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Alternative antique weapons

Many years ago i read a book that some of you may remember, Ray Bradbury,s "The Martian Chronicals"
Great Book, Great Movie for its time. Both are "CLASSIC". This Martian had a neat Alien Low Teck rifle. Single shot breech loader, you opened the barrel and dropped an alien Bee with a poision STINGER in it, you closed barrel, aimed, pulled trigger and ZAP!!! ZING went the STINGER!!!!! It killed the human instantly!!! Stinger penetrated human's "Spacesuit" The man was dead before he hit the ground!!!!
Bye the way...Everyone should read this book!
 
Mayby i should explain more. The "bee" was "encased" in a cartridge of some kind,it was in ther backwards so when you loaded weapon it's STINGER was pointing DOWN the barrel. You shook the cartridge to piss of the bee before you loaded it in the chamber!!!
 
OK. We have various projectiles (rocks, bees, and greek fire). We have a couple of methods of propellant (air, flammable liquid, seed pods). (And, I like the death-ray, Dan.
)

I like the spring-loaded ideas, but I need something that doesn't take a crank (or is too large), yet gets the kind of energy necessary to be lethal to otherwise well-prepared folks. How would you convert a (CT) Strength of 7-9 to that kind of stored energy?

(I am actually going to go with a dry binary propellant, with some mildly exotic bullet possibilities for my character. But this is a great brainstorming topic! Thanks, folks! :cool:
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
I like the spring-loaded ideas, but I need something that doesn't take a crank (or is too large), yet gets the kind of energy necessary to be lethal to otherwise well-prepared folks. How would you convert a (CT) Strength of 7-9 to that kind of stored energy?
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Sounds like the equivalent of an 80 to 100 pound bow; say 4 to 6 feet long depending on construction. Exotic material might help some, but if you shorten it or try to store that energy in a coil you're going to need mechanical cocking assistance. Maybe a pogo stick approach if you don't want cranks.
The PIAT (link) may give you an idea on how a spring like that might work.
What kind of armor would it be up against? If it's light or only partial coverage, consider the Chinese Repeating crossbow (link)
 
OK. Here is a Rube Goldberg gunpowder alternative. I am not a chemist (and I would suspect most of your players are not, either), so I am making certain assumptions about the combined properties of these elements that just happen to support this idea. Give me a rating (1-5) on amount of handwavium required for this.

A naturally occurring rock is found on this planet, in the form of sandstone. It is composed of a granular Palladium/Lanthanum alloy, with minute flecks of Prometheum (similar to feldspar in granite) interspersed. Yes, Prometheum is radioactive, but it is in very small quantities here. Lanthanum and Palladium are both (essentially) hydrogen sponges. Although Lanthanum easily corrodes, Palladium resists corrosion, and the alloy is stable. The rock can be shaped (say TL2-3) or ground up and recast (increases uniformity) (TL4+) to form essentially caseless cartridges. (Low tech versions load like a musket; high tech incorporates the bullet into the top of the round when recasting.)

The primer is provided by naturally occurring crystals that contain an extremely strong luciferase (the stuff that makes fireflies work). When these crystals are struck, the luciferase gives off a momentary, bright, violet light.

The rounds are prepared by heating them to approximately 100C, then dropping them in a cold alcohol bath. This causes hydrogen to be stored in the "sponge" in large amounts. (If you don't heat it, you don't get enough H to get any spectacular results, but it will give you something akin to a dim candle.)

When the crystal (the primer) is struck, the light energizes the Prometheum (which converts light to electricity), which ignites the Hydrogen. The conflagration causes the bullet to fly down the barrel in the same way as a standard gunpowder weapon.

The primer is fixed to the rear of the firing chamber, and is replaced likea flint in a musket. As the Pd/La alloy doesn't burn, it returns to a powder state, and can be recast if saved (and there is a certain amount of loss).
Click to expand...
And, yes, I know it is dangerous to mix alcohol and guns.... :D
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
I like the spring-loaded ideas, but I need something that doesn't take a crank (or is too large), yet gets the kind of energy necessary to be lethal to otherwise well-prepared folks. How would you convert a (CT) Strength of 7-9 to that kind of stored energy?
Click to expand...
Could a flywheel be used somehow?
 
What about elastics? Aren't some spearguns powered by rubber bands? Would the echnology exist at TL4 or so for reliable elastics?
 
Originally posted by Fritz88:
What about elastics? Aren't some spearguns powered by rubber bands? Would the echnology exist at TL4 or so for reliable elastics?
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Yep. Either something like a wrist-rocket or a Hawaiian sling (link).
The problem is that you can only get out the energy you put in so you're still limited by strength or the delay imposed by gears or levers.
The flywheel idea, like the bicycle wheel mentioned earlier is a good way to store energy but it's probably going to be large for a man-portable weapon. No reason you couldn't use it or you could mount it in a wagon for mobility.
 
Another whacky space-opera idea: You remember how a frog leg jumps when you put a small voltage to it?
What if you combined a really large muscle (think kangaroo) with some bio-electric "batteries" like an electric eel?
You could use this to cock a crossbow, spin a wheel, pull a lever or what have you.
 
Unfortunately, you have to feed the muscle. The frog legs only jump until the oxygen and sugar in the cells is exhausted.

And keeping a muscle oygenated and norished with a portable circulatory system is niether low-tech nor portable.

Nice try, though.

Mankind is such an inventive and violent critter that I don't think we missed much. Alien worlds may provide unusual materials, but I doubt there are any new principles.
 
Well, I did say space opera. ;)
I had sort of envisioned it as only good for a few uses before replacement was needed.

On the other hand, why not use an entire critter rather than just a muscle? Some type of eel/slug/worm sort of thing that contracts violently when exposed to a small shock.
 
^ I was going to say, one of the characters in a campaign I was running had a repeating crossbow that fired explosive tipped quarells.

She later had the weapon modified bu an other character (mechanical-4) so it could be reloaded quicker using a powered cocking system.

not sure if this helps, but I cind of liked it because it was a lowtech weapon that could actually be a threat to armoured troops.
 
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