Author Topic: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)  (Read 2304 times)

Offline Taran

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Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« on: June 02, 2011, 04:52:04 AM »
So there's a few very old threads about this but they don't really answer what I want to know, so:

I want to do a tazer as a gun that does the maneuver "tazed".  I chose the maneuver because it seems to most fit the style of the weapon.  A block seems weird and doing stress seems clunky.

So I'm not asking How it should be done - it's a maneuver -  the question is:  How should I set it up?

I was thinking of giving it a maneuver rating(or weapon Power), let's say 4.

So you 'd do a Guns vs Athletics, if target gets hit he makes an Endurance against Power 4.

If he fails by 0, fragile; if he fails by +1 or more, sticky. and he is now "tazed"

Tazed could be compelled.  If so, they cannot act until they successfully remove the aspect by doing an Endurance vs 4, as a suplemental action.

Here's some of my concerns:
1. It requires 2 rolls to successfully taze someone.  Does this make it a bit useless?  Being compelled not to act seems pretty powerful, so maybe two rolls is justified.

To make it one roll(no weapon power), you might just do Guns vs Endurance. This would also make concern #2 a non-issue.  The only reason I don't like this is that someones skill shouldn't determine how effective the tazer is.

2. What kind of "power" would you put on it?  Is 4 too strong or is it too weak?

3. Would you make the Endurance roll to shake the maneuver easier each exchange?  Give the target a +1 to their roll everytime they try to resist?

Lastly, am I missing anything?
« Last Edit: June 02, 2011, 12:02:17 PM by Taran »

Offline sinker

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2011, 05:03:40 AM »
As far as #1 there's no reason why you couldn't do either (or both) if you wanted. If they're defending with athletics then they're jumping out of the way, and if they're defending with endurance then they aren't trying to dodge, they're just trying to shrug it off. The system certainly has a lot of precedent for using multiple different skills to defend against any one thing.

Offline admiralducksauce

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2011, 11:11:40 AM »
I think 4 is a smidge too weak.  5 at the very least, so that a really tough human still has to get a positive number to shrug it off, but 5 is still an attainable-but-lofty goal for lower numbers without Aspect invocation.

Offline WillH

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2011, 01:28:13 PM »
It's a Special-Effect Attacks YS326.

Offline Taran

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2011, 02:08:23 PM »
It's a Special-Effect Attacks YS326.

Cool. 

So it seems that I have it right, but I'm still unsure of weapon rating.  If I use the guidlines in the book, then weapon rating 5 seems like too much, because I can deal stress AND put a maneuver - they roll against both separately.  If I do it that way, then I'm thinking it's more like weapon3.

If it does no stress, then I'm o.k with weapon 5.  But still, weapon 5 is grenade level.  Although, I suppose a concussion grenade is just a weapon 5, zone-wide stunning attack. Zone-wide being the big factor.

How often can a tazer be used? Once? twice?  I don't know because I've never used one.  Is there's a ranged version and a melee version?

Offline InFerrumVeritas

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2011, 03:04:20 PM »
Number of uses depends on a couple of factors: Battery and cartridges.

Most law enforcement tasers also have two settings: Regular and Drive Stun.

Regular tasers shoot two projectiles into the person (so I'd say that armor would negate as the prongs have to stick).  This can incapacitate. I'd treat it as a Weapon 3 with all of the weapon's shifts going into the maneuver (stress would then be determined by the accuracy of the attack).  After each use, you'd have to reload the cartridge (supplemental action).

Drive Stun means that you're using it without the ranged cartridge in it.  This doesn't actually incapacitate the target, just inflicts electrical damage.  I'd treat this as a Weapon 3 (very close melee).

I'd probably say Guns for the first, Weapons for Drive Stun (cannot defend effectively against most Weapons though).

Offline admiralducksauce

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2011, 03:24:35 PM »
With the clarification about Special Effect attacks (thanks), I'd agree with InferrumVeritas' writeup.

Offline Taran

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Re: Tazer Stats (nitty gritty)
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2011, 06:17:43 PM »
Number of uses depends on a couple of factors: Battery and cartridges.

Most law enforcement tasers also have two settings: Regular and Drive Stun.

Regular tasers shoot two projectiles into the person (so I'd say that armor would negate as the prongs have to stick).  This can incapacitate. I'd treat it as a Weapon 3 with all of the weapon's shifts going into the maneuver (stress would then be determined by the accuracy of the attack).  After each use, you'd have to reload the cartridge (supplemental action).

Drive Stun means that you're using it without the ranged cartridge in it.  This doesn't actually incapacitate the target, just inflicts electrical damage.  I'd treat this as a Weapon 3 (very close melee).

I'd probably say Guns for the first, Weapons for Drive Stun (cannot defend effectively against most Weapons though).

Love it.  THanks.