Favorite general types of SF weapons

[Guest Schwarzwald]

What general types of SF weapons do people like? There are, boradly, a couple main types of guns: Energy weapons and advanced projectile. Energy weapons can cover a large array of fun gadgets, like lasers, particle beams, plasma cannons, disruptors or even phasers in ultra tech settings.

 

Advanced projectile could cover HV railguns, gyrogets, micro missiles with various types of warhead and guidance systems, even nanotech based bullets that begin replicating and dissasembling the target after impact.

 

So, in general, what kind of SF weapon do you find more plausible, interesting or just prefer to have in your games? Laser type weapons can be useful if the tech allows them to serve as cutting beams, welders, drills, etc, plus they could make great signal devices.

 

An advanced projectile weapon could be a very versatile beastie too, if it were modeled on the judge dredd pistol with various projectiles like explosive, AP, heatseeking, chemical warheads, electrical capacitor rounds, etc.

 

A railgun could be fitted with different ammo loads as well. Soft rounds meant to shatter and rupture in the wound for maximum damage vs. living targets, hard AP rounds for armor and maybe a few more types of ammo.

 

I could see both being useful in some settings, and each having it's own advantages and disadvantages.

 

Which do you use in your SF settings?

[Frenchman]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Most of my characters seem to wield 'antique' weapons, mostly slugthrowers from the 21st-22nd centuries.

 

My favorite sort of weapon, while most certainly not fitting into any of your categories (sorry) is the vari-weapon - those with multiple settings, firing modes, or effects.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I think the ST Phaser qualifies as a vari-weapon, and that's what he's classifying as 'sufficiently advanced technology,' methinks. As for me, I've always preferred slug throwers & low grade energy weapons, but you're talking to someone who focuses on low-fantasy, Steam-Punk and other low-tech type settings. I'll always take slug-thrower over super-energy-weapon. The time that rule is 'broken' is in dealing with ship-to-ship combat; big ships always have sufficiently advanced techology over individuals and small craft.

 

But, as usual, I digress. Short answer: slug throwers, light energy weapons. Also, batons, vibro-weapons, and energy-enhanced personal weapons (not lightsabers, but a step shy; a controlled energy arc, not unlike a massive stun gun) would be my speed.

[Yansuf]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Depends on the genre.

 

When I GM'd a 2300AD campaign all the PCs used projectile weapons of various type, even though lasers and sonics were available. My favorite NPC did like sonic weapons though.

 

In a GURPs SF campaign (set in the late 21st century, advanced spacecraft but no FTL so restricted to the solar system) I was in my character used lasers, sonics and a gauss SMG. (His background was that he was an ex-space force EVA Commando, and I decided lasers were best for space combat.) Other players tended to use Blasters (in GURPS blasters are particle beams), needlers and sonic stunners. At least one other PC used a gauss SMG at times.

 

In a Traveler Campaign I was in (this was long after they added advanced small arms to the system) most players used advanced slug throwers of various kinds.

 

In a "Star Trek" campaign that I GM'd everyone had phasers of course.

[Guest Schwarzwald]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Most of my characters seem to wield 'antique' weapons, mostly slugthrowers from the 21st-22nd centuries.

 

My favorite sort of weapon, while most certainly not fitting into any of your categories (sorry) is the vari-weapon - those with multiple settings, firing modes, or effects.

 

Actually the variable weapon fits into what I said fine. A laser weapon could be useful as a welder, cutter, drill, etc. Also a projectile weapon could fire a variety of projectiles for a variaty of purposes.

[TheRavenIs]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I agree with Thia Halmades, I normally go against form in my team. I'll use advanced projectile weapons and stay away from true energy weapons, unless it is ST Phaser's. I do use simple charged weapons, like stun baton's, or shock sticks.

 

Now with ship to ship combat, advanced energy if I can get it. But I can and do love the type of weapons that Traveler used.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Anything with a Stun setting.

[Fenixcrest]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I'm a big fan of energy guns, especially the sort of gritty, Star Wars-style ones that look like they could be an actual firearm. Han Solo pulls that bad boy out of its leather holster, and you know somebody's gonna get shot. They have more of a "weapon"-ish feel to them than the Star Trek-style phaser, which, to me, looks too much like a gadgety non-gun, the old-timey zapper guns from the early days of sci-fi movies and TV, which look like childrens' toys.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Sorry, CC, I have to be contrary.

 

By the time I've pulled a weapon, it's because I've established that simply knocking them out isn't the way to go. That would be "anything without a STUN setting."

[Old Man]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Advanced melee weapons. Energized, psy-powered, shooty bits, super stun, focused force fields, mono-wire, retracting claws...

 

Even better when used in pairs

 

I usually go for hyper velocity projectile over energy weapons for ranged combat. Generally non-explosive. Just punch through the armor lots of times and whatever it is should die.

 

 

 

Funny thing is bio-weapons have a funky appeal to me. Bullets that are frenzied critters or slow eating critters or eggs, are pretty cool.

[TheRavenIs]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

So Shadowpup, you like bio-rounds, so you don't have a probleam with fleas?

 

 

repped BTW

[SuperPheemy]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I prefer handgun style weapons, because I love a lot of old west in my Sci Fi. There is a side of me that will forever love the classic "Plasma Gun Man Portable" from Traveller.

[Old Man]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I like to go for effect. It annoys me sometimes that in the 24th century (or whenever) small arms tech does about as much damage as, well, 20th century small arms. The special effects might change but that's about it. Far more interesting, from an I-don't-want-to-have-to-GM-it standpoint, are small arms that follow Moore's law, so to speak. Like the Cricket from MIB.

[Nyrath]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I prefer handgun style weapons' date=' because I love a lot of old west in my Sci Fi. There is a side of me that will forever love the classic "Plasma Gun Man Portable" from Traveller.[/quote']

But wasn't that the one where you had to be wearing powered armor in order to survive using the blasted thing?

[Nyrath]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I like to go for effect. It annoys me sometimes that in the 24th century (or whenever) small arms tech does about as much damage as' date=' well, 20th century small arms. The special effects might change but that's about it. Far more interesting, from an I-don't-want-to-have-to-GM-it standpoint, are small arms that follow Moore's law, so to speak. Like the Cricket from MIB.[/quote']

True, but you start to have problems in the collateral damage department. Yes, you vaporized the evil villain, too bad about the foundations of the sky-scraper he was standing in front of.

 

Frank Chadwick talks about the targeting problem. He says that for the most part weapons are lethal enough that improvements there would be counter-productive. The place to put the advancements is in targeting, that is, making sure each round actually hits the target. Increase the effective OCV in other words.

 

I've seen discussions of laser weapons where the aimsight is actually looking through the same optics that the laser uses, what you see is what you get.

 

Add a chip-mounted laser or acoustic gyro set, we can have a gyrostabilized handgun.

 

Even more fun: have the weapon shoots not at where the gun is pointed at the instant of firing, but instead at a weighted average of where it has been pointing over the past quarter of a second or so. Smoothes out a lot of the jitter inherent in human marksmanship. You'd probably want to integrate this feature with the weapon's sights. A reflex-type optical sight could have an LED display linked to the gyrostabilizer, rather than a fixed reticule. The dot, or crosshairs, would then indicate the actual shot path and would remain similarly stable under jitter.

[Sundog]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I prefer standard or Gyroc rifles - with seeker heads. Multiple options are nice too - so that you can fire into an area and have the round choose it's target, or dial in a specific heat signature to nail one guy in a crowd. Or put in an exclusion category - no target under five feet tall, say (no more risk of hitting a kid).

[Old Man]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

So Shadowpup, you like bio-rounds, so you don't have a probleam with fleas?

 

 

Fleas no, Ticks yes.

Reminds me of these missiles from B5W(?). They would attach to a ships hull, then crawl around to find something juicy (gun port, sensors, bridge) then bore in and explode.

[Sundog]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Fleas no, Ticks yes.

Reminds me of these missiles from B5W(?). They would attach to a ships hull, then crawl around to find something juicy (gun port, sensors, bridge) then bore in and explode.

 

Limpet-Bore Torpoedoes. The Kor-Lyan's ace in the hole.

[Curufea]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I like organic weapons. But then, I'm a fan of Aliens and Tyranids (and to a certain extent, the Zerg)

[SuperPheemy]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

But wasn't that the one where you had to be wearing powered armor in order to survive using the blasted thing?

 

*whistful, far-away smile...* Yeah... wasn't it great?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Sorry, CC, I have to be contrary.

 

By the time I've pulled a weapon, it's because I've established that simply knocking them out isn't the way to go. That would be "anything without a STUN setting."

 

Fair enough. As a rule, characters I play try not to kill their targets unless they don't have a choice (and there usually is), thus the Stun setting is the default.

[Old Man]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Your Star Hero games differ from the ones I've played.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

Your Star Hero games differ from the ones I've played.

 

Probably, though it's more a matter of the fact that virtually every character I ever play has a Code Against Killing, even if it's not actually on the Disad column.

 

Just the way I like to do things.

[prodigyduck]

Re: Favorite general types of SF weapons

 

I prefer to use energy weapons in my sci-fi campaings; specifically "blaster" style wepaons like from Star wars. I am usually hesitant, though, to give weapons multiple settings, unless it is part of a campaign feature.

 

Despite my love of energy wepaons, projectile weapons will never go out of style. Anyone with the proper know-how and a little bit of equipment can make bullets or shells. This allows anyone who wants to stay armed, be armed. Usually, any of the sci-fi games I run that are based around colonies that come from Earth, the people on the "frontier" will still tend to have shotguns.