Plasma Pistols/Blasters

Hello All,
   Through the kindness of a friend, I have been listening to the
TML since my membership died three years ago (due to a dying address).
I have, once or twice, posted via Rob or Carl (since they also have
GEnie accounts).  Now I have a real net address again, so here I am...
   Several weeks ago the question of blasters and plasma pistols
came up (again).  The last time this topic came up, I composed some
thoughts on the matter, but never got around to imposing on my
connections to get them posted...


Blasters and Plasma Pistols
   Weaponry from SF that is "obviously" beyond Traveller's TL15 has
always been fascinating.

The Plasma Pistol:
   For a good Traveller-style plasma pistol, check out the "Captain's
Sidearm" from Brian Daley's "Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds" (and its two
sequels).  While some implied features indicate that it is a second or
third generation design, in practice it makes a good "prototype" Plasma
Pistol (lots of flash and noise, a miniature 'gunshield' around the
grips, general disintegration of the target area).
   Another notable appearance of the Plasma Pistol is L. Neil Smith's
Confederacy series, specifically "Brightsuit MacBear".  This model
uses an (apparently) lower energy plasma than the Captain's Sidearm,
but gives the plasma a bigger push and better packet coherency.  Fired
into dense vegetation, the 'round' keeps going in a straight line for
quite a distance, eating a long, straight tunnel throught the leaves.
Firing at a human target, however, produces the same effect as the
(much louder) Captain's Sidearm:  boom, flash, dead.


Blasters:
   The Blaster (pistol and carbine) from Star Wars is an unusual weapon.
Gamers have been trying to adapt it to Traveller since the beginning.

   From White Dwarf #11 (Feb/March 1979), in an article called
"Fire-Arms: 3000 A.D." by Brian Asbury, comes this approach:
      "The Hand Blaster:  This is a handgun-sized atomic energy weapon,
firing a tiny 3mm x 15mm projectile at 700 to 800 meters per second.  Once
it is set into motion, anything that stops the projectile trips a tiny
atomic trigger which converts a submicroscopic fraction of its mass into
energy.  A magazine carrying six charges is inserted into the gun's handle,
one charge being fired for each pull of the trigger.  Reloading takes one
combat round, but two if the firer is treated as evading.
      "Disadvantages of this weapon are its obvious expense, plus the fact
that any target blasted by it becomes radioactive for twenty four hours.
The effective radius of this radiation is only about half a meter, however.
If desired, the blaster can be used to cut through solid steel of up to 15cm
thickness, blasting a circular opening of approximately 1 meter diameter.
      "Weight 1200/200; Rds/Clip 6; Length 200; Price 4000/200;
      "Armor DMs: Nothing(+4), Jack(+4), Mesh(+1), Cloth(-1), Reflec(+4),
Ablat(+1), Battle(-4).
      "Range DMs: Close(-6), Short(0), Medium(+1), Long(-5), VeryLong(no),
Wound Inflicted 5D."

   To me, This sounds like a large caliber pistol firing collapsing rounds
(from Striker).  The reason for only 6 rounds would be the necessity of
incorporating a damper box in the magazine.  The article also had a larger
version called a Blast Rifle, which fired 4mm rounds at 1000 meters per
second, and produced a bit more damage (and a slightly larger hole).  No
Tech Levels are given for either weapon (or anything else in the article).

   There is also the "Magic-that-looks-like-technology" version in TSRs
Gamma World.  The second edition of this game applied a rather amusing
typo to the blaster, enabling the Mark V and Mark VII Blasters to
atomize anything protected by a Force Field, but be harmless otherwise.
Nothing in the description helps us understand the "how" of this weapon.

   Obviously, neither of these is quite right when compared to Han Solo's
Trusty Blaster(tm).  One has ammo restrictions, and both are too
destructive.
   A close look at the Star Wars movies will tell you that a conventional
Traveller Plasma Gun, even scaled down, doesn't quite fit either.  When a
Stormtrooper falls over after being shot, ALL OF HIM falls over, not just
boots and smoking ashes.  On the other hand, the Star Wars Blaster has
enough punch to shoot out locks and slag control panels.  The Blaster
has no danger space (unlike Traveller Plasma and Fusion weapons), since
we see it used constantly on targets (usually controls or locks) a foot
or two from the barrel, and Darth Vader wouldn't have been able to stop
those shots (in "The Empire Strikes Back") without smoking most of the
rest of the room.
   A possible solution comes (again) from the WD #11 article.  This weapon,
instead of being scaled down, could be made more deadly with advancing
TL, eventually becoming a "blaster" which acts like those in Star Wars.

      "The L.P.L. Stungun (Full title: Low-Power-Laser-directed-
electrical-shock-Stun Weapon):  A pistol-sized weapon which uses a low
power laser beam to ionize the air in a path along its line, and then
sends a burst of electrical energy along the path.  This has the effect
of stunning any human-sized opponent it hits, without causing any actual
damage.  The saving throw against such a stun is 11+ for a human (DM: +1
for endurance 10+), but becomes proportionately lower for larger species,
e.g. an elephant's save would be 3+.  The power pack for this weapon
forms the pistol's handle, carries 8 charges and takes 4 hours to
recharge.  Power packs may be changed during combat, taking one round to
do so, in which the firer is treated as evading.  This weapon does not
function in vacuum or trace atmosphere and is subject to a DM of -4 in
high crosswinds.
      "Weight 500/300; Rds/Clip 8; Length 175; Price 1500/200;
      "Armor DMs: Nothing(+2), Jack(+2), Mesh(+1), Cloth(+1), Reflec(-8),
Ablat(-7), Battle(-6).
      "Range DMs: Close(+2), Short(+2), Medium(-1), Long(no), VeryLong(no),
Wound Inflicted (special)."

   Note that the "clip" is actually the entire handle, and makes up 60% of
the weapon's weight.  As with the Blaster, there was no TL listed for this
weapon, but I had placed it at TL10.  With advancing TL, the laser and/or
the electrical jolt could be strengthened enough so that the combination
will kill.  Given the advances of the normal Laser Pistol, this weapon's
laser would be a flashlight by comparison, but the jolt does most of the
damage anyway (at low TL).
   As a side note, electricity was a type of plasma last time I looked,
so this is a 'poor man's Plasma Pistol' as well.

   (The article in White Dwarf #11 gives apologies to Harry Harrison for
lifting a few ideas from his books, but I don't know it this applies
to either of the weapons quoted here.)

 James "Farstar" Kundert
  [email removed]
  [email removed]