I was getting pages organized to write the history of Ara Knochen the
other day, and in a fit of inspiration, decided to list and describe the
primary Remnant weapons used by UN troopers and Sohei across Namenlos Welt.
The Ara Knochen setting, for those of you who haven't played before, is one of a post-apocalyptic world, where the resources of a once-utopian, highly advanced civilization have been decimated by thousands of years of resource consumption, petty wars, and geologic catastrophe. Water covers over 90% of the planet's surface, which is ringed with 12 scant land masses. Each of these islands possesses a few cities on the coastlines, with a rugged and sparsely populated interior where few men dare to tread.
The societies of Ara Knochen possess Victorian Era level technological, political and social development for the most part. The one exception, however, is the United Nations, an organization that has managed to collect, assemble, and implement a significant inventory of the most recoverable and serviceable pieces of ancient, left-behind, pieces of high technology and use it just enough to prevent humankind from exterminating itself. To maintain their grip on power, the UN has managed to isolate most this technology, referred to as Remnant Technology, or "Remnants", from civilian society at large. There are those on the fringes of civilization, however, who occasionally manage to acquire a piece of it here or there for their own use.
The Ara Knochen setting, for those of you who haven't played before, is one of a post-apocalyptic world, where the resources of a once-utopian, highly advanced civilization have been decimated by thousands of years of resource consumption, petty wars, and geologic catastrophe. Water covers over 90% of the planet's surface, which is ringed with 12 scant land masses. Each of these islands possesses a few cities on the coastlines, with a rugged and sparsely populated interior where few men dare to tread.
The societies of Ara Knochen possess Victorian Era level technological, political and social development for the most part. The one exception, however, is the United Nations, an organization that has managed to collect, assemble, and implement a significant inventory of the most recoverable and serviceable pieces of ancient, left-behind, pieces of high technology and use it just enough to prevent humankind from exterminating itself. To maintain their grip on power, the UN has managed to isolate most this technology, referred to as Remnant Technology, or "Remnants", from civilian society at large. There are those on the fringes of civilization, however, who occasionally manage to acquire a piece of it here or there for their own use.
In the next few entries, I will share with you several of these Remnant treasures of 200 generations past...
We begin with one of my favorites, The Neuronic Whip. Inspired by Asimov's Foundation and Robot series, this weapon is actually described as a tube that sends out an electromagnetic field that can be focused and swept over groups of people for non-violent crowd control. Due to its utility, a number of these weapons have made their way into used in certain advanced cities, most notedly Brih'ja'dun and Macrosse'.
Neuronic Whip
Mass: 450 g
Length: 25 cm
Number of charges: 100/power cell (1 charge lasts one round)
Damage: See Description
Range: Effective 100 m / Extreme 200 m
While the weapon by default emits no visible "beam" in any of Asimov's books when fired, players may have any aesthetic they wish when they fire a neuronic whip. In this picture, the player has chosen to reflect the weapon with a purple "dual beam" aesthetic.
This weapon consists of a tube which emits field of energy that resonates at a frequency which overwhelms the sensory and disrupts motor neurophysiology in higher carbon-based life forms. The field generated by this weapon lacks the intensity to disrupt electronic or quantum electronic circuits or cause any destruction or damage to living tissues. While metallic and leather armor provide no protection against the field, Remnant armor and UN battle dress uniforms can dissipate its effects.
Within the weapon lies a disposable energy cell. The exterior of the weapon possess a control dial, a contact window, and two low-energy numeric displays. One of the displays indicates the number of charges left before the battery is depleted while the other indicates the number of charges that will be expended upon its next firing. To use the weapon, the wielder dials a number of charges he wishes to use, aims the weapon at the target or target area, then places his finger over the contact window to emit the energy field. Each charge is able to affect 100 kilograms of mass; if a target's mass exceeds the amount of mass affected by an attack's number of charges, the target is simply unaffected.
To make an attack, the player makes a single task roll against the RSIL defense rating of the target, adding the number of charges expended to the d20 roll. A successful task roll immediately drops the target to 0 points of STUN. Once a target's STUN reaches 0 as the result of a neuronic whip strike, instead of affecting the target's PHYS, the target's nervous system is overloaded and he experiences unstoppable pain and complete paralysis until he heals back to full STUN at his normal rate.
Within the weapon lies a disposable energy cell. The exterior of the weapon possess a control dial, a contact window, and two low-energy numeric displays. One of the displays indicates the number of charges left before the battery is depleted while the other indicates the number of charges that will be expended upon its next firing. To use the weapon, the wielder dials a number of charges he wishes to use, aims the weapon at the target or target area, then places his finger over the contact window to emit the energy field. Each charge is able to affect 100 kilograms of mass; if a target's mass exceeds the amount of mass affected by an attack's number of charges, the target is simply unaffected.
To make an attack, the player makes a single task roll against the RSIL defense rating of the target, adding the number of charges expended to the d20 roll. A successful task roll immediately drops the target to 0 points of STUN. Once a target's STUN reaches 0 as the result of a neuronic whip strike, instead of affecting the target's PHYS, the target's nervous system is overloaded and he experiences unstoppable pain and complete paralysis until he heals back to full STUN at his normal rate.
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