The basic shotgun has a Clip 2, leading me to believe that it's a double-barreled design. Since it shows only one trigger, this typically indicates it can't fire both barrels at once (which would be the Twin-Linked or Storm quality), but it really should enjoy a greater RoF over the Pump-Action Shotgun. Would it be wrong to give the Shotgun a RoF S/2/-? This might help make the choice between the (Double-Barreled) Shotgun and the Pump-Action Shotgun a little less of a no-brainer.

Really there should be a lot of options for the shotgun, but that is going on our modern day standards wherby there ARE lots of variants.

In 40k the Shotgun isn't as widely used - mainly gangers, arbites, drop infantry and naval armsmen.

Here's my proposal to bring them in line and have some clear heirarchy to them…

I'd allow ammo upgrades for any these, but the Double, Sawn-off and Pump-Action do not use magazines and so cannot use shot-selectors. The sawn off being pistol means it cannot use melee attachments (obviously!) and may also not make use of any sights including red-dots. Also with the exception of the sawn-off, all shotguns may be utilized as a club in melee combat (instead of an improvised weapon) due to their sturdy construction.

Kasatka said:

I like it. I would consider that the Sawn-Off Shotgun and the Pump-Action Shotgun could probably stand to be Reliable if the basic Double-Barreled Shotgun is going to be Reliable (especially the Sawn-Off). Instead, I would suggest that none of them should be Reliable (unless at Good Craftsmanship or better).

The sawn-off shotgun is in Inquisitor's Handbook for DH, where it is modified to fire both barrels at once, thus gaining the Tearing quality. If however it is loaded with only one shell, it loses the Tearing quality.

I thought about giving reliable to other shotguns but the sawn-off has been structurally altered by the user and so shouldn't be as reliable as it is out of the box. Similarly the pump actions shotgun has more complicated moving parts than the basic double barrelled and so can jam more easily.

Also with regards to the hack shotgun from IH having tearing - i always felt that was a little overpowered. I found that the ability to shoot a pair of shotguns (as they were pistol class after all) at point blank range generated so much damage that the tearing wasn't needed. I suppose if you feel the double barrelled shotguns need more oomph then allowing any of the double/sawn off shotguns to have tearing if fire on Semi/2…

Pump Actions can fee from 2 tubes, those exist in the real world, actually more common than finding fire selector equipped guns that feed from magazines IRL (which are rare). I like the tearing option just showing the raw power of 2 12 gauge shells shot close up, I also like the double barrel able to have it, as long as both can fire both shots off one at a time. I suppose S/2/- is fine too but it just treats the shotgun no different from other guns. Also, for the pump action, while it may be more complex than a double barrel, it still is a very simple and solid design and reliable.

Cymbel said:

It has Scatter. That's what sets it apart from the majority of guns.

Of course, I would prefer if Scatter just acted as Tearing at PB and Short ranges and worked in reverse (roll an extra d10 and drop the highest die) at Long and Extreme ranges.

HappyDaze said:

For those of you keeping an eye on the D&D next beta i could phrase it as "advantage on damage rolls at PB and short range and disadvantage at long and extreme ranges" but alas FFG uses different mechanics and terminology.