Concealed and Integrated Electromag Guns

After publishing my gauss gun rework, I got a request for wrist-mounted weaponry. That got me thinking, so I included some concealable pistols and other weapons fitting the theme.

To understand the weapon statistics, see Weapon Stats in Ultra-Tech: Electromagnetic Guns Revised.

New Weapons

Concealed Rail Pistol, 7mm (TL10): This single shot “pistol” with a 1.5″ barrel is little more than a set of tiny rails and a trigger mechanism. It can be built into an everyday item as small as a pen, and many models are factory-produced in such form factors. It is marketed for self-defense but is mostly used by criminals, who often build it into gloves or knives to discharge upon striking.

Concealed Rail Pistol, 10mm (TL10): This variant of the concealed pistol is too big to fit inside a pen, but can still be built into most small items. Since penetration is already not a concern for such weapons, the larger wound channel is a strict improvement in stopping power. Assassins like to load it with APEX ammo if they can get their hands on it.

Underbarrel Gauss Shotgun, 18.5mm (TL10): This is effectively a gauss shotgun pistol which can be mounted on any Bulk -3 or larger weapon. Some models are just the barrel integrating with the main weapon’s controls, with a selector switch or HUD link changing firing modes between the main weapon and the shotgun. Others come with a separate trigger, and some even come with a small pistol grip.

Gauss Urban Assault Weapon (TL10): Intended for close quarters police work, this is a combination of the gauss PDW and shotgun. The gauss carbine is no less compact and deals better with armor, but the PDW is cheaper.

Wrist-Mounted Guns

A staple of space opera bounty hunters and gadgeteer heroes, any electromagnetic pistol can be made into a wrist-mounted version. Depending on the conversion, this can be a standalone weapon mounted on a bracelet, or something that must be integrated into a suit of armor. It can have either external fire controls like a button, or be controlled entirely through a HUD link. Converting a pistol like this requires a successful Armoury (Small Arms) roll and 4 hours of work, and costs 25% of the gun’s cost.

Damage, Range, RoF, Shots, ST, and LC are unchanged. Reduce Weight by 25%, and the Cost for off-the shelf models by the same amount. Lower Acc by 2, remove -2 from Bulk, and increase Recoil by 1 (for machine pistols, use their one-handed Recoil of 2 as base).

Ultra-Tech: Electromagnetic Guns Revised

While preparing my upcoming XCOM/Stargate-inspired campaign, I decided to make TL10 gauss guns the primary weapons in the setting. Those published in UT have a bad reputation however, mainly because they’re a marginal improvement over TL8 small-arms, and because TL9 ETC weapons significantly outperform them. What started as a simple rework targeted specifically at my campaign, ended up as a general update to Ultra-Tech electromagnetic guns, inspired by Douglas Cole’s work on UT guns and Cdru’s Ultra-Tech: Small Arms Revised. Thanks to Phantasm for invaluable feedback!

Methodology

This is intended as an update to Ultra-Tech’s electromagnetic guns, not a fundamental rework. I have applied PK’s EM gun tweak, and followed the GURPS simplification of damage and range being proportional to muzzle velocity. The UT EM gun list is a bit sparse when compared to TL9 weapons, and has some notable holes. I have introduced some new EM weapons to fill the missing roles and add a bit of variety, but stopped short of adding completely novel weapons.

I left the UT calibers untouched, even though I am sure the weight and cost of 10mm ammo is a leftover of some past revision and should be changed to fit with the other calibers. I only used the published calibers for the new weapons – the sole exception is a new 100mm mortar.

I intended to change the published weapon stats as little as possible aside from PK’s tweak, but I had to adjust some other stats on certain weapons because they were a downgrade from TL8 guns as published.

Weapon Stats

The notation and abbreviations in the tables follow Weapon Statistics (B268-270), except for the following:

Weight: Weapon weights have three figures separated by slashes. The first figure is the weight of a fully loaded weapon. The second is the weight of a single full reload, including the magazine and the power cell. It is assumed that the power cell is inserted into the magazine along with the ammunition, and provides enough energy for firing the weapon’s specified number of shots. The third figure is the kind of power cell the weapon uses.

Bulk: Weapons with folding or retractable stocks have an asterisk (*) in their Bulk score. When folding a stock, remove -1 from Bulk, reduce Accuracy by 1, increase Recoil by 1 (unless the weapon had Recoil 1 to start with), and multiply ST with 1.2 (round up).

Cost: Weapon costs have two figures separated by a slash. The first figure is the price of an unloaded weapon. The second is the price of ammunition for a full reload, for players who prefer purchasing ammo for their characters by reload rather than in bulk. The power cell must be paid for separately. Magazine costs are ignored for simplicity.

Unless otherwise noted, all weapons can be fired in subsonic mode which gives -3 to hear the gunfire, halves damage and range, and reduces recoil by 1 (down to a minimum of 2). All 4mm weapons do pi- damage in subsonic mode. Switching modes is done via a selector switch or a HUD link and requires a Ready maneuver. The Lightning Fingers perk (or an equivalent perk for operating computer-connected gear) reduces this to a free action on your turn. Unlike in UT, there is no high-velocity mode – all guns are already calibrated for the highest velocity safe for weapon operation.

The Weapons

To avoid reprinting text from Ultra-Tech, this section only contains information on new weapons, and weapons with significant changes from UT.

As per PK’s tweak, electromagnetic weapons don’t have an armor divisor by default, but all ammunition options from Ultra-Tech, pp. 152-159 may be applied. Use the base ammo stats as published in Ultra-Tech, p. 143.

Pistols

Gauss Holdout Pistol, 4mm (TL10): This is a compact version of the gauss pistol. The subcompact role is filled by the minineedler.

Gauss Heavy Pistol, 4mm (TL10): A heavier version of the gauss pistol with a longer barrel and stronger coils. This allows it to fire at higher velocities, at the expense of worse recoil. It can be downshifted to shoot at lower velocities instead – use the stats for the gauss pistol. The subsonic mode uses gauss pistol stats as well.

Gauss Magnum Pistol, 7mm (TL10): An oversized pistol firing the same round as the magnum rifle, this pistol is mostly used by target shooters and enthusiasts. Some highly skilled gunfighters do prefer it as a backup weapon, because it comes close to rifle penetration levels.

Gauss Magnum Pistol, 10mm (TL10): Somewhat of a novelty weapon, this variant of the magnum pistol fires the same round as the portable railgun. Delivering the same energy as the 7mm variant, it has worse penetration, and is primarily intended for use with APEX warheads.

Submachine Guns

With electromagnetic guns, there is no difference between pistol- and rifle-caliber rounds. This reduces the number of weapon roles in the SMG category to that of machine pistols and PDWs. With full-body armor easily available at TL10, SMGs lose most of their appeal, but they’re still used in situations where their compactness is more important than firepower. Improvements in recoil mitigation also give them an effective Recoil of 1.

Gauss Machine Pistol, 4mm (TL10): As per Ultra-Tech, p. 141. When fired one handed with the stock retracted, change ST to 9 and increase Recoil to 2.

Gauss Heavy Machine Pistol, 4mm (TL10): A heavier version of the gauss machine pistol with a longer barrel and stronger coils. This allows it to fire at higher velocities, but requires reduced RoF to keep Recoil at 1. When fired one handed with the stock retracted, change ST to 11 and increase Recoil to 2. It can also be downshifted to shoot at lower velocities – use the stats for the gauss machine pistol. The subsonic mode uses gauss machine pistol stats as well.

Gauss Heavy PDW, 4mm (TL10): A heavier version of the gauss PDW with a longer barrel and stronger coils. This allows it to fire at higher velocities, but requires reduced RoF to keep Recoil at 1. It can be downshifted to shoot at lower velocities instead – use the stats for the gauss PDW. The subsonic mode uses gauss PSW stats as well.

Rifles

Gauss Carbine, 4mm (TL10): A gauss rifle with a shorter barrel, which slightly reduces penetration but also makes it easier to handle. Most models include a retractable stock.

Gauss Magnum Rifle, 7mm (TL10): This gauss rifle fires a heavier, 7mm round. It is preferred as a DMR, and by hunters who can afford it. Some models have a rapid fire selector, which increases its RoF to 12, ST to 12†, and Recoil to 3, but reduces LC to 2. Cost is unchanged.

Payload Railgun, 25mm (TL10): A bulkier variant of the portable railgun which fires 25mm rounds. Some models have adjustable rails and can shoot 10mm rounds as well – switching between modes takes 5 seconds. When shooting 10mm rounds, use portable railgun stats. Increase weight to 30 lbs, and cost to $23,000.

Shotguns

Applying PK’s tweak to gauss shotgun damage stat published in Ultra-Tech would give them  better penetration than that of the gauss rifle, which is nonsensical. So I’ve instead left them at 150% the velocity of conventional shotguns, as described in UT, but calculated with more precision to better represent the lower penetration they should have. I’ve also increased the ST score of the gauss shotgun pistol to a value more appropriate for one-handed firing of a sawed-off shotgun, using the guidelines published in High-Tech. This was a rare case where I’ve nerfed the published stats instead of improving them.

Gauss Shotgun, 18.5mm (TL10): A civilian shotgun, omitting the need for rapid fire reduces its weight in relation to the CAW. The lower rate of fire also means worse recoil control, however. Most models include a retractable stock.

Gauss Shotgun Pistol, 18.5mm (TL10): This is a gauss shotgun in “whippet” configuration, with a very short barrel and no stock. When used two-handed, ST is 12† and Recoil is 4.

Gauss CAW, 18.5mm (TL10): As per Ultra-Tech, p. 141. Most models include a retractable stock.

Machine Guns

Gauss GPMG, 7mm (TL10): Half way between the gauss magnum rifle and the gauss HMG, the gauss GPMG offers more firepower than the gauss LSW but better portability than the gauss HMG.

Assault Railgun, 25mmG (TL10): A machinegun variant of the payload railgun. Its main use is delivering explosive payload at ranges greater than that of the auto EMGL and with higher accuracy.

Electromag Auto Grenade Launcher (Auto EMGL), 40mmG (TL10): As per Ultra-Tech, p. 141. As published, this weapon was worse than its TL8 equivalents, and wasn’t “auto” at all. This update remedies that.

Grenade Launchers

Electromag Grenade Launcher (EMGL), 40mmG (TL10): As per Ultra-Tech, p. 141. As published, this weapon was worse than its TL8 equivalents in several regards, and this update remedies that.

High-Capacity EMGL, 40mmG (TL10): This EMGL holds the grenades in a large drum. For some models, the whole drum can be replaced, prefilled, instead of reloading each grenade individually. This increases the weight of a reload to 7 lbs, and such swappable drums cost $100. Change Shots to 12(5) – weapon price is unaffected.

Light Underbarrel EMGL, 25mmG (TL10): This is just the Underbarrel EMGL, 25mmG from Ultra-Tech, renamed for easier differentiation from the new 40mm underbarrel EMGL.

Gauss Payload Pistol, 25mmG (TL10): A standalone version of the light underbarrel EMGL in the form factor of a large pistol.

Mortars

Light Electromag Mortar, 64mm (TL10): A stripped-down version of the 64mm electromag mortar. It sacrifices accuracy and range for much better portability.

Heavy Electromag Mortar, 100mm (TL10): A larger mortar firing 100mm bombs. It is more accurate and longer-ranged than the 64mm version, but also much heavier. The 100mm bombs have WPS 8, CPS $80.

Light Electromag Mortar Box, 40mm (TL10): If TL9 firearms included mortar boxes, why are they suddenly no longer in use at TL10? Similar to its TL9 counterpart, this is just four 25mm underbarrel EMGL tubes on a tripod with a backplate and linked fire control.

Electromag Mortar Box, 64mm (TL10): Similar to its TL9 counterpart, this is a pod with six mortar barrels, each containing five stacked 64mm bombs.