Quote:
Originally Posted by graham_s
The challenge for me has been to actually come up with a system for all of this. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could start?
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You could just assign a maximum number of consecutive shots, based on the mass of the barrel and power output of the ruby. Each second spent
not firing reduces the heat by X "shots". For example, a typical pistol might have Heat Capacity 12 and Cooling 4, meaning after a dozen shots it has to wait three seconds to fire again. However, that means that the shooter could let it cool only partially, and just keep firing.
An alternate is to do something similar, by have the gun's Malfunction rating go down as heat increases. An "overheating" result would mean the gunman would have to wait for the barrel to cool completely before firging, while a more severe malfunction could melt the barrel! They are likely to carry barrel replacements for such an occurance.
Either way, I expect to see Gatling-style guns used to increase fire rate by spreading the heat build-up between multiple barrels. This might be limited to mounted guns, or infantry may deploy with 3- or 4-barrel portable versions.