The Bowcaster... underpowered? My take on it.

[CRMcNeill]

My only reservation with this is that the EU has built quite a bit on Wookiees' technical proficiency being one of the main reasons they were highly prized as slaves.

EDIT: As for putting Threepio's head on backwards, well, I think he might've done it for the laughs, considering how annoying Threepio can be. It did seem like there was a bit of a Wookieeish chuckle in there somewhere just before he switched him off.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

Anyway, back on topic...

Here's a new concept.

WOOKIEE BOWCASTERS
There is a great deal of disagreement in the galaxy at large as to what a bowcaster is and how it operates. The reason for this is that the bowcaster is actually part of a broad class of weapons ranging from simple, single-shot hunting weapons to full-on, multi-shot assault weapons. Scholars have broken bowcasters down into a handful of broad categories, based on similarities of design.

BUILDING A BOWCASTER:
Because of their symbolic importance, Wookiees refuse to mass produce bowcasters; every bowcaster is assembled by hand. Assembling a bowcaster requires 5 days of dedicated work (8 hours per day) and three separate Bowcaster Repair rolls. The Difficulty of those rolls is dictated by the pattern of the bowcaster being assembled.


QUALITY BONUS:
Once all three Bowcaster Repair rolls have been completed, compare the lowest skill roll to the Base Assembly Difficulty. For every 5 points by which the low roll beat the Difficulty, add +1 pip to Fire Control, representing a particularly well made bowcaster. Alternately, if time is an issue, the construction time may be reduced by 1 hour per point of success.


BOWCASTER PATTERNS:

Initiation Pattern (aka Hrrtayyk Pattern)
Assembly Difficulty: Easy (500 credits for materials)
Ammo: 1, plus 50-shot power pack in butt-stock.
Fire Rate: 1 (Attempting to fire more than 1 shot per round results in a MAP of -3D due to the multiple actions required to hand load a round).
Capsule: The Initiation Pattern is the simplest type of bowcaster, and is generally the type assembled by a Wookiee youngling as the first step in its Hrrtayyk rite of passage to adulthood. It is a single-shot, breech loading weapon, and is found in bolt, break-open, lever and pump-action variants (this does not appreciably affect the Difficulty of reloading). Initiation Pattern Bowcasters are commonly kept as heirlooms even if their owner has since moved on to one of the other Patterns, and are still deadly weapons despite their relative simplicity.

Defender Pattern
Assembly Difficulty:
--Revolver-Type: Easy (1,000 credits for materials)
--Pump-Action & Magazine: Moderate (1,000 credits for materials)
Ammo:
--Revolver-Type: 6 (in a revolving drum), plus 50-shot power pack in butt-stock.
--Pump-Action: 4 (in under-barrel tube), plus 50-shot power pack in butt-stock.
--Magazine: 6 (in detachable box magazine with integrated power pack).
Fire Rate: All models are either lever- or pump-action, which is counted as a Non-Roll Action for MAP purposes. However, the lever and pump actions require an Easy Strength roll as a Free Action to successfully prime the next round. If a character can make 10 consecutive successful Strength rolls, they are considered "Familiarized" with the weapon, and are no longer required to make the roll when reloading.
Reloading:
--Revolver-Type: 1 Non-Roll Action per round loaded, although Speedloaders are available that reload all 6 shots in two Non-Roll Actions.
--Pump-Action: 1 Non-Roll Action per round loaded. Not Speedloader compatible.
--Magazine: 1 Non-Roll Action to replace box magazine.
Capsule: The next step up from the Initiation Pattern, the Defender Pattern is the common weapon of Wookiees who generally have other, non combat duties. Multiple pattern types exist, with the primary difference being the method of ammunition storage and reloading. Each has its own advantages, with the choice being based on individual preference. The Revolver type is easier to assemble but slower to reload (although Speedloaders are commonly available); the pump-action is also slow to load, but is more compatible with loading and firing specialty rounds on short notice; and the magazine type is quick to reload, but is the least compatible with specialty rounds (which must be in a box magazine and can not be individually loaded).

Battle Pattern
Assembly Difficulty: Difficult (1,500 credits for materials)
Ammo: 6 (Detachable Magazine, with integrated power pack)
Fire Rate: Semi-Auto. Reloading magazine counts as a Non-Roll Action.
Capsule: The Battle Pattern Bowcaster is the standard weapon for Wookiee warriors, with quicker firing rate than the Defender and Initiation Patterns. Its only real weakness is that it can only fire ammo from magazines, which makes it difficult to use more expensive and rare rounds, such as the Slayer Dart. Very rarely, a Battle Pattern Bowcaster will feature a Revolver-Type magazine (Moderate Assembly Difficulty, with same reloading restrictions as the Defender Pattern), but the vast majority are magazine-type.

Hunter Pattern
Assembly Difficulty: Very Difficult (2,500 credits for materials)
Ammo: 6 (in motorized revolver drum with loading port). Switching between ammo types is a Free Action.
Reloading: 1 Non-Roll Action per round loaded. Not Speedloader compatible.
Capsule: The ultimate in bowcaster design, the Hunter Pattern features a smart-revolver system. Individual rounds are scanned and encoded as they are loaded into the drum, and specific rounds can be selected for use by the shooter using button controls built into the bowcaster's foregrip. This allows the shooter to load and carry multiple types of bowcaster darts in the same weapon and quickly toggle between them as needed. Bowcasters of this type are found almost exclusively in the possession of solitary Wookiee hunters and scouts, who appreciate the ability to switch ammo types in an instant to deal with the unexpected.

Assault Pattern
Assembly Difficulty: Base Model +5 (Base Model Cost + 500 credits in materials + cost of combination weapon).
Ammo & Reloading: As Base Model.
Capsule: One of the most fearsome shoulder ams in existence, the Assault Pattern Bowcaster reconfigures one of the other Bowcaster Patterns as an under-barrel weapon in combination with a blaster rifle of some type. While any shoulder arm is a possibility, the most common combinations by far are the Heavy Blaster Rifle, Light Repeating Blaster, Marksman's Rifle, or one of the larger Arc Blaster models.

AMMO TYPES:
While Wookiees refuse to mass produce bowcasters, they have no such compunction when it comes to mass producing bowcaster ammunition. Most types of ammo are readily available and relatively inexpensive. The only exception is the powerful Slayer Round, which incorporates a proton nano-warhead, and is extremely difficult to manufacture.

Standard
Cost (Availability): 1 credit each (1)
Range: 3-10/50/150
Damage: 6D

Hunter
Cost (Availability): 1 credit each (1)
Range: 3-30/100/300
Damage: 5D

Penetrator
Cost (Availability): 2 credits each (1)
Range: 3-30/100/300
Damage: 4D physical (ignores up to 2D of Armor Protection)

Explosive
Cost (Availability): 20 credits each (2, R)
Range: 2-10/50/100
Damage: 5D/4D/2D
Blast Radius: 0-2/4/6

Shocker
Cost (Availability): 2 credits each (1)
Range: 3-10/50/150
Damage: 5D (Stun / Ionization)

Stalker
Cost (Availability): 2 credits each (2, R)
Range: 2-10/50/100
Damage: 4D+2 (physical)
Special: The Stalker has almost no firing signature, and can only be detected on a Moderate Perception or Search roll, and even then only if within 20 meters of the shooter.

Talon
Cost (Availability): 10 credits each (1)
Range: 2-10/50/100
Damage: 5D (Stun / Ionization)
Capsule: The Talon round is a specialized round used to hunt Kroyie birds, but has also proven quite effective against Imperial Patrol Droids. The Talon fires an expanding electro-net on the end of a fiber-line. It stuns or ionizes on impact (depending on the target), while simultaneously encasing the target in the net. The shooter then uses the attached line to reel in the target (which would otherwise drop into the depths of the Kashyyyk forests).

Slayer
Cost (Availability): 1,000 credits each (3, R)
Range: 3-10/30/50
Damage: 9D
Note: Slayer Rounds are reserved only for the most dire threats, and Wookiees consider themselves honor bound to use them sparingly.

Magazine - 20 credits each, rounds sold separately.

Speedloader - 10 credits each, rounds sold separately.

Note: These prices are listed for Wookiees only; for all others, Availability is Not Available For Sale. Exceptions may be made for non-Wookiee honor family members.

_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[RedKnight]

you have now made my imperial players investigation of jedi activity on Kashyyk even worse then it initally was going to be......thank you so much !

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

Added stats for the Stalker (a silenced round) and the Talon (an electro-net used for hunting birds and small droids, with a tether to allow the target to be reeled in).
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Raven Redstar]

These are super nifty!

I'm glad Wookiees are getting some spread of love, instead of being a bulletproof melee beast.

Thanks for taking the time McNeill!
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RR
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[CRMcNeill]

[Ninja-Bear]

Very nice!

[Naaman]

CRM just won the internet.

This is a brilliant solution.

I do have one quibble: the drfender pattern is not really any better or faster than the initiation pattern, since a single action is required between shots.

FWIW, a manually cycled weapon DOES add a smidge of complexity to its operation, but comes nowhere near what I would consider MAP worthy (with a bolt action being a possible exception... but the reason we still use bolt guns IRL is because they are inherantly accurate out to very long distances...farther than most can even ID a target with the naked eye).

In case its helpful, I consider reloading to be a minimum of 3 non-roll actions. Instead of requiring an action to cycle the weapon, I limit the number of shots possible based on Dex (though, the bowcaster skill could also be used to determine the max shots per round).

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]

EDIT: Went back and changed the Initiation Pattern and Defender Pattern to reflect Naaman's point on Rates of Fire, and the inclusion of a Strength roll to re-cock the Defender.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Naaman]

Now.... the three actions to reload is just how I do it.

I am certain that most here would consider reloading a single action, and I understand why they do.

In any case, I think that slowing down the initiation pattern OR speeding up the defender pattern gets the point across.

Perhaps the strength check you want to use could be a once per round or once per battle (with a MAP assessed for a retry to get a better result) whichh would negate the MAP incurred by cycling the weapon? Or were you thinking MAPs + strength check? Also, a minor consideration: would lifting be allowed to sub for the strength check?

As I think about it, I like the idea of a big bad ranged weapon that requires lots of muscle to use: it fills an almost archetypal cinematic role (like Jesse Ventura's use of the minigun in Predator, for example).

[CRMcNeill]

For weapons requiring Strength rolls, I've been thinking of adapting the Fluency rule from Languages. Say a bowcaster requires an Easy or Moderate Strength roll to re-cock, but if a character can make 10 consecutive successful Strength rolls at that Difficulty, they are considered "Fluent" in operating it (or Familiarized, if you like). This could also be used for things like the Smart-Gun rig from Aliens, where the shooter has to learn how to use a light touch on the gun so as to not throw off the auto-aiming function.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index