I hated the old rule because by the time you move into point blank range with most people you're going to get engaged in melee the next turn and then be unable to use the shotgun. Not to mention that shotguns do not work that way in reality and that their spread expands slowly. Shotguns get used for ***** (I wonder if this gets inadvertently censored) shooting, which is at a distance. They do get used because of their spread, but that is because it increases accuracy at that distance. Point blank is way too much of a niche power that renders shotguns effectively useless against most targets in most situations.

I hated the old rule because by the time you move into point blank range with most people you're going to get engaged in melee the next turn and then be unable to use the shotgun. Not to mention that shotguns do not work that way in reality and that their spread expands slowly. Shotguns get used for ***** (I wonder if this gets inadvertently censored) shooting, which is at a distance. They do get used because of their spread, but that is because it increases accuracy at that distance. Point blank is way too much of a niche power that renders shotguns effectively useless against most targets in most situations.

I agree. The desire to make shotguns magic death weapons at point blank is silly. They are used in the setting because in general they are reliable, cheap, easy to use, and cause less collateral damage when you miss or over penetrate. The same is at least partly true of reality. The old rules made shotguns silly at point blank and garbage elsewhere. These rules might be a little odd, but I will take them over that.

Honestly, shotguns should be nothing more than hand cannons in the basic weapon category that are easier to use and perhaps have a higher magazine capacity and rof. Shotguns being loaded with scatter shot make them considerably worse weapons for inflicting significant injury in many cases, especially against armored targets. Even against soft targets a load with a only a few larger pellets or a single slug is preferred for stopping power. Bird shot is for birds. Scatter is for hitting small fast moving targets at range by changing the "hit box", if you will, from a mostly linear profile with a small cross section to an ever so slightly larger cross section at the expense of penetration, stopping power, effective range, and too some extent, accuracy.

Main problem is that it is useless compared to other weapons as it currently is. Useless weapons should be avoided, as they otherwise...well...will never be used.

Main problem is that it is useless compared to other weapons as it currently is. Useless weapons should be avoided, as they otherwise...well...will never be used.

True.

Right now few weapons have a niche... few categories outright even do.

The only real measure of "power/upgrade" within a category should be Pistol<Basic<Heavy for direct obvious reasons, and relative rarity. Now, it's perfectly fine if one -20 is slightly better overall than another, but the differences should be slight and preferably a matter of "within their own specialty". Alternatively, "more common" can be a half-niche of its own.

Within those categories, when you throw in distance effects, particular specialty and special effects you start having a large variety of options for people. Here are some suggestions to work from:

LAS: As can be expected, the category's special is Ubiquity and Reliability. The ubiquity is flat out a matter of their stats: While you CAN get a -30 enhanced hellgun or the like, the basic floor of production is well below the more advanced types of weapon. Reliability is their special niche, though. Las weapons are either 10% harder to dodge, or ignore up to 10% of environmental penalties to your BS. The highest patterns and grades get both.

SP: As ubiquitous as LAS, their ability instead lies in multiple ammo types. They're incompatible with energy weapon upgrades, but non-energy upgrades are even more common and numerous. The high lords of Solid Projectile are maglev impellers and the like, which are just short of proper mass-drivers.

BOLT: Standard AND special ammunitions. For the normal tearing explosive rounds, if penetration was higher than Armor+Toughness, the difference goes straight back to the damage roll. Bolter rounds are notoriously unhealthy when they lodge inside you before blowing up.

PLASMA: Take a page from those 'light rifles' but as applied to the gun itself. Start around 2d10+4 Pen 6, RoF 1 but with a max of 2AP on firing per round. If you've fired in the previous round, +4/+2 to damage and Penetration. If you had boosted damage in the round before, add the Overheating quality. Step down heat by one per round not firing. Overcharge counts as boosted and adds 1 blast [more for cannon], +Int and Felling against the actual target hit, but ups heat to 'overheating', instantly overheats if it was already on 'boosted', and congratulations on your new plasma grenade if it was already overheating. I suggest saving those last APs to throw it if you do.

MELTA: Here we introduce sustained fire. You either get short bursts of fairly devastating energy for 1AP, or sustain the shot for 2AP and double the ammo, gaining the melta quality and adding an extra die of damage. Short ranged in general but the usual devastating thing. Not as short ranged as they've been, though. 40m base on the gun, not 20. They're shorter ranged but not point-blank-only weapons there.

Flamers roll damage once, but increase cone to 30 from 10 degree 'line' if you spent 2AP, and every AP beyond the first adds +1 to the Flame quality, +1 damage and +2 penetration. You don't usually want to hold it that long, but if something really, really needs to burn...

Regarding Elite Weapons: There's very little value or worth to "Best" quality right now, and it really doesn't work [see other threads] with "you can have x upgrades on there".

How about Poor, Good and Best quality weaponry instead come with one roll on tables similar to pattern variants in Hammer of the Emperor?

So a Poor Lasgun is just like normal, except will probably break soon, and gets a roll on the negatives table of HotE [or rather one just like it]. If you ever fix it up to standard, that's gone, and if it ever gets whacked back into bad shape, roll again - something else is busted. Even "rare model" [functioning unaffected but extensive damage requires more replacement parts] or "Corrupted Pattern" [it'll have to be fixed TWICE to get out of Poor and you might not know the first time...] could make sense in there.

And of course, Good gets a good roll, Best gets a Best roll: Those unlike 'poor' are permanent, as long as the weapon is up to that status repairwise.

Another slot for weapon improvements can be quite good depending on what improvement options might be given in the future.