Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

[Susano]

No, these are not meant to be "realistic" weapons, but are trying to simulate certain source material. Feedback wanted.

 

Chaingun: Found in countless FPS games, chainguns are known for two things -- being able to hose down an area with bullets and for drinking ammunition like it was water. In truth, the weapons labeled as “chainguns” in almost all FPS games aren’t a chain-driven guns at all, but multi-barreled mini-guns, similar to the one seen in the movie Predator. While not the best weapon for well-armored targets, they are perfect for cleaning out squads of grunt-level opponents. This version uses the Reduced Penetration Limitation, coupled with a high rate of fire, to simulate the large number of rounds it puts out in a single burst. As with all FPS chainguns, it takes time to spin-up to speed, and continues to fire once the trigger has been released.

 

RKA 4 1/26, Autofire (10 shots; +1), 500 Charges (+1) (210 Active Points); OAF (-1), Extra Time (Extra Segment; -1/2), Reduced Penetration (-1/4), Side Effect (fires an additional 10 shots on the Segment after the initial attack ends, only affects environment/others, Side Effect only occurs when power is turned off; -1 1/2) (total cost: 49 points) plus +4 OCV (20 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 10 points) plus +4 versus Range Modifiers (12 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 6 points) . Total Cost: 62 points.

 

Chainsaw: A chainsaw is a powered cutting tool in which a bladed and toothed length of segmented chain (similar in appearance to a bicycle chain) is driven around a metal frame by a motor. Chainsaws can be powered by electricity, gasoline, and in far-future settings, tiny fusion power plants. They are used to cut down walls, doors, barriers, trees, and in accordance ot numerous horror movies, zombies. A semi-cinematic chainsaw is given below. It has been given the Reduced Endurance advantage since FPS chainsaws never seem to run out of fuel, but it has a few Limitations designed to make it act like a real world chainsaw. Remove those, and you have a highly-cinematic chainsaw/sword.

 

HKA 1d6+1, Increased STUN Multiplier (+1/4), Continuous (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (55 Active Points); Chainsaw Can Jam (i.e. Burnout; chance varies according to what is being cut through, normally it is a base 15- (-0), OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4). (total cost: 22 points) and Tunneling: 1” through 5 DEF material, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (25 Active Points); Chainsaw Can Jam (i.e. Burnout; chance varies according to what is being cut through, normally it is a base 15- (-0), OAF (-1) (total cost: 12 points). Total Cost: 34 points.

 

Railgun: Large and bulky, railguns use an electromagnetic effect to accelerate a projectile down a matched set of rails. The projectile then leaves the barrel with tremendous velocity and is capable of punching holes in almost any target desired. Better yet, FPS railguns can fire through several targets (and sometimes walls), allow the PC to take out two, or even three, foes with a single shot.

 

RKA 5d6, Area Of Effect (120” Line; +1 1/4), Penetrating (+1/2), 30 Charges (+1/2) (244 Active Points); Beam (-1/4), OAF (-1), Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2), No Range (-1/2) (total cost: 75 points) plus +2 OCV (10 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 5 points). Total Cost: 80 points.

[Edsel]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

About the Chaingun... Remember that if a character has Rapid Autofire they will be able to, in essence, double the rate of fire by firing two 10 shot Autofire bursts in a single phase. The Reduced Penetration idea is a pretty clever way to simulate extra hits. I am also a little curious about the continued fire after the weapon is de-activated. In the multi-barrel guns I have seen the shooting stops as soon as the trigger is released but the barrels continue to spin as they wind down.

 

All in all I like the write ups.

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

seems pretty good, not sure about the "reduced penetration" about the chaingun though. What Edsel said about multiple hits is an interesting interpretation though.

 

From what Susano's description says, he seems to be simulating the fact that the gun doesn't actually shoot that effective of a round. Depending on what type of "chaingun" he's trying to simulate, I don't think that's necessarily accurate. These same chainguns have been used for aerial fire support and as weapons on planes (the whole multi-barrel design anyway) and typically fires a pretty significant round depending upon its use. I have yet to see a military version of this gun use a low powered round... but I'm hardly an expert on that. =)

 

I'd personally remove the reduced penetration, those things are supposed to be pretty crazy and powerful. As for the chain part, btw, I believe the chain is supposed to be a reference to the belt fed rounds.. but I'm not sure. If I remember correctly, the motor might have once run using a motorcycle chain kind of thing, but I'm not really sure on that. And like Edsel said, the chaingun actually stops firing when you release the trigger, the barrels just keep spinning is all.

 

The whole point of the spinning barrels is to keep barrel temperatures down so a continuous stream of firing is possible. With the typical chaingun's rate of fire, the barrels would heat up much too quickly and cause malfunctions at the least, catastrophic failures at worst.

 

I like the write-up for the chainsaw, but I'm not sure if tunneling is quite appropriate, but I can see why you used it, as the normal damage for the chainsaw doesn't really give it much room for effectiveness in cutting through things. Perhaps buying it as "penetrating versus inanimate objects only" would be helpful? As is, it works, and is a good write-up anyway. =)

 

I'll have to copy these, if you don't mind, in case it ever comes up. Thanks Susano.

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

seems pretty good' date=' not sure about the "reduced penetration" about the chaingun though. What Edsel said about multiple hits is an interesting interpretation though.[/quote']

 

That's the idea. Instead of giving AF 20 and wasting a lot of Charges, I give it AF 10 and RP. Each autofire hit is actually 2 rounds striking home.

 

From what Susano's description says, he seems to be simulating the fact that the gun doesn't actually shoot that effective of a round. Depending on what type of "chaingun" he's trying to simulate, I don't think that's necessarily accurate. These same chainguns have been used for aerial fire support and as weapons on planes (the whole multi-barrel design anyway) and typically fires a pretty significant round depending upon its use. I have yet to see a military version of this gun use a low powered round... but I'm hardly an expert on that. =)

 

I'd personally remove the reduced penetration, those things are supposed to be pretty crazy and powerful. As for the chain part, btw, I believe the chain is supposed to be a reference to the belt fed rounds.. but I'm not sure. If I remember correctly, the motor might have once run using a motorcycle chain kind of thing, but I'm not really sure on that. And like Edsel said, the chaingun actually stops firing when you release the trigger, the barrels just keep spinning is all.

 

I'm not trying to simulate a real weapon at all. I'm trying to simulate, for the most part, the "chaingun" found in Quake II. And the chain, in "chaingun" refers to the chain-driven drive that feeds rounds into the gun. However, the chainguns seen in about a zillion first-person shooters are really mini-guns.

 

I like the write-up for the chainsaw' date=' but I'm not sure if tunneling is quite appropriate, but I can see why you used it, as the normal damage for the chainsaw doesn't really give it much room for effectiveness in cutting through things. Perhaps buying it as "penetrating versus inanimate objects only" would be helpful? As is, it works, and is a good write-up anyway. =)[/quote']

 

The chainsaw is based off of a write-up I did years ago, with the help of the old HERO Mailing List.

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Cool, works for me. =) I stole 'em as is, unless you mind, of course. =)

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Cool' date=' works for me. =) I stole 'em as is, unless you mind, of course. =)[/quote']

 

Nope. Just keep an eye out for Digital Hero for the rest of this.

 

BTW -- no complaints about the Railgun???

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Nope, concept seems good on the railgun. Though, if you wanted to get kind of weird on the design, you could make the "alignment" of the shot more difficult, or even the shot itself, by instead making it an "autofire" attack to limit the number of people it could plausibly shoot through.

 

use the autofire "only to walk a line" so to speak with OCV bonuses only to offset the range modifiers. Just a different path that still makes the initial shot just as hard as a regular shot rather than versus DCV 3, and reflects the difficulty of lining up subsequent people to fall in its path.... or at least make it "selective" or whichever it is you have to roll for each person in the path separately. =)

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Nope, concept seems good on the railgun. Though, if you wanted to get kind of weird on the design, you could make the "alignment" of the shot more difficult, or even the shot itself, by instead making it an "autofire" attack to limit the number of people it could plausibly shoot through.

 

use the autofire "only to walk a line" so to speak with OCV bonuses only to offset the range modifiers. Just a different path that still makes the initial shot just as hard as a regular shot rather than versus DCV 3, and reflects the difficulty of lining up subsequent people to fall in its path.... or at least make it "selective" or whichever it is you have to roll for each person in the path separately. =)

 

I considered that... but I've nailed like three guys at once in Quake II with the thing just by plugging the center of mass of guy number 1. Also, I think Beam helps define the idea that while it can hit everything in the line of hexes, some things it will miss. I need to make that a little more clear.

 

At least I finally figured out what a Hammer's Slammers' "coilgun" was.

[Pavanne]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Excuse me while I enter excerpt-land.

 

In truth' date=' the weapons labeled as “chainguns” in almost all FPS games aren’t a chain-driven guns at all, but multi-barreled mini-guns,[/quote']

Then use better sources.

 

similar to the one seen in the movie Predator.

Or the second Terminator movie.

 

While not the best weapon for well-armored targets' date='[/quote']

Tell that to the Warthog.

 

As with all FPS chainguns' date=' it takes time to spin-up to speed, and continues to fire once the trigger has been released.[/quote']

Then you've definately are using bad sources. The trigger is released, the firing stops, the driver/rotator is de-clutched. No more bang-bang.

 

plus +4 OCV (20 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 10 points) plus +4 versus Range Modifiers (12 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 6 points) . Total Cost: 62 points.

The OCV and RM +'s should be "Only If On A Tripod".

 

Railgun: Large and bulky, railguns use an electromagnetic effect to accelerate a projectile down a matched set of rails. The projectile then leaves the barrel with tremendous velocity and is capable of punching holes in almost any target desired. Better yet, FPS railguns can fire through several targets (and sometimes walls), allow the PC to take out two, or even three, foes with a single shot.

 

RKA 5d6, Area Of Effect (120” Line; +1 1/4), Penetrating (+1/2), 30 Charges (+1/2) (244 Active Points); Beam (-1/4), OAF (-1), Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2), No Range (-1/2) (total cost: 75 points) plus +2 OCV (10 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 5 points). Total Cost: 80 points.

 

If it's bulky, it oughta have that Lim.

 

Interesting ideas, but you ought to think about using better sources than shoot-'em-ups.

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Interesting ideas' date=' but you ought to think about using better sources than shoot-'em-ups. [/quote']

 

Actually, I was specifically using "shoot-'em-ups."

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Edited the chaingun text:

 

Chaingun: Found in countless FPS games, chainguns are known for two things -- being able to hose down an area with bullets and for drinking ammunition like it was water. In truth, the man-portable weapons labeled as “chainguns” in many FPS games aren’t chain-driven guns at all, but multi-barreled mini-guns, similar to the one seen in the movie Predator or Terminator II. While not the best weapon for well-armored targets, they are perfect for cleaning out squads of grunt-level opponents. This version uses the Reduced Penetration Limitation, coupled with a high rate of fire, to simulate the large number of rounds it puts out in a single burst. Borrowing some drawbacks from certain FPS chainguns, this weapon takes time to spin-up to firing speed, and continues to fire for a short period of time once the trigger has been released.

 

RKA 4 1/26, Autofire (10 shots; +1), Increased STUN Multiplier (+1/4), 500 Charges (+1) (227 Active Points); OAF (-1), Extra Time (Extra Segment; -1/2), Reduced Penetration (-1/4), Side Effect (fires an additional 10 shots on the Segment after the initial attack ends, only affects environment/others, Side Effect only occurs when power is turned off; -1 1/2) (total cost: 53 points) plus +4 OCV (20 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 10 points) plus +4 versus Range Modifiers (12 Active Points); OAF (-1) (total cost: 6 points) . Total Cost: 69 points.

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

I considered that... but I've nailed like three guys at once in Quake II with the thing just by plugging the center of mass of guy number 1. Also, I think Beam helps define the idea that while it can hit everything in the line of hexes, some things it will miss. I need to make that a little more clear.

 

At least I finally figured out what a Hammer's Slammers' "coilgun" was.

 

Well, as far as FPS go, I've mostly played Counter-strike in its various forms... and shooting multiple people is relatively rare, but then again, there aren't any railguns. (unless you count the AWP, hehe) In general, however, people hopefully don't line up like that, but it does happen occasionally.

 

Dunno, I'm a fan of shotguns as a whole; in games, cinema and personally. If a game has a shotgun, and it works decent, I'll play it. Then again, i don't buy many games.

 

Re-write of chaingun looks fine. Pavanne, the whole point to these write-ups is not to be based in reality but in some other source material (apparently Quake), not reality. =)

 

I do agree that you might want to think about making railgun bulky for in-game. Not sure how it works in quake. If its how I think it probably works, then skip bulky.

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Well' date=' as far as FPS go, I've mostly played Counter-strike in its various forms... and shooting multiple people is relatively rare, but then again, there aren't any railguns. (unless you count the AWP, hehe) In general, however, people hopefully don't line up like that, but it does happen occasionally.[/quote']

 

What's the AWP?

 

Dunno, I'm a fan of shotguns as a whole; in games, cinema and personally. If a game has a shotgun, and it works decent, I'll play it. Then again, i don't buy many games.

 

Doom II, double-barreled shotgun. 'nuff said.

 

Re-write of chaingun looks fine. Pavanne, the whole point to these write-ups is not to be based in reality but in some other source material (apparently Quake), not reality. =)

 

Something like that. These are for a DH article titled FPS HERO.

 

I do agree that you might want to think about making railgun bulky for in-game. Not sure how it works in quake. If its how I think it probably works, then skip bulky.

 

The thing is, the weapons may be huge, but they don't slow you down any. Heck, you can carry what? in Quake II? 10 weapons?

[Mad Fnorder]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

I feel like the Railgun should be AoE Non-selective- It still took some skill to aim at a far-off target, for example. Other than that, great stuff.

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

The AWP is just a heavy caliber sniper rifle. In counter-strike its frustrating because typically you can kill someone by hitting them ANYWHERE, including a hand, tip of a foot, etc... and you die. A lot of servers ban it because its ridiculous, it bypasses armor, etc.

 

Double barrel supershotgun rocked... if I remember right, there was a regular and a super that did more damage. =) LOVED that gun.

 

I wasn't arguing for realistic play, Susano, just trying to point out that you weren't going for realism. FPS Hero is certainly something some people might really enjoy. =)

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Double barrel supershotgun rocked... if I remember right, there was a regular and a super that did more damage. =) LOVED that gun.

 

The regular was a single-barreled pump-action. The super-shotgun was the double-barreled one. Of course, to top that, the FPS "Lo-Wang" had a four-barreled shotgun. And Marathon let you carry twin double-barreled sawed-off shotguns.

[Remjin]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

The regular was a single-barreled pump-action. The super-shotgun was the double-barreled one. Of course' date=' to top that, the FPS "Lo-Wang" had a four-barreled shotgun. And Marathon let you care twin double-barreled sawed-off shotguns.[/quote']

 

Oh, okay, yeah, you're right... wow, it has been awhile. Marathon.. wow... I didn't think anyone played that game. That was on the Mac, right? I never played "Lo-Wang" though. =)

 

In Planetside, I really liked using the "Jackhammer" which was an uber shotgun that had three barrels that rotated for each shot and had a triple-shot mode where you could unload with 3 shells at once. It was great for clearing towers and bases, and annoyed the crap out of all the guys with the way high-tech guns.

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Oh, okay, yeah, you're right... wow, it has been awhile. Marathon.. wow... I didn't think anyone played that game. That was on the Mac, right? I never played "Lo-Wang" though. =)

 

In Planetside, I really liked using the "Jackhammer" which was an uber shotgun that had three barrels that rotated for each shot and had a triple-shot mode where you could unload with 3 shells at once. It was great for clearing towers and bases, and annoyed the crap out of all the guys with the way high-tech guns.

 

Ahah! Lo Wang is from the game "Shadow Warrior."

 

And yes, Marathon was the original Bungie Macintosh game.

[Ephelides]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

OK, so call me stupid, but what's "FPS" mean???

[Susano]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

OK' date=' so call me stupid, but what's "FPS" mean???[/quote']

 

First-Person Shooter

 

Basically DOOM, DOOM II, and a zillion spin-offs.

[Vassoom]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

OK' date=' so call me stupid, but what's "FPS" mean???[/quote']First-Person Shooter

 

Basically DOOM, DOOM II, and a zillion spin-offs.

OR..."Frames Per Second", which can be critical in "First Person Shooters".

 

- Vassoom

[Vestnik]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

The AWP is just a heavy caliber sniper rifle. In counter-strike its frustrating because typically you can kill someone by hitting them ANYWHERE, including a hand, tip of a foot, etc... and you die. A lot of servers ban it because its ridiculous, it bypasses armor, etc.

 

Double barrel supershotgun rocked... if I remember right, there was a regular and a super that did more damage. =) LOVED that gun.

 

I loved the weapons in Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. The bow with explosive arrows, the thing that homed in on brainwaves and burrowed into skulls, the ricocheting shotgun... It did rock.

[OzMike]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Chaingun- looks fine. Although I've always done them as AoE Line, Conforming (I think), 0 range when I've made them in my games.

 

Chainsaw - looks good. Would consider raising the DEF of the tunneling to at least 7. After all, the chainsaw HKA can max out at 14 BOD. Maybe make it (ummm...) 8 DEF? Is that standard effect on 2 1/2 D6?

 

Railgun - I would up the length of the line to a really big distance - in some games those babies can fire seemingly forever. And maybe 1/2 DCV - they take ages to fire sometimes.

 

Good work - look forward to the article

[Ephelides]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

First-Person Shooter

 

Basically DOOM, DOOM II, and a zillion spin-offs.

 

Ah. Them things.

 

OK, thanks for solving my confusion.

[Pavanne]

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

 

Pavanne' date=' the whole point to these write-ups is not to be based in reality but in some other source material (apparently Quake), not reality. =)[/quote']

 

It's OK. No harm, no foul.

 

I didn't realize it was starting from so far away from reality.