So, what weapons do you like in your sci-fi games? Specifically:

Fantastic and improbable energy weapons (hand held Disintegrate buildings phaser, light sabers)?

Simple, highly believeable extended from our tech (High powered lasers, gas propelled slug throwers)?

Something in the middle (Hand held plasma weapons? Personal gauss weapons)?

Follow up question:
Do you prefer a mix of weapons?

Some explanation: I like games with a mix of races. To some extent, I like to see superior tech flow out and be absorbed by advanced races. If that race has better scanning tech then why shouldn't we use it? However, I also love when you have weapons and tech that only a certain race uses. So, Klingons with their funny swords.

So, what's your weapon of choice in Sci-Fi games?

Thanks,
Bill

It depends on the setting--really.

Hard Tech Believable Weapons for Hard science fiction settings (and note--the next game I see that doesn't use lasers in 'hard science' capacity is going to get shredded, we have lasers NOW its just a matter of making sure the output to portability can make a decent and useful weapon--it may never be likely but don't posit artificial gravity by handwavium, or FTL or anything else if your going to ditch real world tech now as not advancing.)

I like lasers You see but I prefer semi realistic ones that blow big bloody holes through things, or burn/cut--no disintegration for me. (unless it also has a significantly appropriate explosion for all the energy being released )


For Space Opera--energy swords (lightsabers are neat), the only comparable melee weapon I can think of for elegance and coolness is a Minbari Fighting Pike.

In one setting I had Blaze-Blades which were simply a handle sized container of nanites programmed to become a sword a simple hiss and bam--metal sword built on the molecular level.

I like advanced smart projectile, like gyrojet rounds with various tips and abilities. Ever see "runaway"? Something like the smart bullets in it, or gyrocw with shaped charge heads, electro heads, etc.

Lasers are common too.

My favorite faesible weapon would be like Judge Dredd's lawgiver pistol.

That's one of my bugaboos about current SF games. I prefer beleivable extrapolations of current technologies, with minimal technobabble. Star-blades and black-hole weapons are a bit too far out there for me. (This was one of alternity's major failings AFAIAC.)

The near future might bring us electro-thermal assisted rounds (rounds that use an electrical energy input to more smoothly burn off the bullet propellant, meaning less severe recoil impulse.)

Advances in energy storage technology should bring about gauss weapons, laser/maser weapons, and (eventually) particle beam weapons.

Chemical (and better) missile weapons should still remain attractive options, but beam weapons might eventually be resorted to for low ammunition cost.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadThat's one of my bugaboos about current SF games. I prefer beleivable extrapolations of current technologies, with minimal technobabble. Star-blades and black-hole weapons are a bit too far out there for me. (This was one of alternity's major failings AFAIAC.)

The near future might bring us electro-thermal assisted rounds (rounds that use an electrical energy input to more smoothly burn off the bullet propellant, meaning less severe recoil impulse.)

Advances in energy storage technology should bring about gauss weapons, laser/maser weapons, and (eventually) particle beam weapons.

Chemical (and better) missile weapons should still remain attractive options, but beam weapons might eventually be resorted to for low ammunition cost.

Don't forget that advances in microtech might allow for smart bullets, guided mini rocket rounds, etc.

Blasters (EG's in my game)
Sonics.
Zero gravity martial arts.

I might inject some superscience from time to time, but PCs are unlikely to have access or control over it. I also like the idea that different races have different gear, unless your in a part of the galaxy that has a lot of mixing.

Basically I'm going for a blend of ERB, James Bond and Forbidden Planet...

In my sci-fi, most of the earth militaries still use conventional firearms rather than laser doohickeys. As a rule military types like simple, low maintenance stuff rugged enough to survive being mishandled by a dumb grunt in field conditions and carry on working. Something with a fancy box of delicate electronics and carefully aligned mirrors and lenses inside is going to have a hell of a time passing field testing compared to something liek an AK47.
For shipboard weapons, I tend towards conventional missiles or some sort of energy weapon who's description and workings are deliberately left fuzzy.

Lasers are cool, but as has been mentioned there are some near-future weapons that are really neat too. I recommend any sci-fi GM looking for some more realistic weapons tech to start watching Futureweapons on the Discovery channel. It's a gun bunny's dream for the future.

In my games though, I like more gritty touches to weapons, so stuff like gyrocs, rail guns, vibro weapons are the eptiome of personal weapons, while ships get to carry the freakier beam/energy tech weapons. I also have a soft spot for the weapons of WH40k, the bolter is just too fun.

For some odd reason I love force beams.  I'm usually a projectile weapon kindof guy, but force beams with extra knockback thrill me.  I also like Spacemaster's sticky plasma that clumps drips and keeps on burning.  My favourite melee weapon is the violator sword from Mutant Chronicles.  Electrified two handed goodness.

Quote from: O'BorgIn my sci-fi, most of the earth militaries still use conventional firearms rather than laser doohickeys. As a rule military types like simple, low maintenance stuff rugged enough to survive being mishandled by a dumb grunt in field conditions and carry on working. Something with a fancy box of delicate electronics and carefully aligned mirrors and lenses inside is going to have a hell of a time passing field testing compared to something liek an AK47.
For shipboard weapons, I tend towards conventional missiles or some sort of energy weapon who's description and workings are deliberately left fuzzy.

Yeah, the sad thing is that lasers of weapon grade in the future may not have any "lenses" or "mirrors" in the way you mean (chemical pumped lasers of certian types, theoretically also hybrid materials that lase when irradiated).

Plus think of radios--they've been using them for years (with crystals, wiring..) and a lot of soldiers have scopes (lenses), never mind smart optical/HUD helmets being tested now--lenses again.


The future battle field is going to be wired. One way or another.

I like either handwavium weapons: Blasters.


Or I like hard science projections. Magnetic rail propulsion, binary propellent, mini-rockets (gyrocs) are all good. Lasers are good, but I got a love hate relationship with them.

Love because lasers are real world blasters after all.
Hate because: a) I just don't see lasers ever getting as durable and 'reliable' military weapons as something using mostly mechanical parts.
b) as I understand the physics (not too much, admittedly) but 'beam weapons' just are not terribly efficent... inherently, compared to solid objects at transmitting energy... which is what weapons DO. As mankillers, I don't doubt they will excell eventually, humans are inherently fragile in the grand scheme of things, but when it comes to attacking hardware.... On the other hand I could see more advanced laser guidance for all manner of munitions...


In my own setting, I even break down to factions: one uses projectiles one uses mostly lasers. The lasers in question are solid state, fired by pre-charged supercapictor loops, the 'barrel' is disposable, containing both the firing array and the power supply, eliminating a lot of the durability issues.

Not that anyone here cares.

My own SF short bus starts and stops with the weapons catalog of 40K.  I mean, just look at them.

Projectile weapons still see use in my SF game.  The other weapons I designed myself using the 'Stuff!' supplement by BTRC.  These are basically either force weapons that delivery a directed kinetic energy tranfer (it punches holes in things, but can be adjusted to a broader scope and has an effect similar to a stunner), and one based off the idea of the PPGs in Babylon 5.  They deliver a charge of superheated plasma via a short duration magnetic field.  Relatively low velocity and kinetic impact, heavy damage to organic material.  Good for using in more delicate environments.

I designed a wide variety of each type, reflecting hold-out weapons up to gyro-stabilized torso-mounts.

Heh...funny you should pick that one, fonkay. The "subatomic thermal reaction" of the meltagun is in fact the most pseudo-science weapons technology my Terran Republic setting has to offer; ship's cannons fire what are essentially artillery meltabombs.

Other than that and a bit of messing around with magnetically restrained plasma (again at the space fleet level), humanity still relies on chemical propellant (caseless rounds with solid propellant blocks for automatics, water-to-plasma reaction or binary propellant for things like artillery), a little gauss acceleration, and some good old-fashioned chemical explosives (even if it is all FAE). The 25th century is not the limitless energy, force fields and phasers our writers imagined; everything is pretty much just a smaller, lighter, more powerful extrapolation of our current technology.

So yeah, I try catch Futureweapons whenever I can. I guess I just find automatic weapons fire more satisfying as a sound of battle than pew! pew!.

Caseless is scifi enough for me-