Projectiles
From Star Frontiers Network
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by Goblinardo
In this issue, we’ll take a closer look at automatic pistols and rifles. These weapons are in high demand because of the relative inexpensiveness of the ordinance. But instead of just listing a pile of weapons and their statistics, we’ll first discuss one of the major players in the arena of projectile weapon design and sale...
"Presenting the new Gunnam automatic pistol! With an improved titanium body, multi-functional attachment holder for standard flashlights, laser sights and our own DIRK bayonets, (now with 180º full swivel-locking action!) high-resistance brass catcher and real wood finishings, the Gunnam is a weapon for the true connoisseur. Remember, you have a Right to Fight!"
Cepeda Kinetic Arms is one of the premier projectile firearm and related accessories manufacturers in the Frontier, serving the people and militaries of over a dozen worlds. Even WarTech, Inc., who supplies the Frontier with beam and gyrojet weapons, purchases and repackages their automatic pistols from CKA! From cheap self-defense pistols such as the Ropes Semiautomatic to high-tech assault rifles like the MR-17 and state-of-the-art big game guns (the famous CKA Hi-Ler), CKA has the right firearm for any and all customers.
The corporation also maintains a network of firing ranges, weapon workshops and support services throughout the worlds where it holds presence, and it has several links with various planetary governments: for example, many weapons safety programs have CKA advisors supervising them. Of course, such links are ripe ground for conspiracy theorists that see CKA as nothing but ruthless warmongers that thrive on armed conflict.
The current CEO is Gran Venhur, a charismatic and brilliant Yazirian that has openly declared his lifeenemy as "people's helplessness against danger." The company motto is "Your Right to Fight"
Contents |
Rules
Most of the firearms manufactured by CKA are already covered by the basic rules and those appearing on the Star Frontiersman, such as the Semiautomatic Pistol, but some of their products deserve rules of their own:
Cepeda Custom
A Cepeda Custom is truly a symbol of money, power and class. The Customs are handguns designed to their owners' every specification: some of them resemble ancient muskets, while others could pass as experimental cutting-edge beam weapons until they fire their deadly bullets. Furthermore, by subjecting their customers to special physical and mental examination, CKA can produce weapons made for their particular physiques and even mental states: they are, indeed, 'custom'.
Cepeda Customs are treated as Automatic Pistols which provide its owner (the being the gun was manufactured for) a +15% to hit bonus. People other than the intended owner suffer a -15% to hit penalty, as the weapon just feels 'off' to them. The necessary exams take 1d10 days (costing 100 Credits per day) and can only be performed at a certified CKA outlet. Prices vary greatly depending on the design, but CKA policy is to never sell a Custom for less than 2,000 credits, in order to preserve their rarity.
CKA Fast Drawing Holster
Nicknamed “the Death Finger,” this is a special handgun holster meant to be worn in the forearm. Special magnetic repulsors hidden inside the holster make moving the arm easier than it would seem with a gun strapped to it, and together with sensors placed in the back of the wearer's hand they provide it with the ability for which it has received its nickname.
By grasping an imaginary gun with the holster arm, the repulsors place the weapon in the hand with lightning speed, ready to fire: 'firing' with one's finger can actually achieve lethal results. The legality of this accessory is somewhat questionable, and in certain worlds it is actually prohibited to wear one, even if it's empty.
In game terms, a character with a Fast Drawing Holster can ignore the -3 penalty to their Initiative modifier for having their weapons holstered. The holster needs to be adjusted before a given individual wears it: the process takes 1d10 hours, halving the time with a successful Repair check (minimum 1 hour). If a character wears an unadjusted holster with a gun in it, there is a 30% chance per hour it will misfire, sending the weapon flying away. This chance increases to 70% in combat: if it misfires, it'll bruise the character's hand (-10% to hit for the remainder of combat) and deny the Initiative benefit. A Reaction Speed check will be necessary to hold on to the gun, otherwise it'll be thrown 1d10 meters away.
Extended Bulletclips
Offered for both rifles and pistols, these bullet clips are longer, making the pistol or rifle a bit awkward and bulky. The added benefits cannot be denied, as they hold and deliver 30 bullets to the weapon’s firing chamber instead of just 20. The added bulk causes a penalty of -1 to the Initiative Modifier of the user.
Plot Hooks
Bad Boys: A large shipment of CKA firearms has been stolen by space pirates! The characters are hired to track them and recover the guns, but are the robbers really 'space pirates'? Why isn't the shipment manifesto matching what the characters found? And why are CKA operatives hounding their steps?
Meatshields: The Cepeda Kinetic Arms CEO, Gran Venhur, is on a grand tour of his interplanetary holdings and has hired the characters as security detail. Angry protesters, cold-blooded assassins, devious rivals within the corporation and a proud and angry Yazirian to protect: can the characters survive this gig?
Sponsored by...: Sathar agents have entered an office building and taken the employees hostage! As the characters make a hasty rescue plan, Star Law agents armed with the latest CKA submachine guns storm the building and take all the terrorists out. Though this situation is solved, crime as a whole is rising in the sector, as are police actions with CKA weaponry. Is this all a big marketing campaign for the corporation?
"A more civilized age": The characters are contacted by an antique weaponry collector to find one of the very first Cepeda Custom handguns, Olof Arski's Duel Gunner. The weapon, designed after the dueling pistols of legend, was last reported to be seen in a far-away desert planet. A rival collector has heard the rumors too, and he's not above sending gangs of thugs to retrieve it...
| Miscellaneous Equipment | Cost (Cr) | Wgt (kg) |
| CKA Fast-draw Holster | 65 | -- |
| Eliminates the -3 IM penalty when drawing weapon during combat. |
| Ammunition | Cost (Cr) | Wgt (kg) |
| Extended Pistol Bulletclip | 5 | -- |
| Holds 30 bullets instead of standard 20, -1 to IM because of added bulk. | ||
| Extended Rifle Bulletclip | 10 | -- |
| Holds 30 bullets instead of standard 20, -1 to IM because of added bulk. |
| Weapons | Cost (Cr) | Wgt (kg) | Damage | Ammo | SEU | Rate | Defense | Range (PB/S/M/L/E) |
| Ropes Semiautomatic Pistol | 150 | 1.5 | 1d10 per bullet | 20 rounds | -- | 3 | Inertia | 5/15/30/60/150 |
| Gunnam Auto Pistol | 200 | 2.0 | 1d10/5d10 | 20 rounds | -- | 3(1) | Inertia | 5/15/30/60/150 |
| +Telescopic Sight Use range category one step better | +50 | +.5 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- |
| +Laser Sight +10 to hit in PB | +70 | +.5 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- |
| +Flashlight -1 IM due to the | +10 | +.5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| +DIRK bayonet PS adds to damage | +10 | +.5 | 1d10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| MR-17 Heavy Assault Rifle | 480 | 5.0 | 1d10+1 per bullet or burst of 5d10+5 | 20 rounds | -- | 3(1) | Inertia | 10/40/100/150/300 |
| CKA Hi-Ler Hunting Rifle Notes: | 700 | 4.0 | 2d10 per bullet | 20 rounds | -- | 1 | Inertia | 10/70/200/500/1km |
