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Bloodwork
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 Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 12:44 am Post subject: Laser Sword Lethality |
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Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with the Laser Sword from SWD? (Str+d6+8, AP12)
If so what was the lethality like? Too high? Just right?
I'm thinking of running a space-pulp game using the Daring Tales of the Space Lanes rules as a base. There is a guy in that who has a laser sword with the stats: Laser Sword (Str+d6+4, AP6). It points out these stats are different than the ones in the core book but doesn't really say why.
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Nordicnomad
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:11 am Post subject: |
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Depends on what kind of armor you allow. I think the plus 8 is fine with heavier power armor in play. But if you just have Jedi types in robes, might be too much.
Only scifi setting we've played is slipstream and the allow the light saber type laser swords, but they're specifically mil spec. Which I think makes sense. |
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Bloodwork
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:25 am Post subject: |
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Looks like the highest armour anyone has in Space Lanes adventures is +2 so not much.
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Virgobrown72
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:48 am Post subject: |
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I would just make it Str+d8, AP12 
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Xavier Onassiss
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:00 am Post subject: |
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It's the classic question of "Do you want the one in the movie, or do you want a playable game?" 
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ValhallaGH
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 11:27 am Post subject: Re: Laser Sword Lethality |
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| Bloodwork wrote: | Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with the Laser Sword from SWD? (Str+d6+8, AP12)
If so what was the lethality like? Too high? Just right? |
I've got experience with it. The lethality is insane. AP 12 bypasses almost all personal armor (heaviest power armor is reduced to Armor 2), so the damage is being applied against base toughness.
2d6+8 averages 16.4 damage. That puts 2 wounds on almost all characters, using the minimum effective strength. Every strength die above d6 increases average damage by about 1 (d12+d6+8 averages 19.3 damage).
Wild Attack (+2 damage) and Called Shot Head (+4 damage) increase it to 2d6+14 damage, average 22.4 damage (minimum 16!). That means that average damage will deal 3+ wounds to almost every human character.
The laser sword in the Core Rules is almost guaranteed to slaughter every character it hits, Extra or Wild Card. Even giant monsters are in for a lot of pain.
The STotSL villain has a "malfunctioning laser sword" that does significantly less damage, and it is still the best melee weapon in the campaign. 
If you need to put the fear of death into the crew then you can upgrade to the core laser sword. Just realize that it is going to be fairly fatal for them.
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Bloodwork
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| Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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I might even just re-skin the chainsaw. The fixed "Strength" rating can make sense if your interpretation includes the blade being weightless. And I really like that it's potentially dangerous to the user. Although might have to add AP 4 (or so) on there too.
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Zadmar
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| Bloodwork wrote: | | I might even just re-skin the chainsaw. The fixed "Strength" rating can make sense if your interpretation includes the blade being weightless. And I really like that it's potentially dangerous to the user. Although might have to add AP 4 (or so) on there too. |
That's a good idea, although I'd recommend -1 damage for each +2 AP. You'll probably want to reduce the weight as well, but that could be balanced against a higher cost. If the player wants a Jedi-like character, you could also add an Edge which removes the chance of hitting yourself. |
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Bloodwork
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 6:59 am Post subject: |
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| Zadmar wrote: | | If the player wants a Jedi-like character, you could also add an Edge which removes the chance of hitting yourself. |
Yeah I have professional edge that does that and also gives a -2 penalty to incoming blaster fire while you have the laser sword readied to represent you parrying the shots.
I have achieved level 10 Cowardice by giving the campaign the working title "Not Star Wars" in order to avoid arguments pertaining to canon.
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Glitch
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 9:32 am Post subject: |
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| Bloodwork wrote: | | Yeah I have professional edge that does that and also gives a -2 penalty to incoming blaster fire while you have the laser sword readied to represent you parrying the shots. |
Isn't that a bit harsh? I mean, don't the Stormtrooper hindrance already give -6 to shooting? |
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ValhallaGH
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 11:24 am Post subject: |
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| Glitch wrote: | | I mean, don't the Stormtrooper hindrance already give -6 to shooting? |
Nope. That's using their RoF 2+ weapons without using Rock & Roll (either they don't have it, or they are moving while shooting and can't use it) - or using Rapid Attack.
Extras with d6/d8 -2 Shooting are going to miss a lot. But they will hit eventually, so you should run away before they get lucky. 
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