Getting the topic back on topic...
Any thoughts on the rule I tried out with my group? Good, bad, indifferent?
Thoughts on the need (or lack thereof) to do something different with pistols?
The extra damage as full weapon damage seems good to me.Getting the topic back on topic...
Any thoughts on the rule I tried out with my group? Good, bad, indifferent?
Thoughts on the need (or lack thereof) to do something different with pistols?
There's a certain amount of humorous irony in a guy named Vader invoking the Obi Wan Kenobi Defense of "from a certain point of view."So, while it does present one possible, valid interpretation of the scene, it is not the only one.
Vasquez had a bigger gun
Not really, in my opinion. There's a cut away, but before the cut Gorman is firing his pistol as fast as he can squeeze the trigger, which is pretty fast. We cut back, his gun is now empty. We see no dead Aliens aside from the one Vasquez killed, we saw sparks from the bullet impacts, the Aliens are all still closing in. The pistol did nothing. If it's down to "why didn't the Aliens attack while Gorman was shooting," Rule of Drama. Same reason the Alien slowly and menacingly approached Lambert near the end of the first film, same reason the Alien in the atmosphere processor waited for Dietrich to full turn her back and finish her line before coming out of the wall and grabbing her, same reason the Alien waited for Brett to spend so much time calling for Jones before dropping down to attack him. A combination of what makes for the best cinema, what raises tension and horror best, and the practical limitations of the effects technologies used. Dudes in rubber suits can't move that fast, especially without looking silly. For an explanation that works within the reality of the film, to my mind it's far more likely that, believing they knew these humans were bereft of weapons that could hurt them and had no way to escape, they simply felt no rush to get them. Playing with helpless prey is something real animals do, taking pleasure in horrifying helpless humans before grabbing them is totally acceptable for the Aliens.But as noted, the editing makes the interpretation of the scene somewhat ambiguous, so … YMMV.
I’ll elect to stand by my viewpoint, if I may.
But is that truly an antique 9mm pistol, or a "modern" at the time the film is set pistol made in the style of an old gun, possibly chambered in a different caliber or using more modern ammunition? Technical aspects aside, in the language of film, Vasquez's gun is bigger, physically of larger dimensions, than Gorman's. Unless you know the tech specs of the weapons in question, the assumption by most would be "bigger gun=more power." Since Vasquez made an Alien's face disappear with her pistol, while Gorman's shots bounced off the Alien he was shooting at, the intent is pretty clear: Vasquez's pistol was effective against an Alien, if barely, while Gorman's was not.Vasquez had a bigger gun
Um … actually no, she doesn’t. Her antique custom S&W is a 9mm, exactly the same calibre as Gorman’s H&K — and that’s assuming the H&K still fires ordinary 9mm, and hasn’t been ballistically upgraded. I rather suspect the latter to be true.
I delve a bit deeper into the weapons in this post:
viewtopic.php?f=99&t=5391&start=12
Vasquez had a bigger gun
Um … actually no, she doesn’t. Her antique custom S&W is a 9mm, exactly the same calibre as Gorman’s H&K
[…]
Technical aspects aside, in the language of film, Vasquez's gun is bigger, physically of larger dimensions, than Gorman's.
Your image links are broken at least for me.
Um … actually no, she doesn’t. Her antique custom S&W is a 9mm, exactly the same calibre as Gorman’s H&K
[…]
Technical aspects aside, in the language of film, Vasquez's gun is bigger, physically of larger dimensions, than Gorman's.
Um … again, actually no, it isn’t. The S&W Model 39 is very close in size to the VP70 — if anything, it’s slightly smaller.
If you check the post I linked to, at the bottom you’ll find a diagram with the silhouettes of the weapons in question superimposed over one another in scale.
The gun may look bigger in Vasquez’s hand because she is rather a small lady…
So I’m afraid that point is effectively negated. If Vasquez’s (by all appearances antique) gun is effective on an Alien, then Gorman’s (obviously modern military-grade) gun must be, too.
Your image links are broken at least for me.