Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne
[*]How implausible are smaller versions of these weapons?
|
Not very. The general problem is that you need a certain minimum length and/or radius for any given particle energy, and particle beam performance is heavily dependent on particle energy. This does plausibly vary with tech level, but there's a reason research particle accelerators have gotten bigger and bigger through the years. Free-electron lasers are based on electron accelerators and the wavelength that can be generated depends on the per-particle energy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne
[*]How plausible would it be to lift the limits 1 TL after a weapon is originally introduced?
|
As long as they're based on accelerator technology, higher TL would reduce but not eliminate the limit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne
[*]SS7 gives the same size limits for all weapons covered by the optional rule. Is this realistic?
|
No, except maybe by coincidence.