________________________________________ GURPS Vehicles 2nd Edition Additions MA Lloyd (malloy00@io.com) 9 August 1998 Modifications and Additions to Chapter 9: Weaponry ________________________________________ This chapter should come after the design rules, right before Combat. In its current position it interrupt the flow of the design process. ________________________________________ p97 Expressing Dice of Damage. Paragraph 5 should read 'rounded down', not 'rounded up to the nearest' p98 Half Damage Range. Badly disagrees with the Throwing tables. Use ST x 1 for counterweights, ST x 2 for spring or torsion stone throwers and ST x 20 up to ST20, 360 + ST x 2 beyond that for bolt throwers. p99 Snapshot. This differs from all other weapons for no detectable reason. Use the same table as for Guns (p107) instead. p99* How Long is My Barrel. Add to the end the second paragraph: "If electromag or grav guns, double the resulting barrel length if low-powered or quadruple if normal-powered." p100 Weight per Shot. For counterweight engines WPS = ST/2.5, for torsion or spring stonethrowers WPS = ST/10. Stonethrowers can safely throw anything less than twice and more than 1/5 that heavy. p100 Volume per Shot. Rocks are denser than water, use weight/100. p100 Crew. The formulas are inverted. Torsion engines, with a higher RoF, require more crew to load that fast. p101 Conventional Rifled. The stated effect of rifling is not supported, in fact the opposite is true at TL6-, see the Maximum range rule on p105. p102*Needles are TL8. p102*Loading Mechanism. Move revolver (TL5) and mechanical Gatling (TL5) into the main list of options for cannon. A barrel size greater than 60 mm reduces RoF (as per pVE107), but is legal. p103 Malfunction. Drop liquid propellant from the things improving Malf. p104 Type and Damage. Change the TL5- values of T to: late TL5 rifled gun 0.9 TL5- black powder rifle 0.75, TL5- black powder smoothbore 0.666 p105 Half Damage Range. Change the TL5- values of T to: late TL5 rifle 0.9 TL5- black powder rifle 0.75, TL5- black powder smoothbore 0.666 p105 Bursting Rounds. The dose formula should probably be 1 per hex, that is 3 R (R-1) rather than 1/9 that. p105 Sleep Gas. Cost is $20/dose (pUT20) p106*Weight. S. At TL6+ double the bore size breakpoints for low powered weapons, quadruple it for extra-low powered weapons. p107 Rate of Fire. Muzzleloading. Add 'double loading time for muzzleloaders with barrels longer than medium' to enforce the length problem. p107*Rate of Fire. The first breakpoint for Fast Autoloader is at 20mm, not at 15mm. p107 Rate of Fire. Electric Gatling. The values are obviously fudged to give a 6 bbl gun an ROF of 100. This is a mistake, since it makes every other combination an odd burst size (or fractional!). Use 20 and 400 instead of 16.67 and 334. p107 Starshell. Disagrees with UTp68. Drop the illuminated radius to 20 times the burst radius and cost to half CHEM costs. p107*Tangler. Use the burst radius, cost, etc. of CHEM rounds. p108 Weight per Shot. Drop the x P for Electromag or Gravitic. It is not carried over to any of the other power or weight based stats. p108 Weight Per Shot. It is possible to decouple round size from barrel length. See David Pulver's custom ammunition rules at http://www.io.com/~ftp/GURPSnet/Hardware/Firearms/CustomAmmo. p108*Cost Per Shot (CPS). Change Cl and Tl with C and T in both the text and formula. p108 Cost per Shot. There is no reason for EM or grav shots to cost more. Indeed a grav gun could fire a conventional shot manufactured without the powder. Use Cl is $3 if electromagnetic or gravitic gun $2 if conventional. p109 Power. To maintain the relationship to damage, L must be 1.1 if very long, 1.45 if extremely long. p109 Power. Gravitic guns should use 5000 kW x..., not 500 p111 Ammunition Types Table. The dagger on shotshell is superfluous. A minimum bore column would be so much clearer than all these footnotes. p111 Electrothermal. This is basically a variant of Liquid Propellant. It should only divide WPS and VPS by 2, no effect on CPS. p111*Needles are TL8 p112 Ammunition Statistics. Type for HEAT, saboted rounds under 4mm and any KE rounds under 2 mm should probably be Imp. p112 Ammunition Table. Add APHD Cr KE(5) -- -- x10 -- I would have preferred all damages to list like KE with one computation at the end of the table. That is EX = C x X/16,000, SH = B x S x H and RE = 0.00357 x B x B, with damage entries then reading like HEC 1.33 x EX HEAT SH(10) or ICM 2 x RE. p112 Ammunition Table. Missing line: APHD Cr 1.33xKE(5) -- -- x12 -- p112*Ammunition Table. Micronuke cost is "spcl." p112*Ammunition Table. Canister ammunition has a damage of (2.7WKE)/B. Shrapnel ammunition has a damage of 1d. Beehive ammunition has a damage of (2.7WKE)/B. p112 Space Combat Missiles. The Ground to Space rules (p164) can be used to determine if a missile can reach orbit or escape velocity. A missile with at least half the endurance needed to reach orbit can be successfully fired at targets in orbit, but if it misses it will fall back and hit the planet somewhere in the hemisphere it was launched from. p113*In the notes, after "C is the bore size cubed -- BWBWB" add: Exception: If B is less than 20mm, C is 400WB. p113*Special Cases. For SICM minimum CPS is $1,000 at TL8, $500 at TL9, $200 at TL10 or $100 at TL11+. Delete the words "full size" before "nuclear warhead". p113*Fuel-Air Explosives cut 'usable only in retarded or smart bombs' p114*Warheads. Add CHEM to the TL6 and x$20 lines. p114 Warheads. Add an * to APEX. p114 Guidance. Add gravity ripple (GCG) to Communicator Guided. p114*Self Destruct Systems. Add (see p70) p114 Bombing. Paragraph 2 drop the 1st sentence. Add 'subtract 4 if the aircraft maneuvers on the turn of bombing. p115 TV-Guided. Add gravity ripple (GTVG). p115 Naval Mines. Denser minefields can be laid down if desired. For every doubling of the number of mines per square mile, add 1 to the chance of encountering one. p116 Building Naval Mines. Most TL6 and many TL7 proximity mines use a magnetic trigger rather than sonar. Use the same statistics, but the MAD detection rules. p117*Motors. Minimum speed of atmospheric missiles is 75 until TL12, or the introduction of contragravity. p117 Bus Warheads. It is more common for bus missiles to carry warheads with smaller diameters than the main missile. Missile warheads usually won't have a motor, but bus torpedoes will, in which case the Mwt of each submunition is also added to Pwt. p117*Stealth. In the second paragraph, the p.00 references are to p. 91. p117 Pressure Trigger. Spelling error 'minium' p117 Smart Trigger. Substitute 'Smart mines are designed as missiles with a warhead and guidance system.' Acoustic mines function as described here and use the PSH guidance system. Other guidance systems are possible, but those requiring LOS are not very useful for buried mines unless the sensor head is above the ground p118*Kinetic Energy Damage. Multiply by 0.5 for small warheads, 0.625 for modest, 0.8 for normal, 0.9 for big and 1.0 for huge. p118 Spotting Mines. Spelling error 'darknesst' p119*Endurance. If the endurance is less than 0.5 seconds, the missile is unworkable, add more motor or reduce speed until it is. This also applies to Space missiles (p112). p120*Liquid Projector 1/2D. Divide by 2 (not 10) for manually pumped. p121 Weight. If mWPS is 1 pound or less, use its square root instead. p122 FTL Beams. Cost should be x10, not x2. p122 FTL Beams. If ships can fire at FTL targets the beam ranges must be extended or ships must cooperate to stay in range long enough to be shot at. Suggestion, a beam with the FTL Beam option should have its range read in light-seconds rather than miles. p123 Lasers. Ignore the laser autofire damage summation rules. They allow lasers to convert damage from SQRT(O) to a linear relationship by increasing RoF instead of energy per shot. Use the same autofire rules as for any other automatic weapon. p123 Screamer and Stunner. The environment for which a sonic weapon is designed must be specified. Weapons designed to work underwater are useless in air, a large change in atmospheric pressure or composition can disable a stunner, and of course any sonic weapon is useless in vacuum. p123 Paralysis Beam. Replace 'sealed armor' with 'conductive armor' p123 Hand-Held Weapons. David Pulver has written an expansion of these rules available at http://www.io.com/~pulver/weapon.html p124 Disintegrators: Since there is no beam and targeting is by coordinate this should read 'Armor is useless against disintegrators' Likewise the table on p124 should drop disintegrators and the description on p197 should drop the (100) armor divisor. p124 Empty Weight. Use the first set of multipliers for everything, adding 1.0 if pistol grip. To get the matches to crossbows replace the last paragraph with 'Halve weight of hand held bolt throwers under ST 20. p124 SS and Acc. Maximum Acc should apply to all hand weapons, not just beams. p125*Damage. 0.04 for gravity, 0.4 for stunner, 0.3 for paralysis beams. p125*Damage (Dam.). Delete "E" from the formula and drop its note. Instead add an asterisk to "O" so the formula reads ``Damage = (square root of O*)WBWT. Add the note "* If output is under 1,000 kJ, multiply O by 0.03 instead of finding its square root." p125*Damage. Under T replace "Remember that rainbow lasers are TL9, not TL8" with "Note: Particle beams under 10,000 kJ, and all rainbow lasers are TL9; antiparticle beams under 10,000 kJ are TL13." p125*Half Damage Range. Add B is 170 if IR laser. p125 Realistically x-ray and gamma ray lasers are fairly useless in air. Reduce B to 3, but raise the vacuum multiplier on p126 to x 2500. p126*Accuracy Table. 300 to 399 should read 300 to 449. p126 Weight. Drop the F exception for lasers, particularly if going the realistic route and dropping the special laser autofire rules. p126 Snap Shot. drop the halve SS for flamers, no way is a 400 lb flamer handier than a 2 lb weapon. Use subtract 5 instead. p126*Rcl. T is 0.66 for TL4- or TL5 black powder, 0.75 for late TL5 and 1.0 for TL6+ weapons. p126 Rcl. G is 1 if conventional or electrothermal, 2 liquid propellant, 4 if electromag, 6 if gravitic. p126 Rcl. Add antiparticle, flamer, fusion and plasma to the beam weapons with recoil. p127*Cost. Replace "except UV, IR or rainbow" with "except rainbow". p127 Cost. Beam Type. Use 0.5 if laser (including IR or UV), 0.666 if X-ray, 1.0 if rainbow. ________________________________________ Weaponry p99a Hypervelocity One Shot Railguns ________________________________________ One shot railguns can be optimized for muzzle velocity rather than weight reduction. Build them as 20mm or higher breechloading electromagnetic guns, leave weight, volume and cost unaltered but multiply energy per shot by 4.0 and KE damage and 1/2D range by 3.0. RoF is 1NR, and the weapon is wrecked on firing. ________________________________________ Weaponry p103a Malfunction. ________________________________________ *Ammunition Types* Some types of ammunition increase the chance of a malfunction by one step: APS ammo in 10mm or smaller TL7- conventional rifled guns Any DS or APS round in low or extra-low powered conventional rifled guns. Expanding bullets of any type the TL they are introduced. Shotshell in conventional rifled guns. ________________________________________ Weaponry p107a Greek Fire ________________________________________ The late TL3 precursor to napalm, Greek fire inflicts the same damage and can be ignited the same way, but is substantially thicker. Use the statistics for TL6 CHEM rounds, but divide the burst radius by 10. Greek fire bombs are common stonethrower missiles; B is the cube root of (62500 x Wwt) ________________________________________ Weaponry p108a Nuclear Explosives ________________________________________ These rules replace the current bore size limits (p109-110, SB p111). Yes the bore sizes change, among other things preventing nuclear smallarms, but are much more realistic. A nuclear warhead may be carried by any missile designed with a warhead weight greater than that of the nuclear weapon. To determine if a shell can carry a nuclear weapon, assume the warhead weight of the shell is 0.0000075 x B^3. Nuclear Warhead Table Type Weight Allowed Yields Early TL7 (700 x kT) 5.0 kT - 50 kT Mid TL7 (30 x kT) +30 1.0 kT - 100,000 kT Late TL7 (2 x kT) +10 0.1 kT - 100,000 kT TL8 (0.25 x kT) +2 0.01 kT - 100,000 kT TL9+ Nuclear (0.025 x kT) +0.4 no limits TL9 Antimatter (10 x kT) +0.4 no limits TL10 Antimatter (4 x kT) +0.4 no limits TL11 Antimatter (2 x kT) +0.4 no limits TL12 Antimatter (1 x kT) +0.4 no limits TL13 Antimatter (0.5 x kT) +0.4 no limits Cost: Nuclear weapons cost $6000, plus $6000 x (5 + log(kT)) for yields over 0.01 tons; halved at TL8, quartered at TL9. Costs to end users will normally be higher - it would be unusual for nuclear weapons to be available on the open market. Damage: Nuclear weapons explode for 12d x 2,000,000 x kT. Damage is halved every 2^(6+log(kT)) yards. *Enhanced Radiation Nuclear Weapons*: Radiation is normally a minor component of nuclear weapons damage, but it doesn't have to be. With proper design the fallout radiation exposure can be multiplied by 10 (at no extra cost) or 100 (at 10 times cost). It is also possible enhance the radiation flash, usually by encouraging production of neutrons or softer x-rays. For normal cost the weapon can produce 100 times the radiation flash, killing people only lightly burned by the thermal flash. For 10 times the cost it can produce 10,000 times the radiation flash. *Micronukes*: At TL9 and higher there is no lower limit on the yield of a nuclear or antimatter weapon. Intermediate yield weapons - on the order of tons of TNT - are commonly called micronukes. ________________________________________ Weaponry p109a Momentum Per Shot ________________________________________ Recoil does not vanish when a gun is mounted on a vehicle. It is usually small enough to be ignored, but it can matter in some cases. The momentum of a single shot is 80 x WPS lb-sec, times any multipliers to Half-Damage range relative to TL7 standard power conventional guns. Multiply MPS by the rate of fire to find the thrust (in lbs) if the gun is used as a reaction engine. If the thrust generated (or just the MPS if RoF is less than 1) exceeds 1/5 the Lwt of the vehicle, make a control roll if the vehicle is moving when the gun fires. If it exceeds the Lwt, also make an HT roll to avoid disabling the vehicle if the vehicle is on the ground or in the water. ________________________________________ Weaponry p110 Other Ammunition ________________________________________ APHP (TL8) are hollowpoint rounds with a penetrator in the bullet core. They work exactly like HP unless the target DR is greater than 1/3 the rolled damage, then the penetrator punches through and the round effectively has a (2) armor divisor instead. Realism note: the change really should occur at 1/2 rolled damage, where the hollowpoint jacket would be totally stopped. CHEM Penetrator (TL5) any AP/Explosive round can carry a CHEM payload instead of the explosive, with the goal of releasing the chemical behind the layer of armor. Use the AP round statistics, but add the cost of a CHEM round of the same bore, and use a CHEM burst radius of 120 x B x B / n, where n is the divisor used for explosive damage (e.g. 16,000) instead the explosive damage. Dragon (TL7) converts the gun into a short range flame thrower. Everything in a B/3 hex long 30 degree (half hex side) wide fan from the muzzle is attacked for 4d (TL7) or 5d (TL8+) flame damage. Halve Snapshot. Minimum size is 10mm. Drugged Darts (TL6) deliver a dose of a drug if they penetrate DR. Minimum size depends on the drug - 10mm is typical for actual drugs, but some poisons and CHEM round agents work as needle coatings (2 mm or smaller, use the normal statistics for needles). Add the cost of a dose of the drug to CPS. Drugged darts are designed not to cause much damage, and most will be fired from extra-low power weapons, but the cinematic versions that do little or no damage realistically have no range or penetration either. EMP (TL10) creates a powerful magnetic pulse which can short out computers and other electronics. Unprotected TL7+ electronics (and by TL8 almost all technology has some electronic components) must roll a 4 or less (+1 per 20 points of DR or hit points it has) or go down. A critical failure destroys it completely, otherwise repairs are possible, but will take hours. Expanding Bullets (TL6) includes hollowpoints, softpoints, packed dust rounds, pre-fragmented bullets and assorted other schemes designed to deform and cut a wider wound channel. Treat them all as hollowpoints and ignore advertising and vocal proponents who claim better. The TL a system is introduced it increases Malf by 1 step. Yes, the latest TL9 expanding bullet is less reliable and no more effective than a standard hollowpoint. It probably costs more too; feel free to lie about its effectiveness to get PCs to buy it. Some expanding bullets are even less effective, multiplying the blowthrough limit by 1.5 rather than the actual wound damage. Flash-Bang (TL7+) Also called "stun grenades", these produce a 20 million-plus lumen flash and a 200-plus decibel bang that physically stuns anyone in the burst radius failing an HT-5 roll. Ear and eye protection (earplugs or a sealed helmet, and antiglare goggles) gives a +5, or +3 for just one of them. Roll at the same modifier every turn to recover, on a critical failure delay the next roll by 5 seconds. Force (TL12) generates a gravity pulse out from the detonation point. This works like explosive concussion, but armor is not squared against it, and damage is multiplied by 5 for purposes of knockback. Double damage at TL13+. Minimum size is 20mm. Gel Cartridges (TL7): flexible containers which break on impact to release a small volume of liquid. Effects are as a squirt (p118) or a single dose of a drug or CHEM agent (in a transdermal agent (p118a) or as a volatile liquid taking effect on a head or front upper torso hit). Paint filled cartridges fired from extra-low powered weapons are used for recreational wargames, but even there can injure on an (un)lucky shot. High Density Needle (TL8) is an armor piercing needle available for any gauss or grav weapon up to 2mm bore size. The needles are both armor piercing and impaling - which combined with the normal double DR against needles makes them effectively crushing, all the armor and damage modifiers cancel out. Implosion (TL16) generates an intense flash of gravity. Everything within the burst radius is totally destroyed, reduced to a pinpoint of collapsed matter, which promptly decomposes to hot plasma. Unless the burst radius is a vacuum the collapse also generates a heat flash, but no concussion or fragmentation effects. Divide flash damage by the square of the distance in hexes. Minimum size is 40mm. Plasma (TL11) an energy warhead which explodes in a wash of ionized plasma. Damage falls off at the same rate as concussion damage (p190) but gets the special effects of plasma (see flamers p196). Multiply damage by 1.5 at TL12 and above. Minimum size is 20mm. Plasma Lance (TL11) is the energy warhead answer to the shaped charge, focusing a plasma burst into a meters long jet of incredible temperatures able to burn through armor in lieu of kinetic energy penetration; and if the jet fails to penetrate it retains the armor degrading special effect of plasma. The damage depends on the incredible energy density of TL11 powercells. If you are using a realistic version, reduce damage by the square root of the ratio you reduce the energy stored in a TL11 nonrechargable cell. The minimum size is 20mm. Ripsaw (TL9) is an HE round that scatters shards of monowire instead of ordinary fragments. Statistics are unchanged except cost increases 50% and the fragment damage is halved but gets a (10) armor divisor. Scramjet Assisted Ammunition (TL8) ammunition built with an internal scramjet. Like rocket assisted ammunition this increases range, but it only works in an atmosphere that will support combustion. Minimum size is 20mm. Screamer (TL9) generates 3 second sonic pulse, causing 6d per turn to anyone in the burst radius. Special effects are as for screamers (p197). Minimum size is 20 mm. Sonic Stun (TL9) generates a 3 second sonic pulse with the same effect as a sonic stunner (pB119). Anyone in the burst radius must roll at HT-3 each second to resist. Roll at HT-6 if within half the burst radius. Minimum size is 20 mm. Stasis (TL16) encloses the burst radius in a stasis field (duration set before firing). Minimum size is 40mm. Strobe (TL8) generates 10 seconds of brilliant pulsing light at a frequency optimized to induce seizures. Anyone facing the strobe and within the burst radius must roll vs. HT every second (HT-2 if within half the burst radius) or be blinded for 1d minutes and suffer a seizure (as Epilepsy pB28). Minimum bore size is 20 mm. Vortex (TL15) opens a rift into hyperspace. The burst radius is the size of the rift, anything with a longest dimension less than that can be swept into the rift and vanish from the universe. Minimum size is 40 mm. Warbler (TL9) generates an intensely disturbing sonic scream for 30 seconds. Anyone in the burst radius is at -2 to all actions and must make a Will-3 roll each turn or flee. They are also temporarily deafened, roll vs. HT every 30 seconds to recover. Normal conversation is impossible out to 5 times the burst radius. Minimum bore size is 20 mm. Ammunition Table 6 Drugged Dart Cr 0.5xKE(0.5) - /1.5 x2 - 7 Dragon Spcl 0.33xB - - x2 -1 7 Flash-Bang Spcl 0.00625xBxB - /1.5 x2 - 7 Gel Cartridge Cr 0.25xKE(0.25) /5 /1.5 x1 - 8 APHP Cr KE(0.5 or 2) - - x6 - 8 High Density Needle Imp 0.66xKE(2) /1.5 - x5 - 8 Scramjet Assist - - x2 x1.5 x4 -1 8 Strobe Spcl 0.01875xBxB - x1.33 x10 - 9 Screamer Spcl 0.0025xBxB - /1.5 x10 - 9 Sonic Stun Spcl 0.0025xBxB - /1.5 x4 - 9 Warbler Spcl 0.0075xBxB - /1.5 x5 - 10 EMP Spcl 0.00625xBxB - /1.5 x10 - 11 Plasma Spcl 0.000375xC - /1.5 x4 - 11 Plasma Lance Spcl 60xB - /1.5 x10 - 12 Force Exp 0.00009375xC - /1.5 x4 - 15 Vortex Spcl 0.00125xBxB - /1.5 x20 - 16 Implosion Spcl 0.001875xBxB - /1.5 x200 - plus flash Spcl C/32 16 Stasis Spcl 0.001875xBxB - /1.5 x100 - Warhead Costs (p114) $40 if force, plasma or sonic stun. $50 if warbler $100 if EMP, plasma lance, screamer or strobe $200 if vortex $1000 if stasis $2000 if implosion _________________________________________ Weaponry p110a Multiple Projectiles _________________________________________ The multiple projectile rules confuse several types of ammunition, particularly with regard to fletchette type rounds. I'd use: Shotshell: contains small subcaliber pellets. Damage is recorded as 0.75 x KE, but each die is resolved separately against DR. Dispersion is small, increasing the odds of a hit slightly, but seldom hitting multiple targets. Minimum bore is 10 mm. Smallshot: consists of even smaller pellets. Treat is as shotshell, but subtract 1 from each die of damage unless the target is incredibly fragile (soap bubbles, single sheet of tissue paper). Minimum bore is 10 mm. Strung Buck: is a pair of subcaliber bullets connected by a couple inches of strong wire. The smallarms equivalent of chainshot. Fletchette: is a shot shell containing small darts rather than pellets. It is treated as shotshell except the damage is impaling. Minimum bore size is 10 mm. Note the Fletchette Grenade (UT2p66) is actually a Beehive round, not a Fletchette round. Canister: is the artillery version of shotshell, using larger balls and greater dispersion. Damage from a single ball is KE x (2.7/bore), but multiple targets and multiple hits on a single target are possible using the multiple hit and dispersion rules on p189. Minimum bore size is 20 mm. Shrapnel: is a thin shell filled with canister balls and a bursting charge. Individual ball damage is KE x (5/bore). Use the rules on p189 for dispersion and number of hits, maximum range past the POD is standard range/6. Minimum bore should be 20 mm (not 60 mm). Beehive: is a shrapnel round filled with fletchettes. Individual fletchette damage is KE x (2.7/bore). Use the rules on p189 for dispersion and number of hits, maximum range past the POD is standard range/6. The +6 bonus is not actually applied to Acc, it is simply a bonus to the Multiple Projectile Hit Table on p190, equivalent to multiplying the number of hits by 10. Minimum bore should be 20 mm (not 60 mm). Shotshell Cr 0.75xKE /10 /1.5 x1 +1 Smallshot Cr 0.75xKE /75 /1.5 x1 +1 Strung Buck Cut 0.75xKE /1.5 /1.5 x5 - Fletchette Imp 0.75xKE /10 /1.5 x4 +1 Canister Cr Special /6 /1.5 x1 - Shrapnel Cr Special - - x3 - Beehive Imp Special - - x5 +6* ________________________________________ Weaponry p110a Bomb Pumped X-Ray Lasers ________________________________________ Bomb Pumped X-Ray Lasers (late TL7): an ingenious method of converting a nuclear explosion into a ranged weapon. A bomb pumped laser consists of a nuclear bomb to serve as a flashlamp, and a large number of very thin meters long rods which lase in x-rays for an instant before they are vaporized. The nuclear explosive inflicts normal damage on its surroundings, only a few percent of the energy output is converted to the laser beams. The total laser damage is 6d x 50,000 x SQRT(kT). In a free floating weapon equipped with a suitable sensor and a Cx4 Gunnery program this can be divided among up to 100 separately targeted (Acc41) beams. In a missile it is usually constrained to a single target by the fact the long rods must run along the missile axis. Half-damage range is 80 miles (or 5600 yds if using the reduced ranges in air on p125), maximum is 240 miles, modified as for x-ray lasers (i.e. x100 in space). The weapon weight is equal to that of the nuclear explosive, plus 600 x SQRT(kT) for the rods. Cost is that of the explosive, plus $10 x weight. Stored volume is weight/50. ________________________________________ Weaponry p112a ASAT Pellets ________________________________________ A simple method of damaging a spacecraft is to spread a cloud of pellets in its path. Build shells or missiles to do this as shot shells. A hit from such an attack is a collision with 6d x Wwt x target area/(50,000 x standoff^2) pellets, where standoff is the distance from the target (in miles) the warhead detonates. Each pellet inflicts (closing speed/800)d KE damage. Usually closing speed is close to the orbital velocity of the target, so against a typical low orbit satellite damage will be about (17600/800) = 22d. ________________________________________ Weaponry p113a Conventional Explosives ________________________________________ Standard GURPS explosive effectiveness is measured in terms of relative explosive force (REF) (see CIIp.64). To convert to the system used on the ammunition table (p112) use X = 0.75 * REF H = 0.25 * REF Some typical REF values include TL Explosive REF TL Explosive REF 3 Serpentine Powder 0.3 8 DINGU 1.8 4 Black Powder 0.4 8 TNAZ 1.9 5 Giant or Soda Powder 0.5 8 Tetraazotetranitrocubane 2.8 5 Ammonium Nitrate 0.4 8 Plastex 4.0 5 Dynamite 0.8 9 Plastex B 6.0 5 Nitrocellulose 0.9 9 Antimatter 21,400,000,000 5 Nitroglycerine 1.5 10 Metastable Helium 120 5 Picric Acid 1.0 6 TNT, Tetryl, Amatol 1.0 7 Composition B, Octyl 1.2 TS 7 C3, C4, HMX, RDX 1.4 2 Cyclonite* 10 7 Detcord, PETN 1.6 5 Duodecaplyatomite 1,000,000 * Note: Cyclonite is a cinematic explosive from Lensmen, not the tradename for RDX. Realistically chemical bonds don't get strong enough for any chemical explosive to exceed REF 6 or so. *Electrothermal Explosives* are standard powercells shorted through a volatile material. If powercells exist and can discharge fast enough to power beam weapons electrothermal explosives can be built. Using the standard energy densities, electrothermal explosives have a REF of 2.0 x (TL-6) ________________________________________ Weaponry p114a Guidance ________________________________________ Cannon Launched Guided Projectiles. Any guidance system that is lighter than 25% of WPS can be installed on a shell, allowing indirect fire aimed at anything the guidance system could detect (at +[homing skill -7] and without range penalties) rather than a set of coordinates. This is a generalization of the SALH system on p112. In direct fire CLGP rounds have a minimum Acc equal to homing skill, and do not lose it at 1/2D, assuming they are fired at something the guidance system can detect. Sensor modifiers do apply to this minimum Acc. Gravitational Distortion Homing (GDH, TL10) The missile homes on operating gravity-manipulation technology - contragravity, gravity compensators, artificial gravity, tractor/pressor beams, gravity-ripple communications, gravity beams, gravitic guns, deflector shields and reactionless thrusters. Otherwise it performs like ARM, except that it is usable on torpedoes. Radionavigation Guided (RNG, TL6): uses a radionavigation system or GPS to travel to a preprogrammed point. As long as the radionavigation or satellite transmitters are up this can be treated as Inertial Guidance. TL:6 7 8 9 10 11+ Cost Skill RNG 10 4 2 1 1 1 $3000 - GDH - - - - 20 10 $5000 TL+7 ________________________________________ Weaponry p115a Bombing ________________________________________ Under Bombing and Using Smart Bombs replace the contradictory range, targeting zone and falling rules with: bombs continue forward at the speed of the dropping vehicle. Conventional bombs can be set to fall at an average rate anywhere between 20 and 80 yards per second, which will determine the point short of the target the bomb must be released. Retarded bombs can be set to fall from 5 to 80 yards per second, and can lose forward speed at up to 20 mph/sec. Smart bombs have the same envelope as retarded bombs, but can change settings in flight, and can alter the direction of the forward path up to 15 degrees. ________________________________________ Weaponry p118a Liquid Projectors ________________________________________ Replace from paragraph 3 on with To design a liquid projector, decide what liquid is projected, select a rate of fire and range, and compute the remaining statistics. *Rate of Fire*: Most liquid projectors fire a continuous stream of liquid rather than individual pulses. Record the rate of liquid use in gallons per second. It is often convenient to consider this to be composed of 4 quarter second bursts, and at TL6+ a projector may actually fire 0.25 second pulses at a rate of 3~, resolved as individual aimed shots. There are no restrictions on selecting flow rate. *Half-Damage Range*: The designer may select any range less than 7.5 x TL and 15 x RoF. *Malfunction*: is 14 at TL3 or less, 15 at TL4, 16 at TL5, and crit at TL6+. Critical failures use the firearms table, but replace the 18 result with a backfire spraying the operator and all adjacent hexes with the equivalent of 1 second of RoF. Thick viscous liquids (e.g. paint) or corrosives (e.g. acid) increase Malf one step. *Type and Damage*: Type is Spcl, details of damage depend on the liquid selected, but all liquids can cause knockback: KB dice = (RoF x 1/2D Range)/100 Humans are knocked back 1 hex per 8 points rolled. Other targets 1 hex per (weight/20) points. If knockback causes a collision with something solid, damage is ld Per 2.5 hexes of knockback stopped. *Snap Shot*: Use the table for guns (p107). In some cases the weight of the power supply or tankage must be included for a portable weapon, but they are usually carried in a pack or set on the ground and so not included in SS calculations. *Accuracy*: is equal to TL (maximum 8). Liquid projectors may use the Aiming Successive Groups rule (pB121) counting each quarter second as a group. They may also be used as Area Effect Weapons (pB121), divide the knockback and volume by the number of targets, counting each intervening hex as half a target. Effects generally assume at least 0.5 gallons per hex, dividing the flow more than that may reduce the effect. *Maximum Range*: Max is twice 1/2 D Range. *Weight*: The weight of the unloaded projector - neglecting any power supply or liquid tankage - is Wt = RoF x 1/2D x T x L where T is 4 at TL5-, 2 at TL6, 1.5 at TL7 and 1 at TL8+ and L depends on the liquid selected, 1.0 if water, soap or chemical agents, 1.25 if fuels, cryogens or corrosives. *Cost*: The projector costs $5 x weight at TL6-, $25 x weight at TL7+. The power supply and liquid tanks have their normal costs. *Weight per Shot* and *Volume per Shot*: Liquid projector ammunition is carried in tanks. Compute the statistics for both the tanks and liquids as for Fuel (p88). Special case: a water cannon connected to the civil water supply has effectively infinite ammunition. *Power*: Liquid projectors require power to pressurize the liquid. Power = 0.75kW x RoF x 1/2D At TL4- this is usually supplied by a Muscle Engine (p82) force pump. Higher TL portable projectors usually use Compressed Air energy banks (p87a). Vehicular systems use a pump run on the vehicle power supply. *Recoil*: For a hand held projector, recoil is 0.5 x RoF x square root (1/2D) *Crew*: The gunner. Low tech systems often need crew to operate the power supply, but this is not strictly gunnery crew. *Hoses*: A liquid projector can also pressurize a flexible hose (assuming the liquid will not damage it). Each 10 yards of hose counts as 1 yard of projector range, weighs 50 lbs and costs $20. _____________________________ Weaponry p118a Liquids _____________________________ *Water:* a squirt of water in the face is distracting (-1 on DX, IQ and skill rolls on the next turn) but otherwise harmless. Thick goggles or a lowered helmet visor or face plate will protect against a face hit. A full scale water cannon does nothing other than knockback. *Soap Solutions:* are more irritating than water if they get in the eyes (-2 to skills immediately, and roll vs. HT or suffer a -1 for any tasks involving vision for 10 minutes), and in large volumes leave the ground slippery (treat as Bad Footing, and require a DX roll each turn to run across). Enough detergent to mix up a gallon costs $0.05. *Paint:* Like water, but makes more of a mess. Paint in the eyes is more distracting (-2 to rolls next turn) and a coat of paint over eye protection blinds the wearer until they are removed or 3 turns are taken to wipe them off. Paint may have other effects, like preventing a chameleon surface from blending. Paint costs $3/gallon. Paints that will glow in the dark for several minutes following exposure to light cost twice as much. *Dye:* Like paint, but less sticky and more colorfast. It won't coat eye protection for more than a turn, but it does irritate the eyes, and stains on skin will not wash off, making it useful for marking rioters for later enforcement actions. Enough dye to treat a gallon of water is $0.1 (after late TL5, dyes are *much* more expensive before that). *Glue:* is the late TL7 precursor to tangler solution. Glue is unusually thick and viscous, attacks have half normal range and Acc is reduced by 2, but are otherwise treated like tangler. Cost is $1.20 per gallon, weight is 20 lb/gallon *Fuels:* are at least as irritating as dye, and can be ignited. A squirt of fuel is not enough to cause more than a point of damage if ignited, but 0.5 gallons of fuel is plenty to produce a fire hex (pB129). Note a liquid projector will need special ignition equipment to ignite the fuel as it is sprayed if a flame-thrower is desired. Actual flame-throwers will use napalm or super-napalm (p195). *Acid:* A squirt of strong acid (like hydrochloric or sulfuric acid) does 1d-3 damage, a cupful (0.05 gallons) inflicts 1d-1, a large volume will mostly run off, 0.5 gallons or more inflicts a maximum of 10d (per minute for continued immersion). Acid in the eyes (a successful eye hit, or a failed HT roll following a hit to the face) is very distracting (-5 to all actions) and causes blindness if it inflicts 2 or more points of damage. Use the rules for crippling injuries on p. B129 to determine if it is permanent. Strong acids cost $65/gallon, and are readily available from industrial and hardware suppliers. Use the same rules for strong bases, oxidizers or other corrosives. Certain acids (hydrofluoric acid or hydrogen cyanide for example) are more toxic than corrosive. *Fire Extinguisher Foams:* Described on p122. *Cryogenic Liquids:* inflict freezing damage on contact. Each gallon of cryogen does 2d damage to a living target - if this causes death the target is frozen solid. Nonliving targets freeze solid at -HT, but may recover completely when thawed - which can take only minutes in a warm environment. Liquid air costs $0.1 per gallon. *Transdermal Agents (TL7):* are solvents that can transport other chemicals through the skin, allowing them to act on contact. TDA solutions will soak through non-waterproofed clothing or armor and deliver the drug to the subject's bloodstream, producing the same effect as an injection of the carried material. DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is probably the best known, but seldom the most effective. Solvent cost is $60/gallon, drug or poison costs are separate. *Musk (TL7):* is a malodorous fluid similar to skunk oil and almost impossible to wash away (normally wears off in 2 weeks, reduce by 1 day per hour spent scrubbing with soap or detergents). Sprayed in the eyes it causes blindness for 5 minutes on a failed a HT-4 roll. The victim is automatically noticed on approaching closer than 10 yards to anything with a sense of smell, and most people react to them at -3. Cost is $70/gallon. *CHEM Agents (TL6):* Tear gas, nerve gas and most other chemical agents have water soluble versions. This is most effective for skin agents, where a squirt has the same effect as a whiff of the gas and 0.5 gallons delivers the full effect to anyone soaked in the liquid, but it is possible to use ingested agents (on a face hit roll vs. HT or some of the agent gets into the mouth or mucous membranes). ________________________________________ Weaponry p118a Liquid Projectors Variations ________________________________________ Mist Generators (TL6): are liquid projectors that produce a fog, fine spray, or aerosol cloud instead of a stream of liquid. Decide on the number of hexes filled per second of operation. Weight is 2 lb x hexes/second, power required is 0.25 kW x hexes/second, liquid consumption is 0.1 gal/hex filled, volume is weight/50, cost is $25/lb. Liquid tanks should be installed separately. Clouds originate at the nozzle and usually expand as a fan, twice as fast in the firing direction as in width, but uniform expansion around the generator is also popular. Water fog simply obscures vision (-2) and may extinguish small fires, fuel fogs can be ignited, causing normal fire hex damage to all targets in the cloud for 2 turns, poison gasses have their normal effects, chemical smoke acts as normal or hot smoke. Squirt Guns (TL7+): are liquid projectors firing very small volumes of liquid, 0.0025 gallons per squirt. Unlike a full size water cannon they are not powerful enough to knock down human-sized targets. Squirt guns are readily available at toy shops and are made of cheap plastics that will pass most weapons detectors easily, but with the right liquids can be quite effective improvised weapons. Hand operated squirt guns develop 0.02 kW and RoF 3~ for a range of 3.6 yards, but powered squirt guns (usually using clockwork or compressed gas energy banks) can be have RoF 20 (0.05 gal per second flow) and significantly higher power levels. ________________________________________ Weaponry p119a Missile Endurance ________________________________________ Depending on the assumptions used, several different END functions can be computed from the performance rules. One I like on theoretical grounds yields: sAccel = SPD^2/(900 x D x Lwt) and END = (Mwt/Pwt) x (5.4 D / K) x (100/SPD)^2 Where D is the diameter and K is the performance characteristic for solid rockets of the same TL (0.21 at TL7). If SPD is in something other than air (e.g. a torpedo), multiply sAccel and divide END by the relative density (750 for water). Anthony Jackson's missile rules (in the archive as missiles) are also good, particularly for exoatmospheric missiles. ________________________________________ Weaponry p123a Beam Weapon Design ________________________________________ Contact Range: This option is most commonly applied to neural weapons, it reduces the beam ranges to zero and gives R of 0.4 for weight calculations. The skill used will vary with the exact form of the weapon, Shortsword (for batons), Whip, and DX/Brawling (gloves, rings) are common for hand versions; touching someone with a vehicular arm uses Driving (Mecha) in most cases. [This does not reproduce existing statistics well, particularly power usages, which seem ridiculously low for some Ultratech contact weapons] Plasma Fans: A flamer modification, instead of a wide beam, the plasma is fired in a 60 degree wide fan. Range is the square root of the standard range, damage and plasma special effects are unchanged. To hit rolls are not usually required, but targets are allowed to dodge, ducking under the fan or behind a barrier. Single shot versions make good directional mines. Nauseators (TL9+): a sonic stunner can be modified to cause nausea rather than unconsciousness. A target failing the HT roll is sick and dizzy: reduced to half Move and at -5 to all actions for 60 - (3 x HT) seconds. The GM can require a Will roll to do something other than be messily sick. After the initial duration roll against HT each turn to recover. Nauseators are great for riot control, a better deterrent than fainting and the victims can flee the area under their own power. Statistics are the same as stunners (add 50% to cost to have both settings) except the wider beam gives a +1 to hit and precludes aiming for a specific hit location. Neural Blasters (TL10) are designed exactly like blasters, but have no recoil and do Spcl damage. DR, shock, knockback, knockdown and stunning apply normally, but damage taken is applied to fatigue, not hit points. As usual fatigue cannot fall below zero. If fatigue damage exceeds HT/2 (HT/3 on a brain hit) the target is automatically physically stunned. Presumably they are akin to Neural Weapons in operating principle. Tuned Lasers (TL8): Lasers and masers can sometimes be tuned frequencies that will pass through selected materials - the obvious example is a visible laser through glass. As a somewhat cinematic option, a tuned laser may have a (2) armor divisor and inflict only 1/5 damage against a selected material. This effect applies only to one material (GM's call, but 'all armor' is not a valid material) and doubles the cost of the laser. Dazzle Lasers (late TL7): project a diffuse beam of laser light not intense enough to inflict damage, but still bright enough to cause blindness. Anyone hit by a dazzle laser must roll against HT or be blinded (recovery is as any other crippling injury, within 1 minute on a successful HT roll since no damage needs to heal first). Sensors with sensitivity comparable to the eye can also be blinded (HT is usually 12 or 15, but they only get one roll to recover, 1 second after the beam moves off target). The beam is wide enough not to take eye hit location penalties. Anything that halves laser damage, or gives a -3 or more to ladar scan protects completely. Radiation Projectors (TL8): Radiation projectors fire a beam of radiation - typically a mixture of charged particles and x-rays. In most environments the beam is silent and invisible, and as the effects of radiation are considerably delayed (see CII p147, anything over 4000 rads is certainly fatal, but won't kill you for hours) the weapon is of little tactical use. This is the sort of weapon that often gets banned by international law. Electromagnetic Pulse Generators (TL8): EMP generators fire a beam of electromagnetic radiation that may disable unprotected electronics, erase some data storage devices and trip circuit breakers in electrical devices. Any electronic device within a 5 degree cone out to the maximum range of the generator is knocked out if it fails an HT roll (usually 12). Systems designed to pick up faint signals - sensors, radios and the like - roll at -4. Hardened electronics are unaffected. Remember at TL8 a great many things will have electronic components, most civilian vehicles can be disabled by EMP, as can most cyberware! Statistics Damage: B is 0.05 if EMP generator, 2 if dazzle laser, 2000 if radiation projector. For blinding lasers and EMP projectors the formula yields the penalty to HT rolls to avoid the effect, for Radiation projectors it yields the number of rads the target is exposed to. Half Damage Range: B is 15 for radiation projectors, 630 for dazzle lasers. EMP generators have no 1/2D ranges. Maximum Range: Radiation projectors: twice 1/2 D range. EMP generators use the paralysis beam formula with B = 12. Weight: B is 0.5 if radiation projector, 12 if EMP projector, 2.5 if dazzle laser. Power: E is 2 if dazzle laser, EMP generator or radiation projector. Cost: multiply cost by 6 if radiation projector, 0.125 if dazzle laser. ________________________________________ Weaponry p123a Paralysis Beams ________________________________________ The figures in Vehicles do not reproduce the existing statistics. Somewhat better agreement can be obtained by changing Damage B to 0.5, Range B to 2, and Weight B to 20. ________________________________________ Weaponry p123a Chemical Lasers (early TL8) ________________________________________ Chemical Lasers generate a population inversion through a chemical reaction with an excited state product, which then lases and is exhausted. Instead of a power requirement, a chemical laser needs a fuel supply. Many of the reactions are the same ones used in rocket engines, with the same sorts of fuel handling difficulties and hazardous exhausts, assume there is a 1 hex cloud in front of the laser causing 1d per turn to anyone not protected by a sealed suit. Design a chemical laser like any other visible, UV or IR laser, then halve the weight and double the volume. To supply the power requirement add a fuel tank. A gallon of rocket fuel provides 20,000 kWs, of H2/F2 40,000 kWs, of SAH 19,000, of FRH 33,000, of MSH 200,000 ________________________________________ Weaponry p123a Flash Generator ________________________________________ Flash Generators (TL7) produce a brilliant flash of light with the effect of the Flash spell (roll vs. HT or blind for 3 seconds, in any case at -3 to DX for 1 minute; out to 2.5 times range roll vs. HT for 10 seconds at -3 DX, still one minute on a failure). Weight is 10 lb x effect radius (hexes)^2, volume is weight/50, cost is $50 x weight and energy usage is 20 kWs x radius^2. The generator can fire once per second. ________________________________________ Weaponry p123a Reaction Jets ________________________________________ Any reaction engine with a hot exhaust can be used as crude flamer. Build the jet as a vectored thrust engine and determine the jet power (see p136a Specific Impulse, use 1 kW x thrust for TL9 reactionless thrusters). Damage is 0.5 dice x the square root of jet power, quartered every 2 hexes from the engine. Acc is 20 (lost at an effective 1/2D range of 5 x DAM), SS is 10, recoil is -1 per 10 lb of thrust, effective RoF for walking the burst is 4 (divide damage into 4 equal parts), use Guns (Flamethrower) skill. This replaces the much lower damage totals under Toasting (p163), but using a vehicle engine as a weapon remains Acc 0, SS 20 and rolls against Piloting-4. ________________________________________ Weaponry p124a Neural Weapons ________________________________________ Neural weapons are based on a new TL10 technology for direct interface with the nervous system without physical contact. Realistically they should not work on anything but Terran vertebrates (or some specific alien group). All neural weapons work similarly, a target hit by the beam gets and HT roll, often at a penalty, and on a failure suffers some sort of neurophysiological effect. Since they don't care about DR or HP, neural weapons can be very effective, but shielding against them is fairly simple as well. They are often confused with sonic weapons, but the effects are much more flexible than possible with sound. Indeed a number of GURPS sonic devices that really are impossible with sound should be converted to neural technology. Paralysis Beams (p123) are neural weapons. Nerve Guns (TL10) cause excruciating pain. Roll against HT (+/- Will, +3 for High Pain Threshold, double penalties for Low Threshold). On a success the target is at -2 to all actions for 15-Will seconds (minimum 1) but can still function, a failure means he can do nothing at all, a critical failure means he passes out for 20-HT minutes. Reflec or DR2 or more solid armor protects completely. Type II Nerve Guns (TL10) produce the same effects as nerve guns, but also inflict 1d of real damage. Ecstasy Weapons (TL11) cause intense pleasure rather than pain, so pain threshold has no effect, but otherwise produce exactly the same results as nerve guns. Nerve Burners (TL10) destroy nerves completely on a failed HT roll. A limb hit cripples the limb permanently; on a torso hit roll 1d, a 1-3 gives the paraplegic disadvantage (pB29), a 4-6 stops respiration (causing death by suffocation, pB122); on a head or brain hit roll 1d, a 1-5 causes instant death, a 6 leaves enough of the brain the victim is still breathing, but a permanent vegetable. Sleep Projectors (TL10) require an HT roll to avoid falling asleep for at least as many minutes as the margin of failure. Hypnagogic Projector (TL12) temporarily scrambles the higher brain functions. Roll vs. HT (+/- Will), on a failure the target stands in an oblivious daze for as many minutes as the failure margin; injury, a stimulant, or violent shaking can rouse the victim. Dazed subjects will not remember the daze or the prior half hour, and while dazed will usually obey any simple suggestions made in their presence. Brain Burners (TL12) erase most of the target's mind. Roll vs. HT, on a failure the victim loses his memories, personality and skills, and suffers enough brain damage to lose 1d/2 points of DX and IQ and gain 1dx5 points worth of mental disadvantages. Mindrippers (TL14) make an HT roll at +1 per 10DR of head protection. On a success the target has a mild headache. On a failure he is reduced to a mindless vegetable, loses 1 DX and IQ to neural damage, and the mindripper stores a ghost program of his former mind. Damage: B is 0.5 if nerve gun or sleep projector, hypnagogic projector or brain burner, 0.35 if Type II nerve gun or nerve burner, 0.06 if mindripper. Neural weapon 'damage' is actually a penalty to the HT roll to resist. Add 4 if brain burner. Half Damage: B is 1 if nerve gun, 0.7 if type II nerve gun or nerve burner. Maximum Range: Nerve guns or nerve burners use twice half damage range. For all others use the paralysis gun formula, but B is 0.6 if brain burner, 1.5 if sleep projector 1.9 if hypnagogic projector, 2 if mindripper. Weight: B is 100 if nerve gun, 180 if type II nerve gun or nerve burner, 10 if sleep or hypnagogic projector, 50 if brain burner and 200 if mindripper. Cost: multiply by 4 if hypnagogic projector or brain burner, 10 if mindripper. ________________________________________ Weaponry p127a Tsunami Cannon (Mecha playtest out-take) ________________________________________ Tsunami Cannon: This is only usable if the mecha is standing in a fair-sized body of water -- at least 1,000 cubic yards of liquid. It allows the mecha to shape water into a powerful wave and attack with it! Its effect is identical to a wind cannon (pME00) except range is shorter while damage is greater. A tsunami cannon will extinguish all fires in its area of effect. Baroque Weapon Table Name Weight Volume Cost Power Tsunami Cannon 2,500 50 $25,000 10,000 Heavy Tsunami Cannon 10,000 200 $100,000 40,000 Baroque Weapon Statistics Name Type Damage 1/2D Max RoF Tsunami Cannon Cr. 8d x 50 50 150 1 Heavy Tsunami Cannon Cr. 8d x 100 100 300 1 _________________________________________ Weaponry p127a Giant Electrostun Weapons (Mecha playtest out-take) ________________________________________ Any hand weapon can be electrified, although giant batons and giant whips are most popular. An electrified weapon uses a powerful but carefully modulated electric jolt that incapacitates living things without killing, and which can sometimes even be felt through light vehicle armor. To build an electrostun weapon start with a Mecha-Sized Medieval Weapons (p.ME110). Making a weapon "electrostun" is 1 lb., .02 cf, and $200 times the weapon's Weight Multiplier. It uses one B cell times the weapon's Weight Multiplier (B cell weight is included in this weight) and can make 20 zaps. If an electrostun weapon is used against a mecha or vehicle, the shocker only has an effect if there is a cockpit or battlesuit segment occupying the location that struck. A mecha striking with an electrostun weapon that would normally do crushing damage can opt to do no crushing damage (simply touching its opponent) and use only the electrical zap. This is a good way to disable unarmored "pedestrians."