I've been toying around with a bunch of new weapons for the campaign I'm running with my local group, and was wondering if I could get some input on them. None of these are set in stone, and I'd love to hear not only your ideas, but the reasoning behind the changes you'd make. I can't promise I'll take every bit of advice, but I'll definitely consider any ideas offered here! (Also, I don't have flavor text for all the weapons yet, but it's coming.)

• Main Weapons Category
  • Brawl Weapons
  • Melee Weapons (including the knife one of my players came up with)
  • Energy Weapons
  • Bows & Crossbows
  • Thrown Weapons
  • Miscellaneous Weapons
  • Grenades

I don't have any slugthrowers yet, but (like the flavor text for all the others) those are coming!

Your DC-15A is very powerful. It has longer range, stun-setting, and Pierce 3 over the usual HBR, but it doesn't cost any more and only has Cumbersome 4 as a drawback. Then you mention that it isn't capable of auto-fire, but it has it...

Your DC-15A is very powerful. It has longer range, stun-setting, and Pierce 3 over the usual HBR, but it doesn't cost any more and only has Cumbersome 4 as a drawback. Then you mention that it isn't capable of auto-fire, but it has it...

You're right. Auto-Fire should have been removed after the copy/paste from the DC-15S. Any other suggestions for that one?

I would prefer to see the base range reduced to Long. There's still an attachment that can modify the weapon for Extreme range use.

Is this for general use or do you have a specific campaign in mind?

I ask because there's some points on a few weapons that seem a little OP in general use, but I've seen applied to campaigns where the GM changed the enemies stats to match the adjustments.

DC-15S Blaster Carbine is pretty much a steal as written. Autofire, Accurate, Pierce, no Cumbersome, and well within purchasing range of a starting PC makes this too good, especially with having a lower Encumbrance. On this one, I'd drop every quality except the Autofire.

On the LR-42, not sure what a "sniper rifle" would need to have the Blast quality, since a sniper's role is generally to make precision shots rather than inflict collateral damage. I'd suggest scrapping the Blast quality entirely, since Accurate 2 and Damage 10 make this enough of a beast as is.

Nothing on the Boomba really indicates that it'd have the Burn quality, so I'd suggest dropping that outright. Same for the Atlatl for same reason.

The Gorka knife is pretty beefy with the Vicious 3 and Pierce 2 as well as still having 2 hard points. Cost helps balance that out a bit, but I'd suggest dropping the available hard points down to 1.

DC-15S Blaster Carbine is pretty much a steal as written. Autofire, Accurate, Pierce, no Cumbersome, and well within purchasing range of a starting PC makes this too good, especially with having a lower Encumbrance. On this one, I'd drop every quality except the Autofire.

On the LR-42, not sure what a "sniper rifle" would need to have the Blast quality, since a sniper's role is generally to make precision shots rather than inflict collateral damage. I'd suggest scrapping the Blast quality entirely, since Accurate 2 and Damage 10 make this enough of a beast as is.

Nothing on the Boomba really indicates that it'd have the Burn quality, so I'd suggest dropping that outright. Same for the Atlatl for same reason.

The Gorka knife is pretty beefy with the Vicious 3 and Pierce 2 as well as still having 2 hard points. Cost helps balance that out a bit, but I'd suggest dropping the available hard points down to 1.

EDIT: The design concept behind the LR-42 was to have it fire an "explosive" compressed plasma bolt that burst on hit. I just didn't have the flavor text in to explain that yet.

Is this for general use or do you have a specific campaign in mind?

I ask because there's some points on a few weapons that seem a little OP in general use, but I've seen applied to campaigns where the GM changed the enemies stats to match the adjustments.

Though the wiki is for a specific campaign, I haven't modified anything to require weapons be overpowered, so if you have suggestions, I'm happy to listen.

For the DC-15A, I would drop to Cumbersome 3, drop the range to Long as suggested before me, up the price to 2,500 if not more, and add Restricted to the rarity. In my opinion anything with a Pierce 2 or higher should be restricted. The Stormtrooper minions have Soak 5 and the Pierce 2 would be deadly to them.

DC-15S, add Restricted to the Rarity and up the price. The DC series weapons were said to extremely expensive compared to other blasters of the day.

Is this for general use or do you have a specific campaign in mind?

I ask because there's some points on a few weapons that seem a little OP in general use, but I've seen applied to campaigns where the GM changed the enemies stats to match the adjustments.

Though the wiki is for a specific campaign, I haven't modified anything to require weapons be overpowered, so if you have suggestions, I'm happy to listen.

Ok. I asked because I remember another guy that also wanted to make DC rifles stand out by giving them Pierce 2, and his solution was to also increase all battledroid Soak by 2-3 as well.

The text for all these weapons (except the Gorka) was taken from Wookieepedia, and I did my best to model how the weapon was described.

There's your problem.

Wookieepedia entries tend to gush about various features and items, especially clone wars for some reason. Most of the time these features are actually already included in existing statblocks or are not significant enough to need to be statted.

So for example, the DC-15 rifle can be represented perfectly fine with the Heavy rifle stat block. It is a powerful rifle it's got auto-fire, and cumbersome 3 (because it's kinda big). It doesn't need pierce because it has a higher damage then a standard rifle. If you need to add something, it might be a stun setting, and you're good. For the DC-15s, use the riot gun the CSA guys carry. It's weaker then the heavy rifle, but its lighter, has shorter range, and is full auto. Done and done. Futhermore both these solution don't result in the weird problem of "if this was so good, why did the Empire stop using them?"

More later.

Okay... I dropped the range of the DC-15A to Long (it was at Extreme because Wookieepedia claimed it had a 10 kilometer range when fired from a tripod for stability) and dropped the Cumbersome to 3. I've also increased the price of the DC-15S and added Restricted to both of the DC-15 weapons.

Oden: Do you mean you feel as though anything with Pierce 2 or higher should be restricted, or just ranged weapons?

I was also thinking about adding Unwieldy to the whips, even though the Neuronic Whip doesn't have the property. When I first wrote the whips up almost two years ago, I had created a trait called "Tricky" which was essentially what Unwieldy is now.

Okay... I dropped the range of the DC-15A to Long (it was at Extreme because Wookieepedia claimed it had a 10 kilometer range when fired from a tripod for stability) and dropped the Cumbersome to 3. I've also increased the price of the DC-15S and added Restricted to both of the DC-15 weapons.

Oden: Do you mean you feel as though anything with Pierce 2 or higher should be restricted, or just ranged weapons?

I was also thinking about adding Unwieldy to the whips, even though the Neuronic Whip doesn't have the property. When I first wrote the whips up almost two years ago, I had created a trait called "Tricky" which was essentially what Unwieldy is now.

Just ranged weapons.. edged melee weapons with that high of Pierce could be considered inconsequential since stormtroopers at experts at massed fire...

Is this for general use or do you have a specific campaign in mind?

I ask because there's some points on a few weapons that seem a little OP in general use, but I've seen applied to campaigns where the GM changed the enemies stats to match the adjustments.

Though the wiki is for a specific campaign, I haven't modified anything to require weapons be overpowered, so if you have suggestions, I'm happy to listen.

Ok. I asked because I remember another guy that also wanted to make DC rifles stand out by giving them Pierce 2, and his solution was to also increase all battledroid Soak by 2-3 as well.

That was me . Some of my players (and me to an extent) like having this kind of stuff made distinct.

Why did the Empire switch to the E-11 Blaster Rifle? Because the DC-series were more expensive and way too powerful to risk having some of them falling into the hands of dissidents. The weapons were either melted down or stored away in some deep bunker somewhere (hey, there might be an adventure there. Also not canon but very plausible). The Restricted rating means if any PC is caught with a DC-series without proper authorization (if any is given), they be in deep, deep doodoo.

Why were the DC-series used at all? Because the battledroids had metal plating far thicker than standard laminate armor, making them resistant to the standard blasters of the day and requiring a new type of armament designed to combat that thicker plating.

For us, it adds some extra flavor and spice to things, maybe providing some extra Obligation or other kinds of complications. Just calling a DC-15S a blaster carbine and statting as such works just as well too.

So, the thing I would be inclined to do is to take the descriptions, and decide which of the known existing weapons is closest to what you’re looking for, and then make minor modifications from there.

Most things that are mentioned in the description of weapons is just fluff, and doesn’t really have any significant effect in the game mechanics. So, you need to decide what can be handled as just fluff, and what actually needs to be reflected in the stats.

But during this process, you need to keep asking yourself — is this something that everyone would take over any of the existing weapons, no questions asked? If so, then what you’ve got is probably overpowered.

OTOH, if the weapon is worse than everything else out there, then you’ve probably neutered it too much.

As with the Force, Balance should be your goal.

[EDIT: Well, Balance and helping to keep the game interesting and fun for everyone involved, yourself included. ]

I cannot agree with the above statement more. Well said.

So, the thing I would be inclined to do is to take the descriptions, and decide which of the known existing weapons is closest to what you’re looking for, and then make minor modifications from there.

Most things that are mentioned in the description of weapons is just fluff, and doesn’t really have any significant effect in the game mechanics. So, you need to decide what can be handled as just fluff, and what actually needs to be reflected in the stats.

But during this process, you need to keep asking yourself — is this something that everyone would take over any of the existing weapons, no questions asked? If so, then what you’ve got is probably overpowered.

OTOH, if the weapon is worse than everything else out there, then you’ve probably neutered it too much.

This is good advice, and some that has me going back over the weapons to restore balance.

Let's start with the LR-42 "Exact" Sniper Rifle. Comparing it to the BlasTech E-11s Sniper Rifle...

                LR-42               E-11s
Damage          10                  10
Critical        3                   3
Range           Extreme             Extreme
Encumbrance     4                   6
HP              4                   3
Price           4250 (R)            3500 (R)
Rarity          6                   7
Special         Accurate 2          Accurate 1
                Cumbersome 3        Cumbersome 3
                Blast 6             Pierce 2
                                    Slow-Firing 1

I can already see that I've created a more powerful version, and that it needs to be toned down a bit. We can start by upping the encumbrance to 6 and removing one Hard Point, to bring it in line with the other sniper rifle. The price and rarity will stay the same - slightly more common than the E-11s, but also more expensive. That only leaves special properties.

I like the Accurate 2, so that one stays. It makes it a tiny bit easier to hit over the E-11s. Its other positive quality is Blast 6. The idea I had was to have it fire compressed plasma rounds that exploded on target. Since it requires two Advantages just to activate the ability, I think it balances out well enough with the Pierce 2. However, now it needs some negatives to balance out that extra Accurate boost die. Cumbersome stays where it is at 3, because it's the same size as the E-11s. Make it Slow-Firing? Or maybe have it require a maneuver to prime each charge for firing?

How about text that makes the explosive nature of its rounds a little dangerous to its user? Something like...

LR-42 Exact Sniper Rifle

Damage: 10

Critical: 3

Range: Extreme

Encumbrance: 6

HP: 3

Price: 4250 ®

Rarity: 6

Special: Accurate 2, Cumbersome 3, Blast 6, Prepare 1

The LR-42 "Exact" Sniper Rifle is one of those anomalies, those sought-after tools employed by sports marksmen and assassins alike, generally for one unique feature: compressed-fire plasma. This technology allowed the Exact to fire unstable plasma charges designed to detonate on impact. The LR-42 has two drawbacks. First, each charge must be primed by pulling the priming lever along it side, which requires one maneuver. The biggest problem with the Exact, however, is the instability of compressed-fire plasma bolts. Because the technology was never perfected before the gun's production runs, there is a slight chance individual rounds may detonate right out of the barrel. On a failed shot, the GM may spend a Despair to activate the Blast quality at engaged range with the character firing the LR-42.

Let's start with the LR-42 "Exact" Sniper Rifle. Comparing it to the BlasTech E-11s Sniper Rifle...

                LR-42               E-11s
Damage          10                  10
Critical        3                   3
Range           Extreme             Extreme
Encumbrance     4                   6
HP              4                   3
Price           4250 (R)            3500 (R)
Rarity          6                   7
Special         Accurate 2          Accurate 1
                Cumbersome 3        Cumbersome 3
                Blast 6             Pierce 2
                                    Slow-Firing 1

I can already see that I've created a more powerful version, and that it needs to be toned down a bit. We can start by upping the encumbrance to 6 and removing one Hard Point, to bring it in line with the other sniper rifle.

OTOH, I could see making the Encumbrance 5 but the HP just 1, so it wouldn’t be quite as big and bulky as the E-11s, but you also wouldn’t be able to attach much in the way of extra things to it. Just a thought.

But I like your new version much better. Thanks!

Prepare is not enough to offset the blast 6 and neither is a chance to activate the blast on a despair (If it has cumbersome 3 most people using it will have a soak of 5 or better and the blast will be pointless.). It needs to have a minimum of slow fire 2 to overcome the ability to throw a grenade to extreme range. As the weapon is written it would be subject to the powerful blast talent and a skilled user could do 12 or more blast damage without to much of a stretch.

Also the E-11 is suppose to be the big bad sniper rifle for the games. Anything better is likely over powered. So if you insist on the blast quality my suggestion would be something like this:

Damage: 0 the initial target receives no damage from being hit by this rifle

Critical: this weapon is incapable of providing a critical injury

Hard points: 0

Special: Accurate 2, Cumbersome 3, slow firing 1, limited ammo 4, blast 6-8?

If I were to apply logic to this game (I know this should be avoided) then something this unstable would detonate on contact with about anything meaning the initial impact would be similar to being hit by a paintball.

Ghostofman is right, in that Wookieepedia articles should generally be taken with a grain of salt. Anyone can edit those articles, and while the overall accuracy of the sight tends to be pretty good, an individual article can vary wildly, especially if it's about a not-so-common element of the 'verse.

Prepare is not enough to offset the blast 6 and neither is a chance to activate the blast on a despair (If it has cumbersome 3 most people using it will have a soak of 5 or better and the blast will be pointless.). It needs to have a minimum of slow fire 2 to overcome the ability to throw a grenade to extreme range. As the weapon is written it would be subject to the powerful blast talent and a skilled user could do 12 or more blast damage without to much of a stretch.

Also the E-11 is suppose to be the big bad sniper rifle for the games. Anything better is likely over powered. So if you insist on the blast quality my suggestion would be something like this:

Damage: 0 the initial target receives no damage from being hit by this rifle

Critical: this weapon is incapable of providing a critical injury

Hard points: 0

Special: Accurate 2, Cumbersome 3, slow firing 1, limited ammo 4, blast 6-8?

If I were to apply logic to this game (I know this should be avoided) then something this unstable would detonate on contact with about anything meaning the initial impact would be similar to being hit by a paintball.

I disagree, Satchmo. Powerful Blast, as written, only works for explosives, explosive weapons, and grenades, and this gun doesn't fall under any of those headings. The LR-42 isn't an explosive, nor is it an explosive weapon, nor is it a grenade, and I think it would take a very liberal reading of the talent to say otherwise. As for the rest of it? I like some of the ideas you have, but the gun you've written up feels like a Nerf Sniper Rifle rather than a dangerous tool, especially when you take away the ability to perform critical hits.

And, as you've noted, any adversary with a little soak is going to be able to handle the Blast anyway.

I don't know. I could see adding Slow-Firing 1 instead of Prepare 1 to balance things out, but I doubt it would take much more than that.

Prepare is not enough to offset the blast 6 and neither is a chance to activate the blast on a despair (If it has cumbersome 3 most people using it will have a soak of 5 or better and the blast will be pointless.). It needs to have a minimum of slow fire 2 to overcome the ability to throw a grenade to extreme range. As the weapon is written it would be subject to the powerful blast talent and a skilled user could do 12 or more blast damage without to much of a stretch.

Also the E-11 is suppose to be the big bad sniper rifle for the games. Anything better is likely over powered. So if you insist on the blast quality my suggestion would be something like this:

Damage: 0 the initial target receives no damage from being hit by this rifle

Critical: this weapon is incapable of providing a critical injury

Hard points: 0

Special: Accurate 2, Cumbersome 3, slow firing 1, limited ammo 4, blast 6-8?

If I were to apply logic to this game (I know this should be avoided) then something this unstable would detonate on contact with about anything meaning the initial impact would be similar to being hit by a paintball.

I disagree, Satchmo. Powerful Blast, as written, only works for explosives, explosive weapons, and grenades, and this gun doesn't fall under any of those headings. The LR-42 isn't an explosive, nor is it an explosive weapon, nor is it a grenade, and I think it would take a very liberal reading of the talent to say otherwise. As for the rest of it? I like some of the ideas you have, but the gun you've written up feels like a Nerf Sniper Rifle rather than a dangerous tool, especially when you take away the ability to perform critical hits.

And, as you've noted, any adversary with a little soak is going to be able to handle the Blast anyway.

I don't know. I could see adding Slow-Firing 1 instead of Prepare 1 to balance things out, but I doubt it would take much more than that.

So what is a weapon that fires a round that explodes at extreme range called?

So what is a weapon that fires a round that explodes at extreme range called?

The point is that the round itself isn't an explosive, but rather a compressed plasma bolt that essentially "splatters" when it hits, much like how Satchmo describes it: it bursts like a paintball round.

• An explosive is a material that explodes, like those listed in Dangerous Covenants.
• An explosive weapon is a weapon that explodes, like a Thermal Detonator or a missile.
• A grenade is... well, a grenade.

This weapon is none of those things.

There are examples of weapons with the Blast property that aren't explosive weapons - the Czerka Flamestrike, the R-88 Riot Rifle, the L70 Acid Projector, the KS23 Hammer, the Charged Particle Array Gun - and this is just another one of them.

Not near my books at the moment. What is the max range on any of those?

Not near my books at the moment. What is the max range on any of those?

Short and Medium. But I'm not sure that's the point. There is an example of a weapon that can fire an explosive device (a missile, which I believe would fall under the Powerful Blast talent) at Extreme range. The Missile Tube, which is Damage 20, Crit 2, Extreme, Encum 7, HP 4, 7,500 ®, Rarity 8, [blast 10, Cumbersome 3, Guided 3, Breach 1, Prepare 1].

Not that I want to compare it to the Missile Tube, of course.

I could compare it to the Light Repeating Blaster which, while only Long range, has Auto-Fire (which has the potential for far more damage over a broader range of targets than Blast 6) and Pierce 1, while only having a single drawback in Cumbersome 4. It also does more damage, costs 2000 credits less, and has an additional Hard Point for upgrades.

So what is a weapon that fires a round that explodes at extreme range called?

The point is that the round itself isn't an explosive, but rather a compressed plasma bolt that essentially "splatters" when it hits, much like how Satchmo describes it: it bursts like a paintball round.

• An explosive is a material that explodes, like those listed in Dangerous Covenants.
• An explosive weapon is a weapon that explodes, like a Thermal Detonator or a missile.
• A grenade is... well, a grenade.

This weapon is none of those things.

There are examples of weapons with the Blast property that aren't explosive weapons - the Czerka Flamestrike, the R-88 Riot Rifle, the L70 Acid Projector, the KS23 Hammer, the Charged Particle Array Gun - and this is just another one of them.

Sure, but that is kind of my point also. All those weapons you cite with the exception of the riot gun I believe are Short range, and the riot gun can be ignored with a gas mask or breather helmet, so it's hardly a show stopper of a weapon.

I think the intent of the designers is any glob of whatever with Blast quality that gets fired is supposed to be Short range at best, and anything longer ranged is situational. Anything beyond Medium range is a self contained explosive device and generally has a Limited Ammo quality as well. With your gun, why would anyone ever have built grenade launchers or sniper rifles separately?