Steve Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Now that I've been dusting off my old Traveller stuff for my Hero campaign, I see that the most common handguns are still slugthrowers with the occasional laser weapon, with TL9 ones requiring a backpack power source. I personally like blasters due to visual appeal, but I'm wondering if Traveller works best to stick to slugthrowers to maintain a sort of Old West feel. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Ofeelya Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns I used Blasters in Traveller games many years ago. From memory they were TL11-13 or something like that. They were not uber-weapons so didn't unbalance anything. Traveller doesn't have personal force-fields so a high velocity slug or needle will always be a great way of delivering lots of killing damage to the target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns gauss and standard slugthrowers work just fine for most low to higher medium tech levels, where you start having problems is when the bad guys have combat armor or Battle Dress, then your going to want something heavier, but thats when rocket launchers and HEAP grenades can make the difference. Laser Rifles have the damage output to punch a hole in most powered armor, but the armor usually has either an ablative layer or superconducting layer making the laser a lot less effective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Don't forget the FGMP (Fusion Gun, Man-Portable) or PGMP (Plasma Gun, Man-Portable -- though both are very strictly Imperial military weapons which can only be carried around by troopers in Battle Dress or as crew-served weaponry. Matt "Recovering-Striker-addict" Frisbee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns I personally like blasters due to visual appeal' date=' but I'm wondering if Traveller works best to stick to slugthrowers to maintain a sort of Old West feel.[/quote'] Well, IMHO slugthrowers are not necessarily "old west" in feel. For example, watch the movie Underworld with Kate Beckinsale blazing through hordes of werewolves and vampires with high-powered slugthrowing pistols, The Matrix, Judge Dredd, Robocop, or Terminator. When it comes to visual appeal, nobody is looking at the lead bullet. They are all admiring the sexy gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns When it comes to visual appeal' date=' nobody is looking at the lead bullet. They are all admiring the sexy [i']gun[/i]. That is so very true. It's so very true, I wish I'd said it. Maybe you should quote yourself! Matt "Still-looking-for-a-good-catch-phrase" Frisbee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Traveller with blasters would be too much like every other sci-fi setting out there. The blasters and force fields and such make the action seem remote and unreal. In Traveller, on the other hand, until you get to the high tech levels and tightly-regulated military-level ordinance, any yokel with a smooth-bore can put a crimp in anyone's day -- a situation everybody at the table can appreciate since it's so close to real-world experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns In Traveller' date=' on the other hand, until you get to the high tech levels and tightly-regulated military-level ordinance, any yokel with a smooth-bore can put a crimp in anyone's day -- a situation everybody at the table can appreciate since it's so close to real-world experience...[/quote']I found the reverse to be true as well. In my campaigns, hi-tech military hardware was only (legally) in the hands of the military. The military were also in charge of law enforcement - the Navy and Marines had responsibility for policing smugglers and pirates, since both activities were a potential military threat close to the Zhodani border (officially; actually the border the Imperium was closer to was Fascism... another story). That way, when a passing Imperial cruiser gave a Free Trader an order to heave-to for an inspection, no-one thought in terms of breaking out the weapons and repelling boarders, regardless of how well-armed and combat-skilled the party were, because they knew they were going to be outclassed. Also added to the danger level of trying illegal activities, and gave opportunities for role-playing, rather than roll-playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCUBA Hero Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns "Wash, hard burn. We're runnin'." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Since I'm going for a Firefly feel, I think I'll stick to slugthrowers then. It will certainly be easier to get ammunition on the frontier for them than trying to hunt down energy packs for a TL11 blaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Since I'm going for a Firefly feel, I think I'll stick to slugthrowers then. It will certainly be easier to get ammunition on the frontier for them than trying to hunt down energy packs for a TL11 blaster. I dunno about that -- but it was fun having my players trying to wire up automotive batteries to power their laser rifles in the middle of a firefight when all of their power packs went flat... Matt "The-slightly-evil-GM" Frisbee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns "Wash' date=' hard burn. We're runnin'."[/quote'] "I am a leaf on the wind" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tytalan Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Also remember that the heavy armors like combat armor and battle dress are also military only items. also because of the real good chance of putting a hole in the ship most ship board weapons are mêlée or low speed like the accelerator rifle and snub pistols. the military goons in battle dress do not care if they breach the hull but the players might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns also because of the real good chance of putting a hole in the ship most ship board weapons are mêlée or low speed like the accelerator rifle and snub pistols. No. Accelerator rifles and snub pistols are used because they are designed for zero-G. It has been clear ever since Snapshot came out back in 1979 that the chances of smallarms "putting a hole in the ship" were slim to non-existent. Doing damage to the machinery is something else, but all weapons can do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Well, luckily keeping gun damage down to a low roar is fairly easy in Traveller. I think what I'll likely end up doing is looking through the gun lists in Dark Champions and modifying some of them to represent versions at different tech levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns I freely admit that I disliked the "slug throwers in space" concept until Firefly made it work, complete with having to put "Vera" in a space suit to fire in vaccuum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns having to put "Vera" in a space suit to fire in vaccuum. Incidentally, the gun geeks on the Traveller Mailing List seemed to think that that wasn't strictly necessary. Even present day weapons would probably work in vacuum, at least for a while. Eventually there would be problems with lubrication, heat and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Incidentally' date=' the gun geeks on the Traveller Mailing List seemed to think that that wasn't strictly necessary. Even present day weapons would probably work in vacuum, at least for a while. Eventually there would be problems with lubrication, heat and so on.[/quote'] They are probably correct. But I still think that it is cool that the writers of Firefly was even thinking about this. Scientific accuracy aside, it was a very stylish touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns They are probably correct. But I still think that it is cool that the writers of Firefly was even thinking about this. Scientific accuracy aside' date=' it was a very stylish touch.[/quote'] Exactly. The scene did give the eisode a very "spacey" feel which one sometime lost in the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Incidentally' date=' the gun geeks on the Traveller Mailing List seemed to think that that wasn't strictly necessary. Even present day weapons would probably work in vacuum, at least for a while. Eventually there would be problems with lubrication, heat and so on.[/quote'] I expect that the scene was more for effect than accuracy, but it did look cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns I freely admit that I disliked the "slug throwers in space" concept until Firefly made it work' date=' complete with having to put "Vera" in a space suit to fire in vaccuum.[/quote'] Still don't like it . Firefly was fun DESPITE the stupid slugthrowers. I've run Traveler on and off since its first addition and I always add blasters myself. Why make an exotic cool environment mundane! Thhe regular guns don't make it more believable to me and my group but less so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Why make an exotic cool environment mundane! Because flying brass is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Because flying brass is cool. Yeah, if you can't tread across the skulls of your slain enemies, you might as well tread on the brass of the rounds that shattered them. The explanation in the Traveller book works fine for me, though. Slugthrowers are way cheaper than energy weapons, easier to maintain, and kill the guy just as dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Yeah, if you can't tread across the skulls of your slain enemies, you might as well tread on the brass of the rounds that shattered them. The explanation in the Traveller book works fine for me, though. Slugthrowers are way cheaper than energy weapons, easier to maintain, and kill the guy just as dead. That and advances in material and chemical tech will, in all likelyhood, advance along with the rest of our tech base, meaning that slugthrowers will probably stay competitve with any theoretical energy weapons for a long, long time. I had quite a lot of both available in my Star Hero campaign, and slug throwers ended up getting the most use in play. Among other advantages the ability to change ammunition loads to fit a particular task cannot be understated in value. You often don't get that kind of flexibility with energy weapons until you get firmly in to rubber science territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Re: Traveller-era guns Why make an exotic cool environment mundane! http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1273215&postcount=5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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