Like the title says, are these expended or are they at least drained until recharged after use? Can one purchase of Extra Reloads be used over and over?

The rules do not specify it, so use your judgement.

My own two cents would be yes, they are expended, although the mere presence of extra reloads could cause the opposing side in the conflict to simply not choose to apply the "Out of Ammo" result when a despair is rolled.

I would say one use only.

Once per scene sounds right.

Since power packs can be recharged (explaining why your weapon isn't useless forever when the GM activates the out of ammo Despair), the extra reload can be reused whenever the gun would naturally be back to "reloaded." The players can just hook up the power packs to some power source and get them working again.

The Despair effect still has meaning -player needs to spend a manuever(?) to get their gun working again-, but there's less unimportant book keeping.

They're 25 credits, right? Anything that cheap has got to be expendable (unless it's something like a Sabaac deck.)

I agree with Sinosaur. I'm AFB, but if it doesn't explicitly say it's consumed, then I'd say it isn't consumed by RAW anyway.

The cost can be an argument either way. When your potentially paying repair fees of 500 credits a point of hull damage and other major repair related expenses, do you really want to have to track your purchases of piddly little 25cr reloads?

I agree with Sinosaur. I'm AFB, but if it doesn't explicitly say it's consumed, then I'd say it isn't consumed by RAW anyway.

The cost can be an argument either way. When your potentially paying repair fees of 500 credits a point of hull damage and other major repair related expenses, do you really want to have to track your purchases of piddly little 25cr reloads?

You have to keep track of Emergency Repair Kits and Stimpacks, both of which are 25 credits each and are specified as being expended with use.

I'd say that Extra Reloads aren't consumed after usage. Simply for the fact that everything that's a "one use" item is explicitly noted as being a single-use item in the equipment's description. For instance, stimpacks and ration packs are noted as being a one-use item. Extra reload s doesn't have that distinction, in much the same way that an emergency medpac, a regular medpac, or even a breathe mask (which has been a limited use item in prior Star Wars RPGs) aren't listed as being single-use items.

Yeah, that kinda makes Extra Reloads pretty good, especially if you're using a heavy blaster pistol, but it is offset somewhat by the fact you still have to spend a maneuver to use the item to counteract the "out of ammo" effect, a maneuver that could be used moving into cover or taking aim at a bad guy.

If the GM well and truly feels that unlimited extra relaods is an issue, instead of making them single-use items in that once used, they're gone forever the way stimpacks are, instead make them a "once per scene" deal, with the unspoken agreement that the blaster packs are "recharged" during the character's downtime.

I would absolutely say they're consumed on use. Otherwise the talent that lets you ignore out of ammo situations becomes almost worthless. It's 25 credits and it's available just about anywhere - the PCs can live with the loss.

If you've seen Sahara, you'll get this.

Regarding the topic at hand, I'd rule that if you're going to have them run out, you should be able to restock from fallen foes.

I would absolutely say they're consumed on use. Otherwise the talent that lets you ignore out of ammo situations becomes almost worthless. It's 25 credits and it's available just about anywhere - the PCs can live with the loss.

Re-read the talent.

It lets the PC completely ignore the "out of ammo" result caused by a Despair. So a character with that talent that's using anything other than a heavy blaster pistol or weapon with the Limited Ammo quality never has to worry about running out of ammo. That means they don't have to spend credits on the extra reload, or more importantly don't have to spend the maneuver to reload their weapon. And personally, I'd let the talent also apply to heavy blaster pistols, even though their "out-of-ammo" effect can be triggered with 3 Threat instead of the Despair required for other weapons.

Extra Powerpacks, once per session unless you are stranded someplace without an ability to recharge them. Extra Reloads (blaster or slugthrowers) are used up - gas, bullets, etc.

I agree with Sinosaur. I'm AFB, but if it doesn't explicitly say it's consumed, then I'd say it isn't consumed by RAW anyway.

The cost can be an argument either way. When your potentially paying repair fees of 500 credits a point of hull damage and other major repair related expenses, do you really want to have to track your purchases of piddly little 25cr reloads?

You have to keep track of Emergency Repair Kits and Stimpacks, both of which are 25 credits each and are specified as being expended with use.

Yeah. It wasn't meant to be a particularly compelling argument. "They're cheap" isn't really a good premise to base any argument on, which is kind of my point. The "and are specified as being expended" point is why I actually think they aren't consumable.

I can see it going both ways...my gut is that it should be consumable. I think most of the weapons in SW are powered with a gas canister and energy cell combo. That would explain why it can run out of ammo "at random (ie despair die)" and you are unable to count your bullets. It also makes sense why it would deplete and be a one time use.

However, the item is extra reloadS! It is not extra reload, extra canister, etc. You could be purchasing several gas canisters, energy cells, or whatever else. This game doesn't seem to lean heavily on micromanaging resources...so I could see that making sense in some situations.

Maybe it can be used multiple times, but at the end of an encounter, you need a new one?

I think the real cost isn't in credits, it's in Encumbrance.

Considering that, I think they are reusable (or maybe once per encounter).

Like Cody said... in Star Wars, Blaster use high-energy gas to create the plasma bolts. So you need gas (ex: Tibana gas) to power your blaster. Power packs (reloads) contain a gas canister with a small energy cell. You do run out of ammo sometimes.

For the extra reloads... I'd say they are consumed once used.
Weapons vendor will not offer a dispenser service to fill up your power pack ; they'll sell you a new one.... and it's not an Ipod that you can just plug in the wall power outlet.

For 25$, it won't really empty your player's pockets... they can afford it....

I can see the arguments either way, but from my perspective they're a semi-consumable item.

If you've bought 'extra reloads' once, you can take advantage of having it once between opportunities to replenish your supplies, but once you have that opportunity, it's back in play to be used again. If you buy it twice, you can take advantage of it twice. In this way, it's treated exactly the same as the 'base' ammo supply for your weapon.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you'll forget to refill/recharge your extra, and get caught with your pants down. (Two Despairs used to drain your normal power pack *and* the extra!)

I'd allow reusing them if not used "on the go"... each is going to require 24 hours on the charger before being reused. And time spent recovering them - either a maneuver or time after combat...

My two credits: Extra Reloads bring your weapon back on line for the remainder of the encounter. After that you need to find more ammo, recharge, etc. if your enemy rolls a Despair again they can choose to re-apply Out of Ammo in which case our extra reloads are exhausted. If a character is carrying multiple extra reloads then it is fair game for him to pop one in each time the enemy rolls a despair, at least until the extra reloads run out.

In our game we just look at the extra reloads as clips for a modern weapon. If/when a Despair comes and I choose to make the weapon run out of ammo, the PC burns one. When shopping they purchase another. Kind of like the little CO2 canisters that go in some pellet/BB guns.

Even if they are using something more akin to the NOS or CO2 tanks for paintball, you still have to pay to refill them. Unless you know somebody who is willing to fill one of their SCUPA tanks with NOS, but even then, that costs money, and is very heavy.

The fact that Extra Reloads take up 1 encumbrance, and is named "Extra Reload s " I take it to mean a multiple use item. I see little point in making a single use item, it'll quickly take up a lot of space in your backpack if you carry multiple Extra Reloads.

And it differs from spare clip thusly: spare clip lets you ignore a Despair out-of-ammo result (and arguably also 3 Threats for heavy blasters if you want to be kind to your players, I'm not - it does nothing to limited ammo weapons, which I'd argue is "immune" to running out of ammo due to Despair). Extra Reloads lets you spend a manoeuvre to reload, after a Despair (or 3 threats in the case of a heavy blaster pistol) out-of-ammo result, so you get to reload an otherwise useless weapon. It also takes up 1 encumbrance, Spare clip does not.

The fact that Extra Reloads take up 1 encumbrance, and is named "Extra Reload s " I take it to mean a multiple use item. I see little point in making a single use item, it'll quickly take up a lot of space in your backpack if you carry multiple Extra Reloads.

And it differs from spare clip thusly: spare clip lets you ignore a Despair out-of-ammo result (and arguably also 3 Threats for heavy blasters if you want to be kind to your players, I'm not - it does nothing to limited ammo weapons, which I'd argue is "immune" to running out of ammo due to Despair). Extra Reloads lets you spend a manoeuvre to reload, after a Despair (or 3 threats in the case of a heavy blaster pistol) out-of-ammo result, so you get to reload an otherwise useless weapon. It also takes up 1 encumbrance, Spare clip does not.

I take it as meaning Spare Clip is just one extra "magazine" while Extra Reloads is a typical EXTRA loadout (like 3 or so extra magazines). In the RAW you could shoot for quite a long time before someone applied a Despair against you to say you ran out. The typical player may have a few extra magazines and be slapping in a new magazine at non-important pauses in the action. The Despair result just means you ran out of all of your extra magazines. Carrying Extra Reloads means you have a few extra magazines in your go-bag that you now need to use a Maneuver to dig into and stick them into your belt pouches, for example. If you don't have backup magazines, you are completely out. If you have Spare Clip, it means you aren't quite out yet - you're a gun nut and your typical load of magazines is much larger.

I'd have said they were used up, personally.

The fact that Extra Reloads take up 1 encumbrance, and is named "Extra Reload s " I take it to mean a multiple use item. I see little point in making a single use item, it'll quickly take up a lot of space in your backpack if you carry multiple Extra Reloads.

Agreed. It is indeed plural as it's not called "Extra Reload" and it doesn't state it's consumed as many other items do. The proof is in the pudding. There's plenty of errata to go around, no need to imagine more.