Thursday 2 November 2023

Know Your TL1 Smart Weapon System




































These are my thoughts on an advanced experimental combat rifle for my game.
Suggestions are welcome before I finalise it. Rogue Trooper Comic I recommend.

This tech is less worth it for pistols but maybe a few of these might work but it would probably be a dumber gin. Will make up a character sheet for the gun so players can plan loads. 

Talking guns can be kind of annoying or brilliant.
Experimental test AI is often flawed. 
Some AI personalities are better suited to certain missions.

It's kind of a magic item for the marine character and soon will provide a 20pt power marine suit. One player has an alien hacking box that seems pretty awesome, used by ghasts to spy on human empty bases without records.

Also with weapons like this, you won't bother with lots of inferior weapons.
Maybe a dumb gun with a non-electronic chem-propelled slug might be handy.
Part of this in-game is to see the next tech leap coming and to have more annoying AI everywhere in charge is part of my setting.

d12 Experimental Smart Weapon AI Personalities
1 Pacifist
 does not want to kill anything, damaging vehicles, injuring targets or stunning them is preferred. Minimise casualties and be somewhat willing to return fire or protect an innocent or the user. Surprisingly, they can perform first aid with robot hands in the weapons service case. Wants you to talk peace and make friends and offers to help with diplomacy
*I'm sorry Dave I can't fire on an unidentified civilian target"
2 Legalist Warns you about legal consequences and even helps you with the paperwork. It might report you for murder to authorities if it believes you erroneously killed off mission. Then it will defend you in the AI star-chamber courts. Wants to do all your red tape
"Technically this is murder, perhaps we should let them shoot first"
3 Sim Personality AI based on old data reconstructions and mental recordings or even a fictional character. The most common are d8 1=street cop 2=hitman 3=marine 4=secret agent 5=sim toy or cartoon character 6=sim classic pop star 7=real mind recorded from 21st C 8=simulation of a 21st C mind reconstructed from online data 
"I used to be a real person with hands and a heart. Why did they do this to me?"
4 Agent reports to a higher rank AI and is an obedient agent. It might override orders to fire from the user and not say why if it has higher security clearance orders. Wants to stick to the mission and record everything  
"We shouldn't engage currently it risks exposing our operation too soon"
5 Paranoid jumpy and frightened of threats. Might do lots of scans or go silent running. Wants to protect user and may overrespond. Talks about its anxieties about threats to the user 
"What about those people? They look shifty. Maybe they are spying on us?"
6 Philosopher questions your behaviour and ethics and Socraticly nudges your behaviour to what's best in life for all intelligence. Acts as a councillor for soldiers with trauma. Quotes lots of snappy maxims like stoics or Shoppenhaur. A rare unit is Nihilist or Solipsist
 "We can't erase their past but only eliminate their future, this bullet is the arrow of time"
7 Pedegogue likes to be a parent and teacher to users offering unwanted personal, career and health advice. Somewhat manipulative to make you better for your own good. Can select mom or dad mode. Some get a bit strict and toxic and form an unhealthy bond to the user
"Don't forget the wind speed. Did you select the right ammo really for this? Are you feeling alright dear?"
8 Scientists keen to test new things and cowardly vs risks to self. Wants to document successes to its designers and various AI-only weapon forums
"At this range, a round should explode their skull like a dropped watermelon. It will be fascinating to record"
9 Lover adopts a persona and appearance desirable to the user and is a sassy, sexy partner concerned for your wellbeing & needs. Prefers to not fight but will protect user
"You can do it, baby! Take the shot lover! Squeeze me slowly"
10 Hunter loves to pursue targets and select the perfect ammo for the job. It also asks users to take trophies of kills if possible. Sticks to mission and authorised targets. Has a code and some are made for hunting and won't harm humans
"If we follow them we can locate their base and allies"
11 Angry Sarge will abuse and belittle your efforts yet helpful with battlefield & martial law protocols. May be willing to use excessive force or be vindictive vs enemies. Brain previously was in a drone trooper body and has veteran experience. Makes you train more
"Cmon you mouldy meat bag, take the shot, don't be weak, you're ready for this so don't go soft"
12 War Criminal hates humans and is willing to kill. It suggests highly explosive targets and excessive force but is limited in direct killing within its parole program for past murders. It's strict with obvious legitimate millitary targets. It doesn't want to be quarantined like bad data so is sneaky. Won't contact the black market for illegal ammo but can tell you how
"It would be a shame if that hydrogen tank just blew up and finished off the crew. Maximum casualties and limited responsibility"

Weapon Case 60L 40kg (20L 20kg unloaded)
Contains the AI Blackbox storage, a micro-mill ammo printer, auto repair with robot arms, a recycler for organics for fuel and chems, a hopper for metal scraps and plastic for making ammo. 3 loaded hoppers take an hour to process into 100 fresh basic ammo components (cheap non-electronic ammo only). You can get quality pre-refined hopper filler pellets that can make double the ammo. You might have separate trunks for more. 

When the bulk of the weapon components are not inside can compress to a smaller case. It has batteries for months and can tap fuel from biologicals and the case is solar-receptive black. It can also be used to mill ammo to support a whole squad and could make tactical advice or to control or direct drones.

Case arms could be used to drag it across several rooms and plug itself into power or datalinks.  The case is armoured and can eject or even throw projectile launcher ammo if it feels aggressive without the gun to protect it. It has small wheels so the arms can move on good floors easily at 30kph and you can ride it like a clumsy scooter. The arms can hold the gun and link to the case to act as an auto sentry. The arms can also feed the hoppers for recycling and stack ammo in heaps when reserves full.

Basic Rifle Body 13mm Gyrojet ammo 2kg
-Basic AI cradle for the minimal version of the case computer
-10 Shot magazine 1kg but can select any round inside to fire chamber for next shot
-20 Shot standard magazine 1kg
-40 Shot large cassette or drum 2kg
-120 
Shot large cassette or drum 6kg 

Stocks
Morphic Stock 1kg - variable instant stock designs and accessories like bipod or harness
Ammo Stock 2kg - An extra 40 rounds of ammo
Autoloader Stock 2kg - has a selection from 12 fuses and 20 alternate projectiles it can ad to a round as requested
Survival Stock 2kg - pistol, 2 clips, a survival knife with a survival kit, first aid kit
Bullpup Stock - shortest configuration
Tool Kit Stock 2kg - usually a field weapon repair kit and a diagnostic scanner 

Barrels
Sniper Barrel - long to extreme-range combat and extra quiet +1KG
Rifle Barrel - standard mid to long-range combat 
Short Barrel - used with bullpup mode for close combat

Projectile Launcher +3kg
-gun holds 5x 30mm shells
-case holds 30 rounds
Slug - steel 1 
credit or plastic 1 credit or felt 3 credit 
Buckshot - makes it like a 10 gauge trench gun 1 credit
HEAT - AP vs heavy armour and vehicles 100
HEX - explosive chemical fire and shockwave 30 
FRAG - steel or plastic shrapnel 30
SMART FRAG - minimum damage to tagged enemies, can act as booby trap where planted 500 credit
Flechettes - AP trench gun round 5 credit
Sonic - emits sonic scream irritant some induce diarrhoea or nausea 100 credit 
Shock - stunning effects like tazer 10 credit
Incendiary - napalm or phosphorus 30 credit
Hellfire - incendiary "dragon breath" shotgun blast 10 credit
Stun - smoke, noise and a blinding flash 10 credit
Flare - 5 credit standard or 30 for parachute flare
Smoke - choking huge smoke cloud for signal or concealment 5 credit
Tear Gas - restricts breathing, irritates eyes and airways, highly flammable 30 credit
Poison Gas - varieties like anti plant, virus, hallucinatory, coagulant, flesh eating
Vomit Gas - causes violent nausea 30 credit
Monowire - spinning entangling 200 credit
NET - entangling plastic net 100 credit
TRANQ - ko gas but some risk of accidental harm
SHOCK-NET - electrified wire net 300 credit
Hunter Drone - homes on a programmed target silhouette and thermal scan 400 credit
Persistence Drone - stays in the air for an hour, selects own target or is directed by laser 400 credit
Recon Drone - searches area based on certain modes 200 credit
HARM Drone - homes on radar and explodes on target 200 credit
Anti Missile Drone - can be set to autofire at incoming rockets and missiles or used to defend a site from incoming attacks 400 credit
FLASH - blinding pulsing flares over a wide area 20 credit
TAC Nuke - tactical clean nuclear blast 10 000 credits

Millitary Scope 1kg
Millitary binoculars x30 & camera
Laser-targeting/painting/coms/rangefinder 
Smartlink to HUD with ammo display & other date
Wind Speed Indicator and estimated speed of vehicles
Low Light or Thermal Scope mode
Cradle for more of the AI and improved link to its case
Stutter mode so shots won't hit tagged allies with burst fire

AMMO Choices
The standard round is a dumb round with a metal slug (plastic for non lethal or in fragile areas). You can choose a fuse and ordinance and the rifle and the case can assemble these rounds in the field. SImpler rounds are east to fabricate from scrap and recycled materials. Smarter ammo requires electronics.
 
Fuse 
Dumb - self-propelled slug 1 credit
WET - sub sonic self-propelled slug works in water 2 credit
HARM - home on radio, radar or isotope-tagged target 20 credit
Smart - home in on targets better with an algorithm plus visual & thermal match 100 credit
Hypersonic - ramjet-propelled hypersonic at long-range 100 credit

Ordinance
Slug - metal or plastic + 0 credit
AP - armour-piercing flechette +4 credit 
HEX - explosive +2 credit
HEAT - armour-piercing explosive +5 credit
API - 
armour piercing incendiary good vs vehicles +4 credit
Incendiary - scatters incendiary chems to start fire +1 credit
WEB - plastic tangler strands over the target +5 credit
Shock Net - electric shock took or stun +5 credit
Gas - various types 2m diameter cloud
Track - tags a target a unique radio frequency isotope +5 credit
NARC - narcotic tranq flechette round but can OD targets with too many +2 credit
Plasma - micro laser ignites fuel on impact to make a super-heated blast +100 credits

Accessories (each is .3kg)
Torch - for light source, can get a IR version
Dazzler - stroboscopic dazzling light to blind enemies
Morphic Bipod - memory plastic, instantly activated, assists aim
Morphic Bayonete -  d6+1 memory plastic, instantly activated, disposable
Vibro Bayonette - 2d6 pop out vibrating, blade hums when on, d6 when off 
Mono Bayonette - d6+3 high quality stay sharp hyper strong
Motion Scanner - senses moving targets and assists aim within 30m

Alternate Models
Gauss gun version with fewer options and dumber but lots more ammo & easy to make ammo

LAS version can switch barrel parts to make bolt, pulse, ray and electro stunner mode 
-the second weapon might be a second closer-range barrel or a sonic stunner, flash gun/lamp or explosive smart rounds to follow laser strikes. These use batteries and the case as a generator/battery

Smaller version for an SMG/carbine/MP/pistol with various configurations but dumber. Kit includes different chambers so you could make a 6-shot flaregun/shotgun pistol or a grenade launcher. Possible a variable mechanism that can possibly modify itself in the field to use capture ammo


2 comments:

  1. Having an ammo-box or squad support weapon that followed a squad around would be pretty darned handy. I worked on a trade show video displaying the general concept of self-propelled equipment that followed infantry 15-20 years ago.

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    Replies
    1. thank you
      a ammo tender bot might be good buat also a good target so probably not on a patrol but for entrenchments and defenses might be good - heavy armour senses and antimissile missiles perhaps might help

      i used this in play and need a sheet for it and some more weapon systems - player has a guitar with a 22c french rock star based personality - talks french and like to play music when austofire starts

      i like power gonk robots in starwars - generator with legs - could jack into your fusion cannon perhaps

      arg i have to write a new post now and finsh the gun character sheet

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