Firearms and force users

[taylor]

So a hot debate I am in regards the narrow definition of lightsaber combat and firearms.

Strictly by the LSC description can parry blaster bolts, not slugs.

Thus my force users are looking for me to expand tk to allow them to catch bullets. Should firearms be the Achilles heel of a force user?

The scenario is looking as Darth Bob is amazing but while bringing up force lighting, local kid joe, pulls out a firearm, like Indiana Jone and shoot Darth Bob in the gut. Darth Bob has neglected his dodge skill and thus is humbled by a kid with a firearm.

I am resisting that I feel asking force users to buy a dodge skill is a reasonable solution to not getting hit, but the force users contend since I let them catch grenades with tk, a bullet should be either parriable or catchable as asking the force user to spend points in dodge is too much to ask.

[Sutehp]

My take on using lightsabers against bullets is that the lightsaber blade is a plasma column that is at least a few centimeters wide, so a Jedi (or Sith) wielding his blade essentially incinerates the bullet as the width of the blade is more than wide enough to intercept something as small as a bullet.

I dunno what other people's take on this is.
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[taylor]

I can see that as a response. My goal here was the prevent force users from being one trick invulnerable ponies. As they put up light saber combat and it is very difficult for ranged attacks to ever hit, thus the invulnerability bubble of a force user with a lightsaber. I am trying to balance it out with the gun heros.

[garhkal]

[taylor]

I now see that even creating a parry vs slugs is a wider ranged topic than I expected. I had forgotten about full auto sprays, the spread of a shot gun and that each pellet is it's own moving target, and the possibilities to manufacture the ammunition to be special new problem for the force user,

So in larger is this star wars, should force users to be able to parry slugs, did I rules lawyer this too much by using the fact that WEG used blasters in their description?

Why would everyone not walk around and mow down force users with automatic rifles? Why would a force user not carry an automatic rifle to best the Mr Darth as opposed to a lightsaber?


So I am seeking a balance between the gun heroes and force users, firearms, flamethrowers and gas attacks seemed to be nice solutions to give incentive for the force user to buy into their dodge skill and not default everything to a force based skill which covers a lot already.

[MrNexx]

I don't let Force Users parry firearms; blaster bolts are slower, fatter, and more visible than slugs, which can also be silenced.

So why doesn't everyone use firearms?

Because if you hit a firearm with a blaster, there's a not-bad chance that all your ammo explodes due to rapid heating and electrical discharge.

Because you need 90 different types of ammo, but only one kind of blaster pack.

Because 100 shots for a .45 is heavy, and for a blaster pistol is a 9 volt.

Because Jedi are rare and blasters kill average people just as well.
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[cheshire]

[taylor]

Is it an unfair burden to the force users to expect they defend against firearms with dodge instead of an LSC parry? The issue results that I have a character, or a couple, realizing the "loop hole" if it is one, that gives gun hero's a way to put a force user down.

[cheshire]

I think that a lot of players will find it an unfair burden, simply because there doesn't seem to be a logical reason why the Jedi could deflect a blaster bolt, but cannot put their lightsaber in the way of a bullet (which would presumably vaporize the slug on contact). Especially when you have other means of achieving similar ends.

It is, admittedly more challenging for the GM to challenge a Jedi player. But you also have a resource of experienced GMs to pool for ideas.

For example, a shotgun-like scatter round mentioned above. Or, if a villain got REALLY inventive, they can put pure cortosis at the core of their round, deactivating the lightsaber on contact. The round itself won't be lethal, but it will be one heck of a shock. The second round in the chamber is also likely to hit.
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[garhkal]

[thedemonapostle]

early on in my star wars gaming experience i proposed the idea of what kind of weapon could get past the light saber parry defense. the one that was agreed upon was a shotgun blast. the reason being that there were too much shot for the user to fully parry/defend against. from there we went and created a blaster shotgun. well less blaster and more energy cannon shotgun blast. my first gm's never let a force user defend against it the normal way and after awhile the characters reputation got around and users stopped trying the parry defense and started using the old school dodge and/or proper cover.

as i became gm much later on, i expanded it to say that vs jedi types the blast was only effective at certain ranges as the blast needed to spread out.

also, since it was in the prequels, a high volume of shots will overwhelm a jedi's abilities so theres that option too.
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[Error]

If this came up in my game, I'd allow them to block slugs (let's cut the crap and call them what they are: bullets), except they can't reflect them back on the firer—or deflect them at all, for that matter. I say this because a bullet would generally melt on impact with a lightsaber, scattering red-to-yellow-hot drops of molten metal all over the place. Can you imagine a Jedi parrying the shots from a machine gun? It'd be almost a miniature volcanic show, with each bullet splatting against the lightsaber and essentially becoming a little shower of flying lava and sparks. Gosh, that would look so dope. His/her clothes would be ruined afterward, but who cares?

This has given me a sweet idea for some of my fanfic.
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[Zarn]

Sorry, Error, you're wrong in equating bullets and slugs.

To quote Wookieepedia:
A slugthrower was any firearm that fired solid projectiles enveloped in energy (known as slugs), as opposed to the energy bolts of a blaster. So a bowcaster could reasonably be considered a slugthrower.

To paraphrase Wikipedia:
A bullet is the often metal bit that gets kicked out of the barrel of a firearm at reasonably high speed. It is singularly lacking in an energy envelope.

To further quote Wookieepedia:
Slugthrowers were surprisingly useful against lightsabers, as when a slug made contact with a blade, it simply melted instead of being deflected like a blaster bolt.

Own note:
Do note the "simply melted". It wasn't vaporized. So if a molten metal spray hits you, or if it is in its nonmelted form, that's both nasty.

[Error]

[garhkal]