Slugthrowers: Pointless?

By FootNote, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

So, outside of creating house rules and creating our own mods for slug throwers, is there really a point to them? They only have one very small advantage, and thats price.

My main criticism is that the critical is so low. Going off of the CRB the critical for the pistol and rifle are both 5. That is insane. Blasters hit their target with a blast of energy that in my mind disperse around the surface it hits (unless reflected), slug throwers should be piercing (unless ricocheted) and anything that forces its way into someones body, pretty much is going to do critical damage. Another sore point is that their is no ammo, with grenades you have several types, the same thing should be done for bullets. Now I realize that I could probably go on and on on different mods that could be done but my basic question is this, is there any hidden advantage I am missing for slug throwers? Outside storyline use?

In the old days Slugthrowers could be silenced, blaster could not.

There's no real hidden advantage that I can think of, though a future supplement might present a new spin on them. Otherwise the purpose is cheap and story. There's lots of reason for a character (PC or NPC) to carry a slugthrower. And remember, with a Triumph the crit rating doesn't matter, so a weak crit rating can be used to denote a weapon requiring more skill to use effectively.

Where are you going with this? I'm assuming you're not saying "A +12 vorpal sword exists, so why is there a +1 dagger of poking?" but I'm kinda getting that vib...

Edited by Ghostofman

Lightsabers can't deflect bullets, can they?

In the old days Slugthrowers could be silenced, blaster could not.

There's no real hidden advantage that I can think of, though a future supplement might present a new spin on them. Otherwise the purpose is cheap and story. There's lots of reason for a character (PC or NPC) to carry a slugthrower. And remember, with a Triumph the crit rating doesn't matter, so a weak crit rating can be used to denote a weapon requiring more skill to use effectively.

Where are you going with this? I'm assuming you're not saying "A +12 vorpal sword exists, so why is there a +1 dagger of poking?" but I'm kinda getting that vib...

For the most part I simply wanted to see if there was something basic I was missing. I do think there is a lot of stuff we should be able to do with slug throwers that we can't, but I am not a big fan of completely making things up.

Lightsabers can't deflect bullets, can they?

Mechanic wise I don't think there is anything that states that, but thats how it is in stories.

So, outside of creating house rules and creating our own mods for slug throwers, is there really a point to them?

Style.

So, outside of creating house rules and creating our own mods for slug throwers, is there really a point to them?

Style.

Blah. Style will get you killed. I was planning on having a gadgeteer with slug throwers, but I quickly dropped the slug throwers after never doing any real damage.

Shooting an unmodded slugthrower at a stormtrooper is probably folly. How does it hold up with attachments (recognizing there aren't many for non-blasters)?

I thought dangerous covenants added some ammo types?

Slugthrowers might be good in areas where a stay blaster bolt might ricochet, such as a door that is magnetically sealed or around starship fuel or other volatile compounds. Jedi can block the shot, not direct it back at you.

I thought dangerous covenants added some ammo types?

Slugthrowers might be good in areas where a stay blaster bolt might ricochet, such as a door that is magnetically sealed or around starship fuel or other volatile compounds. Jedi can block the shot, not direct it back at you.

Sadly no ammo types in Dangerous Covenants. I know there are plenty of ways to make slug throwers work in story, but I am looking for something in the game mechanics. I don't mind it being a nitch weapon but its just lacking.

The Czerka arms long rifle in EtU is a good gun.

So, outside of creating house rules and creating our own mods for slug throwers, is there really a point to them? They only have one very small advantage, and thats price.

If we think in those terms only, then nothing besides the heavy blaster rifle with auto-fire makes sense.

The Model 77 from Enter the Unknown is by far my favorite weapon in the game. It's not only a slugthrower, but it goes out to long range, deals only stun damage, has pierce 4, is laughably legal (People treat it like an airsoft gun), and has the ability to deal additional stun damage thanks to the SmarTranq ammo type.

Edited by kaosoe

Did nobody read the other thread distinguishing between blasters and slugthrowers? It was on the first page when this thread was posted. There were a lot of good points and thoughts discussed that even had actual basis to them. One point being that blaster bolts dissipate after a certain distance and slugthrowers have a greater range.

Style is for role-playing. If you're going to change how you play just to min-max then fine. The boards also have a resources section with player made options that expand on slugthrowers.

This may sound weird, but when I was considering buying this game, the Trandoshan premade PC in the free online Under a Black Sun adventure totally sold the game for me.

Style counts for a lot to some people. :)

Not all games are about the numbers.

Not all games are about the numbers.

Games that have numbers tend to give those numbers importance, so they are to a degree "about the numbers" or else there wouldn't need to be numbers.

While there are some very good slugthrower (or at least non-blaster) weapons in the various splatbooks that have been released, I suspect that the slugthrowers in the Core book are mostly there for contrast. They give the players some idea of how blasters stack up against conventional firearms, and shows why nobody much uses them anymore (because that's a question that's bound to crop up around a gaming table sooner or later).

Other than that I suspect they're mostly a tool for the GM should he ever need to equip primitive NPCs with weapons matching their culture. When my players were adventuring on Tatooine I had Sand People equipped with Gaffi sticks and slugthrower rifles, because that's what you see them using in the movies. It gave them a bit different flavour than "regular" blaster-toting NPCs.

Not all games are about the numbers.

Better to say that not everyone optimizes, so sometimes it is more about style and sometimes it is about the numbers. So while not everyone may use everything, when it comes to things like equipment it is better to give some extra options even if they are not the optimal choice.

The main benefit of slugthrowers is that at character creation, they are cheap . A decent blaster pistol will take 4/5ths of a PC's starting credit allowance, and to get a rifle or carbine requires the PC to take additional Obligation for additional credits.

Also, slugthrowers aren't seen as being that big a deal in more civilized parts of the galaxy, and thus might not draw the same amount of attention that openly wearing a blaster pistol might.

There's also the perk (albeit a minor one in this era) that a Jedi with a lightsaber can't redirect a slugthrower shot back at you. They can still deflect it of course, but at least you won't be providing your opponent with a means to attack you back from a distance.

And as some have said, style counts for a lot more than a purely numerical benefit. Not everyone builds their character to squeeze the most benefit out of every element of the character. The gunslinger using a slugthrower pistol might not have the damage output or range of a character using a blaster pistol, but Mal Reynolds certainly was badass enough to make a slugthrower work in an era when lasers and more modern sidearms existed (even if they weren't readily available to most folks outside of Alliance territory).

there js a fan supplemenf that slugthrower sthff in it cartelz emporiums doez havd some in if i fhink u migd like

The Lightsaber is better then then Vibrosword. The Jet Pack is better then the Climbing Gear. Should we start getting rid of those items too since they are, "pointless"?

That snubby in DC, the "Fiver" is a cool hideout gun and is as good as a holdout blaster I think, better in a way with the Accurate on it.

The Lightsaber is better then then Vibrosword. The Jet Pack is better then the Climbing Gear. Should we start getting rid of those items too since they are, "pointless"?

Your taking it to extremes, which is not what I meant. Its not so much of This is better than that, so lets get rid of that. Its just me trying to find the nitch for these weapons, and it seems its really up to the story telling and that's it.

That snubby in DC, the "Fiver" is a cool hideout gun and is as good as a holdout blaster I think, better in a way with the Accurate on it.

So far that's the only good light ranged slug thrower. Rediscovering the EtU slug throwers kind of makes this thread moot, they have three very good projectile rifles, The Model 77 Air rifle, the Model 38 Sharpshooters rifle, and the hammer which as far as I can tell is more shotgun than rifle,all fill a nitch which I like.