Game: Gunfighter’s Quarterly- Spring 2003
Publisher: Jim Wardrip Designs
Series: Gunfighter’s Quarterly
Reviewer: Trent
Review Dated: 11th, June 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 9/10 [ Something special ]
Total Score: 10
Average Score: 5.00
Gunfighter Quarterly: Tools of the Trade for the Modern Gunfighter
Spring Issue 2003
Author: Jim Wardrip
I must admit that I was a little wary of this purchase at first. I’ve not always been a big .pdf fan to begin with but I was unsatisfied with certain aspects of my gameplay and needed a little help with my D20 Modern campaign. My research eventually led me to www.JimWardrip.com where I found this .pdf. All the indications were that Gunfighter Quarterly might be the answer to some of my questions and problems, so I took the $5.00 plunge and gave Mr. Wardrip a chance.
Although the title gave me images of Wild West Shootouts and showdowns at high noon on the dusty streets of Dodge City, this issue of Gunfighter Quarterly is devoted to Modern Firearms and their uses in D20 Modern.
The author, Mr. Wardrip, begins with a page of introduction, explaining the purpose of Gunfighter Quarterly and his own qualifications. Even though the author downplays his own knowledge on the subject, it is quickly clear that he is very much a devotee of the modern firearm. His experience in the use, training, repair, and construction of firearms is varied and, although he never states it in the .pdf but does on his website, he has a military background. As a veteran of the U.S. Army myself, I do not consider myself completely unfamiliar with most common weapons of the Infantry soldier, but I quickly came to realize I was but a novice compared to Mr. Wardrip. This issue does not deal only with military weapons, but details many others as well.
Following the intro is a fictional interview conducted by the Gunfighter Quarterly staff with the CEO and lead instructor from the Gun Fighters Academy, MCPO (ret.) E. Middendorf. While an explanation is never give as to who or where the Gun Fighters Academy is, it’s actually a fictional place, or exactly who from the Website is asking the questions, the interview is quite informative and interesting. At first I almost skipped the interview, more interested in the crunchy rules I bought the .pdf for. I’m glad I didn’t, because it was an enjoyable read. Questions asked included “ammunition selection for personal defense”, “ammunition accuracy”, and “types and calibers of ammunition to use”. While this interview has little to do with D20 modern rules, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The interview lasts through page five, then the D20 information really begins. New feats, designed to replace some of those in D20 Modern, are given. The Feats being replaces are Personal Firearms Proficiency and Advanced Firearm Proficiency. Now this is what I bought the .pdf for. These two Feats just seem too all encompassing to me. Simply too broad in definition for accuracy. To replace these two Feats the author offers us six, with Handgun, Basic Rifle Marksmanship, and Automatic Weapons some of those offered. The other three deal with the quality of Marksman your character is, allowing them to take the Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert Feats. These Feats give realistic bonuses to the character’s attack values without making them automatic hits. To take the Sharpshooter Feat, you must already have the Marksman, and so on. This allows you to build on your character, increasing their aim as they theoretically spend more and more time in combat or, at the least, practicing at the range.
Page eight begins a section called Gun Shop Notes. One subject of this section is a discussion of the inherent accuracy of a particular weapon. This section really caught my eye. I know from my childhood the differences in firing two rifles my father had. One I shot well with, the other not nearly so well. I was the same person, the rifles fired the same type of ammo, why the difference in my results? All the weapons detailed in this .pdf have an optional Accuracy rating to give a more realistic flavor.
Next in the Gun Shop Notes is a section on Recoil, and an explanation as to why the author felt this was important enough to add a rating to each weapon. Once the explanation is read it makes a lot of sense. Again referring to my youth and my experience in the Army, I recall how delighted I was in my first M16 and it’s lack of kick when fired. Vividly do I recall the bruised shoulder and the laughter of my older brothers after my first attempt at firing certain weapons. Unfortunately the Recoil Ratings seemed to have been left out of the .pdf. An email from the author has promised a free and quick correction.
This section continues with articles on Critical Failures and Reliability, including rules for determining the Reliability of various weapons. That particular page finishes with an article on how to determine when a weapon malfunction has occurred. All these rules pass the ‘common sense’ check.
The section continues with answers to questions such as “Can I bolt it on or do I need a Gunsmith?” and “Building a Tactical Rifle”, which the author has obviously done before. These sections do nothing for the rules, but do give valuable little tidbits of information to increase the reader’s role-playability.
Next are pages based upon subjects like “Weapon Modifications”. Rules are given to bring realism to such situations as using a weapon that was de-burred, replacing a barrel, or using a magazine that has had the edges of its well beveled. All this brings realism to the game if that’s what you want. Very helpful for the role-player. This sort of information goes on for several pages and was fascinating to me. Once again dipping into my store of personal info I recall a buddy who fired his M16 on full auto (yeah, it was a long time ago) so often he warped the barrel and it had to be replaced. At the time I thought it made more sense to simply replace the weapon (or the idiot firing it) but that’s not always possible in a combat situation like the ones I put my players in. A few other subjects of the many discussed include: Flaring your ejection Port, and Truing the Action.
Beginning with page fourteen the author begins to describe ammunition. He describes ammunition in infinite detail, including notes on their development and history. Rules are given to allow the use of all these various rounds, giving you more or less accuracy or damage or other effects as applicable.
Here I must stop and mention the photos used in this .pdf. They are real photos provided by the manufacturers, giving you a good sense of the real weapon. The pics of the ammunition not only give close ups, but even cut-aways of the ammo so you can see what a jacketed hollow point really looks like.
Next comes an article on shotguns. The table associated with this article gives the number of pellets of several standard rounds as well as the average number of hits at various ranges. A second table gives information about Pellet Diameter, Sectional Density, and many other things. Now that’s detail. Probably a little more than is required for D20 but all in all it won’t hurt to have it.
Table three of the shotguns deals with the penetrating power of the various ammos. Table four is concerned with slug ammo and their accuracy/inaccuracy. The author then continues with a brief article on ammo selection and winds up with an optional shotgun rule. Table five winds up the shotgun info by giving final bonus/penalties for the ammo used.
Several pages are now devoted to descriptions, history, and details of many rifles, including pictures, beginning with the M16 in all its forms, both military and civilian/law enforcement. Certain attachments like the M4 are also detailed.
Page 30 is a table listing the M16, again in all its forms, with all the pertinent info and D20 stats. The .pdf finishes up with two pages of information about historic weapons including the Colt M1911A1, the Luger Parabellum P08, the Springfield M1903A3 and others. The last rules page is another D20 table showing the gaming stats for these weapons followed by the OGL.
The Upside: This gaming supplement is very informative and has a good mix of information. The D20 side of the coin appears to be accurate, well thought out, and usable. The historical and technical information is top-notch as well. One thing that really stands out is just how well written this entire book was. If there was a typo, I didn’t see it.
The Downside: I prefer a bound book to a .pdf. I just can’t get past that. The only real error was the recoil stats left out of the document. On the other hand the information presented here will definitely enhance my D20 gameplay, and I doubt I could have found such detail in any other single D20 book.
Another positive aspect is the speed with which Mr. Wardrip responded to my questions. By the time I post this review he has promised to have the next version of this .pdf posted with the recoil and more shotgun rules.
Summation: Very good product. Well worth the paltry sum of $5.00. If you enjoy D20 Modern, this is a product you will find highly serviceable.
