From: | Shaun Hall <Hard.master@********.ATT.NET> |
---|---|
Subject: | Re: flechettes and revolvers |
Date: | Sun, 5 Oct 1997 02:40:25 -0700 |
> From: Jimpy <lowfyr@***********.COM>
> To: SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET
> Subject: Re: flecchettes and revolvers
> Date: Saturday, October 04, 1997 9:30 AM
>
>
> Something even more devastating than canister and grape shot (IMHO) is
> chain shot. Used extensively in the American Civil War and presumabely
> other wars prior, it consisted of two balls the caliber of the gun with
> a length of chain varying from 5-10 feet.
>
> They would begin to revolve around each other, spinning and tearing
> everything in their path to peices. I have seen them fired, and while
> they are nothing compared to modern rounds, whew...I'd hate to get hit
> by them ;)
>
> A practical variation on this that I use for SR is on riot control
> vehicles. They have a crowd net gun that is essentially "soft" chain
> shot.
>
> Jim
Kim (the fellow that runs the game I am currently playing) designed a
weapon along those same lines. It fired a low caliber shell that split into
two halves with a monofiliment line between them. The weapon has a limited
range because after the two main halves stretch the wire to its full length
(about two meters ) it snaps. Still anything caught between the two halves
prior to that distance is in serious trouble. Perhaps he will post the
specs on that weapon if anyone is interested. He designed it as the
signature weapon of a professional assassin in his game. It added a nice
bit of color to the character, but as the weapon lacked flexibility it
wasn't practical for regular combat use.
While running rolemaster a few years ago I designed a weapon that had
far more interesting applications. The shell was designed to be fired from
a shotgun. On impact the shell would diffuse its kinetic energy by
unspooling several meters of mono-wire about the target point (the inner
ends anchored to the shell while the outer ends had little hooks designed
to penetrate and hook into any soft surface). The result was an easily
deployable virtually invisible two meter by two meter mono-wire barrier.
Anything attempting to pass through the barrier would end up shredded.
The party first encountered with this was quite interesting. An
assassin was sent to deal with one member of the party. As the party was
quite formidable he hit upon a plan that would kill his target and allow
him ample time to escape. He had watched the bar they were visiting for
some time and picked his moment just as he judged that his target would be
coming down the stairs. He burst into the bar and fired his shotgun in
burst mode. The shot from the first two shells hit his target, and bounced
harmlessly off of his armor. The third was the mono-shot. It hit his target
in the chest and deployed. The party reacted by firing various spells and
weapons at the assassin who fled back through the door firing a second
mono-shell at the floor in front of the door.
The assassin's target made a very high perception roll and happened to
notice the mono-wire surrounding him. He froze in place trying to think of
a way our of his predicament. The first player out the door in pursuit of
the would-be assassin wasn't as lucky. He walked right into the mono-wire
and had a hand severed (rolemaster crit tables are wonderful ). Needless to
say any further attempts at pursuit were abandoned. The target trapped in
the mono-wire finally managed to escape by having one of his friends use a
flaming blade to burn away all of the mono-wire.
Imagine the field applications of tank or mortar shells designed along
the same lines. A grenade launcher designed to fire something similar would
adjust people's tactics in combat as well. The shell is a primarily
defensive weapon. Even if it lands at your feet it wont do damage to you,
until you try to move. I can see corporate security forces using this sort
of weapon.
Thanks for letting me ramble.
Shaun