Gear Rifles - design assistance requested

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

1. I'd say you should store multiple shots per crank session (maybe 4-6) then have a lengthy winding session. Additionally, you could see a slight reduction in power per additional shot as the gears wind down.

For firearms, I'm fond of the idea of a 5-shot revolver at low TL's (because 5 shots is how many you get before black powder fouling comes into play; also, IIRC, in Classic Vehicles, a 5-shot revolver ends up weighing exactly twice as much as a normal breechloader). So being able to hold up to 5 shots could certainly be an option. I'm thinking soldiers typically have single-shot versions, but adventurers are going to spring for the more expensive (and heavier) version.

Damage slowly going down matches the behavior of the TL 5 air rifle in HT, IIRC. I'd have to decide if I want that for DF - I'm honestly leaning toward "no" ("It's your last shot... and it does half damage" seems like adding insult to injury).

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

2. I think your cranking set sounds like a good balance between realism and game balance.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

3. I think you've got them a bit too light. All this mechanism is going to be far heavier than real guns. I'd say a minimum should be double a comparative TL4 gun.

Double was actually my first instinct, but I feared that would be a bit too much - in settings where both are available, I want the two to be competitive with each other.

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

4. Barrel length I feel is your trickiest and potentially least realistic point. A longer barrel is going to have far more friction with this system than a bullet so I don't think things scaling like a real gun is appropriate. At best you might break even with losses and gains. The most realistic method might be what you suggest with the length being related to the strength of the gun, but I would say if anything the stronger the gun, the shorter the range should be due to friction losses. And it might be interesting effects on usability.

The bullet - and cup for that matter - don't have much direct interaction with the barrel, although I could see a longer chain causing more friction losses. I'm willing to step away from realism here to get the effect I want - namely, that longer barrels (resulting in worse Bulk and higher weight) result in higher damage.

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

5. Rifling again would be very tricky. Your ideas though are a pretty cool way of giving some rational explanation. I think the wax jacket is most realistic. The trade off of range for accuracy seems most feasible.

If vibration doesn't work, I think the rifled end of the barrel may well be my best bet.

Originally Posted by FenrisLoki

6. Caliber seems good the way you've described. Flechette darts might be good too as an option.

Flechette darts are an interesting idea. They'd typically be made of iron/steel rather than lead, making them lighter (so damage somewhere between what lead and clay bullets get), but they'd be eligible to be made with hardened steel, for an armor divisor. Damage type would be impaling, but probably with the same WM as the bullet they replaced, rather than the default x2 (the difference between imp and pi here would be interaction with certain types of DR and IT:DR... assuming I opt to have something that differentiates between the two, anyway). Unlike the spherical bullets, orientation would matter a great deal for these - I'd probably give a penalty to Fast-Draw to load them quickly. They'd also risk damaging the rifling if not used with a smoothbore, but if the wax jacket works for clay bullets, it should work for flechettes as well.

Originally Posted by johndallman

I'd suggest having a weapon that takes minutes to wind up, but powers an endless chain (like a chainsaw) that runs for 4-6 seconds.

You drop your cups onto that when you pull the trigger and they get flung downrange. You need a magazine in the weapon, to make this work. That gives you RoF 1 if your magazine is operated automatically, or RoF 1/2 if it behaves more like a bolt-action rifle.

I'd rather have independent shots than something that just flings metal downrange for a bit after pulling the trigger (also, I don't think my cup idea would be compatible, here). A magazine could well be an option for the default version of the weapon, although given the way it would generally need to be set up, it would interfere with aiming (although a bottom-mounted magazine, using springs or a manually-operated lever to push bullets up into the cup like a modern firearm rather than gravity to drop them down like a repeating crossbow, might be doable; it would absolutely require a dedicated weapon, or at least modifying a normal gear rifle).