So Ion weapons affect droids and cybernetics. But is there any effect on blasters and the like?

There is something in me liking the idea of an Ion blast hitting the enemy (and friends?) resulting in all blasters being useless, so reducing people to fighting with fists, swords (non moving parts) and... shotguns!

I couldn't see anything about it, so I assume they are not supposed to matter/be affected. Just wondering if anyone had any input either way?

I assume the cybernetics taking one hit, to be useless for a scene is due to them being very powerful (adding a characteristic)? But if there is a gun in an arm, can you still point it and shoot! (Cybernetic weapon)

PS. Is there a search function on the forum site? I couldn't find it? I assume "Ion" doesn't come up much?

The impression I get is that Ion takes out computers or complex electronics rather than just all technology.

Search is at the very top of the page in the header banner. Even has the text "Search..." in the box.

Search is at the very top of the page in the header banner. Even has the text "Search..." in the box.

Ahh - I have no box - just 'search' which I didn't notice before! Thanks!

Ahh %^%^ can only search 4 characters+ !!!

So 'Ion' isn't allowed!

It's worth pointing out that, at least in the EotE core book, the only weapons that have the actual "Ion" descriptor are certain starship weapons; no character-scale weapons use it.

Obviously, if you're getting blasted by starship-scale weapons, you have bigger problems then whether or not your gear is still functioning afterwards.

It's worth pointing out that, at least in the EotE core book, the only weapons that have the actual "Ion" descriptor are certain starship weapons; no character-scale weapons use it.

Obviously, if you're getting blasted by starship-scale weapons, you have bigger problems then whether or not your gear is still functioning afterwards.

Not quite, there is the Ionization blaster in the core rulebook. The kind the Jawas used on R2-D2 in A New Hope.

I can't recall any instance of ion weapons being used to short circuit blasters and the like. I do think they have been used against speeders or some other sort of vehicle at least once.

If your blaster has an advanced targeting scope or something like that, the ion might be able to take that out. But we're talking about complex circuitry, like Doc, the Weasel mentioned.

Waitaminute; we're talking about weapons that spit laser bullets. I would think that would take some fundamentally complex circuitry to regulate. If a player wanted to ion blast someone else's blaster rifle, I would let him (with the Aim maneuver); probably only have it short out temporarily though (like 1 round, +1 per advantage).

Star Wars blasters are analogous to modern-day, everyday guns. It's not "laser bullets," but rather a technology that's advanced to the kind of point that it's basically mundane. I mean, blaster rifles "jam." That's not something that advanced laser guns do.

YMMV, but I think it hurts immersion in the SW universe to make blasters susceptible to ion technology. Call it simplified electronics, call it inherent ion-shielding in the technology (I mean it's been around for millennia), call it whatever you like. But IMO blasters should be immune to going electronically haywire.

For more reading on the topic... http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Blaster

Again, high-tech attachments would totally be vulnerable to ion damage, so THOSE would stop working on a blaster rifle. But for your run-of-the-mill blaster, in my games they wouldn't be much affected by ion damage, since they are basically hunks of metal with technology that is around 30,000 years old.

I'm with Away, no instances of ion blasts disabling basic equipment like blasters.

There is something in me liking the idea of an Ion blast hitting the enemy (and friends?) resulting in all blasters being useless, so reducing people to fighting with fists, swords (non moving parts) and... shotguns!

That said...if you're looking for a way to make your players not want to use blasters there is precedent using high radiation zones. In old WEG materials (GG:9 Fragments from the Rim IIRC) it said that blasters, especially lower powered ones, became unreliable in high radiation zones. That's why Rad-zone Stormtroopers only carried heavy blasters, and unlike the rest of the Stormtrooper units, were trained and equipped with melee weapons like vibroswords and force pikes. As you point out, slugthrowers would also work just fine in a high radiation zone.

Mechanically I'd represent radiation zones as lvl 5 atmospheres on average. Protection can take the form of Adverse environment gear (radiation protective suit), a space suit (if I was in a good mood, but that has to do with my personal experience on the subject), or properly equipped armor (an attachment essentially the same as the thermal shielding attachment, except works with radiation instead of heat). Depending on the type of radiation and intensity I'd have the players roll a Resilience check at regular intervals with failure acting like an attack (probably something like reduce Strain Threshold by 1 for every 3 uncancelled failures, and apply a Crit (-30) for every 3 threat). While in the zone vehicle weapons are unaffected, Repeating and heavy blaster rifles have their difficulty upgraded once, all other blasters twice. Despair means the weapon is broken and rendered unusable until repaired.

I'd have to test it out a little bit before implementation, but that'd be my starting point.

Or stick 'em in a magnetically-sealed room "No blasters!"

It's worth pointing out that, at least in the EotE core book, the only weapons that have the actual "Ion" descriptor are certain starship weapons; no character-scale weapons use it.

Obviously, if you're getting blasted by starship-scale weapons, you have bigger problems then whether or not your gear is still functioning afterwards.

Not quite, there is the Ionization blaster in the core rulebook. The kind the Jawas used on R2-D2 in A New Hope.

If you'll notice, though, the ionization blaster doesn't actually have the Ion quality. It just has a special writeup in its description talking about how it deals stun damage to droids.

Which is a roundabout way to say effectively the same thing, but I guess they didn't want people using them on airspeeders or something.