There is nothing like running a game of Traveller to make you actually look at
the rules and design information to see if it works.
I have an 'act first think later', hot shot pilot player character, Cal Morgan,
who wants a high tech pistol with some kick. I gave him a Gauss pistol. On
reflection I thought I would try to design a heavy TL 11 pistol utilising
electro-chemical propulsion; I picked up FF&S and had a go. This produced some
interesting results, and a weapon much more to Cal's tastes. Below are all the
workings for the weapon with design notes, followed by an observation on the
Gauss pistol stats in the upgrade booklet:
TL 11 ECT Magnum 'Pulse Pistol'
(It's not a blaster, but it's the next best thing . . .)
Ammunition Design
Caliber 10.0 mm
Cartridge Case Length 23.0 mm
Bullet Length 33.0 mm
Bullet Weight 14 grams
Average Muzzle Energy 1879 joules
Bullet Price Slug 0.28 Cr
HE 0.56 Cr
DS 0.56 Cr
HEAP 0.84 Cr
Weapon Design
Average Barrel Length 10 cm
Actual Barrel Length 11 cm
Barrel Type Light
Barrel Weight 0.22 kg
Barrel Cost 44 Cr
Actual Muzzle Energy 1972 joules
Damage Slug 3
HE 5
DS 3
HEAP 5
Penetration Slug 1-Nil
HE Nil
DS 1-2-Nil
HEAP 2-2-2
Receiver Light Self Loading
Rate of Fire SA - Semi Automatic
Receiver Length 17 cm
Weight 1.2395 kg
Price 447.9 Cr
Stock Hollow Pistol Grip
Length 0 cm
Weight 0.1 kg
Price 25 Cr
Weapon Range 32 m
Grip Magazine Capacity 10
Magazine Weight 0.2476 Kg
Magazine Price 52 Cr
Recoil Reduction Electrothermal Action
Component Length Weight Price (Cr)
- ---------------------------------------------------------
Barrel 11 0.22 44
Receiver 17 1.2395 447.9
Grip 0.1 25
Magazine 0.2476 52
Weapon Empty 28 cm 1.8071 kg 568.9 Cr
10 rounds 10x33mm 0.14 2.8 Cr
Weapon Loaded 28 cm 1.9471 kg 571.7 Cr
Bulk 2
Recoil 3
Summary Combat Stats
TL 11 Heavy Pulse Pistol
Recoil
Weapon Rof Dam Pen Blk Mag SS Brst Rng
10mm Pulse Pistol - Slug SA 3 1-Nil 2 10 3 - 32
10mm Pulse Pistol - DS SA 3 1-2-Nil 2 10 3 - 38
10mm Pulse Pistol - HE SA 5 Nil 2 10 3 - 24
10mm Pulse Pistol - HEAP SA 5 2-2-2 2 10 3 - 24
Design Notes
My first stab at designing using FF&S. A very user friendly product, and soon
got results. If you spot any bad errors let me know.
The major difficulty with this design was keeping the weight down! With such a
high muzzle energy the receiver came in at a hefty 1.2 kg. I fiddled with the
muzzle energy to get it out at under 2001 to preserve the 1-Nil penetration.
Why do weapons with muzzle energy of 2001 to 3000 drop penetration back to
2-Nil????????
The ECT weapon system had battery weight costs for the magazine, but took away
the recoil due to it's firing mechanism.
I found the barrel length and casing length vital to the design, as this
determined the muzzle energy, and thus the receiver characteristics. I rifled
the barrel. Is this ok on a pistol? (I am afraid I don't know anything about
real guns).
The weapon is a heavy sidearm, known as a 'Pulse Pistol' as ECT weapons use an
intense pulse of electrical energy to ignite the working fluid in the round to
a plasma state. ACRs in my campaign are called Pulse Rifles. . .
Having put together my design I looked back at the Gauss pistol in the upgrade
booklet to see how it compared. I just couldn't believe how poor the stats
were. TL 13 weapon with a SS recoil of 5? It can fire bursts, but with a recoil
of 11? A short range of 11 meters?
I applied a quick assumption that the pistol had a Muzzle Velocity of 1500
(FF&S p.102). Without designing the whole system, and using the knowns found in
the upgrade booklet, I reckon the stats for the weapon should look more like
below:
TL 13 Gauss Pistol
Recoil
Weapon Rof Dam Pen Blk Mag SS Brst Rng
4mm Gauss Pistol - Dart 5 2 Nil 1 35 2 6 19
4mm Gauss Pistol - HEAP 5 3 2-2-2 1 35 2 6 14
4mm Gauss Pistol - tranq 5 -1 Nil 1 35 2 5 11
I struggle to get the stats found in the upgrade booklet. Any thoughts anyone?
I am now into session 2 of refereeing DGP's 'Flaming Eye' campaign, using the
wholly superior TNE rule set. I believe the Imperium to be a superior
background, and TNE to be a better set of rules. Right now I have the best of
both worlds.
Happy Travelling
Graham Spearing
Internet: [email removed]