So, I started an adventure with my group today, introducing a new Player. He decided, with his creation credits, to buy a fusion cutter. Thirty minutes later, in an encounter meant to put the players on the run, he stood his ground and shredded two squads of Stormtroopers in melee with the fusion cutter. Really? Breach, Sunder, and Burn? It's an instakill weapon.
Fusion Cutters: Are They OP?
I mean, it used to have the Improvised rule, but apparently it doesn't anymore.
So, I started an adventure with my group today, introducing a new Player. He decided, with his creation credits, to buy a fusion cutter. Thirty minutes later, in an encounter meant to put the players on the run, he stood his ground and shredded two squads of Stormtroopers in melee with the fusion cutter. Really? Breach, Sunder, and Burn? It's an instakill weapon.
Did you allow it to be used as a melee weapon?
...and 2 minion groups couldn't drop him in that time. Are you sure you ran it right?
Your best bet is to treat the like improvised 2. They're not meant to be used as a weapon so treating them like an improvised weapon makes a lot of sense. Improvised 2 means all combat checks made with the weapon generate 2 automatic threat. And for improvised weapons, the GM may spend 2 uncancelled threat to break the item. So using a fusion cutter becomes a gamble.
I just rolled a character recently that I intended to be a non-combative Outlaw Tech, but I did give him a fusion cutter. I talked to my GM and he decided he wanted to treat it as an improvised weapon. Since I didn't intend to use it as a weapon unless I got backed into a corner, this worked for me.
So, I started an adventure with my group today, introducing a new Player. He decided, with his creation credits, to buy a fusion cutter. Thirty minutes later, in an encounter meant to put the players on the run, he stood his ground and shredded two squads of Stormtroopers in melee with the fusion cutter. Really? Breach, Sunder, and Burn? It's an instakill weapon.
Did you allow it to be used as a melee weapon?
I see now it is called a "close quarter" weapon, but it is still Improvised. A despair or pair of uncancelled Threats and it breaks.
Edited by 2P51Your best bet is to treat the like improvised 2. They're not meant to be used as a weapon so treating them like an improvised weapon makes a lot of sense. Improvised 2 means all combat checks made with the weapon generate 2 automatic threat. And for improvised weapons, the GM may spend 2 uncancelled threat to break the item. So using a fusion cutter becomes a gamble.
I just rolled a character recently that I intended to be a non-combative Outlaw Tech, but I did give him a fusion cutter. I talked to my GM and he decided he wanted to treat it as an improvised weapon. Since I didn't intend to use it as a weapon unless I got backed into a corner, this worked for me.
Looks like they dropped the Improvised 2 from Beta in the new CRB, so just 1 Threat generated.
Edited by 2P51...and 2 minion groups couldn't drop him in that time. Are you sure you ran it right?
Positive. He had cover from three other players, but the vast majority of the killing was done by our friend with the fusion cutter.
It says it can be used as "close quarter" weapon but doesn't really define that. It doesn't provide a skill. It's damage write up still strikes me as a zero range weapon that isn't used like a melee weapon in regards to damage calculation. Probably a good question to submit for rules clarification.
...and 2 minion groups couldn't drop him in that time. Are you sure you ran it right?
Positive. He had cover from three other players, but the vast majority of the killing was done by our friend with the fusion cutter.
Can you walk me through how you used it and group composition? I ask because I ran an encounter where my players had weapons with similar numbers and while they hit hard, they by no means were OP.
Fusion Cutters are supposed to be nasty if turned on an individual, but their relatively low damage makes them pale in comparison to a balanced weapon like a vibrosword. They are definitely an improvised weapon, rather than a primary weapon. If 2 threat or a despair is generated on an attack, then the improvised weapon is damaged. Given that it auto generates 1 threat, if a roll comes up with even 1 uncancelled threat on the dice alone, then the fusion cutter is damaged.
So yes, the fusion cutter is an effective as a weapon, but it doesn't have the wherewithal to stand up to a sustained combat precisely because it is improvised. I had originally seen them as a cheap lightsaber alternative, but the improvised weapon aspect has me thinking twice about it. The odds of busting a fusion cutter in combat are pretty high.
PS: The rules for Improvised weapons can be found on pg 225 of the AoR book.
It's a freaking laser chainsaw. Would a chainsaw be an effective melee weapon? Yes.
Would a laser chainsaw also be effective? Yes.
A sword in the hands of a trained swordsman is probably deadlier than a chainsaw, but a random dude with a chainsaw is probably deadlier than a random dude with a sword.
It's a freaking laser chainsaw. Would a chainsaw be an effective melee weapon? Yes.
Would a laser chainsaw also be effective? Yes.
A sword in the hands of a trained swordsman is probably deadlier than a chainsaw, but a random dude with a chainsaw is probably deadlier than a random dude with a sword.
The difference being, a chainsaw used as a weapon might be more effective/dangerous in the short term, but could easily be rendered useless with a side impact, knocking the chain off of its footing. A sword is built for combat.
A chainsword, on the the other hand... ooops... crossing genres...
I'd still allow him to kill stuff with it, but make it super easy for something bad to happen. Like on a few threats or with enough failure he drops it(or it runs out of batteries)
Despair could mean he breaks it, or hurts himself with it(kinda like Thermal Detonators)
And 2 Minion groups of Stromtroopers should have still managed to do some damage to him. They do have Vibro-knives, which backed up by the group bonus should be deadly.
I don't know about you guys, but the Balance is all wrong to use a Chainsaw/Fusion cutter in combat. Yea you might get a surprise hit in, but after that you would be over matched
I have a hard enough time using a polesaw, it makes me look badarse, but except for slow stupid zombies it wouldn't do much good as a weapon. rather Have a sword or axe