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Just saw some interesting info in the Chinese Terracotta Army on CPTV.
Seems that many of the soldiers were armed with crossbows, which were interesting for a number of reasons; they were quite advanced in being mass-produced and being modular. Supposedly, one could take a regular bow, clamp it in the crossbow body end, and bingo! You now had a weapon that a largely conscript army could use without the more vigorous training that a skilled bowman needed to be really effective.

Now apply that to the NA-LB1 Laser Bow, which I presume, requires W.P. Archery to best use.
Snap, lock, and you now have something that can use W.P. Energy Rifle, a skill that even CS Grunts are all trained in. Opens up an updated 'ancient' weapon to more users, considering that it fires a LASER blast, rather than a projectile(arguably moving it from the blanket coverage of the bow/crossbow archery skill).

Something for accessory kits in the New West?

So like a Wookie Bowcaster?

AzathothXy wrote:So like a Wookie Bowcaster?

Indeed. Rather nifty too.

taalismn wrote:Just saw some interesting info in the Chinese Terracotta Army on CPTV.
Seems that many of the soldiers were armed with crossbows, which were interesting for a number of reasons; they were quite advanced in being mass-produced and being modular. Supposedly, one could take a regular bow, clamp it in the crossbow body end, and bingo! You now had a weapon that a largely conscript army could use without the more vigorous training that a skilled bowman needed to be really effective.

Now apply that to the NA-LB1 Laser Bow, which I presume, requires W.P. Archery to best use.
Snap, lock, and you now have something that can use W.P. Energy Rifle, a skill that even CS Grunts are all trained in. Opens up an updated 'ancient' weapon to more users, considering that it fires a LASER blast, rather than a projectile(arguably moving it from the blanket coverage of the bow/crossbow archery skill).

Something for accessory kits in the New West?

Which book is the NA-LB1 in? Is that Spirt West?

I'm not sure if I would go with this interpretation though. Operation may still be closer to W.P. Crossbow (or Archery, or where ever it falls now) than E-Rifle if the string is still involved.

The Chinese also had repeating Crossbows with a magazine/chamber (Ancient Discoveries on the History Channel) that allowed much higher rates of fire than without it (sort of a pump-action crossbow that allowed one to do all the reload steps in one smooth motion). That might make an interesting crossbow modification.

honestly, i was looking forward to this until i found out it was talking about the laser bow converted into a crossbow =S

that particular piece of tech strains my suspension of disbelief far too much (mostly because it doesn't make sense in the context of the rest of the setting, although the idea of someone specifically making a laser bow also seems rather silly).

if it had been something like a TW crossbow idea, i'd have been a lot more interested.

Shark_Force wrote:honestly, i was looking forward to this until i found out it was talking about the laser bow converted into a crossbow =S

Same.

Sorry, BUT now that I know there's interest in a TW crossbow, I'll see what I can do, adding yet another project to my 'to do' list.
It will probably be a Paladin Steel product, though.
Though, frankly, as stake launchers go, I'd consider the ManhunterKirn Lan'yanay Bolt Rifle to be a good starting point.

If memory serves that laser bow was remarkable for two reasons. 1) It used WP Archery but fired lasers granting potentially higher #attacks per round than regular h2h skills. 2) It had obscenely squirrely physical mechanics to generate "ammo."

Isn't that the weapon which -generated- enough raw energy to fire a 2d6 MDC blast from the physical act of pulling back the drawstring a single time? And didn't the description say something along the lines of this worked -forever- until the "plunger" or whatever gave out roughly every 500 pulls? And that buying a new part for the one that gave out cost around as much as re-charging a basic e-clip anyway?

My GM way back in the day banned the darn thing because it single-handedly solved the world energy crisis as people modified these bows into portable generators for homes, vehicles, weapons, and even small cities. Just imagine that for the physical effort of starting a current day gas lawnmower you could fully recharge any basic weapon, keep the lights on in your house, power all your appliances and computers, etc. Got an electric jeep? Just pull the old string a few times installed into your dash and now it'll run another 100 miles without need to stop and fuel up; screw fossil fuels everywhere. I'd recommend instead of trying to turn a bow into a rifle, just take the rifle and mod it to accept Bowstring Power and you'll have a significantly better weapons (aka most laser rifles already in the game) that still enjoys the ridiculous recharagability.

Indeed, like cheap technowizardry resurrections.
But as long as everybody but the CS picks up on that amazingly physics-bending/busting technology, just maybe we'll stand a chance against the CS's insane resource advantages and uber-shielding.

Richardson wrote:Isn't that the weapon which -generated- enough raw energy to fire a 2d6 MDC blast from the physical act of pulling back the drawstring a single time? And didn't the description say something along the lines of this worked -forever- until the "plunger" or whatever gave out roughly every 500 pulls? And that buying a new part for the one that gave out cost around as much as re-charging a basic e-clip anyway?

My GM way back in the day banned the darn thing because it single-handedly solved the world energy crisis as people modified these bows into portable generators for homes, vehicles, weapons, and even small cities. Just imagine that for the physical effort of starting a current day gas lawnmower you could fully recharge any basic weapon, keep the lights on in your house, power all your appliances and computers, etc. Got an electric jeep? Just pull the old string a few times installed into your dash and now it'll run another 100 miles without need to stop and fuel up; screw fossil fuels everywhere. I'd recommend instead of trying to turn a bow into a rifle, just take the rifle and mod it to accept Bowstring Power and you'll have a significantly better weapons (aka most laser rifles already in the game) that still enjoys the ridiculous recharagability.

This literally made me LOL. Lez hope a Power Leech does not get ahold of one of these and start shooting themself in the foot indefinitely.

Zombies lacking a WP for their Energy Rifles preventing them from reloading... no prob!, just give your zombies a laser bow.
Zombies getting big strike penalty using guns... NO PROB, laser bow is a bow, not a gun
Mummies utterly unable to use guns.. NO PROB, laser bow is not a gun
Animated Dead unable to use modern weapons... no prob, laser bow is used via an ANCIENT proficiency, so is not off-limits.
extra Bonus: immunity to Sub-Particle Acceleration since no E-clips to boom

Richardson wrote:If memory serves that laser bow was remarkable for two reasons. 1) It used WP Archery but fired lasers granting potentially higher #attacks per round than regular h2h skills. 2) It had obscenely squirrely physical mechanics to generate "ammo."

Isn't that the weapon which -generated- enough raw energy to fire a 2d6 MDC blast from the physical act of pulling back the drawstring a single time? And didn't the description say something along the lines of this worked -forever- until the "plunger" or whatever gave out roughly every 500 pulls? And that buying a new part for the one that gave out cost around as much as re-charging a basic e-clip anyway?

My GM way back in the day banned the darn thing because it single-handedly solved the world energy crisis as people modified these bows into portable generators for homes, vehicles, weapons, and even small cities. Just imagine that for the physical effort of starting a current day gas lawnmower you could fully recharge any basic weapon, keep the lights on in your house, power all your appliances and computers, etc. Got an electric jeep? Just pull the old string a few times installed into your dash and now it'll run another 100 miles without need to stop and fuel up; screw fossil fuels everywhere. I'd recommend instead of trying to turn a bow into a rifle, just take the rifle and mod it to accept Bowstring Power and you'll have a significantly better weapons (aka most laser rifles already in the game) that still enjoys the ridiculous recharagability.

If memory serves it was the string that wore out and was replaced at the cost of a new bow string.

Personally I find normal bows and cross bows more appealing because they can fire wide variety of ammo including TW goblin grenade (available in ammo form) ammo so they can do so much more than just damage.

Tor wrote:[

This literally made me LOL. Lez hope a Power Leech does not get ahold of one of these and start shooting themself in the foot indefinitely.

Worse yet...gets a harp made up of multiple pull-systems. Pull hard enough and it's music that gives him a real charge.

Blue_Lion wrote:If memory serves it was the string that wore out and was replaced at the cost of a new bow string.

Here it is, World Book 15 pg. 203:
"Paylod: Effectively unlimited, but the draw cord and plunger wear out after about 500 shots"

Brand new price for the whole weapon the book states:
"Black Market Cost: 8000 credits"

Additionally in the description it states:
"A strength of 12 or higher is needed to draw this bow because of the power needed to cycle up a charge in the generator"

Preceding paragraph states:
"These weapons are generally manufactured or available at high tech communities of Modern Indians and from Bandito Arms and Northern Gun as specialty items for the Western market.

So there you have it. Next time you make an Operator please be certain to have a PS.12+ so you NEVER have to worry about buying those pesky nukes to your power ride and weapons once you purchase an NA-LB1 Laser Bow (North America Laser Bow 1 Laser Bow???). They are commonly available West of Tolkeen for relatively cheap and you'll never have to beg a TW to convert and charge up your stuff ever again. Make sure to undercut your competition with affordable power sources forever!

Yeah, I explored the potential for the Laser Bow a while back, highlighting some of the logical consequences for that kind of technology.
(Which is ONE of the reasons why I don't include the Laser Bow in my games)

viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480

PCA-PMPP1 "String Theory" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
Utilizing the technology behind the Laser Bow, the techs at PCA have developed a perpetual motion device that is used to generate power. Each PMPP1 is a small, sealed box containing the power-generating plunger from a laser bow, connected instead to a MDC wire instead of the weaker string typically used in the weapon. This string is repeatedly pulled and released by a small robotic arm, with each pull of the string generating enough energy to power the robotic arm itself, with a hefty power surplus left over.
Since we know that each E-Clip has the same storage capacity as 1,000 standard car batteries (CB1 47), and we know that each pull of the string on a Laser Bow generates 1/20 the total energy of 1 E-Clip (RGMG 154), we know that each pull of the string generates the same amount of power as can be held by 50 standard car batteries.
With a single robotic arm able to pull a string 6 times per 15 seconds, this power plant can produce a net amount of energy equal to 1 standard E-Clip per approximately every 60 seconds, or equal to 60 standard E-Clips per hour.
Each "String Theory" PMPP comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 250,000

Killer Cyborg wrote:Yeah, I explored the potential for the Laser Bow a while back, highlighting some of the logical consequences for that kind of technology.
(Which is ONE of the reasons why I don't include the Laser Bow in my games)

viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480

PCA-PMPP1 "String Theory" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
Utilizing the technology behind the Laser Bow, the techs at PCA have developed a perpetual motion device that is used to generate power. Each PMPP1 is a small, sealed box containing the power-generating plunger from a laser bow, connected instead to a MDC wire instead of the weaker string typically used in the weapon. This string is repeatedly pulled and released by a small robotic arm, with each pull of the string generating enough energy to power the robotic arm itself, with a hefty power surplus left over.
Since we know that each E-Clip has the same storage capacity as 1,000 standard car batteries (CB1 47), and we know that each pull of the string on a Laser Bow generates 1/20 the total energy of 1 E-Clip (RGMG 154), we know that each pull of the string generates the same amount of power as can be held by 50 standard car batteries.
With a single robotic arm able to pull a string 6 times per 15 seconds, this power plant can produce a net amount of energy equal to 1 standard E-Clip per approximately every 60 seconds, or equal to 60 standard E-Clips per hour.
Each "String Theory" PMPP comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 250,000

Inner munchkin...seeking...control...wants...so...badly...must resist....

you don't even need a robotic arm.. just a simple lever arm device attached to a wheel powered by a simple electric motor. (creating a mechanism similar to the driver arm on a steam engine) your energy yield would go up because you could run such a motor for days off a car battery.. but each full cycle would provide the power for 50 car batteries...

glitterboy2098 wrote:you don't even need a robotic arm.. just a simple lever arm device attached to a wheel powered by a simple electric motor. (creating a mechanism similar to the driver arm on a steam engine) your energy yield would go up because you could run such a motor for days off a car battery.. but each full cycle would provide the power for 50 car batteries...

Oh, sure. But I wanted to highlight the absurdity of it.

You could also have a piston engine where each piston is a Laser Bow plunger.
I forget if I wrote that up or not.

Killer Cyborg wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:you don't even need a robotic arm.. just a simple lever arm device attached to a wheel powered by a simple electric motor. (creating a mechanism similar to the driver arm on a steam engine) your energy yield would go up because you could run such a motor for days off a car battery.. but each full cycle would provide the power for 50 car batteries...

Oh, sure. But I wanted to highlight the absurdity of it.

You could also have a piston engine where each piston is a Laser Bow plunger.
I forget if I wrote that up or not.

perpetual motion engine.. don't forget the old style crank to get it started..

glitterboy2098 wrote:[perpetual motion engine.. don't forget the old style crank to get it started..

"If my calculations are correct, then the cycle of energy generation will grow exponentially, run out of control...and eventually destroy the galaxy."
"Gee...all that because I wanted to use my exercise bike to power my television?"

taalismn wrote:

glitterboy2098 wrote:[perpetual motion engine.. don't forget the old style crank to get it started..

"If my calculations are correct, then the cycle of energy generation will grow exponentially, run out of control...and eventually destroy the galaxy."
"Gee...all that because I wanted to use my exercise bike to power my television?"

ah, the Spiral nemesis rears its head in yet another universe...

Clearly one of the Spirit West deities must be manufacturing the laser bow for it to defy physics like this. Magic explains everything.

Tor wrote:Clearly one of the Spirit West deities must be manufacturing the laser bow for it to defy physics like this. Magic explains everything.

Gee...and all I originally wanted to do was give the (ancient-inspired)option of turning an archery weapon into a more easily used energy rifle...now we've discovered the REAL reason the NA-LB is freakin' cockeyed! It's magic!

Gooodddd speculation there, Tor. It makes perfect sense!

Wonder how else the spirits could be helping the Native Americans build a power base.

taalismn wrote:Wonder how else the spirits could be helping the Native Americans build a power base.

If they WERE actively trying to create a power base I think it could create an actual opposition to the CS. Or more accurately, "the West" could be. A combination of Lyn Syrial, Cyber Knights, and Indians both Modern and Traditional who were directly under the protection of the Spirits would be astoundingly defensively capable. Pretty incapable of attacking any Mega Cities, but c'est la vie.

ShadowLogan wrote:

taalismn wrote:Just saw some interesting info in the Chinese Terracotta Army on CPTV.
Seems that many of the soldiers were armed with crossbows, which were interesting for a number of reasons; they were quite advanced in being mass-produced and being modular. Supposedly, one could take a regular bow, clamp it in the crossbow body end, and bingo! You now had a weapon that a largely conscript army could use without the more vigorous training that a skilled bowman needed to be really effective.

Now apply that to the NA-LB1 Laser Bow, which I presume, requires W.P. Archery to best use.
Snap, lock, and you now have something that can use W.P. Energy Rifle, a skill that even CS Grunts are all trained in. Opens up an updated 'ancient' weapon to more users, considering that it fires a LASER blast, rather than a projectile(arguably moving it from the blanket coverage of the bow/crossbow archery skill).

Something for accessory kits in the New West?

Which book is the NA-LB1 in? Is that Spirt West?

I'm not sure if I would go with this interpretation though. Operation may still be closer to W.P. Crossbow (or Archery, or where ever it falls now) than E-Rifle if the string is still involved.

The Chinese also had repeating Crossbows with a magazine/chamber (Ancient Discoveries on the History Channel) that allowed much higher rates of fire than without it (sort of a pump-action crossbow that allowed one to do all the reload steps in one smooth motion). That might make an interesting crossbow modification.

Chu-ku-no I'd be surprised if PB doesn't have that listed somewhere.

Time to research better materials for the plunger. If the plunger is made of MDC material should it wear out?
I'm so keeping it in my game I want to find out if it will occur to my players the potential there.

Zer0 Kay wrote:Time to research better materials for the plunger. If the plunger is made of MDC material should it wear out?
I'm so keeping it in my game I want to find out if it will occur to my players the potential there.

String should be buckycable. The plunger should be room temperature supercondutor solenoid.

I;m getting the impression of something that looks like a NERF bow*.

*Honestly, I'm terrified of NERF. They have a weapons design staff whose work I study zealously for ideas for scary-looking hardware(and even the parodies are hilarious...Google 'Nerf Nuke' and see if you're not stunned by its awesomeness)

I... I want that!


Daniel Stoker

Zer0 Kay wrote:Chu-ku-no I'd be surprised if PB doesn't have that listed somewhere.

As far as I've seen it hasn't been covered by PB yet. Granted I don't have the most extensive collection, but to my knowledge it hasn't been covered yet. Though I don't have any China books (Rifts, or Mystic China), and I don't recall it mentioned in any of the "ancient weapon" tables or Archery skills in the books I do have.

ShadowLogan wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:Chu-ku-no I'd be surprised if PB doesn't have that listed somewhere.

As far as I've seen it hasn't been covered by PB yet. Granted I don't have the most extensive collection, but to my knowledge it hasn't been covered yet. Though I don't have any China books (Rifts, or Mystic China), and I don't recall it mentioned in any of the "ancient weapon" tables or Archery skills in the books I do have.

The Compendium of Weapons, Armour, & Castles, p. 48

Killer Cyborg wrote:

ShadowLogan wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:Chu-ku-no I'd be surprised if PB doesn't have that listed somewhere.

As far as I've seen it hasn't been covered by PB yet. Granted I don't have the most extensive collection, but to my knowledge it hasn't been covered yet. Though I don't have any China books (Rifts, or Mystic China), and I don't recall it mentioned in any of the "ancient weapon" tables or Archery skills in the books I do have.

The Compendium of Weapons, Armour, & Castles, p. 48

figured, surprised it's not in n&s

apex-prey wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:honestly, i was looking forward to this until i found out it was talking about the laser bow converted into a crossbow =S

that particular piece of tech strains my suspension of disbelief far too much (mostly because it doesn't make sense in the context of the rest of the setting, although the idea of someone specifically making a laser bow also seems rather silly).

if it had been something like a TW crossbow idea, i'd have been a lot more interested.

Other than looks I also don't see the point you still need the clip right

no. you need the plunger, and the string (which wear out) and the built-in generator. it does not use an e-clip, and the whole thing costs 8,000 credits (no cost is listed for replacing the string and plunger afaict).

taalismn wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:Time to research better materials for the plunger. If the plunger is made of MDC material should it wear out?
I'm so keeping it in my game I want to find out if it will occur to my players the potential there.

String should be buckycable. The plunger should be room temperature supercondutor solenoid.

I;m getting the impression of something that looks like a NERF bow*.

*Honestly, I'm terrified of NERF. They have a weapons design staff whose work I study zealously for ideas for scary-looking hardware(and even the parodies are hilarious...Google 'Nerf Nuke' and see if you're not stunned by its awesomeness)

Hmm... Heavy springs and wood stakes wonder what the chances of staking a vampire are with a volley of 100 of those things.

Zer0 Kay wrote:[Hmm... Heavy springs and wood stakes wonder what the chances of staking a vampire are with a volley of 100 of those things.

(Dowel)Splinter Bomb?
I'd consider it akin to shooting wild with a burst weapon using wooden ammunition.

nah, what you really need is a crossbow that launches telephone poles. it's easy to hit the heart when your projectile is the size of their torso ^^

Shark_Force wrote:nah, what you really need is a crossbow that launches telephone poles. it's easy to hit the heart when your projectile is the size of their torso ^^

"Sergeant Detritus, we have need of your Peacemaker."

taalismn wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:nah, what you really need is a crossbow that launches telephone poles. it's easy to hit the heart when your projectile is the size of their torso ^^

"Sergeant Detritus, we have need of your Peacemaker."

Tactical spike clear bomb... You should see the strategic version includes a blast of silver nitrate plasma pushing a trillion toothpicks at supersonic speeds un the blast wave ahead of the plasma.

Zer0 Kay wrote:

taalismn wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:nah, what you really need is a crossbow that launches telephone poles. it's easy to hit the heart when your projectile is the size of their torso ^^

"Sergeant Detritus, we have need of your Peacemaker."

Tactical spike clear bomb... You should see the strategic version includes a blast of silver nitrate plasma pushing a trillion toothpicks at supersonic speeds un the blast wave ahead of the plasma.

The problem would be that you might push the splinter-stake clear THROUGH the vampire, without giving it a chance to lodge in and incapacitate the vampire.

taalismn wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:

taalismn wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:nah, what you really need is a crossbow that launches telephone poles. it's easy to hit the heart when your projectile is the size of their torso ^^

"Sergeant Detritus, we have need of your Peacemaker."

Tactical spike clear bomb... You should see the strategic version includes a blast of silver nitrate plasma pushing a trillion toothpicks at supersonic speeds un the blast wave ahead of the plasma.

The problem would be that you might push the splinter-stake clear THROUGH the vampire, without giving it a chance to lodge in and incapacitate the vampire.

Hmm, 12 x 1 inch stakes, with a tungsten steel dragfin? wood penitrates tungsten stops.

Zer0 Kay wrote:[

Hmm, 12 x 1 inch stakes, with a tungsten steel dragfin? wood penitrates tungsten stops.

Hope you got a good source of tungsten. or a quick way of policing up your battlefield)probably at night) to recycle the miss rounds, because tungsten's not exactly cheap(it was a strategic metal in WW2: the Germans would have made a lot more very lethal squeezebore anti-tank guns but for diminishing supplies of tungsten).

Zer0 Kay wrote:If the plunger is made of MDC material should it wear out?

Sure, I figured the entire weapon was already MDC anyway.

The plunger is subjected to forces which somehow create MD energy, that energy is bound to break it down over time.

There probably is some way to make indestructible components though. But that begs the question: would indestructibility of the plunger interfere with energy generation? What if damage to the plunger is part of what generates the MD blasts?

Tor wrote:There probably is some way to make indestructible components though.

Yes, MDC items wear down just like everything else does, but I also always assumed the entire bow was complicated MC construction except the internal wiring. As for indestructible, that usually requires magic. A Mystic Kuznian from Russia could do it.

Shark_Force wrote:

apex-prey wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:honestly, i was looking forward to this until i found out it was talking about the laser bow converted into a crossbow =S

that particular piece of tech strains my suspension of disbelief far too much (mostly because it doesn't make sense in the context of the rest of the setting, although the idea of someone specifically making a laser bow also seems rather silly).

if it had been something like a TW crossbow idea, i'd have been a lot more interested.

Other than looks I also don't see the point you still need the clip right

no. you need the plunger, and the string (which wear out) and the built-in generator. it does not use an e-clip, and the whole thing costs 8,000 credits (no cost is listed for replacing the string and plunger afaict).

Nah, the bow DOES use an e-clip. 20 shots.
That's how we know how much energy each pull of that string generates, because we know how much energy is in an E-Clip, and we know that each pull of the string is worth 1/20th of an E-Clip.

Killer Cyborg wrote:

Shark_Force wrote:no. you need the plunger, and the string (which wear out) and the built-in generator. it does not use an e-clip, and the whole thing costs 8,000 credits (no cost is listed for replacing the string and plunger afaict).

Nah, the bow DOES use an e-clip. 20 shots.
That's how we know how much energy each pull of that string generates, because we know how much energy is in an E-Clip, and we know that each pull of the string is worth 1/20th of an E-Clip.

The exact wording is:

"There are two fire settings for the bow. It can be drawn back and released like a normal bow, or it can be drawn and the charge stored in a small battery. In the later case firing the shot is done by the push of a button. The small battery can hold only one shot in this manner, but a port is located on the weapon for an E-clip (20 shot) in the event of a broken string or jammed plunger."

My group interpreted this as saying you -could- use an e-clip in place of generating shot, but the weapon itself does not use an e-clip. The e-clip is a back up option so that the item does not become worthless after 500 shots if you are no longer in the New West to buy replacement parts. It does not appear to charge said e-clip using the string as that only charges the single shot internal battery (21 shot "combat load," lol), or at least that's how it works until a skilled operator or psi-mechanic gets his grubby mits on one of these. However this does allow us to infer that 1 "shot" is equal to 1/20 of a NA Standard e-clip (as opposed to a "long" e-clip, Triax clip, etc.) because the "button" mentioned is used to fire either the battery charge or the e-clip and uses the same firing apparatus regardless.

Honestly rifles -are- much better than this in combat, but the real gem of this thread is the application for the few critters/peeps without knowledge of energy rifles such as Wormwood natives, the Undead mentioned above, certain Bowman/Archer OCCs, etc. So the initial idea of turning this into a rifle is... inefficient. But the weapon itself is one of those oddities in the Megaverse worth keeping in mind for a rainy day.

I'm guessing that you and I have different ideas of what it means to "use an e-clip."
To me, if you can pull energy from the e-clip in order to fire, that's using an e-clip.
But no, it doesn't say anything about being able to charge an e-clip.

taalismn wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:[

Hmm, 12 x 1 inch stakes, with a tungsten steel dragfin? wood penitrates tungsten stops.

Hope you got a good source of tungsten. or a quick way of policing up your battlefield)probably at night) to recycle the miss rounds, because tungsten's not exactly cheap(it was a strategic metal in WW2: the Germans would have made a lot more very lethal squeezebore anti-tank guns but for diminishing supplies of tungsten).

k... too serious. Some other hard metal that a vampire is immune to so the stakes stop.

Basically... the internal batter of the laser-bow is 1/20 the capacity of an E-clip, that's why it can only store 1 shot compared to the 20 a clip provides.

A better question is: if I have an empty e-clip (fully or even partially depleted) hooked up to the plunger instead of the internal battery... can I pull the string to charge the clip? 20 pulls per short aka standard clip?

you'd probably need some additional electronics to use it to recharge the e-clip, but I doubt those electronics would be terribly expensive. perhaps a few thousand credits, less if you are just buying the parts to make one using your own skills.

that is, assuming you don't just write the silly thing out of existence for your campaigns. I do.

Shark_Force wrote:that is, assuming you don't just write the silly thing out of existence for your campaigns. I do.

I eliminated it from my games, and replaced it with this:
viewtopic.php?p=2675415#p2675415
BH-6 "Infinity" Pump-Action Laser Rifle
In the tradition of a number of pre-rifts designs that remain popular today, this pump action laser weapon can be used to hunt small game without any fear of running out of ammunition. Ever.
Pumping the slide on this weapon powers an efficient internal generator, which powers the laser. You'll never need to replace batteries, and you'll never have to worry about expensive E-Clips!
Weight: 8 lbs
Damage: Varies depending with charge: 1 SDC, 1-2 SDC, 1d4 SDC, or 1d6 SDC.
Rate of Fire: Single shot only- all stored energy is used when the weapon is fired.
Charge Rate: Pumping the slide multiple times are required for each shot. In less than one action (leaving enough room to also aim or fire the weapon), the weapon can be charged with enough energy to fire a 1 SDC blast. If the weapon is charged for an entire action, that stores enough energy for a 1-2 SDC blast. If the weapon is charged for two actions, that creates enough energy for a 1d4 SDC blast. If the weapon is charged for three actions, that creates enough action for a 1d6 SDC blast. The weapon's internal capacitor cannot hold more energy than that, so further charging creates no further effect.
Range: 500'
Features: The improved balance of this weapon provides a +1 bonus to strike.
Payload: 1.
Price: CR 400 for the standard model, or CR 4,000 for a MDC version (12 MDC)*.

*The MDC version does not inflict Mega-Damage, it simply has a sturdier frame.

That definitely seems a lot more balanced, and make the bow version SDC damage too.

Although that still makes it frickin' great in SDC settings, no?

Not to mention those classes out there with SDC>MD abilities.

i'd accept an SDC-only laser bow... that level of power generation, while a bit unlikely in real life, is in line with the kind of boost nuke plants and solar got in rifts.. and wouldn't run the risk of perpetual motion generators.