In the book it's mentioned that digi weapons are extremely difficult to reload; then the weapons table states reload time is a full action.

So it may be difficult but at least it's quick

Just how do you go about reloading a digi weapon? A digi-melta or digi needler for example? The mind boggles. Perhaps there is a tiny compartment where you can use an eye dropper or similar device to drop a tiny amount of the ammo(!)? Sounds somewhat unlikely...

Any ideas how to charge up a digi-las? How on earth do you connect the ring to a power source for a reload time of a full round?

I just know my players are going to ask me this and i'm stumped.

Take the ring off, replace the watch battery sized power core, put the ring back on an fire again.
Do mind that a digital weapon usually is a weapon of last resort or surprise and will only be used once per encounter.

I would think the reload time for the Digi weapons is a typo and that reload should be an out of game exercise. Maybe change 1 Full to 1 Full Day, with rapid reload reducing that to 6-12 hours.

I would also say that the weapons all come with a reloading device that mounts to the corresponding ammo container and removes the appropriate charge from that ammo container.

Digi-weapons are recharged by converting basic mechainical energy, so when the old Rogue Trader fires and turns to you and says, "Pull my finger" he's not necessarily about to release a miasma of pestilence...

HappyDaze said:

You almost killed me (death by sandwich)

I have't read though the new Rogue Trader book yet, but I interpreted the fluff on Digital weapons as having an internal power source that didn't need changing, just that it took a while for them to re-charge after use.. humm, interesting...

I'd assume that digi-weapons generally come with "docking stations" where you (er, forget "you" - make that "a duly appointed priest of the Mechanicus who can duly honour the venerable machine spirit of this hallowed device") can plug them in to reload.

Tricky... I suspect you have to do it between adventures. I can just see My Rogue Trader now,,,

Frezenio was annoyed. The meeting at the Tetrachs palace had not gone well. What should have been a simple diplomatic deal had turned out to be a disaster due to some minor linguistic mistranslation. It had caused a cultural offence of proportions he hadnt quite understood. He and his closest councillors had to fight their way out of that banquet hall, past the palace guards and back to their shuttle, luckily he had his side arm with him or else his dynasty would have ignobly ended on this Emperor forsaken dirtball. In this particular instance bombarding the planet and cowing the population was out of the question...he had to get the treaty signed. The Tetrach had relented and called up another meeting. Frezenio knew it was a trap and he sure as hell wasnt going to go back down there unarmed without a trick up his sleave. He needed his digi weapons, but he had forgotten to reload them from last time he had use for them. The process to reloading was too...humiliating.

He took a deep sigh...

The heavily sealed bulk door to his personal armoury slid back at his vox command. He walked up to an ornate gilded adamantium cage at the back of the armoury. Gingerly he took out a Terran curved yellowfruit out from beneath his jacket, and looked the jokaero ape straight in the eye.

The ape scrached his privates

" Ok... look I dont have time for this but if you can reload these things in the next ten minutes theres a crate full of these things out there for you"

If the ape understood what he said it cetainly gave no indication.

I thought that digiweapons were created by the Jokaero (sic). If so, would a tech priest have much to do with one?

I prefer the idea of digiweapons having a docking station to reload/recharge.

Grand Inquisitor Fulminarex said:

The best and most compact digiweapons are created by the Jokaero. Digiweapons are high technology, but within the capabilities of humans and eldar technology to create.

Several points. 1) YAY! The jokaero return! A xenotech device created by possibly sentient nomadic orangutans might have a variety of ways to be recharged, from biomechanical energy to really small batteries to standard lasgun power connections. Decide for yourself.

2) Imperial Standard Digiweapons proably use broadcast power to recharge, hence the 1 turn time, it's just how long it takes in an active upper hive to recharge the things.

3) Hey, they're digital weapons. They're hard to use. Live with it

I think a Jokaero crewman is worth a Ship Point alone..... But he'll keep your digiweapons reloaded!

SJE

Old Rogue trader backgrounds says that they are hard to keep in captivity as they keep on creating devices to escape. Exactly how my rogue trader is keeping one in a simple golden gilded cage is difficult to answer right now...

I plan on the PCs rescuing a Jokaero from Orks early in the campaign. The defining thought for role playing them will be. What if James Bond's Q was an orangutan? He'll be handing them devices and miming out what they do. The PC will need to mime out what they want. (I haven't decided yet if the Jokaero can speak and understand gothic. Maybe they just think it's funny.)

Don't be too shocked if they just kill it and take its stuff. **** aliens trying to destroy the Imperium of Man through the dark arts of the mime...

Well, if it is a las-based digi-weapon I guess it could be gradually recharged by your body heat. (I figure that if you're able to create technology so advanced as to provide a high powered laser shot from something as small as a piece of jewelry, you should reasonably have figured out a method to directly transform thermal energy into electrical energy without having to use a powerplant)

As for weapons such as needlers, melta and plasma that actually needs physical ammo or fuel of some sort I have no idea. Of course, since it is a highly focused one-shot weapon, perhaps the weapons reload by means of nanotechnology?

I mean by building miniature factory out of atoms whose purpose it is to gather material components from the surrounding air (steady source of Oxygen and Nitrogen), ambient moisture (water = steady source of hydrogen), and even minute portions of skin cells from the wearer (pretty much all life is carbon based, so skin cells = steady supply of carbon). With all these elements avaliable a miniature nanofactory could feasibly produce a high number of atomic configurations, and it could litteraly "build" reload projectiles or fuel for the weapon one atom at a time. With the little nanofactory being powered by the wearers body heat.

Sound high-tech enough for ya?

Dalnor Surloc said:

WH40K:RT says they are incapable of language, FYI.

aramis said:

Who cares?

Just imagine that Q in a James Bond movie was replaced with an orangutan tinkering with stuff and going: "ooh! ooh! Aahh! Aahh!" when he shows Bond his newest gadets, and Bond of course have no idea what the hell the ape is trying to say but he's throwing all manner of wierd objects at him like rings shooting laser beams, a plasma bomb clerevly disguised as a quill pen, a fully functional, miniature ornithopter that can be folded neatly into fifteen envelopes etc. etc.

Bond of course tries to wrap his head around how half the stuff works and when Q gets angry at him for Bonds daftness he throws old bananapeels at Bond while jumping up and down.

aramis said:

Yes but,

a)That's just the what imperials believe. Maybe they have just been playing a joke on the humans.

b)They might understand, but not speak. Of course it's easier to fake not understanding than do what humans want them to.

c)I've never let the setting get in the way of a good story.

Varnias Tybalt said:

Sounds high tech enough to be heretek.

I intend for them to be reloaded with tweezers.

Bilateralrope said:

Well to be fair, pretty much every digital weapon is heretek. Since they are an invention of an alien species, so having a heretek reload mechanism wouldn't be inappropriate...

I love the Q-orangutan-idea. Reminds me a lot about the librarian from pratchetts discworld novels :-) I'll have to see if I can hide it seomwhere without making it too much of a comic relief.

Captain Harlock said:

You, sire, have just made my day!

But back on topic: Gameplay-wise, I'd require a return to the ship for the Digi-weapon to be reloaded, to reinforce the "last resort"-part. Fluffwise, a multitude of options are possible; I'd quite like the reloading dock - a huge, room filling machinery, recharging your digi-weapon in less than twelve hours!

Of course, the caged Jokaero would be an option, too - but better keep enough bananas ready...