Plasma Weapons

[Falk]

Does anyone have any stats?

[IVhorseman]

I just made a broad category for "energy weapons" under my Plastik Armory supplement, which Plasma would fall under.

However, I've also been kicking around an idea for "overcharging" energy or plasma weapons, and I think plasma would be the most thematically appropriate. The idea would be that you could flip a switch to make the weapon significantly better, but as soon as a critical failure is made in skill, or if the weapon fails to be fired in a turn, it immediately explodes, dealing 1d10 damage in a standard explosion radius.

My only dillemas are exactly how to make the weapon better, how to actually justify this as both easy and fun, and any applications in battlefields during lower tek-levels. I think overcharging weapons would be perfect for a medieval clerik or something, but how the hell would you explain that in context?

Even then though, do you really want to delve into multiple ammo types? I already think having solid shell/energy weapons is way too much to be going on at the same time to be worth keeping track of, and adding plasma weapons to that mix would even further complicate the scene.

[OneEye589]

The first option for a Creation that wishes to fire a weapon that's Too Big is to Divert All Power. By using a full-round Action, it can "save up" its Effective Size over multiple turns to meet the Size requirement of a single large weapon. While Diverting All Power, the Creation cannot move or activate any weapons or devices (apart from cosmetic devices to indicate its powering-up sequence - a Freud-Class Siege Tank plants hydraulic support stabilizers and elevates the extending cannon into artillery mode, for example).

So something like this? Maybe it could have two different shot types, one as a 1d6 and one as a 2d6 or something.

[IVhorseman]

No, not like that. It'd be an immediate effect, during which the weapon would become strictly better, but i'm not sure how exactly to represent that. Definitely not a bonus to accuracy since we want as much mayhem as possible, and definitely not longer range for the same reason, but more along the lines of doubled damage or increased explosive radius. So yeah, 1d6 -> 2d6, but I'm not sure if that's fun enough to justify overcharging the weapon.

Although, the explosion resulting from not firing the weapon or crit-failing the roll should do more damage than the weapon does, to encourage players to overcharge a weapon, fire a few times, then toss it into the enemy horde as a thrown weapon. Maybe 1d6 -> 1d8 is more appropriate?

[OneEye589]

Ah, I was thinking more like weapons from Halo, like the plasma pistol or whatever that huge cannon is that they put in Reach. Have a weak shot you can do for 1d6, or you can charge it for a turn and unleash a 2d6 shot like the plasma pistol.

[IVhorseman]

Well both of those are examples of diverting all power. What I think Falk is asking for, and what I'm talking about, is weapons that are based directly off of plasma, which is highly unstable superheated gas.

Specifically, we're talking about different types of ammunition, which as far as I see are solid shell, pure energy, and plasma. Something I've noticed about these overcharging rules which would be a totally awesome tactical usage is a plasmacaster, which is flamethrower that deals plasma damage. It too could be overcharged, and I'd like whatever rules we arrive at to be compatible with that. So, I'm thinking that overcharging a weapon should increase it's damage die by one.

[OneEye589]

Yea, I was just throwing my two cents in there, too.

If the shot would be instantaneous, how would you rule the whole "weapon not firing over the course of a turn?" Would you have to put some sort of pip on the gun to designate which mode it was in?

[IVhorseman]

Yes. You simply announce "alright i'm pressing the kick-ass button," and the weapon is now Overcharged. It's damage die increases by one size, however if during any turn afterwards (including the turn that it was announced) the weapon is NOT fired, it explodes at the end of the turn. If a 1 is rolled for skill, it explodes immediately.

[OneEye589]

Okay, gotcha. Sounds reasonable.

[IX_Legion]

Plasma weapons should probably just be super-powerful flamethrowers. Of course, the "exploding plasma weapon" can be cool too.

Especially when you run out of ammo

[feuer_faust]

feuer_faust, apprentice necromancer!

Here's an idea I had for plasma weaponry.

Short-Ranged Plasma Weapon (S) 6CP UR4 6" 1d10 Overheats, Super-Charge
Long-Ranged Plasma Weapon (M) 10CP UR4 10" 1d10+1 Overheats, Super-Charge

Overheats: A weapon with this quality is often unstable, prone to venting deadly gas, or similarly dangerous to use. Whenever the Use Roll comes up as a natural 1, the weapon deals its damage to the wielder (opposed by their armor, as normal).

Super-Charge: A weapon such as this has the ability to dump excess ammo into one powerful shot at the drop of a hat, although such practices are not very safe. When firing the weapon (before Use Rolls are made), the minifig can Super-Charge the attack to deal an extra die of damage equal to the weapon's highest damage die. For this attack the weapon counts as having the Overheats rule; if it already has the overheats rule, then any miss whatsoever will trigger an overheat.

EDIT: It might be cooler to have the weapons do 2D6 and 2D6+1 instead, considering how BW2010 armor works. Super-Charge still functions as normal, and is slightly less powerful due to it. Thoughts?

[IVhorseman]

I think that an over-charged shot hitting the wielder on ANY missed shot is a little too harsh - and not as cool or permanent as a crit-splosion anyways.

I DO like the idea of things just adding another die of damage though. D10s are a bit high, but a plasma rifle doing 2d6+1 (or 2d8 depending on which rifle rules you use) and plasma-throwers at 2d4+1 when overcharged is both awesome, and an effective counter to armor.

[mgb519]

2d6 is definitely more powerful than a d10.

[Blitzen]

2d6 averages to 7. Min 2, max 12.

1d10 averages to 5.5. Min 1, max 10.

[stubby]

Don't forget bonus dice! 2d6 averages to 8.40. 1d10 averages to 5.92. But d10s usually get some area effect as well, which swings things back in their favor a little.