Your heavy blaster rifle just ran out of ammo and there's an angry Trandoshan engaged with you who's trying to claw your face off. Can you rifle-butt him in the head as an attack?

I think the improvised weapons rule does a nice job of covering this. I can see treating the butt of a pistol grip as a small improvised weapon. I'd probably do the same for a rifle butt, though if it was a really big weapon like a rocket launcher, maybe that could go up to a medium improvised weapon.

Does that sound reasonable? What do you guys think?

Sounds good to me. I never liked that, in Saga, you need a special talent to be able to do this, and I think the Edge rules for improvised weapons cover it nicely.

Sounds good to me, i mean the the rules is names " Improvised Weapons " and a discharged blaster used as a brick is an improvied weapon.

I would totally use it.

Yeah, it seems to be better than just punching a guy straight up, unless you've got talents that make you really good at punching guys.

Yeah, it seems to be better than just punching a guy straight up, unless you've got talents that make you really good at punching guys.

Which is pretty realistic, if you ask me.

Actually, there is an advantage to punching a guy...brawling attacks have the disorient and knockdown qualities, which improvised attacks don't.

Hmm.

Yeah, I'd agree that smacking a guy with the butt of your rifle or doing a pistol whip would fall under Improvised Weapons.

As for there merits of an improvised weapon vs. a straight unarmed Brawl attack, the improvised weapon has a bonus to damage, but the GM has the option of spending 2 Threat or a Despair to have the weapon break. Personally, i wouldn't use that option if the PC was using the butt of their rifle, but other GMs might decide to break the PC's main weapon even further than just simply being out of ammo.

That said, I could see talents for a gunslinger-type of specialization that makes a pistol-whip a viable attack option, most likely by having it no longer be an improvised weapon, and perhaps even adding things like Disorient onto the attack as well, to reflect how less-than-coherent after being Earp'd.

But Brawl just uses your Brawn and Brawl, and a rifle butt would deal more damage and would use Brawn and Melee. Either way would work really. Hell, you could "dual wield" and punch him and rifle butt him together for all I care! XD

But Brawl just uses your Brawn and Brawl, and a rifle butt would deal more damage and would use Brawn and Melee. Either way would work really. Hell, you could "dual wield" and punch him and rifle butt him together for all I care! XD

You could, but that's two different skill at work and you'd take the lower of the skill ranks per the two-weapon combat rules.

But yeah, that's a viable option.