Firearms (Handgun)

Key facts

Base Value

20

Overview

Firearms (Handgun) covers pistols and revolvers: aiming, firing under stress, reloading with someone coming toward you, and knowing the weapon well enough not to jam it. In the 1920s a handgun is legal in most places, easy to buy, and small enough to keep in a coat, which is why it is the gun that ends up in an investigator's pocket. At the table it is the compromise weapon. A shotgun ends a fight faster, but you cannot walk into a hotel lobby with one. The handgun is what you have when the scene turns without warning, which in Call of Cthulhu is how scenes usually turn.

How it works

Base Value: 20% Key Uses:

• Shooting at a target in a sudden fight
• Firing while frightened, wounded, or in poor light
• Drawing quickly from a coat or a desk drawer
• Threatening credibly without firing Special Rules: Firearms attacks are rolled against your skill rather than opposed, so the defender's only real answer is Dodge or cover. Handgun damage varies by model and runs roughly from 1d8 to 1d10, and firearms do not add your Damage Bonus. Range, cover, a moving target, and a target aware of you all push the roll toward Hard.

Tips and playstyle

Build Advice: 20% base is not enough to rely on. If your investigator intends to carry a gun, take it to 40% or better, because a missed shot in a firefight is usually the last decision you get to make. Occupation Synergies: Dodge and Stealth matter more than a second firearm skill, since position decides most gunfights. Credit Rating and Law cover the licensing and the aftermath, and Firearms (Rifle/Shotgun) is the answer when you can plan ahead. Character Concepts: Police detective, soldier, private investigator, criminal, dilettante who shoots competitively.

Frequently asked questions