"Hunting from the air with automatic weapons: now THAT'S a SPORT!"
—Terrorsaur, "Call of the Wild"
Firearms are typically only accessible in robot mode. However, a Cybertron of Generation Transmetal or above who wishes to outfit her beast mode with mounted guns may do so, but at twice the normal cost. Firearm weapons already purchased for robot mode may also be fitted to the vehicle mode of a Transmetal or Transmetal Fuzor if two more points are allotted toward that weapon. (For a multiple-function custom gun as below, this cost need only be paid once.)
Firearm weapons come in two basic categories: those which require traditional ammunition, and "energy weapons," which run on Energon. The same gun can be modified to function as more than one type of weapon: for example, a rocket launcher that also fires plasma bursts. To create a custom weapon like this, purchase both weapons and mark this choice on your character sheet. (If more than one is energy-based, allot all Energon pools to this single weapon.) Ammunition does standard damage; energy-based firearms do aggravated damage. However, this damage can always be soaked by a Cybertron target (not dependent on generation, unless the weapon's statistics say otherwise), and is aggravated for non-Cybertron targets and Cybertron targets alike.
Firearm weapons may be either attached or hand-held when purchased. It does not cost any extra points to attach a "dedicated" firearm weapon to a Cybertron's frame, only mark the choice of attached or free on the character sheet. Attached weapons cannot be dropped unless they are shot off or damaged, but run off the character's own Energon pool. Hand-held weapons have their own personal Energon pool, as below. Once a hand-held gun is out of Energon, it cannot be used until refueled. It does not run off the character's own Energon or Spark.
With Firearm weapons, add the number of successes on the attack roll as dice in the damage roll.
This list is more complete than the melee list, but is still imperfect. If a player chooses a firearm which is not on the list below, he should use the point totals as guidelines. Remember that Cybertron weapons are created with the protoform, and as such are unique. They have no specific model number, and must be repaired and reloaded on an individual basis.
Cybertronian ammunition weapons are very rarely emptied. There is no "Clip" listing for the weapons below. If a botch should ever occur on a to-hit roll with a standard gun, the gun is considered out of ammunition, and is useless until reloaded.
Pistol
Cost: One point
Difficulty: 7
Range: 20
Rate: 4
Damage: 4
A regular pistol with regular bullets doesn't stop an advancing Cybertron very much, but if it's all you got, use it while you can.
Automatic machine guns
Cost: One point for two
Difficulty: 5
Range: 50
Rate: 4
Damage: 1
It is typical for a Cybertron to purchase multiple machine guns, as they are fairly small and cost-effective. Machine guns are an extremely common accessory for spiders and insects, for whom they double as extra legs. If an automatic machine gun is being fired, consider every machine gun on the character's person to be fired, all at once, as a single attack. For example, a character who has purchased eight machine guns will have a total of 32 automatic shots available per round; 8 shots without splitting her dice pool. However, these guns typically do a smaller amount of damage than a regular firearm, so do not add attack roll successes to this damage roll.
Rifle
Cost: Two points
Difficulty: 8
Range: 200
Rate: 1
Damage: 8
A rifle fitted with standard ammunition can be used to take down an advancing opponent. Typically, more than one is purchased, or the rifle is paired with another type of gun with a quicker rate of fire.
Rocket launcher
Cost: Two points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 150
Rate: 2
Damage: 5
Rockets are miniature missiles, capable of doing less damage, but nice for taking opponents off guard or knocking flyers out of the air. Rockets typically explode on impact.
Dart launcher
Cost: Three points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 50
Rate: 2
Damage: 3
Darts don't do a lot of damage on their own. However, darts are a fascinatingly variable weapon with many different applications. For example, darts can be adapted to contain Cyber Venom. Also, they can be adapted as carriers for grenades or other explosives (see Demolitions). Dart-launchers themselves are also extremely variable—some are hand-held, some attached; some are blow-guns, others function as miniature crossbows (capable of shooting wooden stakes in a crossover chronicle).
(Also spend three points for a 6-difficulty, 2-damage Slingshot with the same modifications and range variable to Strength. This is included simply for Wheelie purposes, but is not intended to ever be used for such.)
Disk launcher
Cost: Four points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 100
Rate: 3
Damage: 4
Bladed disks, as Razor Wheels, fired as projectiles. A good weapon for the removal of the attached weapons of a foe, this allows a -1 to the difficulty of any called shot to a limb or attached firearm.
Chain gun
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 100
Rate: 5
Damage: 2 (per bullet, total of 6)
A Cybertronian chain-gun, when fired, is always on triple-burst, and will empty three bullets per shot without a split in the character's dice pool. The rate for the weapon is five, allowing for fifteen total shots per round.
Missile launcher
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 200
Rate: 3
Damage: 8
Cybertronian missiles typically explode on impact, doing heavy damage. They have an incredible recoil, but this is compensated for by their heat-seeking capabilities.
When a battle begins, pay one Energon—either from your own pool, or from the weapon's personal pool, depending on whether the weapon is attached or hand-held—for each energy-based weapon you plan to activate. This cost need not be paid again until the weapon is deactivated, but a weapon cannot be activated for more than one scene without repaying. Activating weapons does not use up battle time; therefore, weapons can also be activated during battle if needed. However, it is best to activate only weapons you are sure you need to use.
Laser beam
Cost: Two points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 50
Rate: 4
Damage: 3
Energon pool: 3
A common mounted weapon, usually purchased several times, the laser is a small, hot beam of any color. If multiple mounted lasers are purchased, the activation cost for the weapon need be paid only one time to activate the entire suite. However, if the weapons are hand-held, they must be activated separately.
Fusion pistol
Cost: Three points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 50
Rate: 4
Damage: 5
Energon pool: 6
A simple hand-held weapon, easy to aim, quick to fire. Sometimes attached to an arm, but rarely so, given the size of its typical ammunition pool.
Plasma cannon
Cost: Four points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 100
Rate: 3
Damage: 6
Energon pool: 5
A burst of hot plasma; a common secondary energy-based function for a large standard weapon, hand-held or attached.
Fusion rifle
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 200
Rate: 2
Damage: 8
Energon pool: 5
A primarily Maximal weapon, this rifle has a nice range and does good damage with little recoil. If attached, it is typically within a torso cavity or shoulder-mounted, but is usually hand-held as the fusion pistol. Like all Cybertron weaponry, the appearance of the fusion rifle varies greatly depending on beast form. This weapon is sometimes called a quasar cannon.
Ice cannon
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 8
Range: 100
Rate: 1
Damage: 6
Energon pool: 4
An ice cannon is like a plasma cannon in many ways, but has one added feature. It operates on an element of cold rather than of heat, and has special effects regarding the number of successes on the attack roll:
1 The target definitely feels a chill, but damage is as normal.
2 Target must check against Stamina + Survival, at standard difficulty. If he botches this roll, one internal Mechanism goes off-line. (Storyteller's choice.)
3 Target must check against Stamina + Survival, at standard difficulty. If he botches this check, one internal Mechanism or Weapon goes off-line. (Storyteller's choice.)
4 Target is trapped in solid ice, and is effectively Incapacitated, instantly. He may use a Spark point to break out of this bond, but only after one round has already passed. If he has no Spark remaining, he is Incapacitated until an ally finds a way to melt the ice.
5+: Target is trapped in solid ice and is Incapacitated in this fashion for a minimum amount of rounds equal to the number of damage success above four that was scored on the initial damage roll. After this time has passed, he may spend Spark to escape as above.
If 4 or 5 successes are gained, do not roll damage on the ice cannon. On organic targets, ignore effects for 2 and 3 successes; apply effects for 4 and above, with modification
Flame thrower
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 50
Rate: 1
Damage: 8
Energon pool: 5
A flame-thrower is basically a short-range weapon, which creates a sweep of flame in front of its scope. At point-blank range, there is a good chance the flame will cause a target to catch fire, causing additional damage. While "ordinary" fire does not do aggravated damage to a metal frame, the flame from another Cybertron's flame thrower will, as it is energon-created.
Cutlass blaster
Cost: Six points
Difficulty: 8
Range: 200
Rate: 2
Damage: 8
Energon pool: 4
Most energy weapons are capable of shooting only single bursts of laser fire or plasma. However, the cutlass blaster was developed to produce not only burst fire, but a sustained energy pulse: a blast which lasts for an extended period of time and does large amounts of damage. To activate a sustained pulse, the Cybertron must charge the blaster for a number of rounds equal to the number of rounds he wants the blast to be sustained. He can charge for a shorter time if he spends energon (the weapon's own energon, if hand-held) in place of extra rounds, but must charge the weapon for at least one round before firing the sustained pulse. The sustained pulse, if it hits, does 8 dice of energon (unsoakable for low generations, always aggravated) damage for the first round of attack, and four dice every round thereafter. It is most effective in combination with the Focus Mechanism. Therefore, a cutlass blaster is almost always an attached weapon.
A Cybertron who takes multiple guns, one for each hand, or several mounted guns, may fire all guns at once for a single attack as long as there is enough dice in his Dexterity plus Firearms pool to split among all these weapons. The difficulty for a single shot with multiple weapons is the same as the standard difficulty for each weapon. For each shot after the first, the difficulty of the shot is increased by one. Cybertrons can continue to split their dice pools to take multiple shots up to the listed Rate of the firearm, or spend Energon for extra actions to replenish their Dexterity + Firearm pools. As one can imagine, Cybertronian firefights are some of the fastest and most furious in the universe.
Two Cybertrons with sustained-pulse weapons can sometimes engage in a face-off with one-another, where two sustained weapons are matched barrel-to-barrel in a contest of sheer force. This lock-up happens when a Cybertron rolls Dexterity plus Firearms to shoot off a sustained pulse, and his opponent uses Dexterity plus Firearms to block. The blocking opponent does not need to charge his blast to block the opponent's shot. Should such a lock-up take place, the two weapons are feeding off of each other's energy, and thus the sustained weapon pulse may last indefinitely, until one weapon eventually overpowers the other. During a face-off, no to-hit rolls need be made, only damage rolls. One damage roll is made by both competitors, per round. For every success that one Cybertron gets over his opponent's successes, he advances on him by one total damage die. If the damage rolls are even, a stalemate is reached, and the pulse-battle continues without a direction. One Cybertron must beat the total amount of sustained-pulse damage dice of the other to win the stalemate, which will knock his opponent backwards, stunning him for one round, and do the weapon's initial amount of damage.
As an example, take two Cybertrons who are warring with cutlass blasters. They begin the sustained-pulse battle with eight damage dice each, and connect with each other, nullifying the first damage roll. Every round thereafter, they have four damage dice apiece. One rolls 3, 5, 6, 3: only one success, and his opponent rolls 6, 7, 8, 2. The latter Cybertron advances two dice on the former. If the second roll were to have a similar outcome, the latter Cybertron would have advanced on all four of his opponent's damage dice. He then rolls eight dice for his final damage total. His opponent can still roll soak, but only if he is Transmetal or higher; this is energon-type damage.
A common use of firearms is to dispatch flyers from below. The number of health levels for each type of Flight Mechanism has been provided for this reason. If a character using a firearm scores five or more successes on the to-hit roll on an airborne opponent, he has hit the enemy in his Flight area—a wing, rocket engine, etc. The amount of damage successes indicates whether or not the Flight Mechanism has been destroyed. Damage that applies to one of these targets still applies to the Cybertron's health levels in general.
If a Flight mechanism is successfully hit, the damaged Cybertron must make a Wits plus Athletics roll to avoid careening out of control. If he fails the roll, he crashes, and is vulnerable for a round of combat while he collects himself. He may take off again after this, depending on his Mechanism.
Characters with Firearms skill can also target a Flight Mechanism specifically, but the base difficulty for this target is +2.
If a wing designated as a shield is hit in this fashion, use either the shield's soak or the Cybertron's base soak: whichever is greater. Count the damage, if it connects, to the shield, not the body.
Cybertronian characters are encouraged to use their rounds of distance combat to provide "cover fire" for their allies rather than aiming to destroy specific targets. A Cybertronian providing cover fire for an attacking ally makes a single to-hit roll on his weapon of choice. If this roll has five or more successes, an enemy has been hit at Storyteller's choice, and damage is rolled based on the standard damage of the weapon (no added successes). Otherwise, the gun is fired only to cover the attacking ally. A botch on this roll, naturally, means that this ally has been hit. The difficulty for the enemy to shoot at any character for whom cover fire is being provided is increased by one for every ally that character has covering him. Covering an ally counts as an action, but spending Energon can purchase an extra action for a character providing cover fire so that he may logically cover as many allies as the Rate of his weapon. No matter the number of allies being covered in this manner, make only one to-hit roll per turn. In many firefights, it is logical for Cybertrons to protect one another in this manner so that a single "strike force" character may be rendered very difficult to hit.
As with other White Wolf games, the range listed for any given firearm is its median range, in yards. Firing at up to twice this range is possible at +1 difficulty. Point-blank-range shots are at difficulty 4. Shooting at a moving target can increase the difficulty of a shot—typically by one, but sometimes by much more if the target is using a Speed Mechanism. In addition, modifiers may be added to shot difficulty depending on the type of cover a target has.
A character who spends time aiming at a target may add one die from his Perception pool to his Dexterity plus Firearms roll for each round he spends aiming. (Certain Mechanisms may also increase the accuracy of aiming.) He can take no other actions during the aiming rounds.
"Modified" firearms, such as guns with special ammunition, or guns with silencers and scopes, are permitted, at Storyteller's discretion. Assume that standard-ammunition weapons have a "default" type of ammunition which, if other than the ordinary, is chosen during character creation. Other ammunitions can be used, but in limited amounts as opposed to the usual unlimited amount. ("Non-dedicated" firearms have this same restriction.) Cybertrons who have the Cloaking Mechanism can attach a silencer to their gun without a purchase cost; Cybertrons who have the Tracking Mechanism can attach a scope.
"Blow it."
—Optimus Primal, "Other Visits, Part Two"
Demolitions weapons are fairly variable, and not all require a Demoltions roll. The weapons below are usually only used in robot mode (though an animal with prehensile thumbs may still have the manual dexterity to lob a grenade). Demolitions experts are extremely useful in both exploration and war.
Charges
Cost: Three points per charge
Difficulty: 6
Range: 10
Damage: 6
Charges are by no means distance weapons, as they need to be set ahead of time. A charge will effect an entire area—not just one target, so a Cybertron who sets a charge must leave the area immediately. Usually a Cybertron may decide how long to set the charge: whether it will explode in one combat round or a megacycle is up to the Cybertron who sets it. The charge will effect an entire area, not just one target, hence the "range" above, which is the approximate diameter of the area effect. This range may be effected by area energon. Charges are also useful for getting into sealed areas, destroying enemy weapons, and other uses of that variety. Roll Dexterity plus Demolitions to set a Charge. A Charge, once used, is lost until the next repair session.
Grenades
Cost: Five points
Difficulty: 4
Range: 30
Rate: 1
Damage: 6
A Cybertron who purchases grenades as a weapon is assumed to have an unlimited amount of them. Grenades have a short range-basically, as far as they can be thrown-but, like charges, have a 10-foot-diameter area effect and may hit several opponents at once. Strong characters can throw the grenade much further, so add 5 yards to the grenade range for every dot of Strength above two (total x 2 Strength) of the thrower. The usual roll to lob a grenade is Dexterity plus Athletics, but a Cybertron must have at least one Demolitions dot if he wants to purchase this weapon.
For a "Grenade Launcher," have the Cybertron purchase the Dart Launcher listed under Firearms, and follow its rules. The roll to launch grenades is Dexterity plus Firearms.
Energon Nukes
Cost: Six points per charge
Difficulty: 6
Range: 30
Damage: 10
One of the most dangerous types of weapon is one that does damage akin to an energon explosion. Like the standard charges above, this weapon cannot be used at a distance and must be set to explode ahead of time. The "range" above is the diameter of the effect area. This can be increased even more if the Cybertron sets multiple charges, but each single charge must be purchased separately.
Damage from an Energon Nuke is energon-type damage, which is aggravated and unsoakable for lower generations. It is dangerous for all Cybertrons in the area, so, once an Energon Nuke is set, the Cybertron who sets it had better run, or suffer the consequences.
A useful weapon for destroying entire enemy complexes, or—for even more explosive results—enemy energy reserves, though if attempting this trick, take care that the resulting chain reaction does not destroy more than intended.
The weapons in the below list take traits from more than one category of weapon, or require an odd roll to activate, and thus do not fit well in any of the above categories. All of the weapons below are energy weapons; therefore, they have the single-energon activation cost. All are internal and do not have their own energon pools.
Eye-lasers
Form accessible: Robot
Cost: Four points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 100
Rate: 3
A Cybertron with eye-lasers is capable of shooting a laser beam directly from the eye to damage an opponent. Eye-lasers, though technically distance weapons, are accessed only from the Cybertron's internal mechanisms. These lasers are energy-based and do aggravated damage. They are also capable of both blast fire and sustained pulse, as a cutlass blaster. They require a roll of Dexterity plus Alertness to hit (the same roll to block a charged shot). On a single blast, eye lasers do damage equal to the attacker's Manipulation +2. For a sustained pulse, they do Manipulation +2 energon-type damage the first round, and even Manipulation damage for each following round. They can be adapted for use with the Focus mechanism (and often are). As with a firearm weapon, a Cybertron may split his dice pool to take extra shots per round with Eye-lasers, but the difficulty for each consecutive shot is increased by one.
Ultrasonic Scream
Form accessible: Any
Cost: Six points
Difficulty: 6
Range: 200
Rate: 1
The Ultrasonic Scream is a variable energy-based weapon, a beam generated from the vocal receptors of an attacker. It is nearly impossible to predict this weapon's effects and power. It takes a single turn to charge this weapon for attack, as with a sustained blast. After that round, roll Dexterity plus Performance to hit, then roll a single, additional die. The damage from the sonic blast is equal to 5 plus the Cybertron's Attribute score, the Attribute used dependent on the random roll: 1, Strength; 2, Dexterity; 3, Stamina; 4, Charisma, etc. If a 10 is rolled, the blast does an even 10 dice of damage. All Cybertrons in range when this weapon is fired may be subject to hearing difficulties for several rounds; on higher-damage attacks, they may be knocked off their feet just from area energy.
A botch on the to-hit roll with this weapon can have incredibly disastrous results, including wild explosions.
Spark force
Form accessible: Robot
Cost: Six points
Difficulty: 7
Range: 200
Rate: 1
Damage: 6
The ultimate way to appear unarmed is to generate your attacks from within. This type of weapon—most commonly accessed among Transmetal IIs and Optimals, but usable by any Cybertron with sufficient focus—draws out a Cybertron's own energon to create balls of force which can damage an opponent. Although a spark force is much like a firearm weapon, the Cybertron rolls Dexterity plus Matrix to hit with this energy, which typically is generated from the fingertips or the spark cavity. As with firearms, add your attack roll successes to the damage roll. The weapon is named for the spark because it can draw upon the spark's energy; spend a Spark point up front on a spark force attack for an extra automatic success on both the attack and damage rolls. (Multiple points may be spent for this purpose.) Like a cutlass blaster, spark force is also capable of a charged shot, sustained pulse fire, which does 6 energon damage the first round of attack, and 5 damage each additional round.