This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Mattock: I was thinking of an example, how people always seem to dodge bullets, or shooters seem to always miss...what about the sport of skeet shooting? The shooter has to shoot a fast-moving target about the size of a hand.
To explain myself: this is a page I hope will point out all the obnoxious examples of games ignoring the real firepower of guns, not the RPG-like behaviour of games balancing out all weapon types. Is there an article for that, actually? Anyways, it just occurred to me as I was going around, you guys can do with this as you will. - Black Drazon
Phartman: I thought it was an offshoot of the trope where packing heat pretty much guarantees you'll get your ass kicked. But yeah, this happens in virtually every RPG that uses firearms.
The Jerf: In some ways this isn't so much a distinct trope, as just fitting the general pattern of RPG damage mechanics. My Level 1 swordsman clearly swings his sword clean through every enemy he ever encounters. If a sword followed the same path through any real world object, it would bisect the target and most certainly be fatal. However, I'm lucky to cause three points of damage. Against that sort of performance by swords, is the idea that a bullet is nearly harmless really such a surprise?
Black Drazon: Perhaps, then, more the fact that guns suck compared to swords, when they should be doing more or less the same? I've found, on the whole (and probably because of RPG mechanics that remove strength from missile weapons) that this is generally the case.
crapface: why has no one mention Devil May Cry yet?
Bob: Because those guns aren't worthless?
Violet: I feel like there should be a page for Guns Don't Work, in the vein of Buffy, Angel, and to some degree Star Trek (gosh, those phasers are sure cool. too bad they don't work.), Noir, and others. I'm not sure if creating a new page is better than changing this one, or what.
Bob: Buffy and Angel are under Immune to Bullets, Noir is under Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy and the Star Trek Phasers are under Cool, but Inefficient.
INH: Whoever wrote the D20 Modern example obviously didn't read the rulebook very carefully. You only need one feat to use a gun without penalty, the other gun related feats are just for special tricks or circumstances. The massive damage rules make it completely possible to take out characters with a single shot, especially when using longarms. You can get off multiple shots in a round if you have a high enough base attack bonus, and the burst fire feat does allow you to concentrate autofire on a particular target. And despite what happens in video games, snipers don't usually aim for vital areas, because just hitting a person at a high range is hard enough. Besides, this trope is about how guns are kept weaker than melee weapons, and guns do have much bigger damage dice than melee weapons.
