penetration value of a DH weapon, so fluffwise there's absolutely no justification for pistols getting a lower accuracy bonus than basic weapons.

That brings us to the point of balance. Now ruleswise, there's not really an advantage to get by using accurate pistols instead of accurate basics. That is as soon as you've equipped the basic gun with an extra grip or are using a recoil glove. Remember that you only get the aiming bonus on one attack, meaning also only one of the two attacks you'll get through double-wielding. The only point where pistols will be better is when using Dual Shot. You however pay for this by the need to get way closer to your enemy to inflict your damage, even the accurate pistol with the highest range still not coming even close to the range of accurate basic weapons save the composit bow. Still having a lower range than most standard basic weapons as a matter of fact. This means that the enemy will most likely be in a position to return fire, very likely even to attack you while you approach him. Which does more than just balance things out.

@Lukkai I was hoping someone with actual pistol experience would weigh in. You've convinced me that applying the full rules for accurate pistols is no big deal. In general their shorter range and lower base damage will make most people want a real sniper rifle or a sub-automatic pistol anyway.