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Alternative antique weapons

F

Fritz_Brown

Super Moderator
Inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, and his radium pistols, I have come up with this question:
In a low-tech setting (from which might come a barbarian character), what other methods of launching a bullet might there be? Preferably something which can be backed up without exclusive use of handwavium (not excluding it, it just shouldn't be the only explanation).

The use of a gas might work (would it need to be ignitable?). What else, all you smart Citizens?

Edited: Radium, not barium. Duh.
 
We, that is a bunch of gun nuts and other citizens ran through one of the alternatives on the board a while back, compressed gas, typically just pressurized air. Half a tic and I'll hunt up a link...
 
Hmm, exotic, low tech, to give a high tech person pause...

Would the idea of a mechanically enhanced slingshot fit? I'm thinking something like a crank and gears hooked up to a wheel (like the back of a bicycle). The "gunner" loads his round (or rounds) of simple drop cast lead (or gold) onto the wheel in little pockets. Then the "gunner" begins to pedal, working their way up through the gears until the wheel (which should have centripetal spring weights to maintain the spin once it's up to speed) is at it's maximum speed. The "gunner" aims the "turret" and clicks a lever to trip one pocket at the top of the wheel (or in the case of the multiple round variation, holds the lever for full auto and fires off the whole magazine).

Something like that? Silent (except for the "gunner's" breathing and maybe a squeaky wheel) and no energy signature (except the heat source of the "gunner"). To a PC from a distance it would look much like some kind of spinning wheel.

Enhancements could even include low level optical sights (1x mag), or even dual "barrels" (i.e. wheels)

A variation on the above cold have it hopper fed for more sustained firing. And of course you might increase the crew. One "gunner" who aims and pulls the trigger, one "loader" who keeps the ammo hopper full and feeding right, and one or more "action" crew to keep the thing spinning at top speed.
 
well, for unarmored situations there's always potato guns.

http://www.mshamash.com/spud/spudgun1.html

and of course there are crossbows and ballistae. given the right quarrel tip some of the bigger ones might even work against battledress.

seems to me a simple paint bomb would present serious problems for high-tech personal armor systems. a rapid-fire paint ball gun might provide an unexpected asymetric advantage.
 
I was hoping for something on more of a personal weapon level, rather than a bicycle tank (did I read your idea correctly?).

I like that VVR. I'm betting I could get that down to a lower TL with the right explanations. Especially the binary propellant idea.
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
I was hoping for something on more of a personal weapon level, rather than a bicycle tank (did I read your idea correctly?).
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Well maybe not entirely. The bicycle image was just to put the form/function in common terms. It wouldn't neccesarily be mobile or armored though it could be either or both.

The smaller(est) version would be like a modern heavy weapon. Man portable but requiring a bit of set up to fire, think heavy machinegun with tripod.
 
If you don't mind stretching the limits of belief, there's always the plant or insect option.
Gas-filled seedpods are a option that would produce something similar to a low-powered air rifle.
In the insect line, something like a bombardier beetle would work as either propellant or projectile. Remember "Starship Troopers" (the movie)?
Another idea in the insect arsenal would be bee or wasp analogues either "fired" like a blowgun or thrown like a grenade.
Small, skin irritant mites or ants would work for the grenade idea, too.
 
I re-read the post, and see what you mean, Dan.

BTW, John Carter's radium pistol is conventionally propelled (gunpowder). It is the round that explodes when exposed to sunlight. The question of the thread is still the same, though. (A couple of real good ideas, so far.)
 
Okay; a couple of ideas;
Remember Greek Fire? That really neat concoction of goo the Byzantines cooked up? Burns on water, sticks like tar and comes in handy bottles for use as grenades or in a staff sling and also can be pumped to produce a crude flame-thrower effect.

Or ... let's say your characters decide to impress the headman of the local tribe. They smugly demonstrate their superior technology with a bit of target practice by sawing a tree down with a Gauss rifle.
Unimpressed, the chief picks up a rather crude bow and shoots an arrow into the stump which is instantly blasted into toothpicks.
While your low tech folks may not have develped gunpowder, they *have* managed to stumble on an effective recipe for contact explosives. :D
 
Hmm, how about a local mineral or crystal that shatters into very fine, uniform, and exceedingly hard and dense needles (every bit as good as high tech gauss weapon needles) but fired with simple gunpowder weapons?

Or even fired with a binary propellant, or something like nitro, to kick it up a notch into the same velocity ballpark as gauss weapons?

Don't forget if the people developing this "antique" super weapon are using it to fight among themselves they'll have developed armor on par with it too. So you need some equally antiquated version of Battle Dress which will really throw the PC's if they end up in a firefight with these primative barbarians
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Originally posted by far-trader:
...So you need some equally antiqued version of Battle Dress which will really throw the PC's if they end up in a firefight with these primative barbarians
file_23.gif
Click to expand...
Like a shield made from the shell of a silicon-based turtle-oid critter? Organic opal; it's as hard as ...well, opal and strangely resistant to energy weapons.
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Gauss rifle? Combat armor? Grenades? Your little backwoods-Achilles is starting to look quite dangerous. ;)

Of course, all this fancy kit is restricted to the cream of the warrior caste, so you mix a few of these guys in with a horde of more conventional warriors.
 
Originally posted by Piper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by far-trader:
...So you need some equally antiqued version of Battle Dress which will really throw the PC's if they end up in a firefight with these primative barbarians
file_23.gif
Click to expand...
Like a shield made from the shell of a silicon-based turtle-oid critter? Organic opal; it's as hard as ...well, opal and strangely resistant to energy weapons.
file_22.gif
</font>[/QUOTE]Yep, that's where I was thinking too, or some ceramics. Didn't the Japanese have some ceramic armor that was (for the period, height of the fuedal ages, early 19th C or earlier) bullet proof (vs the current firearms they were using)? I could be off on the time period.
 
<scratches head>
Could be. I'm not much of an Orientalist.
Japanese armor is a pretty good example of the kind of craftsmanship you can pull off at "low" tech levels, though.
So, Mama turtle for the shield and a *lot* of cute little baby turtles for body armor.

Man ... that's just sneaky!
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And the poppa turtle for a helmet to complete the set :D

Yeah, I'm liking this idea. :cool:

"I pity da fools!" :mad: The PCs that is
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Spring-loaded or leaf-spring (i.e. crossbows) sidearms, ratchet-cocked with very high spring strength, firing metal projectiles. Pretty much one-shot for practical purposes, but enough to give an armoured off-worlder cause for concern.
 
How about a combination of technologies?

Perhaps a gunpowder fired rifle with a sabot round (a round of small caliber surounded by two halves of another material that fall off after leaving the barrel?)

The outer material reacts to the barrel giving the round the spin from the barrel twists and stabellizes the inner round which may be of some other hard material (Diamonds, Flint, shells).

This gives the smaller rounds a higher penetration factor.
 
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