Weapons

Weapons are used by almost everyone to fight, and all weapons deal Brute damage unless specified otherwise. Weapons come in a variety of categories, and each category is related to a particular skill. Bows use the Archery skill, Fist Weapons, Knives, Swords, Clubs, Axes and Polearms use the Melee skill and their relevant specialties, and Handguns, Shotguns, Submachineguns, Rifles and Heavy Weapons use the Ranged skill and their relevant specialties. When you throw an object, you use the Throwing skill instead of Ranged. All Ranged weapons require ammunition in order to fire, which can be found and purchased on its own page. Meanwhile, Throwing weapons are the ammunition, but can normally be recovered after use if they are not grenades or mines.

In general, Melee, Throwing and Archery weapons tend to deal lower damage and have lower armor penetration, but gain bonuses from your PHY attribute and may have very lethal special Abilities associated with their use. It goes without saying that this precludes grenades - a thrown explosive device does not gain a damage bonus.

Meanwhile, Ranged weapons tend to deal a higher amount of fixed damage and armor penetration, but they do not get a damage bonus from any attribute and their Abilities tend to be more on the utilitarian side. Rather than inflicting more damage, they focus on things like better recoil control, better accuracy, better reload times, or debilitating enemies through Suppression Fire.

Weapon Size
Weapon Size is used to let you know about how heavy or about how big a weapon is. They each have an additional bonus for use:
 * Medium Weapons are the most prolific weapons. You can use them in your Off Hand, but roll 2 less dice to hit. They have an inventory size of 1.
 * Small Weapons are easily concealed, granting a bonus die to attempts to hide them. You can use them in your Off Hand, but roll 1 less dice to hit. You can use Agility for melee Attack Rolls with small weapons. They have an inventory size of 0.1.
 * Large Weapons are bulky and highly visible. They are often carried with slings or straps. Large Weapons cannot normally be used in your Off Hand. They have an inventory size of 3.
 * Huge Weapons are extremely large and cumbersome and often have to be setup before they can be used. They cannot be stored in a character's inventory without being dismantled, and must be carried using both hands. While in pieces, Huge Weapons have a size of 3. When put together, they have a size of 5.

Weapon Properties
Most weapons have unique properties that differentiate weapons, and allow you to make important decisions about how your character fights. Some properties can be Applied to some or all weapons to modify their statistics and price. These will be listed in a separate table. Note that Applied properties are added at the time an item is bought, and that they are not the same thing as modifications or attachments.

Critical Effects
When rolling an Attack Roll, if you roll a 6 twice and succeed on the attack, you deal a Critical Wound and also gain the additional Critical Effect for that weapon. Critical Hits do not count if they miss or if the attack is blocked by cover. The effects are:

Weapon Statistics
The weapon tables list the weapons available to a character. They each have the following information:
 * Type: Tells you the type of the weapon. This is important for weapon Abilities. Above each table, not on it.
 * Damage: The amount of damage the weapon deals when it hits. Listed as "D."
 * Penetration: The amount of Armor the weapon pierces. Listed as "P."
 * Critical Effect: This is the effect that is triggered alongside a Critical Wound when you roll any pairs on the Attack Roll and hit.
 * Name: Tells you what the weapon is called.
 * Cost: How much it normally costs to buy such a weapon where it’s readily available.
 * Size: What size the weapon is, as explained above.
 * Magazine: The number of shots that can be fired before reloading a ranged weapon. Most weapons can also keep a round loaded in the chamber, except for breach loaders and revolvers. Every weapon uses a magazine, but some are internal. Weapons that used detachable magazines always come with one, and additional magazines can be purchased from the ammo page. Listed as "Mag."
 * Range: A weapon's maximum effective point-shooting range. Keep in mind that without some sort of visual enhancement, characters will only be able to target enemies a maximum of 900' away, even if their weapon has a much greater Range. This is referred to as "unassisted range," and applies to all weapons except for Mortars and those with the Homing property. Listed as "Rng."
 * Rate of Fire (RoF): The possible number of shots fired when using Automatic mode.
 * Recoil: The number of penalty dice when using Automatic mode. Listed as "Rec."
 * Properties: The weapon properties that the weapon has.

Fist Weapons
Fist Weapons are weapons that are held in or cover the hand which are swung in a manner identical to throwing a punch. They are often carried by gangsters, assassins, spies, and other shady types who benefit from keeping their weapons concealed. Unlike other weapon types, Fist Weapons simply add their Damage and Penetration to a character's Unarmed attack.

Knives
Knives are short blades with a handle that do not run over 13" in length. Knives are incredibly common and can be found in nearly every residence in Sol. All knives are suitable for Throwing. Knives do not get a damage bonus from any attributes unless you Throw them. Kinetic Throwing weapons, such as axes, knives and javelins all deal extra damage equal to your PHY score when thrown.

Swords
Swords are long blades with a handle that run over 13" in length. Swords are fairly rare in the 24th century, but can still be found in the hands of most armed groups. Only Greatswords deal extra damage equal to your PHY score.

Clubs
A club is a bludgeoning weapon, sometimes with a head but always with a handle. Clubs can be made of wood, metal, or hard plastic. Clubs are common all throughout the entire solar system for their ease of use and versatility, most often used by both police and thugs or criminals. When you hit an enemy with a club, you deal extra damage equal to your PHY score.

Axes
Axes are common tools shaped like a weighted blade on the end of a stick. They are found all over Sol in fire stations, office buildings, and even residences. When you hit an enemy with an axe, you deal extra damage equal to your PHY score.

Polearms
A polearm is a long melee weapon with a shaft, usually made of wood, and often with a blade attached to the end to advantage the user in reach and leverage. When you hit an enemy with a polearm, you deal extra damage equal to your PHY score.

Bows
A bow is a flexible, curved piece of wood or plastic whose ends are joined by a taut string, designed for launching long penetrating darts called arrows. Despite their primitive nature, bows are not that uncommon. Archery competitions are popular on many worlds, and on those worlds where hunting is allowed, bows are a common choice of weapon as they are much quieter than guns. Additionally, bows feature a niche range of munitions types not available to most firearms. When you hit an enemy with a Bow attack, you deal extra damage equal to your PHY score.

Handguns
A handgun is a firearm designed to be fired either one or two handed and carried on one's person. They have the advantage of being among the only easily carried guns, and are often used as a primary weapon by police officers for that reason. They are also commonly seen in use as sidearms by military personnel.

Shotguns
A shotgun is a firearm designed to load and shoot fixed shells full of shot, slugs, and other things rather than using a bullet cartridge. Shotguns have the distinct advantage of having the widest available variety of ammunition among small arms due to their across the board standardization. Although shotguns have a powerful kick, they are often capable of immediately putting enemies down due to the sheer number of wounds they inflict.

When you fire a shotgun loaded with buckshot, the enemy rolls one defense roll against your attack. If they fail, they are hit a random number of times based on the type of buckshot loaded. You may also choose to hit an adjacent target. If you do, you halve the result of the aforementioned roll against each target, rounding down.

Submachineguns
A submachinegun is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire pistol-caliber cartridges. In comparison to assault rifles and rifle carbines, submachineguns are much smaller and lighter weight, allowing for greater maneuverability in close quarters. Though they have a far shorter effective range than rifle-caliber firearms, submachineguns are no less accurate and their lower penetration makes them desirable for use by police and counter-terrorist operatives in urban or crowded areas. They also recoil less and their high rates of fire make it likely to strike a target at least once, making them popular with criminals as well.

Rifles
Rifles are long guns, usually fired from the shoulder, which have long spirally grooved barrels intended to make bullets spin and thereby have greater accuracy over long distances. Rifle rounds in general are distinct from pistol rounds in that they tend to be much longer and are packed with more gunpowder, along with having a pointed projectile called a spitzer-tip designed specifically to penetrate armor and hard surfaces. For hundreds of years, rifles have been the bread and butter of human warfare, serving as the basis for many configurations of weapons with a variety of purposes. Smaller rifles are differentiated from submachineguns in that they fire the same cartridges as their larger cousins.

Heavy Weapons
Heavy Weapons are weapons which are designed for use in large scale combat against vehicles or groups of infantry. Usually, Heavy Weapons require specialized training that is only available to military personnel, although it is not at all uncommon to find a terrorist or gangster capable of operating a mortar or a machinegun with a butterfly-style trigger. Heavy Weapons are the most strongly regulated of all firearms, and unlike most other conventional weapons can be difficult to acquire.

Mines, Bombs & Hand Grenades
Mines, Bombs, and Hand Grenades are Throwing weapons which can also be rolled or simply dropped or placed on the ground. These weapons are one-use only and thus very expensive compared to firearms, but have devastating effects. They are often utilized in traps, demolitions, and for forcing enemies out of Cover. Hand Grenades and Bombs are usually round in shape and meant to ricochet off surfaces or fit snuggly into small spaces. In contrast, magnetic mines are flat and disc-shaped, designed to adhere to metal surfaces. Mines can be detonated on a timer, by remote, or by proximity.