Weapons

Weapons of various sorts are common for both heroes and villains. They range from melee weapons to ranged weapons like guns and bows. Characters who don't have any offensive powers often rely on weapons to get the job done.

Melee Weapons

Melee weapons are hand-held close combat weapons. They typically have a Strength-based Damage effect (see Damage effect), adding the wielder's Strength rank to the weapon's damage rank. Ordinary melee weapons are limited by their Toughness in terms of the amount of Strength they can add. If a wielder exerts Strength greater than the weapon's Toughness (4 for wooden weapons, 7 or 8 for metal weapons), the weapon breaks when it is used. So that a melee weapon's maximum damage it can deal is Damage + Toughness (which will cause it to break). If you would like to get around the toughness limitation you may take Damage with a descriptor of using a melee weapon. Melee weapons have the following traits:

Category: Melee weapons are categorized as simple, archaic, and exotic.

Effect: The effect a hit with the weapon causes, typically Damage, although some modern melee weapons have other effects. The effect has the normal cost given in Powers. The effect may also have certain descriptors, such as bludgeoning or slashing, for defining things like resistance or vulnerability to certain effects.

Cost: This is the weapon's cost in points. Characters pay this cost from their equipment points to have a weapon of this type as part of their regular equipment.

Table: Melee Weapons

Simple Melee Weapons

Brass Knuckles: Pieces of molded metal fitting over the fingers, brass knuckles add +1 damage to your unarmed strikes. They include similar items like armored gauntlets.

Club: Any of a number of blunt weapons used to strike, including nightsticks, batons, light maces, quarterstaffs, and similar bludgeoning weapons. A particularly light club might be only Damage 1.

Knife: A bladed weapon with a length less than 18 inches or so. This includes daggers, stilettos, sais, switchblades, bowie knives, and hunting knives, among others.

Pepper Spray: A liquid sprayed in a target's face at close range to blind them.

Taser: A taser hits its target with a surge of electricity, an Affliction that can daze, stun, and potentially incapacitate.

Archaic Melee Weapons

Battleaxe: A heavy-bladed axe that can be wielded with one or two hands.

Sword: A blade between 18 and 30 or more inches in length, single or doublee-dged. It includes longswords, katanas, sabers, scimitars, and similar weapons.

Spear: A bladed pole-arm. Most spears can also be thrown as a ranged attack.

Warhammer: A heavy hammer or mace that can be wielded with one or two hands. Warhammers can also be thrown as a ranged attack.

Exotic Melee Weapons

Chain: A length of chain can strike targets up to 10 ft. away (Reach 2) and provides the benefits of the Improved Grab and Improved Trip advantages.

Chainsaw: A tool that sometimes sees use as a weapon, particularly against zombies and other slasher-flick monsters. Unlike most melee weapons, chainsaw damage is not Strength-based.

Nunchaku: A popular martial arts weapon, made of two wooden shafts connected by a short length or rope or chain.

Whip: A whip can strike targets up to 15 ft. away (Reach 3) and provides the benefits of the Improved Grab and Improved Trip advantages. A Whip is not Strength-Based because it does no damage.

Ranged Weapons

Ranged weapons include both thrown and projectile weapons. Thrown weapons are Strength-based, adding the wielder's Strength rank to their Damage rank. Like melee weapons thrown weapons deal a maximum damage of Damage + Toughness (which will cause it to break) although a thrown weapon breaking is generally of little concern. If you would like to get around the toughness limitation you may take Damage with a descriptor of using a thrown weapon (also see Ammo flaw). Projectile weapons include bows, crossbows, and guns as well as energy weapons like lasers and blasters. Their Damage is generally not Strength-based.

Like melee weapons, ranged weapons have category, effect, and cost traits. Ranged weapon categories are Projectile Weapons, Energy Weapons, Heavy Weapons, and Thrown Weapons.

Table: Ranged Weapons

* = See individual descriptions for more information.

Projectile Weapons

Holdout pistol: A low-caliber, easily concealed pistol, typically used as a back-up or secondary weapon.

Light pistol: A common handgun, found in the hands of police officers and criminals alike.

Heavy pistol: A high-caliber handgun, usually used by those who want a lot of stopping power.

Machine pistol: A small automatic weapon, usable in one hand.

Submachine gun: Compact automatic weapons that fire pistol ammunition, submachine guns are common military weapons, also used by criminals with access to more serious firepower.

Shotgun: A shotgun can fire solid slugs, which inflict Ranged Damage 5. It can also load buckshot shells, which does Ranged Damage 3 with a Feature that costs 1 per rank: Multiattack if at close range and Cone Area 1 if at short range. But buckshot also has Limitation (-1): can't do damage at medium range or farther. The buckshot is an alternate effect to the solid slug so that the shotgun costs 13 total equipment points.

Assault rifle: Rifles designed for military-use capable of both single-fire and automatic fire.

Sniper rifle: Rifles designed for long-range use, typically in conjunction with a powerful scope or targeting system.

Bow: Although outdated, some heroes and villains favor the bow as a weapon and it can be quite effective in the right hands. A bow-wielding character may have various "trick" arrows with different powers, typically handled as devices.

Crossbow: Similar to a bow, and used for the same reasons.

Energy Weapons

Blaster pistol: A pistol that fires a coherent bolt of energy.

Blaster rifle: A larger rifle sized weapon that fires a more powerful bolt of energy.

Stun Gun: A compressed-air weapon firing a pair of darts. On impact they release a powerful electrical charge, for an Affliction effect that can daze, stun, or incapacitate (Fortitude defense, DC 5). This is a ranged Taser.

Heavy Weapons

Flamethrower: A flamethrower shoots a stream or arc of fire Damage as Cone or Line Area 1 and can switch between settings as a feature (only 1 shape is possible at a time).

Grenade launcher: A grenade launcher fires various types of grenades out a greater distance, generally fragmentation grenades.

Rocket launcher: A rocket-launcher is generally an anti-tank weapon, although they also make useful anti-super-hero weapons as well. The primary target hit by the rocket and all other targets in the burst area (30 ft radius) resists explosive Damage 10. Some "tank-killer" rockets are also Penetrating, to help overcome Impervious armor Protection, although the rocket's Damage typically does most of that work. Most rocket launchers can fire only one or two shots before they must be reloaded (standard action, meaning the launcher cannot fire that turn). Despite having the Ammunition flaw it isn't worth any points because it isn't limiting: normally 2 rockets is enough.

Thrown Weapons

Bolos: A set of weighted cords intended to entangle an opponent with a Snare Affliction that hinders and causes vulnerable, then renders the target immobile and defenseless. Snare 3 (Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobilized) Alternate Resistance (+1): Sleight of Hand: Escaping instead of Fortitude or Will. See Snare in Powers for details.

Boomerang: A common throwing weapon for heroes, a thrown boomerang returns to the thrower's hand, ready to be thrown again on the next round, this is a special descriptor instead of a Feature because it is assumed that the Boomerang doesn't run out (unlike other thrown weapons and effects with the Ammunition flaw).

Javelin: Light, flexible spears intended to be thrown. Javelins can also be used in melee combat.

Shuriken: Flat metal stars or spikes for throwing. Shuriken can be thrown in groups as a Multiattack. Although they are thrown weapons, shuriken are not Strength-based, being too light and relying on a being sharp instead.

Weapon Accessories

The following accessories can be added to the projectile weapons in this section. Each is considered a feature costing 1 equipment point.

Laser Sight: A laser sight projects a non-damaging laser beam showing where the weapon is aimed. This grants a Accurate 1 to the weapon it's attached, which grants a +1 bonus on attack checks with that weapon.

Stun Ammo: Ballistic weapons can fire rubber bullets while bows can fire blunt-tipped arrows or quarrels. This ammunition is intended to inflict non-lethal rather than lethal damage. Switching between ammo types is a move action (a free action for a character with the Quick Draw advantage).

Suppressor: A suppressor muffles the noise of a ballistic weapon, giving it Subtle 1 and making it difficult (DC 10) for normal hearing to detect it.

Targeting Scope: A targeting scope gives a weapon the benefits of the Improved Aim advantage, doubling the normal benefits of aiming.

Grenades And Explosives

Table: Grenades And Explosives

* = See individual descriptions for more information.

Fragmentation grenade: A common military grenade that sprays shrapnel in all directions.

Smoke grenade: A smoke grenade fills an area with thick smoke (colored as desired) providing total concealment to all visual senses.

Flash-bang grenade: A flash-bang grenade gives off a bright flash and a loud bang that can render targets temporarily blind and deaf. Ranged Burst Area 1 Visual and Auditory (Extra Condition) Dazzle 4. A flash grenade affects only vision and costs 16 points.

Sleep gas grenade: This grenade releases a gas with an Affliction (Sleep) effect.

Tear gas grenade: This type of grenade releases a cloud of gas that irritates the eyes and lungs, causing temporarily blindness and nausea (an Affliction with dazed and visually impaired, stunned and visually disabled, and incapacitated effects).

Dynamite: A common explosive. The damage on the table is for a single stick of dynamite. Each doubling of the amount of explosive increases Damage rank by 1. It has ranged range to indicate the possibility of throwing it (although not entirely safe).

Plastic explosive: Another common explosive, which can be worked into different shapes. The damage listed is for a 1-lb block. Each doubling of the amount of explosive increases Damage rank by 1. It has ranged range to indicate the possibility of throwing it (although not entirely safe).