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Arc Blasters (Energy Shotguns)
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CRMcNeill
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
With regard to the extreme range thing, if you want something that is functionally identical to a shotgun, then its range is severely ballistics-limited. The "accuracy" of a slug through a smooth bore is pretty sketchy out past 75-100 yards.

And as near as I can tell, real-world effective ranges for shot are around 1/3 that of slugs. I may need to put in two different ranges, one for "slug" and one for "shot".

Maybe just halve the ranges for simplicity's sake, so the above ranges would be for Slug mode, while the following would be for Shot:
    Pistol - 1-2/5/10
    Gun / Combat - 5-10/25/50
    Carbine - 4-8/20/45
    Sporting - 7-15/35/75

Quote:
But if you're going for a perfect analogy, then this requires a dedicated slug barrel, rendering buck/bird shot ineffective (as well as these ruining the barrel if fired from a rifled barrel).

I was aware of this, but it's a bit more work than I feel like putting into it. An energy weapon isn't going to be exactly analogous to a real-world firearm either way.

Quote:
On the other hand, you could just ignore these limitations and say that the selector switch configures the galvin coils optimally for each ammo type.

(I tend to prefer installing opportunity costs when designing equipment; especially something as versatile as this shotgun blaster already is).

I expect I'll go with this route. IMO, the versatility of blaster weapons is a big part of their popularity over firearms in the SWU; firearms will certainly have niche applications, but the way I see the SWU, a blaster can do more and better more efficiently than an equivalent firearm

Quote:
What ammo capacity are you looking at? I would probably rule that the shotgun puts a bigger draw on the power pack, so every trigger pull uses 5 or so rounds of ammo.

Standard power pack, but with each shot consuming the equivalent of five shots from a blaster rifle. So a standard power pack that provides 100 Ammo capacity on a Blaster Rifle would only provide 20 on one of these.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course, this might also require a re-write of the Riot Cannon stats from the Blaster Weapons topic. Imagine a tripod-mounted, full-auto version of one of these things...

Although it might be better to build in a limitation that this type of weapon can't be used in Stun mode because of the limitations of the unstable energy beam system...
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

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Naaman
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess that depends on your overall intent. I don't see why non-lethal should be prohibited (unless you're just talking about the tripod mounted weapon?).

As for the range on shot, this is a little awkward since the applications for buck shot are so much different than for bird shot.

Again, I don't know anything about shooting birds, so I don't know how realistic this would be, but I'm imagining that bird shot is deadly (to birds) well past 50 meters, and that hitting at 100 or even 150 seems reasonable.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
I guess that depends on your overall intent. I don't see why non-lethal should be prohibited (unless you're just talking about the tripod mounted weapon?).

Mostly I'm just spit-balling ideas for ways to limit what's already a pretty versatile gun.

Quote:
As for the range on shot, this is a little awkward since the applications for buck shot are so much different than for bird shot.

Again, I don't know anything about shooting birds, so I don't know how realistic this would be, but I'm imagining that bird shot is deadly (to birds) well past 50 meters, and that hitting at 100 or even 150 seems reasonable.

Based on my research, the effective range on birdshot is about 40-50 yards, but this can vary based on choke, shot # and barrel length. I don't really feel like going into that degree of minutiae on this, so just making a Sporting variant with a longer barrel and greater range suits my purposes. I may be folding this into my Blaster Weapons topic once it's completed, so a lot of the rules I made there will apply here; for instance, the smaller Carbines and Pistols will have advantages at Point Blank Range, while the Sporting Gun would have greater range but be more cumbersome close-in.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

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CRMcNeill
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright, here's a preliminary set of stats for the weapon classes previously proposed. I've left the Cost & Availability blank because I'm not quite sure how to rate them, and I'd appreciate some feedback.

ARC BLASTERS

Arc Blaster Pistol
Skill: Blaster: Arc Blaster Pistol
Ammo: 10
Cost (Availability):
One-Handed: Yes
Range: (by Mode)
--Blast: 2-4/10/20
--Arc: 1-2/5/10
Damage: (Normal or Stun)
--Blast: 6D
--Arc: 6D/5D/4D/2D+1 (Fire Control: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1)
Game Notes: +1D to Blaster @ Point Blank Range.

Arc Blaster
Skill: Blaster: Arc Blaster
Ammo: 20
Cost (Availability):
One-Handed: No (-1D+1)
Range: (by Mode)
--Blast: 10-20/50/100
--Arc: 5-10/25/50
Damage: (Normal or Stun)
--Blast: 7D
--Arc: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1 (Fire Control: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1)

Arc Blaster Carbine
Skill: Blaster: Arc Blaster Carbine
Ammo: 20
Cost (Availability):
One-Handed: Yes if stock retracted; No (-1D+1) if stock extended
Range: (by Mode)
--Blast: 8-16/40/80
--Arc: 4-8/20/40
Damage: (Normal or Stun)
--Blast: 7D
--Arc: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1 (Fire Control: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1)
Game Notes: If stock is retracted, increase Difficulty at Long Range by +5, and add +1D to Blaster @ Point Blank Range.

Riot Arc Blaster
Skill: Blaster: Riot Arc Blaster
Ammo: 20 (can be equipped with a Power Pod with Ammo: 60)
Cost (Availability):
One-Handed: No (-1D+1; -2D if equipped with Power Pod)
Rate of Fire: 0D / 1D / 2D Auto-Fire (1D uses 4 Rounds, 2D uses 20 Rounds)
Range: (by Mode)
--Blast: 8-16/40/80
--Arc: 4-8/20/40
Damage: (Normal or Stun)
--Blast: 7D
--Arc: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1 (Fire Control: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1)

Sporting Arc Blaster
Skill: Blaster: Sporting Arc Blaster
Ammo: 20
Cost (Availability):
One-Handed: No (-1D+2)
Range: (by Mode)
--Blast: 12-24/60/120
--Arc: 6-12/30/60
Damage: (Normal or Stun)
--Blast: 7D
--Arc: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1 (Fire Control: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1)
Game Notes: -1D to Blaster @ Point Blank Range.


Note: Arc Blasters may be combined with the (A) Marksman skill to potentially hit targets beyond Long Range. On a successful use of the (A) Marksman skill, the shooter receives a +3D bonus to Gunnery, but Damage is reduced to 2D (1D for the Scatter Blaster Pistol)

In addition, Arc Mode can be adjusted to fire more numerous smaller bolts optimized for hitting smaller targets. This effectively shifts the Scale of the weapon downward, increasing Fire Control by 2D while reducing Damage by 2D.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index


Last edited by CRMcNeill on Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:22 pm; edited 8 times in total
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only thing I'm questioning is the basis for Marksman skill application.

It doesn't seem appropriate that a weapon which relies on area saturation to hit a target should benefit from precisely aimed shots. The shooter doesn't have any control over the spread once it leaves the barrel.

However, when you think of blasters, do you imagine that the blaster bolt flies in a perfectly straight line out to it's maximum range. If so, then in that case, you could benefit from precise aiming, in which case, you wouldn't lose damage over distance unless the spread is so rapid over distance that only one or two pellets/energy bolts hits the target (due to being precisely aimed).

In my version, the spread relies on the instability of the blaster bolt, which conceptually lends itself to a random scatter as opposed to a linear one. Not sure if you're also using instability as a concept here.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mostly, with the addition of the (A) Marksman skill, I'm thinking of the listed maximum ranges of WEG weaponry as the weapon's effective range, with the Marksman skill representing sufficient knowledge of the weapon's characteristics beyond Long Range that it can hit targets further out than the RAW's hard limit. The tendency of the bolt/bolts to scatter is reflected in the reduced range relative to similarly sized blaster weapons, with the Advanced Skill representing the shooter's ability to eke extra performance out of the gun. Per the research I did, buckshot is lethal out to ~2x its effective range, so I figured a rule that leans cinematic instead of realistic would be acceptable.
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, I see.

It seems to be a departure from your normal MO, if only for the sake of expediency.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
Ah, I see.

It seems to be a departure from your normal MO, if only for the sake of expediency.

I don't see your point. The idea behind (A) Marksman isn't "precisely aimed shots", it's "understanding the behavior characteristics of a weapon beyond Long Range". It's a subtle distinction, but an important one. Without going into technical details (which would be essentially made up anyway), the idea is that a shooter who knows his weapon will have a chance of hitting for damage beyond effective range, and that this will be even more true in a cinematic setting than it would in a realistic one.

The one thing I did leave out was to reduce damage even further at Extreme Range. Changing now...
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No, I get it.

What I meant was that since there is no way to know with a shotgun (it's totally random, and therefore, no way to control or account for the placement of the pellets) a character who "knows his weapon" would know that it's unpredictable. No amount of knowledge would extend the range of the gun.

But, in this case, we're just assuming that the energy version does have some degree of predictability that can be leveraged to extend the effective range.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:40 pm    Post subject: This is one of my favorite subjects. Reply with quote

This is one of my favorite subjects, both in-game and in real life. I will describe my thoughts on the topic in three parts. Firstly, I will describe how I think such a device ought to work in-universe. Secondly, I will explain the stats that I worked up. And lastly, I will tell my further thoughts.

My initial inspiration for such a weapon came quite a few years ago. Timothy Zahn's Specter of the Past described a blaster bolt's traveling into a "redirection crystal", which changed its direction as a prism does to a beam of light, into a blaster-gas-filled tube directly attached to the crystal; producing another blaster bolt shooting from said "one-time-use blast tube". Now you all must understand that in real life, I am very intrigued by canister rounds, shrapnel shells, shotguns, flechette munitions and other spreading anti-personnel weaponry. I had about that time the original thought of introducing a blaster-bolt spraying "shrapnel shell" warhead to the Star Wars universe. The device from Specter of the Past gave me this imagination: a very large bolt entering a redirection crystal that would spread and split it to enter each of a cluster one-use blast tubes arranged in a spreading cone shape. The anti-personnel-power bolts would be shot out like a thrown handful of sand or gravel. (Real shrapnel shells burst to release hundreds of lead balls to riddle a few acres in front of the burst). This shell would be shot from railgun artillery. I began to feel that this "splitter prism" did not quite fit the official blaster function descriptions (I like to find ways to work in the system in original ways). I changed it for a power pack with leads snaking to each of the blast-tube cluster; such an arrangement seemed to require less in-universe hand-waving. As I like being original I wanted to insert shotguns as well, and adapted the concept to them: separate leads and feed lines go from the power pack socket and the gas tank, respectively, to a cluster of regular blaster barrels. Naturally said barrels are always fired simultaneously at each shot. Their bolt spread would come from either a slight outward angling of the outer barrels or or the natural inaccuracies of each barrel. Imagine the sight of the shot as like that of the "blast cannons" from Battlefront I, but with more bolts and a more dense, tighter spread. The blaster shotgun, like a real one, would use rather more power, or ammuntion, per shot, and thus deplete both power pack and gas reservoir in rather fewer shots.

Here is how I statted the weapon out. As I said, I like to be original, and to work creatively in the box.

Corridor blaster
Scale: Character
Skill: blaster: corridor blaster
Range: 3-10/30/60
Damage: 5D+2/5D/4D/3D
Capacity: 20 (powercell; gas 100)
Availability: [not statted yet]
Cost: (powerpacks ) [not statted yet]
Game notes: Blast spread of 1 yard at medium, 2 yards at long; roll separately [for damage] for each target in this diameter. Plus 1D to hit at medium and long range.

Avian blaster
Scale: Character
Skill: blaster: avian blaster
Range: 3-10/20/40
Damage: 2D+2/2D/1D/1D
Capacity, Availability (except a , , or F description), Cost, and Game Notes identical to the corridor blaster.

For the name, I was attempting to avoid that which was derivative, unoriginal or out-of-universe. Scatterblaster definitely does not fit those requirements: I've read it before; it is derived directly from the real-life term scattergun; it is too close to home. The word "shot" is similarly problematic (by which I mean no slur on the style those who have used it). I could have named it "spreadblaster" or "sprayblaster", as descriptive of its function; the former is bland and awkward, though I keep the latter as a general type name. I chose "corridor blaster", reflecting the partially-true stereotype that portrays shotguns as good for "clearing hallways", whilst using an appropriately in-universe term for said hallways (you all remember how many ship, station, and base corridors are stormed or defended in Star Wars). "Avian blaster" followed similar reasoning, describing its purpose with an in-universe term.

To portray shotgun damage and range I I ripped off the damage-radius concept the rules use for grenades: as shotguns do damage in proportion to the number of shot that hit the target, I had the damage go down each range bracket, as the buckshot/blaster bolts spread out. I used real-life numbers for the spread of 1960s U.S. military buckshot to determine the maximum range and the long-range bracket. I set the maximum range for when the spread hit two yards wide, so as to have a round number for my spread stat. I ripped off the unwritten rule the game seems to have for repeating blasters and combined it with the number of buckshot in the classic Anglo-American military round (nine double-ought or "SG" buckshot) to make the exact damage numbers. Repeating blasters add one pip to damage for each added bolt in a burst, so I added 3D+ eight pips to to get to 5D+2 for point-blank damage. The decrease in damage per range bracket reflects fewer buckshot/bolts hitting the target. I made one buckshot/bolt 3D damage because a real-life buckshot is not particularly powerful by itself, but still can kill; the Second Edition damage rules require a 16+ roll to kill; in order to kill an average being in the game one needs an 18, which is all sixes on 3D. (For an example of the unwritten repeating blaster rule, the light repeating blaster has a damage of 6D, a power capacity of 25; assuming its single-bolt damage to be 5D like rifle four bolts would be 5D plus three pips, thus 6D and 25 shots). The real-life spread numbers I was using hit one yard at thirty yards and two yards at sixty; I hemmed and hawed over whether to make the spread stats one yard at long range to be closer to actuality, or one at medium and two at long to let the players experience spread more, as one of the corridor blaster's signature attributes. I gave the blaster 1D to hit at medium and long range to reflect how the real-life spread improves one's chances of hitting a target. One rolls for damage for anyone in the spread because it is only natural for say, three opponents caught in that two yard spread at maximum range to each be hit by one or two buckshot/bolts apiece. For capacity I simply cut standard blaster power pack and gas tank capacities to a fifth, to mimic the way a shotgun shell takes up the same space, lead and powder as a few rifle cartridges. I did not cut it more because that would, I think, be out of proportion to the actual lethality difference between shotguns and rifles, and to the numbers already given in-game for blaster capacities. On that note, I am afraid that I ought to cut this post short, and conclude in the next one.[/i][/list]
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CRMcNeill
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here’s a thought...

I’ve never liked the idea of FLAK pod - ala the “official” AT-AA - as there isn’t really a feasible way to make a blaster bolt detonate on a timed delay. It’s still possible with regular projectiles, but that’s more of a high-tech iteration of a low-tech solution.

But what if a “flak laser” is a Starfighter or Capital Scale version of a Scatter Blaster?
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Leona Makk
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CRMcNeill wrote:
Alright, here's a preliminary set of stats for the weapon classes previously proposed. I've left the Cost & Availability blank because I'm not quite sure how to rate them, and I'd appreciate some feedback.

SCATTER BLASTERS
    Scatter Blaster Pistol
    Skill: Blaster: Scatter Blaster Pistol
    Ammo: 10
    Cost (Availability):
    One-Handed: Yes
    Range: (by Mode)
    --Blast: 2-4/10/20
    --Spray: 1-2/5/10
    Damage: (Normal or Stun)
    --Blast: 6D
    --Spray: 6D/5D/4D/2D+1*

    Scatter Blaster
    Skill: Blaster: Scatter Blaster
    Ammo: 20
    Cost (Availability):
    One-Handed: No (-1D+1)
    Range: (by Mode)
    --Blast: 10-20/50/100
    --Spray: 5-10/25/50
    Damage: (Normal or Stun)
    --Blast: 7D
    --Spray: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1*

    Scatter Blaster Carbine
    Skill: Blaster: Scatter Blaster Carbine
    Ammo: 20
    Cost (Availability):
    One-Handed: Yes if stock retracted; No (-1D+1) if stock extended
    Range: (by Mode)
    --Blast: 8-16/40/80
    --Spray: 4-8/20/40
    Damage: (Normal or Stun)
    --Blast: 7D
    --Spray: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1*
    Game Notes: If stock is retracted, increase Difficulty at Long Range by +5, and add +1D to Blaster @ Point Blank Range.

    Riot Scatter Blaster
    Skill: Blaster: Riot Scatter Blaster
    Ammo: 20 (can be equipped with a Power Pod with Ammo: 60)
    Cost (Availability):
    One-Handed: No (-1D+1; -2D if equipped with Power Pod)
    Rate of Fire: 2D Auto-Fire
    Range: (by Mode)
    --Blast: 8-16/40/80
    --Spray: 4-8/20/40
    Damage: (Normal or Stun)
    --Blast: 7D
    --Spray: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1*

    Hunting Scatter Blaster
    Skill: Blaster: Scatter Blaster
    Ammo: 20
    Cost (Availability):
    One-Handed: No (-1D+2)
    Range: (by Mode)
    --Blast: 12-24/60/120
    --Spray: 6-12/30/60
    Damage: (Normal or Stun)
    --Blast: 7D
    --Spray: 7D/6D/5D/3D+1*
    Game Notes: -1D to Blaster @ Point Blank Range


    *When firing in Spray Mode, the Scatter Blaster fires a clump of smaller blaster bolts on slightly diverging paths. This results in increased accuracy but reduced damage as range increases. Use the following modifiers to Gunnery based on the weapon's range: +1 / +1D / +1D+2 / +2D+1

    Scatter Blasters may be combined with the (A) Marksman skill to potentially hit targets beyond Long Range. On a successful use of the (A) Marksman skill, the shooter receives a +3D bonus to Gunnery, but Damage is reduced to 2D (1D for the Scatter Blaster Pistol)

    In addition, Spray Mode can be adjusted to fire more numerous smaller bolts optimized for hitting smaller targets. This effectively shifts the Scale of the weapon downward, increasing Fire Control by 1D while reducing Damage by 1D.


I might introduce one in my game. But I might make it an older model that only has an ammo:2
That would give it a wild west double barreled shotgun feel and force people to reload more.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:37 am    Post subject: Re: This is one of my favorite subjects. Reply with quote

Bradwardine wrote:
This is one of my favorite subjects, both in-game and in real life. I will describe my thoughts on the topic in three parts. Firstly, I will describe how I think such a device ought to work in-universe. Secondly, I will explain the stats that I worked up. And lastly, I will tell my further thoughts.

My initial inspiration for such a weapon came quite a few years ago. Timothy Zahn's Specter of the Past described a blaster bolt's traveling into a "redirection crystal", which changed its direction as a prism does to a beam of light, into a blaster-gas-filled tube directly attached to the crystal; producing another blaster bolt shooting from said "one-time-use blast tube". Now you all must understand that in real life, I am very intrigued by canister rounds, shrapnel shells, shotguns, flechette munitions and other spreading anti-personnel weaponry. I had about that time the original thought of introducing a blaster-bolt spraying "shrapnel shell" warhead to the Star Wars universe. The device from Specter of the Past gave me this imagination: a very large bolt entering a redirection crystal that would spread and split it to enter each of a cluster one-use blast tubes arranged in a spreading cone shape. The anti-personnel-power bolts would be shot out like a thrown handful of sand or gravel. (Real shrapnel shells burst to release hundreds of lead balls to riddle a few acres in front of the burst). This shell would be shot from railgun artillery. I began to feel that this "splitter prism" did not quite fit the official blaster function descriptions (I like to find ways to work in the system in original ways). I changed it for a power pack with leads snaking to each of the blast-tube cluster; such an arrangement seemed to require less in-universe hand-waving. As I like being original I wanted to insert shotguns as well, and adapted the concept to them: separate leads and feed lines go from the power pack socket and the gas tank, respectively, to a cluster of regular blaster barrels. Naturally said barrels are always fired simultaneously at each shot. Their bolt spread would come from either a slight outward angling of the outer barrels or or the natural inaccuracies of each barrel. Imagine the sight of the shot as like that of the "blast cannons" from Battlefront I, but with more bolts and a more dense, tighter spread. The blaster shotgun, like a real one, would use rather more power, or ammuntion, per shot, and thus deplete both power pack and gas reservoir in rather fewer shots.

Here is how I statted the weapon out. As I said, I like to be original, and to work creatively in the box.

Corridor blaster
Scale: Character
Skill: blaster: corridor blaster
Range: 3-10/30/60
Damage: 5D+2/5D/4D/3D
Capacity: 20 (powercell; gas 100)
Availability: [not statted yet]
Cost: (powerpacks ) [not statted yet]
Game notes: Blast spread of 1 yard at medium, 2 yards at long; roll separately [for damage] for each target in this diameter. Plus 1D to hit at medium and long range.

Avian blaster
Scale: Character
Skill: blaster: avian blaster
Range: 3-10/20/40
Damage: 2D+2/2D/1D/1D
Capacity, Availability (except a , , or F description), Cost, and Game Notes identical to the corridor blaster.

For the name, I was attempting to avoid that which was derivative, unoriginal or out-of-universe. Scatterblaster definitely does not fit those requirements: I've read it before; it is derived directly from the real-life term scattergun; it is too close to home. The word "shot" is similarly problematic (by which I mean no slur on the style those who have used it). I could have named it "spreadblaster" or "sprayblaster", as descriptive of its function; the former is bland and awkward, though I keep the latter as a general type name. I chose "corridor blaster", reflecting the partially-true stereotype that portrays shotguns as good for "clearing hallways", whilst using an appropriately in-universe term for said hallways (you all remember how many ship, station, and base corridors are stormed or defended in Star Wars). "Avian blaster" followed similar reasoning, describing its purpose with an in-universe term.

To portray shotgun damage and range I I ripped off the damage-radius concept the rules use for grenades: as shotguns do damage in proportion to the number of shot that hit the target, I had the damage go down each range bracket, as the buckshot/blaster bolts spread out. I used real-life numbers for the spread of 1960s U.S. military buckshot to determine the maximum range and the long-range bracket. I set the maximum range for when the spread hit two yards wide, so as to have a round number for my spread stat. I ripped off the unwritten rule the game seems to have for repeating blasters and combined it with the number of buckshot in the classic Anglo-American military round (nine double-ought or "SG" buckshot) to make the exact damage numbers. Repeating blasters add one pip to damage for each added bolt in a burst, so I added 3D+ eight pips to to get to 5D+2 for point-blank damage. The decrease in damage per range bracket reflects fewer buckshot/bolts hitting the target. I made one buckshot/bolt 3D damage because a real-life buckshot is not particularly powerful by itself, but still can kill; the Second Edition damage rules require a 16+ roll to kill; in order to kill an average being in the game one needs an 18, which is all sixes on 3D. (For an example of the unwritten repeating blaster rule, the light repeating blaster has a damage of 6D, a power capacity of 25; assuming its single-bolt damage to be 5D like rifle four bolts would be 5D plus three pips, thus 6D and 25 shots). The real-life spread numbers I was using hit one yard at thirty yards and two yards at sixty; I hemmed and hawed over whether to make the spread stats one yard at long range to be closer to actuality, or one at medium and two at long to let the players experience spread more, as one of the corridor blaster's signature attributes. I gave the blaster 1D to hit at medium and long range to reflect how the real-life spread improves one's chances of hitting a target. One rolls for damage for anyone in the spread because it is only natural for say, three opponents caught in that two yard spread at maximum range to each be hit by one or two buckshot/bolts apiece. For capacity I simply cut standard blaster power pack and gas tank capacities to a fifth, to mimic the way a shotgun shell takes up the same space, lead and powder as a few rifle cartridges. I did not cut it more because that would, I think, be out of proportion to the actual lethality difference between shotguns and rifles, and to the numbers already given in-game for blaster capacities. On that note, I am afraid that I ought to cut this post short, and conclude in the next one.[/i][/list]


Great insights.

I feel like the damage is a little low if the objective is to mimic the difference between a real life rifle (as analogous to a blaster rifle) and a real life shotgun (as analogous to a corridor blaster). You mentioned military buck, so I am assuming you're comparing to a 12 ga.

The notions which informed my own version were based on the idea that a "heavy blaster" would be something like a .45 (5D damage) or a magnum load (up to 6D damage, depending on which caliber we are trying to mimic). Since a slug is .73 caliber and it travels much faster than .45 (and in many cases, faster than magnum pistol loads), I figured it should deal more damage as well. Buck shot has the added benefit of delivering multiple wounds very close together, which compounds the damage in a way that a burst from a full auto would not. Due to the spread, this effect only works in a limited range, hence the unanimous opinion that damage should drop beyond a few dozen meters.

Anyway, thanks for all that detail.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CRMcNeill wrote:
Here’s a thought...

I’ve never liked the idea of FLAK pod - ala the “official” AT-AA - as there isn’t really a feasible way to make a blaster bolt detonate on a timed delay. It’s still possible with regular projectiles, but that’s more of a high-tech iteration of a low-tech solution.

But what if a “flak laser” is a Starfighter or Capital Scale version of a Scatter Blaster?

Figures no sooner do I say this than I read an actual plausible way to make a flak laser. Per a fan fic I`m reading (the one where I got the idea for the variable choke laser in the first place), a flak laser uses a barrel choke to retard the leading portion of an energy blast so that it is moving fractionally slower than the blast's main body. This causes the beam to ride up on itself and eventually fracture into an energy flak-burst. The setting on the barrel choke can be varied to control the approximate range at which the blast fractures, much like a real-world flak shell would do.

I'm AFK at the moment, but I definitely want to put some thought into this...
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