Anyone have experience with using the Flame Projector attachment to weapons? How has that worked out?

Some players just want to go for the most damaging weapons regardless of career or personality.

I know the CRB says it is,

"...illegal on most worlds and considered a terror weapon, these weapons are typically used only by the most desperate or callous individuals."

Since it can do great amounts of initial damage and Burn damage, this gets into that area where it can be construed as a GM vs Player grudge when the GM role-plays that you just can't carry it nearly anywhere. But sometimes that characters makes a roll with the given Rarity and so forth, so it gets into his hands.

Even if it is illegal, then you just carry it everywhere that is not in civilized society. Any ideas on ways to curtail the commonality of this weapon in-game?

I might consider a wrist mounted flamer if the Bounty Hunter book ever comes out, but right now it's an absolutely useless weapon IMO. It's big, heavy, and unlike a blaster rifle, immediately screams "Shoot me for I am up to no good".

Any time you land on any kind of planet with any kind of starport, they have security on hand to scan you as you come off the ship. They have weapons scanners. They make sure that you know the local laws before you land.

So, if you try to get that flamethrower off the ship, then odds are that you’re going to find it taken away from you and your ass gets thrown in jail.

And if you land at a place where they’re not outlawed, when you get off the ship a very nice droid tells you that a thermal detonator will be rectally inserted if you actually use the flamethrower without appropriate cause. But it’s said in such a nice way.

Or maybe you get told that you’ll be used as Rancor food. Unless you’re Darth Vader, you’re not the scariest thing in that place.

well i guess this makes me think, where can a mass murderer survive. I guess would need to be a part of some kind of pirates or some kind of Space viking warband that destroys and pillages colonies and moves on.

I might consider a wrist mounted flamer if the Bounty Hunter book ever comes out, but right now it's an absolutely useless weapon IMO. It's big, heavy, and unlike a blaster rifle, immediately screams "Shoot me for I am up to no good".

Agreed on the social aspect. On the bulkiness aspect, though, the Under-barrel attachment is only +1 Encumbrance to give you a 5 or 7 total on a rifle. It is most certainly LIKE a Blaster Rifle with only a +1 Encumbrance modifier. And, it does MORE damage 10/8 and Burn 5/2, while doing less Blast 2/8. This doesn't seem to make much sense. Is there Errata on it?

I'm a big fan of the flame projector. As a player, I use it on minion groups whenever I get the chance. As a GM, I'm not going to beat the dead horse, but obviously a PC shouldn't walk around with it on an Imperial port.

From a mechanical standpoint on damage output, it's hard to beat a jury rigged, superior, autofire weapon, but y'know what... the players are the heroes... they're supposed to win.

So long as they're having fun, I'm totally cool with flame projectors.

I've always been unclear why the under barrel attachment does more damage while being significantly less bulky than the base item. That seems inconsistent. As I've had this same problem in my own game, I'll throw out the few ideas I've had (I started a similar thread in the GM forum)

1) you can cause the PC to hit an ally with only 2 threats (no despair needed) based on the description of the flame projector

2) it might certainly set other things on fire, such as drapes, carpet, the important documents the PCs need, etc

3) the range is short, so give the NPCs a little range

4) sunder sunder sunder

5) the first time the PC lights up his flame projector have the NPCs simply flee - blowing the entire engagement

I think there needs to be an errata giving the under barrel flame projector the limited ammo trait. That fuel has to come from somewhere, and that fuel tank likely accounts for the added bulk of the base item. I wonder if Jango Fett's flame burst was something of a one time trick...

Yes blakeD. A Rifle, by itself, has an Encumbrance of 4. The Flame Projector, by itself, an Encumbrance of 6. Yet, the Under-barrel Flame Projector only adds a +1 Encumbrance to the Rifle it is attached to. I would think that the Under-barrel variety would be smaller, have less range, less ammo, no backpack tank, or something to account for it. Yet, the under-barrel variety does more damage. Go figure.

I'd figure on something like an under-barrel grenade launcher...limited ammo.

They're pretty different, but I think it worth comparing side-by-side to get a picture of what the designers are trying to accomplish:

Flame Projector Under Barrel Flame Projector

Skill: Ranged (Heavy) Ranged (Heavy)

Damage: 8 10

Crit: 2 2

Range: Short Short

Burn Quality: 3 5

Blast Quality: 8 2

So comparing the two weapons, we see the regular flame projector is capable of wide coverage for multiple targets (decent damage, way better Blast) whereas the Under Barrel version is better suited for doing focused streams on a single target (better damage, longer Burn duration). The Blast on the Under-Barrel version also has a high chance of being Soaked depending on the number of successes.

Also, unless I missed an errata, the Under-Barrel Flame Projector does not add +1 to ENC, it only adds Cumbersome +1 (which is pointless unless you put it on a Disrupter Rifle or Heavy Blaster Rifle). The Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher, on the other hand, adds ENC +2 and Cumbersome +1.

For Reference:

Burn Quality

Blast Quality

I agree with Domino's comments, although I have to think the intent is that the attachment is essentially a small version of the full size weapon. (hence my confusion as to the implementation on damage, persistence, weight, etc)

Adding +1 cumbersome to weapons that don't have that property (standard rifle, for example) really doesn't mean anything

As I stated in my other thread I find the attachment to be overpowered (as you can do 10 damage, and then continue doing 10 damage without even making an attack roll). I have yet to be persuaded this isn't the case.

Here is that other thread: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/136099-overpowered-weapon-please-convince-me-otherwise/

I would not be against a Limited Ammo 1 Base Mod with the ability to modify for 5 Quality (Limited Ammo +1) Mods like the Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher. However, there is a possible reason why these weapons do not have the Limited Ammo quality: there is no cost for replacement fuel unlike the cost to purchase grenades. Perhaps the fuel could be replenished after an encounter without tracking the cost.

Here's some hypothetical questions with my initial reactions:

• Would you allow the Jury-Rigged talent to apply to the attachment to reduce the Advantage cost for activation for the Burn or Blast qualities? Probably yes.
• Would you allow the Jury-Rigged talent to apply to a feature of the of the main weapon (ie. the Auto-fire of the Heavy Blaster Rifle) as well as the attachment (Burn or Blast)? Initial thoughts...no. While the Under-Barrel Flame Projector has its own stats, I would consider it one piece of equipment for the sake of Jury-Rigged.
• Would you allow the Superior Attachment apply to both the main weapon and the Under-Barrel attachment? Are you kidding me?...No, don't be such a munchkin.
• Would you allow a PC to fire both the main weapon and the Under-Barrel weapon (grenade or flame-projector) at the sam target using the Two Weapon Combat rules? RAW, the Two Weapon combat rules are for Ranged (Light) and Melee weapons that can be used in one hand, so no. Also, come on! Again with the munchkin stuff?