Warehouse 13 add ons

[Talensc]

I am getting ready to run a campaign, and one of my players asked about playing a Warehouse agent. Sounded like a cool idea to me and gave me some ideas for the campaign. But anyone have an idea on how to create a Tesla gun using the DFRPG rules?

[admiralducksauce]

For those of us (raises hand) who aren't familiar with Warehouse 13, what does a Tesla gun do?

[Haru]

A Warehouse 13 Tesla gun is pretty much a portable Tesla coil, basically a gun that shoots lightning.
I'd create it as an Item of Power with Breath Weapon (lightning), would be the simplest way, I think.

If he wants to use more than a Tesla gun, I would give him "Modular abilities" tied to a [+2] Item of Power. That way, he can change around the powers and therefore items he takes with him every time he has access to the warehouse.

[ways and means]

Because of its limited number of charges I probably would do it as enchanted item (enchanted by the power of science), or call it a weapons 2 electric pistol and call it a day.

[admiralducksauce]

If all it is is a lightning gun, hell, just give it to him.  call it Weapon:2 or Weapon:3 depending on whether it takes 1 or 2 hands to aim correctly.  He's got a High Concept aspect (I'm assuming) that reinforces the fact that he should have one.  IMO there's no need to strip him of his Pure Mortal bonus over something that's only a handgun with special effects applied to it.

And yes, lightning will be able to hurt some things that bullets won't, but conversely, he'll never be able to load specialty ammunition into his tesla gun and thus defeat other things' Catches.  IMO it all evens out.

[Haru]

Hmm, good point, I think you're right. If he only has the gun, it is probably not worth all that much.

[ARedthorn]

Depends on how much like the W13 Tesla you want it to be... It's supposed to stun/disable a target and screw with short-term memory while you're at it.

It also has a cool-down (recharges over a couple rounds at least- first season, it was more like a one-off per scene, but they've improved them).

That said... it sounds more like a take-out than a maneuver... so direct damage would be best.

I'm tempted to say it might be closest to an IE designed to be usable by anyone... but... statting one of those out on a non-caster's sheet gets a little hinky- after all, who's Lore is it based off of, and how much do you have to pay for it?

IoP might be best, in that case... does direct damage with the following perks and drawbacks:
+Weapon:3, pistol sized (concealable) (I'd be tempted to say more than 3, since it reliably takes out even tough human targets in body armor in a single shot, no contest, but I think the last two perks more than make up for this)
-take-outs can only result in unconciousness
+but also short-term memory wipe (this may be resistable, since pete was not so much affected, while everyone else ever has been)
+comes with a permanent attached aspect 'Charged Up' which can be tagged for free once per scene for +2 damage. Trying to use it before it's recharged means you'll do less damage, but for a FP, you can more or less declare it recharged for a FP (really, you're spending the FP to tag the existing sticky aspect).
+bypasses any armor not specifically designed to stop electricity (fulfills catch as appropriate?)

Thoughts?

Edit: PS- Arty and Claudia definitely have a variable pool of IoPs, with the obligatory drawbacks for using them.

[InFerrumVeritas]

Psh, W3 special effect attack.

Shoot gun.  Compare Guns to Athletics.  Take difference in stress (if hit, obviously).  Targets rolls vs. Good or has aspect "Tased."

[ARedthorn]

Thought of that, but downside of that- it's really only good for a single round w/o the expenditure of lots of fate points... in the show, they don't just get back up in a couple rounds. That's closer to a take-out than a maneuver or special attack.... plus, the memory loss is a lasting issue, too.

[admiralducksauce]

Right, it is a Taken Out result.  So when you take someone out with your tesla gun, you can decree that they're knocked out and suffer short-term memory loss.  I still don't see the need for special rules for this, but maybe it's my lack of familiarity with the show.