Stun Blaster

[Fearghus]

Before I begin this is for a 5th Ed game.

 

OK I know the basics on how to build this. I am trying to build a non-lethal weapon for a Meta Human Enforcement team. Basically super weapons wielded by more or less normal humans as a sort of Meta-human crime SWAT team.

 

I want them to have a super tazer of sorts... basically it would be an energy beam of some sort. You shoot the victim and they get knocked out. I don't want armor or super toughness to effect the effectiveness of the power. Now I have the thing worked out accept for one or two disadvantages.

 

Basically it would be built as Energy Blast with NND, but I am stuck on what would be a reasonable defense against the power. Ideally I would have an advantage "resisted with CON roll" or something like that. basically it would be No Normal Defense, and the defense would be "Pass a CON roll"

 

Is there already such an advantage or would NND be able to be used in this way... What does everyone think?

 

Thanks in advance

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

NND with the defense being 'succeeding at a CON check' would be perfectly legal, though that means the odds are that even a normal will shrug it off more than half the time.

 

If you don't want armor or super-toughness to affect it, how about making the defense having an active ED Forcefield?

[Fearghus]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

What I was thinking... That passing a con check to avoid all the effects is almost a limitation rather than an advantage. Granted the power is still all or nothing but anyone with a halfway decent CON will pass that roll 2/3 of the time. So in most cases the power will not work at all... kinda negates the idea of it being an advantage.

 

An Active ED forcefield is a good idea... Thanks alot.

[Christopher]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

Considered a stun blaster myself for a hero, and choosing the "right" defense is the hard thing.

 

The problem with NND could be that they should be built in a way they can affect any mortal but not all supers: All example counters are something your average super might have as a power. Even the ones a mook might have (resistant defenses) is something a super almost certainly has.

 

If it was 6E I would say: Mental Blast with AVAD (OCV vs. DCV) or a normal Blast with AVAD (Mental Defense). Maybe with a special version/setting (Multipower; just normal blast, stun only) against mentalits or other targets with high mental defense. But 5E afaik does not have those advantages.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

Here's a "super-taser" build I've posted before:

 

 

20 Taser Round Loaded Shotgun: Suppress STUN 8d6 (standard effect: 24 points), [DEX & STUN] simultaneously (+1/2), 8 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (+0) (60 Active Points); OAF (Shotgun; -1), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4), Physical Manifestation (Shell sticking to victim; -1/4), Limited Range (Shell must hit target with enough velocity to stick to clothes or skin [There is no damage from impact]; -1/4)

[Notes: from 5er page 36, Negative Dexterity - At DEX 1 or less, a character is CV 0. A character with negative DEX loses control over his reactions, and must succeed with DEX Rolls to perform any Actions requiring physical movement (even just aiming at a target, or making Gestures). If he fails the DEX Roll, he cannot perform the Action that Phase. Characters with a DEX of -30 (or minus their initial DEX value, whichever is better for the character) or less may take no physical actions.] - END=[8 cc]

 

2-3 hits by this round will bring down most supers (unless they have some Power Defense).

 

I based it on the shotgun and special shells on this site: http://www.taser.com/products/law-enforcement/taser-xrep

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

There is always the other option of limited effect EB. Part of the blast is simply to overcome defences. So you nullify a specified amount of armour and get so much STUN through regardless of the defences up to a certain point when the effectiveness will decrease.

 

I never understood why NND was preferred over this method.

 

6D6 EB (STUN only, standard effect) + 6D6 EB (only to overcome defences +1/2, standard effect)

 

30+20 = 50 points limited as you want to reflect the weapon aspects (as per HyperMan's example above).

 

Anyone with 18 ED or less takes 18 STUN.

 

You can purchase more effective tasers that nullify increasing amounts of damage but they would have fewer shots and possibly be more difficult to hit with.

 

 

Doc

[Christopher]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

20 Taser Round Loaded Shotgun: Suppress STUN 8d6 (standard effect: 24 points)' date=' [DEX & STUN'] simultaneously (+1/2), 8 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (+0)

From my understanding that will only affect him from one Turn (or until he exploits the obvious weakness in the bullets, wich is not defined)*

 

*At least my 6E book says this so i might be true for 5E: "All powers bought with Continuing Charges must include a reasonably common way to turn the power off."

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

I never understood why NND was preferred over this method.

Doc

 

Because NND eliminates all the defenses? For the same 60 active, you'll do 21 damage to a target, regardless of his defenses.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

I think both Hyperman and Doc D have good builds for this.

 

My first thought was just a 10d6 EB, STUN only. If you don't want the gun to do widely varying amounts of damage to normals and supers, then put on a limitation "Cannot inflict more than 25 STUN with one shot" or something similar. Or go with Doc D's build.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

Because NND eliminates all the defenses? For the same 60 active' date=' you'll do 21 damage to a target, regardless of his defenses.[/quote']

 

Or, commonly, you will do no STUN at all...

 

6D6 - would do, on average 21 STUN - I presume you were talking average there. My build guarantees 18 but you could, for no extra cost, roll the dice and average 21 STUN too, without the chance of 0 STUN and it costs less....

 

Doc

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

If you go NND, as others have stated, I would not use the CON Roll as the defense.

 

I would use either the ED Force Field, or "Lacks biological nervous system" or something (it won't work on robots or aliens so alien that they have no nervous system.)

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

Or, commonly, you will do no STUN at all...

 

6D6 - would do, on average 21 STUN - I presume you were talking average there. My build guarantees 18 but you could, for no extra cost, roll the dice and average 21 STUN too, without the chance of 0 STUN and it costs less....

 

Doc

 

But you usually know if you will or not, since Force Fields are visible. Then you just have another setting that's a Stun Drain or Stun Only EB for those occasions.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

But you usually know if you will or not' date=' since Force Fields are visible. Then you just have another setting that's a Stun Drain or Stun Only EB for those occasions. [/quote']

 

Yeah, for superheroes that might be worth it, also because for superheroes there is going to be a time when you are facing that 50PD behemoth where a little NND is the only thing that is going to get under his skin....

 

However, for this kind of thing, and for this kind of purpose, there is no need for the NND to come into play - I think the super-agent taser works better for this kind of purpose - it tapers off before becoming useless as well.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

I like the Suppress vs. STUN & DEX for this type of special effect over traditional Energy Blast based builds for several reasons.

 

It can be scaled up and tweaked very easily to work vs. almost any target regardless of how "tough" they are in a traditional sense.

 

Example:

The Agony Matrix (direct stimulation of pain receptors) attack used by Darkseid vs. Superman in Destroyer 2/3 @ 6:08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aJXoB5a4Qw&feature=related

[Christopher]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

I like the Suppress vs. STUN & DEX for this type of special effect over traditional Energy Blast based builds for several reasons.

 

It can be scaled up and tweaked very easily to work vs. almost any target regardless of how "tough" they are in a traditional sense.

 

Example:

The Agony Matrix (direct stimulation of pain receptors) attack used by Darkseid vs. Superman in Destroyer 2/3 @ 6:08

I don't know Darkseid and new genesis that well, but could that have been a magic attack? Superman is vulnerable to magic, making such an attack effective despite his high defenses.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

I don't know Darkseid and new genesis that well' date=' but could that have been a magic attack? Superman is vulnerable to magic, making such an attack effective despite his high defenses.[/quote']

 

That was a magically resurrected* Darkseid fused with Brainiac. Darkseid does not personally have any magical abilities. It's all either personal power, toughness or alien (New God) technology.

 

*(By a villain sorceress in a previous episode. Luthor was attempting to resurrect Brainiac so he could fuse with him again. Darkseid was an unexpected benefactor of the process)

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Stun Blaster

 

From my understanding that will only affect him from one Turn (or until he exploits the obvious weakness in the bullets, wich is not defined)*

 

*At least my 6E book says this so i might be true for 5E: "All powers bought with Continuing Charges must include a reasonably common way to turn the power off."

 

from the 5er FAQ:

 

If a character buys Suppress with Charges, must he specify a “reasonably common method for regaining the power” as with 0 END Suppresses?

 

If Suppress is bought with Charges, the Suppress effect lasts for the one Phase the Charge is active, then it ends and the Suppressed points immediately return to the victim. If the Charges are Continuing Charges, the effect lasts until the duration of the Charge expires, then the points immediately return. If the Charges are Continuing Fuel Charges, the character has to keep expending 1 second’s worth of fuel per Phase to maintain the Suppress; as soon as he stops doing this, the points immediately return.