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Plasma guns in traveller?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trent
  • Start date Start date
Based on the various points made I think I will just have those not protected and standing within the "close" range of the weapon or the hit take the rads and leave the rest to others to figure out. I like to keep things simple as I can.

Daniel
 
Plasma is superheated matter, and I'll agree that the heat dump would be considerable, but how much of that would be radiated "off the beam"? And, how much of that radiation would be heat (infrared), how much would be light, and how much would be "particle" radiation?

Fusion guns may be another matter, but I'm still not certain the would emit dangerous or significantly harmful (or potentially harmful) radiation off of its beam. I agree with incinerating things caught in the path of the beam, but how does that gybe with say a nearby tree getting its bark and leaves slightly scorched or irradiated by a fusion beam that passed within a meter of it?
 
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Well, I'm still designing some special plasma weapons meant to have low enough power to be used safely by a guy in relatively simple composite body armor while still having the short ranged shock value to make them excellent assault weapons.

At close ranges they'll outdo gauss and laser weapons by a long shot and still be affordable and useable to people who can't get power armor.
 
I'd say it was reasonable to assume a fusion gun would produce radiation while firing, the gun is sheilded to block it from getting out anywhere but along line the barrel points down.

Plasma guns, not so radioactive, maybe.
 
The T4 Emperor's Arsenal has full, blow by blow talk-thru of the PCMP-12 (Plasma Cannon Man Portable), including "Expected Side Effects" and the damage caused by them (broken bones and radiation + blindness).

It's a nice 2 paragraph treatment of the weapon.

By TL13 the side effects of the TL12 model are "reduced".

By TL15 there's an over-the-shoulder-battledress cannon (which I like) and also the next entry is a "Plasma Blunderbuss-15" which roughly equals the PCMP-12 and is powerful but unreliable. :)


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