My players are always cutting through things with their power swords. Locked door, power sword it. Bulkhead, power sword it. Safe, power sword it. A rivals shuttle, power sword some mechanical bits. How do I get them to stop using power swords like can openers?

People usually don't like having to replace their doors.

Also, opening doors like this leaves a very permanent note to everyone around that you're forcing your way in. Just put the party in a spot where they're expected to be discreet about something to avoid any consequences.

Cutting armor open and destroying things is pretty much what powerblades are for, you know.

The real issue here is that you're putting barriers in the plot that aren't barriers, and are therefore unimportant. The safe, the door, their just as much details of the scenery as the lackeys and the decor. They're not important. The plot points that are intended to be barriers or challenges should actually be barriers and challenges when considering the prowess of the PCs.

So let someone be cool by slicing open a safe here and there, but that's just a reward for having pushed, negotiated, or fought the way past the real obstacle. Which is, say, the fact that using powerblades in the embassy is basically piratical and will taint the PCs interactions thereafter. Or that the safe is behind ten thousand armsmen. Or bait laid by assassins. And so forth.

I wouldn't discourage them at all. Always remember that consequences arise. Perhaps the next time they split that door open to get to where they need to be someone has balanced a large barrel of warp tainted slurry behind the door. Oops. Your boots are wet...and have begun to gnaw off your feet!

Hurrah! Now the survivors will be more wary!

Also while a power blade will make short work of a door, bulkheads can be more daunting. Powerfists and chainfists are designed for bulhead crunching and need to be much nastier. Let them do it, but make it slow work.

Agree fully with the above comments also.

There probably are a few things that can resist a power weapon - lathe alloys, other power-fielded things, psychically protected stuff. In general, though, yes, you can cut through a lot of stuff.

Although it's a little late if they've been doing it for a while already, but power swords are no lightsaber. If they were, you wouldn't need melta-bombs, Chain Fists, etc. Instead the powerfield acts as an 'augmenter'' for the traditional weapon the field surrounds. While the power fields can cut threw an inch or so of personal body armor, going threw the 3 or 4 inches of an armored door or 6+ inches of vehicle armor or bulkhead is another thing entirely.

In general I don't buy the power sword as light saber idea. If they were that strong they'd have much higher pens. That said with enough effort a power sword could hack through a door or most anything. Things that stop it from being a door opener.

- In my game power sword have a charge. It lasts long enough that in combat it doesn't matter. Generally I only allow for 3-8 minutes of heavy use. Heavy use being constantly being pressed against a solid surface for cutting. Players can leave it on for hours as long as they aren't cutting things. Most combat only involves brief cuts.

- There are power field shorter that can be embedded in walls, door, and what ever. Cut through a wall with one, and it will drain power from the field, and then once a capacitor in the wall is full. It returns the energy causing a power surge, and overloading the power field. Repair of the power weapon requires a tech and a workshop.

- Embed an electrical trigger for a melta bomb in the door. You cut through the door the current dies, and you are ground zero for a melta bomb to the face. Also that power sword will be in the blast as well.

In general I don't buy the power sword as light saber idea. If they were that strong they'd have much higher pens.

Their penetration is high enough that nothing below good quality carapace or power armour would even slow down a power weapon. So... yep, sounds justified to me.

Just to nitpick, lightsabers aren't lightsabers. The only time we they're used to canopener anything is Episode I and they're interrupted before they succeed because even for a Jedi Knight cutting through a blast door is hard, time consuming work. If you look at the Empire Strikes Back lightsaber fight between Luke and Vader there are several instances where lightsabers hit things, but don't completely cut through them (including a strike by Luke on Vader's shoulders). Powerswords aren't lightsabers (they are close) and not even lightsabers are magic wands.

As has been mentioned chainfists, powerfists, and melta bombs do better are bulkhead busting. I'll add the power Incinerate and melta gell (staples for my DH group) to that list. Tough structures start at 16 armour points and go up from there. Even the damage that that beats the armour is then applied to a armoured barrier, something that will be able to take a lot of damage. Power supplies are not infinite and you can't seal out vacuum with a sliced and diced door. Overall a powersword isn't a great door opener, but it makes a decent improvised one if you don't have the right tools for the job.

If you look at the Empire Strikes Back lightsaber fight between Luke and Vader there are several instances where lightsabers hit things, but don't completely cut through them (including a strike by Luke on Vader's shoulders).

Admittedly, the EU explains that Vader's suit contains a lot of sabre-resistant armour to make up for his lost mobility.

That behavior is a insult to the spirit of the power sword? Besides that a power sword can blow through an armour but how much stress is it caple of handling, the constant stress of cutting a big hold in a bulkhead could short-circuit it?

Dalnor Surloc said:

Thank you, that helps alot. This will change the way my players view power swords.

Have them cut through a power-feed cable inside the bulkhead or door. I imagine bridging a high-voltage conduit with a metal weapon (designed specificly to conduct energy) that you're holding in your hand would impress the need for a meltagun or inferno pistol on someone, quick.

Psychopomp said:

I think a servitor equiped with bulkhead cutters might be a cheaper alternative... Though, not as easily transported or concealed.

-=Brother Praetus=-

"What are you talking about, of course I don't have a Servitor with bulkhead opening equipment standing behind me. That's my... personal scribe. right."

Cifer said:

We don't need the EU. He takes a hit in the shoulder in Empire Strikes Back and keeps use of the arm. That's primary source evidence that the armour is lightsaber resistance. Then we have railings being damaged and not severed by hits, the resistance of the blast doors, the electrostaves surviving a few hits and so on. They're clearly deadly, but not all powerful.

the next time they use the powersword approach there just happens to be a large amout of personal explosive in that safe.... trapping is the best way to make a party cautious....

Or possibly have the documents/loot they're looking for be burnt/wiped/corrupted or otherwise damaged or destroyed by the power field's fringe effect. I mean, paper, next to molten metal? And there's bound to be a pretty strong EMF generated as they burn their way in with power weapons, so there goes every unshielded piece of magnetic data storage...

"- In my game power sword have a charge. It lasts long enough that in combat it doesn't matter. Generally I only allow for 3-8 minutes of heavy use. Heavy use being constantly being pressed against a solid surface for cutting. Players can leave it on for hours as long as they aren't cutting things. Most combat only involves brief cuts."

"Thank you, that helps alot. This will change the way my players view power swords."

It would change the way alot of people view power swords... because that's not actually how they work in the 40k setting. Read anything that actually has a power sword in it and it pretty much is a lightsaber with a solid core that doesn't auto-cauterize wounds.

How do you get your PC's to stop hacking through doors/safes? Use sturdier materials and a time limit. IE: More gun servitors are rolling up slowly behind you from down the corridor, the door has an armor value of 32 (think that's armorplas rating, though it might be 64), hack at it, hope you righteous fury, that's what, 1d10+10 pen 6 (let's just say they have a decent strength). Start rolling high or get caught by baddies. They'll lern, meltas or powerfist/chainfists are what that's used for. Though, I do like the traps that the first poster I quoted put in after heh. In the end, I agree with the other people who posted right after you, a door isn't a real barrier if it's not a real barrier.

I think this is either missing in RT or people have missed this (quick found in DH page 199) as BrotherHostower shows:

Under Cover Types (basically to attack through cover)

Light wood, Armour-glass, Light Metal (AP 4)

Heavy wood, Flakboard, Sandbag, Ice (AP 8)

Rockcrete, Thick Iron, Stone (AP 16)

Plasteel, Armaplas (AP 32)

With a basic power sword at 1d10+5 E, PEN 6, you could conceivably cut through a thick iron door, basic wall safe, etc. but even with max damage of 15 with PEN 6 you wouldn't even scratch a ship's armoured bulkhead doors even if you made their value between a level between (AP 24) a Thick Iron door (AP 16) and Armaplas bulkhead (AP 32).

Power swords are anti-heavy infantry (i.e. armoured troops) not anti-vehicular weapons.

-Cynr

BrotherHostower said:

I have read several things with power swords in them - and they change drasticly in each one. Appearance, effect, secondary effects, method of operation etc. I have a hard time remembering two powerswords that actualy operated the same between two different authors.

Different power swords have different forms, some are actually energy fields not solid weapons. The solid weapons seem to be a more primitive version of the much more ancient and powerful energy weapon versions. As a GM its really up to you which one is in the hands of the players. Perhaps they have an ancient (read Dark Age of Technology) relic that has no blade until you flip it on and then its a shimmering energy blade that runs forever (nanoparticle batteries fed by kinetic feedback anyone). Other blades could be a primitive gladius with a hilt rebuilt to give it the power weapon profile that uses a battery that only lasts ten minutes before needing a recharge. Its definitely up to you.

Sollex Energy Blades.

Found on the Aegis Data Disc Fragment these blades are basically lightsabers in 40k.

But even with their dmg and pen wat it is would take a **** fine minute to cut through, nay even damage, reinforced blast doors. (think AP 36+ due to reinforcement)

A door is as solid as the GM needs it to be.

Alexis

*smiles*

bobh said:

All the power weapons commonly used in 40k are proper weapons with a power-field generator built into it to sheath it in a power-field. The only "energy blades" are the Sollex Energy Blades, which aren't power weapons, they're essentially lightsabres.