[Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

My suggestion would be to go with standard tech lasers and blasters, and then have some big scary psychotronic guns as special limited devices with related drawbacks. Otherwise you'll have to come up with a reason for why there's a divergence from the "default techpath" and laser guns are used.

Your phrasing is confusing, since the first sentence says to use lasers, and the second seems to be saying 'using lasers would require more justification' (since the default techpath here is psychotronic).

I'm working on a post with some energy weapon write-ups. Depending on how long it takes, I may be breaking it up into several posts. A lot of the details on the 'Phaser' section are already done, but not enough to post it here, yet (because there are a lot of settings, and thus more details are needed).

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Some sort of Modular Abilities variant (probably under Meta-Psi)?

I'd hesitate to use modular abilities. An alternate attack method is probably more feasible. But in the end the test is if it does the things you want it to (burn through, stun, kill) and doesn't do the things you don't want it to.

Originally Posted by Daigoro

My suggestion would be to go with standard tech lasers and blasters, and then have some big scary psychotronic guns as special limited devices with related drawbacks. Otherwise you'll have to come up with a reason for why there's a divergence from the "default techpath" and laser guns are used.

I think diverging from the ultra-tech weapons progression is a feature in this case. "lasers" are distinctly not star trek.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Your phrasing is confusing, since the first sentence says to use lasers, and the second seems to be saying 'using lasers would require more justification' (since the default techpath here is psychotronic).

Oops, that should probably say "and laser guns aren't used."

Originally Posted by ericthered

I think diverging from the ultra-tech weapons progression is a feature in this case. "lasers" are distinctly not star trek.

They don't have to be actual lasers, I meant that as a catch-all "tech-based ray guns", as long as there's some distinction from the scary peeps who use the psi-guns.

[Prince Charon]

OK, I'm splitting the Energy Weapons article up, because the phasers section, while probably complete, is too long, while the others are pretty short (and are not complete).

Phasers

Phasers are multi-power, weaponized psychotronic generators, effectively the Swiss Army knife of energy weapons. Many modern (TL11^) personal phasers, particularly the common military and police models, are modular, with the larger versions consisting of components added on to a smaller model. Likewise, they have an adjustable beam-width, from a narrow beam that hardly spreads at all by the time it dissipates, to a shorter range cone that can be quite wide.

Type 1 (Holdout) Phaser
The base form of the phaser, with a reflex sight and no grip, about the size of some early-21st century cellphones, and powered by a single size-B power cell.

Beam Weapons (Pistol)/TL11^
Acc: 3+1; Range: 50/100; Weight: 0.35/0.05; RoF: 1; Shots: 100(3); ST: 3; Bulk: -1; Rcl: 1; Cost: $250; LC: 3

Beam Weapons (Projector)/TL11^
Range: 16/33; otherwise as above.

Type 2 (Pistol) Phaser
A pistol mount that the Type 1 is inserted onto, powered by the Type 1's B cell and a single size-C power cell of elongated form with an oval cross-section, acting as the grip of the pistol. The reflex sight of the Type 1 is also used for the Type 2.

Beam Weapons (Pistol)/TL11^
Acc: 5+1; Range: 100/400; Weight: 1.8/0.5; RoF: 3; Shots: 1,100(3); ST: 4; Bulk: ; Rcl: 1; Cost: $500; LC: 2

Beam Weapons (Projector)/TL11^
Range: 33/132; otherwise as above.

Type 3 (Rifle) Phaser
Replacing an older, bulkier model that predates the Type 1 and Type 2, the Type 3 consists of an emitter extension and foregrip on the front of the Type 2, and a butt-stock on the rear, the latter containing two more size-C power cells. The operator may use the existing reflex sight, or add various accessories such as a telescopic sight, holographic wide-spectrum targeting scanner, and so forth, as well as other items that may be connected to hardpoints on the weapon, such as a small flashlight, or a retaining strap.

Beam Weapons (Rifle)/TL11^
Acc: 12+2; Range: 250/1,000; Weight: 7/1; RoF: 10; Shots: 3,100(3); ST: 6; Bulk: ; Rcl: 1; Cost: $1,200; LC: 2

Beam Weapons (Projector)/TL11^
Range: 83/333; otherwise as above.

Settings:

1 Light Stun/Daze
Damage: HT-2 aff; Power: Ergokinesis
Shots per use: 1
This setting is roughly equivalent to the Confuse ability (Psionic Powers pp32-33) with the Blue Screen and Daze techniques on. The effect will bypass a P-web Shield unless the beam hits the P-web directly. Weapons that can only produce a Light Stun effect are unregulated self-defence tools (LC4) on many planets.

2 Moderate Stun
Damage: HT-4 aff; Power: Ergokinesis
linked Damage: Will-4 aff; Power: Telepathy
Shots per use: 4
Moderate and Heavy Stun both combine Confuse with the Telepathic Sleep ability.

3 Heavy Stun
Damage: HT-6 aff; Power: Ergokinesis
linked Damage: Will-6 aff; Power: Telepathy
Shots per use: 6
Heavy Stun also does 1 point of burn damage out to 1/2D range, but none thereafter. It is sometimes used to start fires or reheat food.

4 Thermal A
Damage: 3d(2) burn; Power: Psychokinesis
Shots per use: 6

5 Thermal B
Damage: 5d(2) burn; Power: Psychokinesis
Shots per use: 10
Both thermal settings may be used for cutting, drilling, or welding, as well as heating up rocks for warmth in conditions where a campfire would be difficult or less useful.

6 Disruption A
Damage: 6d(2) cr; Power: Psychokinesis
Shots per use: 12
Disruption uses a psychokinetic beam or field to alternately push and pull the target at a high frequency and with significant force. Weapons which only or primarily do this are generally known as disruptors, although they are distinct from the telepathic mind disruptors used by the Vulcanians.

7 Disruption B
Damage: 8d(2) cr; Power: Psychokinesis
Shots per use: 16

8 Disruption C
Damage: 10d(2) cr; Power: Psychokinesis
Shots per use: 20

9 Dematerialize
Damage: 2d+120 cor; Power: Teleportation
Shots per use: 50
The dematerialize setting causes each atom in the target to teleport a semi-random distance and a semi-random direction from its starting location, thus turning the target into a very diffuse, hollow cloud roughly centred on the object's last coordinates. Use of this setting on radioactive material is not recommended.

Overload
This setting effectively turns the weapon, or rather the power cell(s), into a bomb. The force of the explosion depends on how much power is left; specifics will be worked out when we discuss grenades.


Thoughts?

[Emerald Cat]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Phasers

Phasers are multi-power, weaponized psychotronic generators, effectively the Swiss Army knife of energy weapons. Many modern (TL11^) personal phasers, particularly the common military and police models, are modular, with the larger versions consisting of components added on to a smaller model. Likewise, they have an adjustable beam-width, from a narrow beam that hardly spreads at all by the time it dissipates, to a shorter range cone that can be quite wide.

[...]

Thoughts?

This design for the Phasers looks reasonable. Giving all of the Phasers the same firing options but different numbers of shots to spend on a given option was an elegant solution. I'd need to see this in play to determine if the cost for each setting is reasonable.

My main concern is that the group will need to remember all 10 settings in play. Even with cheat sheets, 10 different settings may lead to analysis paralysis. You may want to include simpler weapons for players that don't want to deal with this complexity.

[Emerald Cat]

Up thread, I expressed concerns that there are too many phaser settings. Here is how I would reduce the number of phaser options.

Emerald Cat's Phaser Settings:

Stun
Damage: HT-2 aff; Power: Ergokinesis
Shots per use: 1
This setting is roughly equivalent to the Confuse ability (Psionic Powers pp32-33) with the Blue Screen and Daze techniques on. The effect will bypass a P-web Shield unless the beam hits the P-web directly. Weapons that can only produce a Light Stun effect are unregulated self-defence tools (LC4) on many planets.

Tactical Stun
Damage: HT - Shots aff, to a maximum of HT-6 (tentative); Power: Ergokinesis
linked Damage: Will - Shots aff, to a maximum of Will-6 (tentative); Power: Telepathy

Tactical Stun combines Confuse with the Telepathic Sleep ability.

Thermal
Damage: 1d(2) burn per 2 shots spent, up to 5d; Power: Psychokinesis

The thermal setting may be used for cutting, drilling, or welding, as well as heating up rocks for warmth in conditions where a campfire would be difficult or less useful.

Disruption
Damage: 1d(2) cr per 2 shots spent, up to 10d; Power: Psychokinesis

Disruption uses a psychokinetic beam or field to alternately push and pull the target at a high frequency and with significant force. Weapons which only or primarily do this are generally known as disruptors, although they are distinct from the telepathic mind disruptors used by the Vulcanians.

Dematerialize
Damage: 2d+120 cor; Power: Teleportation
Shots per use: 50

The dematerialize setting causes each atom in the target to teleport a semi-random distance and a semi-random direction from its starting location, thus turning the target into a very diffuse, hollow cloud roughly centred on the object's last coordinates. Use of this setting on radioactive material is not recommended.

Overload
This setting effectively turns the weapon, or rather the power cell(s), into a bomb. The force of the explosion depends on how much power is left; specifics will be worked out when we discuss grenades.


This way, the number of settings is reduced from 10 to 5 (or 6 if we include Overload). That is a little more manageable. On the other hand, this requires the players to determine how many shots to spend every time they fire. So it may make the analysis paralysis worse. What do you think?

[Anders]

My problem with insta-kill weapon settings is that they will be used on the Big Bads and the PCs, and that's just boring.

[Emerald Cat]

Originally Posted by Anders

My problem with insta-kill weapon settings is that they will be used on the Big Bads and the PCs, and that's just boring.

That could be an issue. The Type 3 (Rifle) Phaser gets 62 shots per power cell on the Dematerialize setting. Or 62 insta-kill attacks per pound of power cells. But that is only ~6 attacks per pound if you use the full 10 RoF. And then you can't shoot for ~3 s while you reload.

On the other hand, there are settings that can easily do lethal damage for far fewer shots. So it may not make sense to use the Dematerialize setting in every situation.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Emerald Cat

That could be an issue. The Type 3 (Rifle) Phaser gets 62 shots per power cell on the Dematerialize setting. Or 62 insta-kill attacks per pound of power cells. But that is only ~6 attacks per pound if you use the full 10 RoF. And then you can't shoot for ~3 s while you reload.

On the other hand, there are settings that can easily do lethal damage for far fewer shots. So it may not make sense to use the Dematerialize setting in every situation.

The main reason the Dematerialize setting existed in canon was to reduce the number of times they'd need to pay extras to act like corpses (and also to reduce the number of 'corpses' on-screen in 1960s prime time). Here, the high power-requirement of that setting is a good reason not to use it (as you note, 'cheaper' settings are also potentially capable of insta-kill). I did think about reducing the total number of shots per power cell to 50 from a B cell and 500 from a C cell, though. Is that preferable?

Personal force-fields are something I've been thinking about, which may get a Question post (probably not a 'yes/no,' but rather a 'which of these options feels best to you?'). They didn't use them in canon because it was a TV drama, so the writers et al were in control over what happened (and a limited special effects budget). A game has different needs, so a wearable EK Shield generator makes sense.

EDIT: It would need to be a very powerful shield, though, and it would need to be anti-psionic, as well (because Teleportation, Telepathy, and PK, as well as powers other polities use for their weapons). In general, like a lot of other GURPS, the players should take the lethality of combat as encouragement to solve problems without violence, and if they want to go 'Fully Cinematic '60s Hollywood Action,' they should include rules that make the PCs and important NPCs less likely to be hit by death rays.

[Prince Charon]

Just an FYI, I will be going to NecronomiCon this weekend, and thus my time spent online will shortly be somewhat limited. Also won't have my own computer with me, so the amount of work I'll be doing will likewise be limited.