Personal Ranged Weapons Database

Antique Pistol: A small, black powder flintlock, matchlock, or caplock firearm, the antique pistol is a single shot weapon favored by duelists or feral warriors. Despite packing a considerable punch for a weapon its size and tech level, the weapon is inaccurate and slow to load. As a result many warriors will carry a brace of up to a dozen antique pistols firing and stowing them as required during battle.
Assault Pistol: A lightweight fully automatic weapon the assault pistol is prized among people that value concealability over accuracy as the assault pistol is notoriously hard to control when firing bursts of automatic fire.
Autopistol: A self-loading semiautomatic pistol, the autopistol is a nearly ubiquitous service weapon for law enforcement, intelligence, mercenary, and some military agencies across the galaxy.
Body Pistol: A “stealth” pistol made from plastic and bone making it very difficult to detect with sensors. More advanced sensors have an easier time picking up the body pistol on scans, but conversely body pistols are made up to TL 12 to better evade more advanced sensing equipment.
Cartridge Pistol: A modern variation of the short barreled shotgun, the cartridge pistol is a large smoothbore revolver chambered with a powerful shotgun cartridge, though primarily used in pest control, it does have some use in combat as a powerful, if short ranged weapon.
Coach Pistol: A classic shotgun conversion, the Coach Pistol is a double barreled shotgun with its barrel cut extremely short. A powerful weapon at close range, the user can discharge both barrels to deliver an extra punch. The coach pistol is difficult to reload, as its loading mechanism is somewhat awkward when cut down.
Derringer: The derringer is a low tech attempt at creating a “stealth” pistol for use in self defense, or in assassination. It is small, but uses a powerful cartridge to deliver the same punch as a normal pistol. However, it pays for this with an extremely low ammo capacity.
Flechette Pistol: An efficient stealth pistol that is essentially an air gun firing clusters of small metal darts. The weapon is silent, and effective at dispatching unaware, unarmored targets, but is extremely poor at punching through armor.
Gauntlet Laser: The gauntlet laser is a compact laser pistol sized weapon fitted to an armored gauntlet. It is a popular sidearm for people who wearing heavy armor and want a compact self defense sidearm.
Gauss Pistol: Gauss pistols, sometimes called coil pistols, use electromagnetic coils to accelerate a small ball to extremely high speeds. Perhaps the most powerful possible slugthrowing pistol design.
Gyrojet Pistol: Often called the snub pistol, the gyrojet pistol first small rocket propelled projectiles that continue to accelerate past the barrel, maintaining a relatively consistent speed well after leaving the barrel. Due to its method of firing, the gyrojet pistol produces very little recoil, and is therefore a favorite of spacers as it doesn’t produce issues when fired in Zero-G conditions.
Hand Stunner: The hand stunner is a pistol sized weapon that produces a powerful short ranged electrical shock, stunning the target. The hand stunner is perhaps one of the most popular self defense weapons in the galaxy.
Heavy Revolver: An advanced revolver with a powerful cartridge, the heavy revolver delivers a powerful punch but is difficult to handle.
Laser Pistol: The laser pistol is an effective, silent, zero-g pistol, if a bit bulky. The laser pistol is powered by a separate powerpack which must be connected to the laser pistol via a power cable. Due to this bulky separate power pack, the pistol can fire many times before running out of ammunition, ensuring it remains a popular choice even where cartridge lasers are available.
Handmade “Matte” Revolver: A crude revolver manufactured by unexpert hands, “Matte” revolvers are generally illegal as they are hard to track and dangerous to operate, but they provide a powerful, compact weapon which can be cobbled together from scraps if necessary.
Personal Defense Laser: A development of cartridge laser technology applied to pistols, the personal defense laser does away with the external power supply in favor of using chemical cartridges. This reduces ammo capacity, but makes the PDL much easier to handle. It is a popular sidearm for military officers and customs agents.
Handmade “Rocket” Snub Pistol: A gyrojet pistol cobbled together from scavenged materials by inexpert hands, the rocket is dangerous to both users and their targets (and generally illegal), but in desperate hands it serves just fine.
Shuriken Pistol: A development of gauss and coilgun technologies the shuriken pistol fires oval disks instead of small balls. These “shurikens” cut through unarmored targets just fine but struggle with armor penetration.
Handmade “Whisper” Stealth Pistol: The “Whisper” is an improvised pistol with an integrated silencer made from some scavenged materials. These materials include plastics and hardened biologicals that don’t hold up to extended use but are very hard to detect. Those caught with these weapons by authorities are often very likely to be imprisoned, but they are excellent tools for assassination if one cannot secure a “proper” body pistol.
Handmade “Zip” Pistol: An improvised handgun that consists of a barrel, a grip, and a means to ignite the charge for the bullet loaded into it. Zip guns are essentially disposable weapons as they can only be fired once before being discarded.

Antique Shotgun: An old school, blackpowder double barreled shotgun, the antique shotgun packs a powerful punch even if it can be unreliable at times.
Automatic Shotgun: The bulky shotgun with a large ammunition drum, the automatic shotgun can use automatic fire, making it a very effective weapon for clearing a room.
Handmade “Bastard” Submachine Gun: Bastards are improvised, poorly made submachine guns. They are extremely prone to jamming, and hard to handle. However, they are a cheap source of automatic firepower making them a favorite of rebel groups and criminal gangs galaxywide.
Handmade “Blast” Shotgun: Essentially an improvised copy of the antique shotgun made with scavenged components, blasts are rare except on worlds with extremely strict arms controls, where such antiques are banned.
Boarding Gun: A combination weapon consisting of an intermediate caliber carbine and a highly advanced “mini grenade” launcher. The weapon is muzzle heavy, and therefore difficult to handle, however, it can be deadly when operated well. The main rifle cannot penetrate armor very well, but fires rapidly allowing many targets to be hit in a single burst. The minigrenade launcher conversely can detonate over a small area dealing considerable damage.The boarding gun is a favorite of boarding teams as it provides a lot of firepower in a package compact enough to not be too inhibited aboard ships.
Breaching Gun: Not necessarily a weapon so much as a tool designed to break open bulkheads during a boarding action or similar situation, the boarding gun fires “mini grenades” that are good at penetrating armor, destroying robots, and breaching bulkheads. As it is a blast weapon it can also be used to clear a room of lightly armored defenders. The biggest drawback of the breaching gun however, is its slow reload (up to a minute), meaning it cannot be effectively reloaded in combat.
Cyro Rifle: A miniaturized cryo weapon, the cryorifle is a useful tool for light infantry to disable wearers of medium (combat), or heavy (battledress) armor as targets hit by it could be frozen in place, essentially disabling them.
Cryo Jet: The cryojet is a heavy weapon intended primarily to disable users of sealed armor by sealing the joints. Firing a spray of cryonic liquids, the cryojet can damage living tissue quite easily, but its primary purpose remains disabling people wearing combat armor, battledress or other sealed armor.
Duck’s Foot Pistol: The duck’s foot is a crude multichamber pistol intended to provide something approximating automatic firepower with a limited technical base. Essentially a miniature volley gun, the duck’s foot has four barrels that it will always fire simultaneously. It can be a nasty surprise, but it is a very difficult weapon to use properly.
Flame Rifle: Using an advanced fuel that is lighter and denser than napalm (called colloquailly “flamer fuel”), the flame rifle is a compact, rifle sized flamethrower. Flame rifles are the bane of light infantry, as it can inflict ruinous damage on those unprepared to deal with fire.
Flamethrower: An early area effect weapon designed to clear infantry from entrenched position, the flamethrower is a relatively bulky weapon that can be dangerous to its wielder as its fuel is highly unstable. If the user is hit with an attack with an effect of four or greater the fuel explodes, destroying the flamethrower, and centering its attack on the wielder. As technology becomes more advanced, the flamethrower becomes more compact, damaging, and safer to wield. The more advanced variations (TL 8 or better) use the more stable flamer fuel and are not prone to explosion.
Flechette Submachine Gun: A silent automatic weapon firing small darts at a rapid speed. The Flechette submachine gun is a devastating tool against the unaware, and indeed is favored for assassinations as a result. However, it struggles to penetrate armor making it poorly suited to fighting prepared opposition.
Gauss Assault Gun: The gauss version of a shotgun, the gauss rifle fires a splits the pellet as it travels down the barrel to create a devastating spray of hypersonic metal balls, capable of shredding flesh and even light armor. Though somewhat slower firing than most gauss weapons, it is still capable of autofire.
Gauss Submachine Gun: Designed primarily for vehicle crews and boarding teams, the gauss submachine gun is an enlarged form of the gauss pistol with a slightly longer barrel and a telescoping stock. This gives it improved, more rifle-like handling while remaining compact enough for use in tight quarters.
Hand Flamer: The hand flamer is a the most compact version of flame weapon available, using a small tank of flamer fuel it provides flame thrower like firepower and clearing ability in a pistol sized flame. That being said it has a very limited supply of fuel and takes a minute to load with more fuel meaning it cannot be meaningfully reloaded during a firefight.
Light Shotgun: The light shotgun is a comparatively light shotgun intended for use by weaker users, and for home defense and light game “varmint” hunting. It fires a lighter slug than the regular shotgun and is easier to handle.
Handmade “Ontoss” Flamethrower: Ontoss flamethrowers are improvised flame weapons created by fixing a crude siphon and lighter to a napalm tank. It can deliver a single burst of flame before needing to be discarded. It is a highly dangerous and unreliable weapon, but for those in desperate need of an improvised flame weapon it can be surprisingly effective.
Personal Assault Weapon: The personal assault weapon is effectively a marriage between the concept of the submachine gun or personal defense weapon, and the advanced combat rifle. Its main barrel is a submachine gun, but a secondary barrel is a shotgun with a relatively limited ammunition supply. It can be used to breach a secured area and cut down lightly armored defenders in order to force open a breach. The PAW has an integrated holographic sight and X-ray outlining aid to hitting targets in the close quarters it is expected to be used in. Personal Defense Weapon: The personal defense weapon is a more advanced form of the submachine gun. It is lighter weight, but fires a more powerful intermediate cartridge allowing the barrel to be shortened for easier handling in close quarters.
Plasma Jet: The plasma jet is an evolution of the flamethrower that makes use of primitive plasma technology. It harvests materials from the local atmosphere, superheating it into a plasma, before projecting it in a short ranged spray that can cause devastating damage over a small area. It is frequently favored by high tech militaries as a way of clearing defenders from bunkers and other difficult to access fortified areas.
Handmade “Punisher” Shotgun: Punisher shotguns are scaled up and slightly more reusable versions of the zip gun. Essentially a tube with a crude means of igniting the propellant of a shotgun shell, they are simple to make. Because the components needed to make a shotgun are slightly more robust, punishers can in theory be reused, but they are so unreliable most are treated as single use weapons anyway.
Sawn-Off Shotgun: A sawn-off shotgun is a shotgun with its barrels cut down for greater concealability. This conversion is generally seen as illegal in most jurisdictions, but that does make it any less popular, particularly among criminal elements, and other sorts with a knack for ignoring authorities.
Shotgun: One of the most basic forms of assault weapon, the shotgun is a smoothbore firearm that fires pellets over a narrow area. This makes the weapon most effective against unarmored targets, primarily at close range. It is typically used in big game hunting and law enforcement, though it can readily be used in combat should that become necessary.
Stun Blaster: The stun blaster is a shotgun style application of stunner technology. It has two settings, focused and blast. The focused version can hit a single person with greater stopping power, making it more useful for lightly to moderately armored targets. The second setting, blast is used on crowds dispersing the stun energy over a wider area, limiting its damage, but creating a blast effect, at the cost of using two charges of the power cell rather than one.
Stun Shotgun: Essentially a more crude version of the Stun Blaster, the Stun Shotgun is capable of firing a blast over a short range but it lacks the ability to fire a concentrated burst.
Submachine Gun: The submachine gun, like the shotgun, is one of the most basic forms of assault weapon, it is a light automatic weapon that puts rifle, or slightly lower than rifle level stopping power into a compact weapon capable of automatic fire. It can therefore be an extremely deadly weapon in close quarters.

Advanced Combat Rifle: The advanced combat rifle represents the ultimate form of the chemical firearm in military service. The ACR has a scope with magnification, IR, and a laser designator for painting targets for guiding ordinance. It also has gyrostabilization, and a sling incorporated into it for free. The most notable feature is the second barrel which mounts a 40mm rocket propelled grenade launcher which allows the user to provide direct fire support without needing an additional weapon A variant of the ACR, the Heavy Adanced Combat Rifle (HACR) fires a heavier rifle caliber cartridge but requires a strong user to keep under control.
Air Rifle: The air rifle is a rifle which propels its projectiles at high speed with compressed air. Air rifles have air tanks which must be recharged after every shot (10 minor actions to recharge), or 5 shots (the same time to recharge). It is a weapon useful for hunting, or for use on worlds with greater restrictions on firearms than usual.
Assault Rifle: The assault rifle is a lightweight, select fire rifle that fires an intermediate cartridge. The assault rifle is favored by mid-tech defense forces for its versatility, ease of use, and reasonable stopping power.
Autorifle: An primitive attempt at producing man portable automatic firepower, the autorifle is a fairly bulky rifle that fires powerful cartridges at a relatively low cyclic rate of fire.
Battle Rifle: An intermediary step between the autorifle and the assault rifle, the Battle Rifle is more compact than the autorifle with a higher ammo capacity, but it is more lightweight and easier to handle.
Big Game Rifle: A heavy bolt-action hunting rifle firing a powerful cartridge. It is intended for use in hunting large game. However, it has a secondary market in being a long range, powerful sniper rifle.
Cartridge Laser Carbine: The cartridge laser carbine is a cartridge laser, using a chemical cartridge to power the laser. This eliminates the need for a heavy power pack at the cost of reduced ammunition capacity. The carbine version is a lightweight weapon that can be used in boarding actions relatively cleanly.
Cartridge Laser Rifle: A larger, bulkier, heavier version of the carbine, the cartridge laser rifle is more stable, and capable of automatic fire, but is somewhat more unwieldy than the carbine in close quarters. It is typically used as a squad automatic weapon in units armed with the.
Early Rifle: A relatively primitive bolt action rifle, the early rifle is slower to reload than later models of the rifle, but is still a considerable step up from lower tech designs.
Fusion Rifle: A recent development made possible through Parditech, the fusion rifle is a more compact version of the portable fusion gun that can be operated by a rifleman rather than a heavy weapons soldier. These weapons emit a deadly amount of radiation and pack a powerful punch. Fusion rifles are very rare, and highly sought after weapons.
Gauss Advanced Combat Rifle: The Gauss ACR is an advanced gauss rifle design akin to the advanced combat rifle of mid tech levels. It has an advanced scope with PRIS capabilities and a laser designator, a sling, gyrostabilization, and an underbarrel RPG launcher. It is considered the premier slugthrowing weapon for military use.
Gauss Rifle: The gauss rifle starts to replace traditional chemical firearms at higher tech levels, becoming the standard for slug rifles when at pre-fall tech levels. The gauss rifle uses electromagnetic coils to propel a small ball at extremely high speeds.
Gauss Sniper Rifle: An advanced gauss rifle design optimized for work as a sniper rifle, it can hit targets at extreme distance. It has an advanced scope with PRIS sensing and rangefinding capability making it extremely capable as a sniping platform.
Gyrojet Carbine: A larger version of the gyrojet (snub) pistol the carbine has improved range, if not stopping power over the pistol.
Heavy Laser Rifle: A superheavy version of the cartridge laser rifle, the heavy laser rifle lies somewhere between a sniper rifle and anti-materiel rifle in capability. It does use a similar power pack to non-catridge laser rifles, but integrates it into the rifle generating a considerable amount of stopping power, but the capacity of the weapon is similar to cartridge lasers due to the high power requirement. Ion Rifle: Available at higher tech levels, the ion rifle is used to disable electronic equipment, robots, and vehicles. Basic versions of the weapon struggle to deal with armored equipment (robots and armor with Prot 20 or better or vehicles with 4 or better). More advanced versions of the the ion rifle can effect any armor or bot, and vehicles with armor 8 or less.
Laser Carbine: A compact laser rifle, that trades range for easy handling.
Laser Rifle: A power pack powered laser rifle, the laser rifle is powerful for a laser weapon, and accurate to a relatively long range.
Laser Sniper Rifle: A cartridge laser optimized for sniping work, the laser sniper rifle provides a compact, powerful weapon capable of hitting targets at extreme ranges. It comes equipped with a PRIS scope with rangefinding capability.
Musket: A very primitive form of the rifle, the musket is a single shot, black powder weapon, the musket is slow to load, somewhat inaccurate and unreliable. It is the first step for many feral worlds, into the age of gunpowder however.
Plasma Rifle: The ultimate in rifle technology before the discovery of Parditech, the plasma rifle is a compact rifle that fires plasma bolts that deliver heavy impacts that can punch through even battledress.
Pulse Carbine: A more basic form of the ion rifle it can deliver its effects over a wider area. However, the ion rifle struggles even further to penetrate armored targets, having no effect on vehicles or armor and robots of protection of higher than 5.
Rifle: Bolt action or semiautomatic rifles that are ubiquitous as hunting or military weapons across the galaxy.
Rifle-Musket: An intermediary step between muskets, and rifles, the rifle musket is a single shot black powder weapon. It is still laborious to reload and unreliable, but delivers its shot more accurately.
Handmade “Shovel Gun” Rifle: Shovel guns are ersatz copies of rifles made from improvised components, often shovel parts. It is common for the shovel head to still be usable for shovel guns making it a useful tool for guerilla militias.
Shuriken Rifle: A magnetic rifle that fires ovular shurikens rather than small balls, that are very powerful at short ranges but lacking in penetration capabilities.
Sniper Rifle: The sniper rifle is a relatively high tech specialized rifle built to engage high value targets at long range, it is silent, accurate, and has a scope that can be IR or PRIS depending on the technology level of manufacture. Many military models incorporate a laser rangefinder as well.
Stagger Laser Rifle: A heavy support laser rifle, the stagger laser rifle uses a beam splitter that reduces the overall power of each shot in exchange for the ability to fire multiple beams in rapid succession. The stagger laser rifle allows laser weapon equipped units to lay dawn supporting fire.
Handmade “Storm” Autorifle: A primitive assault rifle, storms are assembled from scraps, usually by nonexpert gunsmiths. Storms are inaccurate and unreliable but provide cheap automatic fire support for people that otherwise would not have access to it. Storm autorifles tend to be favored by irregular combatants on mid tech worlds that would struggle to obtain other automatic weapons.
Stun Carbine: The stun carbine is a larger version of the hand stunner that is intended to be used at greater ranges. It is a common weapon to be found in the hands of law enforcement agencies and other groups that want to capture living prisoners.
Stun Rifle: A more powerful version of the Stun Carbine, the stun rifle is typically used as an anti-robotics weapon nearly as much as it is used as a stun weapon.
Handmade “Survivalist” Rifle: Survivalist rifles are improvised weapons designed primarily as sniper rifles or hunting rifles where professionally manufactured rifles are unavailable. They are comparatively unreliable, but hit at a respectable range and pack a decent punch.
Trapdoor Rifle: An evolution of the rifle-musket, the trapdoor rifle is a breech-loading weapon speeding up the reloading process, but is still a dirty and somewhat unreliable black powder weapon that must be reloaded between shots. However, it is a considerable step up from earlier designs.
Handmade “Zap” Gauss Gun: An improvised gauss gun, zaps are unreliable and dangerous to operate but very easy to manufacture, allowing operators access to gauss weaponry very easily compared to manufactured versions.

Atlatl: The Atlatl is a tool utilized to maximize the effectiveness of darts, and javelins. Effectively doubling the range of the weapon. They also allow a wielder to apply their Strength rather than their Dexterity in a throw if they so choose.
Bolas: A thrown weapon consisting of two weights connected by a cord. It is a nonlethal weapon, intended to bring a target down by restraining them. A person hit by a bolas does not sustain any damage. Instead, they must make a Melee (unarmed) check opposed by the Athletics (dexterity) check of the attacker, as if being grappled. If failed, the defender is immobilised and falls prone. The defender can free themself by performing a successful Routine (6+) DEX check as a Significant Action.
Boomerang: A piece of shaped wood, or in more advanced cases, composite. Specialized returning boomerangs can be purchased which are less accurate (-2DM to hit) but will return to the user on a miss. The returning boomerang can be caught with a successful Athletics (Dex) check.
Compound Cam Bow: An advanced form of the bow that uses pulleys to maximize the strength of the wielder. It is as capable as a longbow, but it handles much more like a shortbow.
Crossbow: A mechanized bow that uses a windlass to hold a bolt into place. It can penetrate armor with surprising effectiveness, and fires silently, though most would prefer a firearm under general circumstances.
Dart: A compact weapon built to be thrown. It has a weighted head making it heavier than an arrow, but handier than a javelin. Dart users can substitute the Athletics (Dexterity) skill rather than the Gun Combat (Archaic) skill if they so choose.
Grenade Sling: The grenade sling is a bulkier version of the regular sling that is designed to add range to a grenade throw. In effect, it is an ersatz version of the grenade launcher. Grenade slings can be very dangerous in the hands of a skilled user.
Javelin: The javelin is a specialized spear optimized for throwing. It can be pressed into service as a regular spear, but it is not especially effective in this role. A user can substitute Athletics (Dexterity) skill rather than the Gun Combat (Archaic) skill if they so choose when throwing the javelin.
Longbow: A heavy version of the shortbow, the longbow is much more capable with extremely high performance for its tech level, however it requires considerable strength to operate due to its high pull weight. The longbow is perhaps the most powerful portable ranged weapon around before the advent of the personal firearm, even in a world where firearms are common, longbows are still sometimes used as hunting weapons as they can be used silently.
b A more deadly form of the bolas, with a monofilament string, the monofilament bolas cuts through the target's limbs, mangling them. Monofilament bolas’ are deadly to use, requiring specialized training to minimize the risk that the user cuts themselves.
Monofilament Net: More an instrument of mutilation than a battlefield weapon, or even a capturing tile. The monofilament net A person attacked by a net must make a Melee (unarmed) check opposed by the Athletics (dexterity) check of the attacker, as if being grappled. If this check is failed, the defender suffers damage dice equal to the Effect of the failure.On subsequent rounds, the entrapped person can either remain immobilised, taking no further damage, or choose to try to escape by making a successful Difficult (10+) DEX check; failure causes additional damage dice equal to the negative Effect.
Net: A tool to capture targets nonlethally, the weighted net, is thrown over a target. Targets hit do not take damage, instead being trapped and needing to free themselves lest they get captured by the foe.
Pepper Spray: Not so much a weapon, as a chemical irritant dispenser. Pepper spray cannot be used against targets with a protected face, and can only be used at short ranges. Pepper spray is typically used by law enforcement as tool against rioters and protestors, and by civilians as a self defense tool.
Repeating Crossbow: A weaker crossbow design that trades power for the ability to fire multiple shots in quick succession, the repeating crossbow loads new bolts into the mechanism with a lever from a magazine with six bolts.
Shortbow: A simple ranged weapon that is among the earliest of weapons developed by humans. Though a relative rarity in the modern world, shortbows are still used as hunting weapons and rarely as weapons of war on feral worlds.
Sling: An ancient weapon that consists of a belt of cured leather loaded with a specialized shaped stone, the sling, in the hands of a skilled user can maim or kill an armored target from a considerable distance. In a pinch, the sling can use whatever rocks the user can find, but are less effective.
Spear Gun: A weapon designed for underwater use with the power of compressed air, the spear gun launches a spear, or a harpoon. These can be attached to the gun with a strong line if the user desires.