Jackofjacks
SOC-4
Pistol indoors or shipboard use mainly so let's keep it practical, no need to risk blowing big holes in things. I go snub everytime.
Perfect PC Sidearm
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
I selected other because it varies by character.
Also the characters location, law level and such can make a difference.
So everything from the easily concealed to a showy custom piece meant to be noticed. Everything from the highest damage possible to non lethal sidearms.
Also the characters location, law level and such can make a difference.
So everything from the easily concealed to a showy custom piece meant to be noticed. Everything from the highest damage possible to non lethal sidearms.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
When I went out for a weekend while in Alaska, down to Homer, I generally carried my 30-06 in the back of the Plymouth 4-wheel drive and a .45 automatic, so probably a .45 automatic. I like that gun, and could shoot pretty well with it at one time.
selunatic2397
SOC-12
Since this is a science fiction game I owe it to all those fictional spacers to pack a laser pistol!
But with local law levels banning everything I'd want to pack...(and probably rightly so, as a referee my players in the past have tried to pack everything from gauss pistols to chemical flamer pistols)...
I usually end up with a decent brawling skill and mad skills with a dagger...only banned at law level 9!
Daggers for the win!
But with local law levels banning everything I'd want to pack...(and probably rightly so, as a referee my players in the past have tried to pack everything from gauss pistols to chemical flamer pistols)...
I usually end up with a decent brawling skill and mad skills with a dagger...only banned at law level 9!
Daggers for the win!
Frankymole
SOC-12
Thinking about more recent games, it's fairly simple now. Although my characters usually carry an autopistol, environmental factors such as extensive zero-G/vacuum work often calls for a gauss gun of some kind, so I went for gauss pistol. But the plastic knife comes in handy...
FMPG-15 or -16 with under-slung RAM-15 was popular from '87 -'92 with the guys I played with.
where I tended to prefer a snub body pistol (or two) with a scan resistant folding combat knife, a pair of carbon fiber mono edged shoe knifes, belt buckle punch dagger. when decision isn't a factor a Combat Snub Pistol and a Mono-edged Blade or Rapier plus my collection of concealed weapons.
where I tended to prefer a snub body pistol (or two) with a scan resistant folding combat knife, a pair of carbon fiber mono edged shoe knifes, belt buckle punch dagger. when decision isn't a factor a Combat Snub Pistol and a Mono-edged Blade or Rapier plus my collection of concealed weapons.
I would think a lot of zero-G environments would make you gravitate (yes, I went there) toward an accelerator rifle.
Don't gauss weapons impart thrust on their wielder?
I vote for a short blade!
Looks like Law Level 8 begins restriction of long blades. All firearms have long since been eliminated.
Don't gauss weapons impart thrust on their wielder?
I vote for a short blade!
Looks like Law Level 8 begins restriction of long blades. All firearms have long since been eliminated.
I like the punch and range of the gauss pistol, plus it's all nice and futury without running afoul of laws against energy weapons.
However, as a player I'm a bit compulsive about having the right tool for the job, which means a gauss pistol at my hip, a snubbie in an ankle holster, a hatchet at my other hip ('cause they're useful for more than just fighting), depending on the law level and whether I'm in open terrain or in town either a gauss rifle slung across my back or an SMG slung across my chest - or a shotgun if that's all they allow - maybe a machete if the terrain requires it, a blade in a lower leg sheath, and an extra dagger in a boot sheath, just in case. If I can get one, I'll keep an energy weapon and a 3-shot GL aboard ship against those instances where I expect to need heavy firepower, but those things tend to be bulky and heavy.
I tend to play scout a lot, so ...
However, as a player I'm a bit compulsive about having the right tool for the job, which means a gauss pistol at my hip, a snubbie in an ankle holster, a hatchet at my other hip ('cause they're useful for more than just fighting), depending on the law level and whether I'm in open terrain or in town either a gauss rifle slung across my back or an SMG slung across my chest - or a shotgun if that's all they allow - maybe a machete if the terrain requires it, a blade in a lower leg sheath, and an extra dagger in a boot sheath, just in case. If I can get one, I'll keep an energy weapon and a 3-shot GL aboard ship against those instances where I expect to need heavy firepower, but those things tend to be bulky and heavy.
I tend to play scout a lot, so ...
Garyius2003
SOC-13
For CT, auto snub for any open carry. The ability to slam in a calming round or shoot to kill is just too handy for a PC.
The body pistol is also a must thanks to the non detect rules.
For MgT a snub pistol is less handy for playing proposes, and the magrail pistol is simply too lethal, with the reloads simply too cheap for what they are, to not carry it.
The body pistol is also a must thanks to the non detect rules.
For MgT a snub pistol is less handy for playing proposes, and the magrail pistol is simply too lethal, with the reloads simply too cheap for what they are, to not carry it.
Ok, as a die hard Spacer that I am, its a Snub pistol all the way. Actually an Advanced Snub Pistol which the pistol version of the ARL.... Though Laser Pistols are kinda Neat-o as well....
Sidenote on Snub weapons, looking at the projectile weight of 7 grams, then cross referencing the specific gravity of common plastic explosives and indexing those two bits of info with the diameter of 10mm, I find that the average projectile is the same size as a Nerf dart approximately. Then looking at the stated muzzle velocity of 100-150 meters per second, thinking that speed regime looks familiar, it finally hits me, Paint Marker Guns. Note the guns used for playing paintball are generally limited to around 90 meters per second due to injury concerns.
--Thus Snub weapons are a fusion of Nerf and Paintball guns..... And have you seen some of the neato Nerf guns in recent years?
Sidenote on Snub weapons, looking at the projectile weight of 7 grams, then cross referencing the specific gravity of common plastic explosives and indexing those two bits of info with the diameter of 10mm, I find that the average projectile is the same size as a Nerf dart approximately. Then looking at the stated muzzle velocity of 100-150 meters per second, thinking that speed regime looks familiar, it finally hits me, Paint Marker Guns. Note the guns used for playing paintball are generally limited to around 90 meters per second due to injury concerns.
--Thus Snub weapons are a fusion of Nerf and Paintball guns..... And have you seen some of the neato Nerf guns in recent years?
Vladika
SOC-14 1K
So, with just a few meter more a second, the upgraded nerf pistol (Snub pistol) will stop exactly what? Not much of a sidearm.
That's why they need the HE or HEAP ammo. Ball is virtually useless.
Vladika
SOC-14 1K
And if you miss, you blow a hole though the hull?
I've never really considered the Snub Pistol, but you are making me look at it and think. In RL I'm an auto pistol fan.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Something that is sadly lacking in the official weapons list (but easy to make up) are the combination of snub pistol warheads with regular weapons.
By TL10 you should have caseless or binary propellant electrothermal rounds firing said warheads.
Then you can build in accelerator rifle mini-rocket technology to have a variable thrust rounds that can be used in any gravitic conditions with just a word or two to the built in electronics.
By TL10 you should have caseless or binary propellant electrothermal rounds firing said warheads.
Then you can build in accelerator rifle mini-rocket technology to have a variable thrust rounds that can be used in any gravitic conditions with just a word or two to the built in electronics.
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You don't load your snubbie w HEAP on shipboard, or really anytime unless you are facing or expecting to face armored opponents. If it is a choice between maybe damaging your ship, or getting killed by armored boarding party, then you get out the HEAP and do your best.
The standard anti-personnel and security loads are HE and Tranq, depending on how lethal you want to be. Neither one of these is any good against armor, but most rowdy passengers or dockside trespassers are not going to be armored. I and at least a few other GMs I have talked with interpret the Snub HE round as a frag round or something like the Glaser Safety Slug, with the HE as a bursting charge for a fragmenting bullet. Lethal as heck against soft targets, but won't blow through a wall to hit your buddy on the other side, and won't damage most equipment except on an unlucky hit on some sensitive part.
So if you pull a snubbie from the arms locker aboard Fortunate Son, for example, the magazine in the weapon should be Tranq, with extra mags of HE and HEAP for use as needed.
I allow snub-type ammo for shotguns (the other standard shipboard defensive weapon). The only problem is if somebody tries to use it in a semi-auto or auto shotgun, the recoil from these rounds won't be enough to work the action, so you'll have a jam. However, in pump shotguns, or semi-auto made with electric-drive action to work with low-recoil rounds, they work great.
I also have a Snub-machinegun, like a regular SMG but sized for snub ammo and with an electric-drive action, mostly used by police and paramilitary forces, for example dockside cops in a Highport who don't want to be shooting holes through airlocks and such (but still carry a mag of HEAP for emergencies). A couple of dockside cops gone crooked, and their Tranq and HE loaded SnubMGs, actually figure prominently in the current plot in my SBRD campaign.
My Thoughts
Off ship I prefer the Gauss pistol
On ship the Snub is sufficient.
Off ship I prefer the Gauss pistol
On ship the Snub is sufficient.
Patron Zero
SOC-13
Flechette rounds work well on 'soft' targets inside a somewhat restricted kill-zone, discharging-sabot is the answer for thing with thicker shells.
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