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| Artwork by Louis Glanzman |
As covered in previous posts, advanced technological items are not readily available for player characters to obtain. They will need to find it on their adventurers across the stars, possibly taking them from the cold dead hands of their rivals and enemies.
So, even though they are pretty rare, there exists laser weapons in Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, and today's post is about them.
Melee Weapons
Before the Cleansing Wars, some civilizations produced astonishing weapons for their warriors and soldiers. Swords made of pure energy, kinetic hammers, electric whips and other marvelous and cruel creations. Each of them, now, are almost unheard of, and consist of rare and unique treasures.
Laser Blades
Made with a technology now lost in time, these weapons use concentrated light beams to create blades of energy capable of cutting through almost any material (although this lead to the creation on laser resistant armors). In game terms, laser weapons ignore the Damage Reduction provided by mundane armor. However, once their Durability score reaches zero, finding a strong enough energy source to recharge them might be difficult.
Lightning Whip
This weapon projects a malleable beam of lightning that can be used a whip by an expert user. When striking an opponent, the lightning will wrap around the victim, immobilizing him and electrifying him until he escapes or is released. In game terms, a character begins untrained with this exotic weapon, and uses it with a Negative Die until he scores 10 hits with it. After that, the character can attack normally with it. This weapon inflicts 1d6+1 points of electric damage, and forces the opponent to make an roll against the user’s Physique. If he fails, he receives a Negative Die and has one of his arms (or other limb) entangled, receiving an additional 1d6+1 points of electrical damage every round thereafter (until he is released or escapes).
Kinetic Weapons
These weapons can project the energy used to wield them to a longer range, effectively allowing a warrior wielding a Kinetic Sword to attack an enemy far away from him. In game terms, Kinetic Weapons allow its user to make melee attacks up to short range. Attacks can be made against opponents within long range with a Negative Die.
Ranged Weapons
During the Cleansing Wars, a lot of effort was put into the development of deadlier and more effective weapons, leading to a great array of technological advanced pistols, rifles, cannons and much more. However, fearing that this powerful arsenal would be later used against them, the Galactic Overlords destroyed and confiscated to themselves all the armament they could find, and they now offer a good amount of credits and favors for those who turn those bellic relics in.
Laser Weapons
Developed to exterminate the barbarian legions of the Outer Regions, these weapons fire concentrated beams of light that burn and can ignore most types of armors. In game terms, any ranged weapon can have laser version, and as such, they ignore the Damage Reduction of mundane armor. The problem is finding another fully charged energy pack when the Durability score reaches zero.
Blaster Weapons
Blaster weapons are a modified form of laser weapons, strengthening the intensity of the beam, but limiting its range. In game terms, blaster weapons have their range reduced by one step (with a minimum of short range) but they also deal one additional point of damage. Similarly to laser weapons, blasters also ignore the Damage Reduction of mundane armors. As with other advanced technological items, recharging them after they are used up is the real problem.
Ion Weapons
Ion weapons emit a ray of particles capable of subduing living beings and putting them into a comatose state. In game terms, any ranged weapon can have a ion powered version, but that reduces its range by one step (with a minimum of short range), and it now inflicts Nonlethal Damage (for more information regarding this type of damage, consult its section on Chapter 5: Combat) and ignores Damage Reduction from mundane armor. As usual, these weapons will need to be recharged once their Durability reaches zero.
EMP Weapons
These weapons were developed by the Tkulal Resistance to battle the droid armies of the Galactic Overlords. They emit electromagnetic pulses to disrupt the systems of technological devices, and this include robots, cyborgs and droids. In game terms, every ranged weapon can have an EMP powered version, making it harmless to living organisms but highly effective against technology. They inflict an additional point of damage and bypass any mundane or reflective armor (ignoring their Damage Reduction). They do, however, have their range decreased by one step and requires recharging after their Durability reaches zero.
Plasma Weapons
One of the last developments of the Cleansing Wars, these rare and unique weapons fire jets of ultra hot plasma that can destroy almost anything. Ranged weapons that fire plasma have their range decreased by one step (with a minimum of short range) but, in addition to normal damage, they reduce the Durability of armor (and other direct hit items) by one automatically. Recharging these weapons is even harder than recharging energy based weapons however.
Fusion Weapons
The latest advancement in the Plasma Weapons, these weapons are the most destructive arsenal that has ever seen use in a battle. Legends say they were only wielded by the Galactic Overlords themselves. These weapons inflict an additional 1d6 points of damage, decrease the Durability score of items and armors by one, but also have their range limit reduced by one step (minimum of short range). These weapons require so much energy and resources to recharge that probably only the Galactic Overlords would be able to do so.
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