If Concealing Gear (p. 153) involves an opposed Perception Test against the target's stealth, how do the benefits of the Shortened Barrel Base Option and Filed Front Sight Mod Option apply?

According to the rules on p. 153, "no roll is required for successful concealment unless a foe inspects the target up close..." The modification "reduces the difficulty of checks made to conceal this weapon by one." (p. 190 & 191) Since there is no 'concealment test' in the rules, wouldn't it actually add one additional difficulty to the Opposed Perception Test of the searcher?

Example: Player [Agility 3, Stealth 1] attempts to sneak a blaster pistol with a shortened barrel [+1 Difficulty] past a security guard [Cunning 2, Perception 1]. The security guard rolls the Opposed Perception Test with a dice pool of 1 Ability Dice, 1 Proficiency Die, 3 Difficulty Die, and 1 Challenge Die.

I'm probably reading too much into it, but according to plain English, it is a little backwards.

Well, I'd usually have the player be the one rolling Stealth opposed by the NPC's Perception. And then it functions as normal.

But if you're rolling for the NPC and opposed by the PC's Stealth skill, you should actually be reducing the NPC's ability by 1.

For most everything (except for shooting at a PC, for example), you should have the player rolling not the NPC. If the player is searching a person, it's a Perception test. If an NPC is searching the player, the player should be attempting a Stealth roll to have properly concealed the weapon.

That makes sense. Then I assume in cases where the player is hiding an item you add a Setback die rather than a Boost die for every encumbrance point over 1 of the hidden item.

This is just my opinion, but I think that if a character is attempting to conceal several Encumbrance's worth of equipment about his person he's doomed to fail. Hiding a small weapon, like a knife or a holdout blaster, sure. But once he's carrying enough stuff to get above his Encumbrance limit I would rule that anyone searching him automatically finds whatever he's hiding. I don't think anything with an Encumbrance higher than 1 should be possible to hide on one's person.

If Concealing Gear (p. 153) involves an opposed Perception Test against the target's stealth, how do the benefits of the Shortened Barrel Base Option and Filed Front Sight Mod Option apply?

According to the rules on p. 153, "no roll is required for successful concealment unless a foe inspects the target up close..." The modification "reduces the difficulty of checks made to conceal this weapon by one." (p. 190 & 191) Since there is no 'concealment test' in the rules, wouldn't it actually add one additional difficulty to the Opposed Perception Test of the searcher?

Example: Player [Agility 3, Stealth 1] attempts to sneak a blaster pistol with a shortened barrel [+1 Difficulty] past a security guard [Cunning 2, Perception 1]. The security guard rolls the Opposed Perception Test with a dice pool of 1 Ability Dice, 1 Proficiency Die, 3 Difficulty Die, and 1 Challenge Die.

I'm probably reading too much into it, but according to plain English, it is a little backwards.

I would let the PC make an opposed skill check, stealth vs perception. I would either add a boost die or do an upgraded die for the modification.

Thanks for the answers everyone. Putting the dice in the hands of the player is always the right answer, so they feel in control of their own destiny. It was the wording of those equipment entries that didn't really make sense to me. In the end, common sense prevails!

For most everything (except for shooting at a PC, for example), you should have the player rolling not the NPC. If the player is searching a person, it's a Perception test. If an NPC is searching the player, the player should be attempting a Stealth roll to have properly concealed the weapon.

I actually let the players roll for the NPC' when they attack and i must say it works out really well because the players get to give feedback on threats, and actually having them rolling the dice gives them that little extra involvement that brings alittle more excitement and humour!