That was hilarious reading, Erathia. Thanks for the link. I didn't jump in on the conversation because my rant would end up taking up more of my life than I was willing to invest in a pointless conversation. It's nice that someone else decided to make that investment. I used to rant like that 20-30 years ago, but there was no internet to immortalize words back then. That article pretty much said it all.

It always blows me away that everyone on this forum is a blacksmith and professional sword fighter.

Edit: Tau Pulse Shotgun exists in the lore already, actually. http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Pulse_Blaster

Oh, I'm not an blacksmith or professional swordsman by any stretch of the imagination.

It is, however, something that I have learned a little bit about and I guess the discussion touched a nerve. Video games should not be used as a primary knowledge source for something real-world; let them inspire you to actually find out about whatever interests you, sure, but don't just take video game "facts" at face value. The same goes for pretty much any other pop-culture phenomena - be it comics, movies, TV shows, fictional books, etc.

I'm not entirely sure how the Pulse Blaster/Shotgun is supposed to actually work like a shotgun, but I find myself pleased that they haven't entirely neglected close quarters weaponry. It could just be me, but I think a flechette firing railgun would be more practical than trying to turn a Pulse Weapon into a shotgun-like weapon.

I just know this page: https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Katanas_are_Underpowered_in_d20

This made my day. You the real MVP.

I'm not entirely sure how the Pulse Blaster/Shotgun is supposed to actually work like a shotgun, but I find myself pleased that they haven't entirely neglected close quarters weaponry. It could just be me, but I think a flechette firing railgun would be more practical than trying to turn a Pulse Weapon into a shotgun-like weapon.

There's no reason we operate under the assumption that they have the technology and resources available to do both. The flechette firing railgun would be sick though. Let's bust out some stats. I am picturing it as either a quad-barrel system with the four rails stacked on top and side by side, or a large cylinder with multiple smaller "rail tubes" inside of it to produce the desired effect. I am not 100% as to how much damage it should do. Should it be comparable to an imperial shotgun with increased range? Or should it be closer to the actual technology it is representing?

- "Defender" Series Compact Rail Gun: 50m; 2d10+2 I, pen 4; Mag: 6; Rld: Full; Proven (2), Scatter

I think a flechette railgun might use a discarding sabot or something a little like canister rounds for artillery/tank guns, loaded with the flechettes aligned in some sort of gel, maybe, rather than a bunch of barrels.

The Tau Rail Rifle from the Tau Character Guide

Basic; 150m; S/-/-; 3d10+2 I pen 12; 12/full; Felling, Proven(2); 8kg

Let's see what the closest an Imperial version can get to what we're looking for -

Flechette Ammunition (HA): +2 pen, +10% range, can use toxic flechettes to also gain Toxic

Maglev Impellers (HA): +1 damage, +10m range

We'll use the Persecutor Shotgun from Hostile Acquisitions for this, because it has a built in shock prod melee attachment and can be used as a shock staff in melee.

Persecutor Shotgun Base Profile: Basic; 35m; S/3/-; 1d10+4 I; Pen 0; 20/Full; Reliable, Scatter; 6kg

Modded: Basic; 49.5m (round to 50?); S/3/-; 1d10+5 I Pen 2; 20/Full, Reliable, Scatter, option to use Toxic Ammo; 6kg

If we use the SoI Scattergun from the Treasure generator section:

Base: Basic; 30m; S/2/-; 1d10+5 I pen 2; 12/Full; Scatter; 5kg

Modded: Basic; 44m; S/2/-; 1d10+6 I pen 4; 12/Full; Scatter, option to use Toxic Ammo; 5kg

The Innovative Design template from SoI, which is described much the same way as the Tau would be, gives +3 damage, +3 Pen, change to Energy damage, automatically equipped with an omniscope, double range. Don't think that works too well for a shotgun,

I wouldn't decrease the size of the magazine relative to the Tau Rail Rifle, I'd probably just leave it the same, or maybe increase it, depending on the fire rate we give this thing.

And as far as fire rate goes ... I'd say the higher the fire rate, the it should be closer to the Imperial Impeller+Flechette shotgun than the Tau Rail Rifle, in terms of damage and penetration.

I am more in favor of the SoI Scattergun. We are using DH2/OW/BC combat system in my game so it is Toxic (1) rather than simply Toxic - should they choose to use Toxic ammo. I also boosted the ammo to 15. My thought is that the gel tubes would be similar to shotgun shells and loaded into a box magazine. But seriously solid work - I dig it and am going to use it.

I was spitballing a new grenade type today as well (when I should have been working - but priorities lol). The concept is a grenade that has a 2-step detonation process developed for combating thick bunches of enemies in confined spaces - most notably Tyranids and Orks. The first is akin to a standard fragmentation grenade, only instead of steel fragments it shoots out the same ultra-dense nanocrystaline substance that Tau armor is made from. However, each nanocrystal is filled with a chemical substance that explodes after a certain amount of exposure to the environment (or on a delay if there is no environment to speak of). The process would look simultaneous to the naked eye, however the detonations occur within milliseconds of one another.

The damage profile is two fold consisting of the first (thrown; SBx3; 1d10+5 I, pen 2; blast (3)) immediately followed by (1d10+2 E, pen 0; blast (2), flame).

I know it looks convoluted, but I see it working out as a blast (5) weapon for all intents and purposes. GM rolls 1d10+5, pen 2 to all NPCs in the blast (3) zone and then a further 1d10+2 to every NPC within the total blast (5) zone.

The logic I am going for is that everything within the first three meters is subject to getting shredded - and since the crystals will detonate, they are also subject to that blast. Creatures outside of the initial blast (3) impact zone are only subject to the explosive chemical reaction.

That sounds like a nasty weapon. Also, it sounds more like something that Humanity would use than the Tau - a explosive submunitions grenade? Definitely Human brutality. But Tau practicality would use it if they learned of it or thought of it themselves.

The only thing that isn't pure human about is how you're describing the submunition casings - something a little bit like larger needle-rounds? If you borrow Hostile Acquisition's Micro-blast Needle ammunition, they have the following profile:

Micro-blast Needles(HA): Loose Toxic, increase damage by +4, change damage type to Explosive, gain Tearing quality; useable in Dartcasters, Needle Pistols, and Needle Rifles.

Possibly a cross between that and the Geode grenade of the RT core book: 2d10+3 R pen 4, Blast(3)

A Human version would probably borrow the krak-esque submunitions from the Meritech Scatter-Cannon ammo from Into the Storm - marble-sized explosives that do 2d10+4 X pen 4, Blast(1) - or from the microgrenades from Hostile Acquisitions, which are described as being "tiny, marble-like devices" - microfrags do 2d10 X pen 0 blast (2), microkraks do 2d10+2 X pen 5.

The Cross between the microblast needle and geode grenade might look like this:

Thrown; SBx3:

Stage 1: 2d10+3 R pen 4 Blast(3)

Stage 2: 1d10+4 X pen 0 Blast(5) and Tearing within the Blast(3) area, maybe

Actually, I might make it so that the more targets who are affected by the Stage 1 blast the more damage the Stage 2 blast does in its blast area, and the fewer affected by Stage 1, the larger the Stage 2 blast area is, if lower damage, so as to represent submunitions being caught and concentrated in people or just flying out expanding the AoE. Lots easier to do the former than the latter, though.

Maybe something a little like: for every person hit by the Stage 1 blast, there's a 1d10+4 X pen 0 Blast(2) centered on them, and has the Tearing quality for them and them only, as part of/in addition to the general Stage 2 Blast (5).

The Frag/scatter cannon ammo cross might look like:

Thrown; SBx3

Stage 1: 2d10 X or I pen 0; Blast(4)

Stage 2: 2d10+4 X pen 4; Blast(5)

And possibly: For every person hit by the Stage 1 blast, there is a 2d10+4 X pen 4 Blast(1) centered on them, as part of/in addition to the Stage 2 Blast(5)

A frag/microgrenade cross might look like:

Thrown; SBx3

Stage 1: 2d10 X pen 0; Blast (4)

Stage 2(microfrag): 2d10 X pen 0 Blast(6)

Stage 2(microkrak): 2d10+2 X pen 5 Blast(4)

And possibly: For every person hit by the Stage 1 Blast there is a (microfrag) 2d10 X pen 0 Blast(2) centered on them, or as microkraks don't have a blast radius, they'd just get an extra 2d10+2 X pen 5, as part of/in addition to the Stage 2 Blast(6 or 4, respectively). Or if you upgrade the microkraks to Blast 1, the Stage 2(microkrak) would be 2d10+2 X pen 5 (Blast 5), and for every person hit by the Stage 1 blast, there is a 2d10+2 X pen 5 Blast(1) centered on them, as part of/in addition to the Stage 2 Blast(5)

And maybe have the Stage 2 blast partially ignore cover in the Stage 1 blast area - the Stage 2 Blast is not treated as being centered on the grenade for the purpose of determining cover, but everywhere that the Stage 1 blast had hit. IE, picture a 4 way right angle intersection - you're 1 meter down one branch, the grenade is 1m down the branch next to you - around the corner - you would then have total cover for the Stage 1 blast, but not for the Stage 2 submunition blast, because the submunitions generating the Stage 2 blast are spread throughout the Stage 1 blast area.

Thus, to have cover against the Stage 2 Blast, you would need to have cover against everywhere within the Stage 1 blast area that is within submunition blast range (the increase in Blast radius between Stage 1 and Stage 2) of you.

And if you get hit by the Stage 1, you're automatically hit by the Stage 2, no chance to dodge; if the Stage 1 did enough damage to overcome your armor, the Stage 2 bypasses your armor (it's already inside the armor); and if the Stage 1 did enough damage to overcome your armor and Toughness, maybe the Stage 2 gains some degree of the Felling quality and/or Tearing quality, as it's already in your flesh. If you go with the general Stage 2 blast area and blasts centered on everyone hit by Stage 1, then this would only apply to the blast centered on the individual, not also the general Stage 2 blast area, or a secondary blast centered on the person next to them.

Definitely a room-clearer, as long as you don't care about what's inside the room.

Probably need to toss in some sort of bonus against Hordes, because, well, this thing is going to leave things looking like you stuffed a grox or two with explosives before setting them off.

I love how brutal it is. This will be play-tested as a "prototype" and I will give one to each player. See how they do with it.

I am liking this:

Stage 1) 2d10+3, pen 4 (blast 3)

Stage 2) 1d10+4, pen 0 (blast 5), Felling (4).**

** An NPC/PC hit by Stage 1 is automatically hit by the Stage 2 with no second chance to dodge; if the Stage 1 did enough damage to overcome armor, Stage 2 bypasses the victim's armor as it's already inside the armor and the secondary blast gains Felling (4).

The logic here being that if the initial blast already got through armor, then the secondary blast (being inside the armor) is going to not only ignore that armor, but also rip down some toughness for creatures who might otherwise bypass it with unnatural toughness. Furthermore, in my game I have amended Felling to ignore 1/2 its value on creatures without UT. So, it is still a deadly alternative.

Excellent work, man!

That sounds quite a bit like what Volkite Weaponry was meant to be like. An initial hit which embeds inside of the victim, and then delivers a secondary charge that burns them from the inside. All you need to do is change it so that "if an enemy is killed by this weapon, then a secondary Stage 1 effect is immediately triggered from their body. This secondary effect cannot trigger Stage 2".

Given that the Imperium switched from Volkite to Bolters due to production issues, it would be interesting if the Tau found the Volkite weapons and stole them from the Imperium, because it does sound like it was a pretty fun design.

Or a Volkite-esque technology that the Tau are developing independently would be interesting.

Hey, does anyone have a quick guide to translating TT rules to RPG? I remember seeing a link somewhere.

It might depend on to which book. Deathwatch, for instance, has many of the same guns do more damage, because Space Marines just make their guns work better. I know it's because someone makes them better gear, but in TT, they are she same guns, so it can get hazy translating some of them, especially if you ALSO want the to feel different. Is an Eldar firepike just a meltagun with a long barrel? No. Is an Eldar plasma weapon the same as an Imperial one? Nope. Yeah, I know that isn't really helping, but it can be iffy.

The volkite blaster is 24" S6 AP 5 Heavy 3 Deflagrate. Basically, a multi-laser with better AP and extra hits. So, Heavy; 100m; -/-/5; 2d10+10 E; Pen 4; Clip 60?; Reload full; Special. Special: This weapon scores an additional hit for each degree of success on the initial hit. These additional attacks do not gain additional hits.

That might look good, and it might not, like I said, it can be tricky. Hopefully, someone else DOES have your link.

For those interested, here is a link to the custom weapons I am using for my Tau RT Game. In the main thread there is also a list of homebrew rules.

http://rpng.freeforums.org/tau-armory-t435.html

The answer to all of your questions is obviously; Kroot battlesuits! then give them a giant, powered version of there bladed stick.

Has science gone too far?

Has science gone too far?

Has science gone too far?

Maybe.

Heresy!

I edited the home brew weapons and what not in the original post. I would love it if some people could play test them and give me some notes.

Updated with new battlesuit profiles.