 November 4, 2007 - 3:54pm |  Notice the Vrusk is holding a specifically designed Vrusken laser rifle? If say a Human or Yazirian were to use the same weapon would they have a to-hit penalty? -OR- If they have a skill in that type of weapon it's assumed they know how to use it no matter the race is was manufactured for? |
November 4, 2007 - 4:01pm | Yeah, I think there would be a definite penalty. A human or Yazirian would not be able to aim comfortably with a Vrusk weapon. Imagine trying to hold the ball base and aiming. Perhaps a similar problem would occur with a Vrusk trying to use a weapon with a handle made for human/Yazirian hands. |
 November 4, 2007 - 7:27pm | Yes. Very cool thoughts indeed. I would say a human or Yazarian trying to fire that weapon would have some issues. Aimed shots would definitely be difficult. I think a -5% or -10% would be appropriate. Personally I would go with a -10%. Then drop it to -5% if the pc wanted to purchase a familiarity skill with it. My reasoning is that I have fired a shotgun without a stock on numerous occasions, aimed fire is difficult. While firing from the hip is fun, you still have to use alot of guess work. Once you get to know the weapon, then it is much easier. I can imagine a human using the Vrusk weapon to mostly fire from the hip. If anyone has the D20 Future book, there are pictures of Dral weapons that look a little different. I think there are some more Vrusk designs too. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
 November 5, 2007 - 7:28am | I'd say that any weapons manufacturer worth his salt would create weapons with versitile solutions to accommodate all the races. That means either race-neutral constructions or attachments/add-ons that allow for the various races to use the weapon comfortably. But when you really think about it - it's not significant enough to penalize for. Humans and Yazirians can use the same weapons easily, no penalty should be applied. Dralasites, due to their ability to morph, would be able to use all weapons easily without penalty. The rounded grip of the Vrusk wouldn't prevent him from using a standard gip, in my opinion, just as I think I can get my opposing-thumb-hand easily around a spherical grip designed for a Vrusk. In the skills section, under the descriptions for the Computer, Technician, Robotics, Environmentalists, etc. skills... it states that when technicians/medics/etc. must deal with alien technology - that is, equipment made by and for a race other than one of the four core races - or physiology - physical or behavioral understanding - they get a -20 penalty for lack of familiarity and usability of controls & tech. It's a simplified mechanic that already exists in the game rules, and I use it for just about everything alien. The key here, though, is that it refers to technology and physiology OTHER than the four core races. To me, that means that all that tech is pretty equally usable by each of the four. I presume that it's either through gained familiarity or by superior grip/controls designed to accommodate all the races (even if through attachments and such). I simply don't bother with it, and my games run pretty smooth :) 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
November 7, 2007 - 10:40pm | While I agree not to get bogged down in the weeds I think it would be interesting if a GM decided that at some point in the game one of the challenges could be using unfamiliar weapons or equipment - maybe something very specialized for a particular core race. "The vrusk drops his gyrojet rifle and skates off in the opposite direction. You pick up the familiar looking weapon but it doesn't feel just right. As you fire the weapon you realize it's backwards and w00t the yazirian, standing behind you, takes one in the chest." |
 November 7, 2007 - 2:42pm | I never gave it a penalty. As was mentioned earlier, the weapon would no doubt have available options (trigger guard/grips for humans/yaz/drals and the squeeze bulb for vrusk) although the unused grip would no doubt get tossed by the character. That said, it might be awkward at first for a human to fire a squeeze-bulb vruskan weapon but it wouldn't take long to adapt, much like the pistol grip shotgun (which works well with a laser-aim attachment LOL) On a related note, the dralasite's weapon in that pic looks like a Norelco Speedrazor...   "Stand down, Sathar Agent... and prepare to get SHAVED!!!" |
November 7, 2007 - 2:53pm | On a related note, the dralasite's weapon in that pic looks like a Norelco Speedrazor... Of course, why else do you think he has the mischievous smile when Drals don't have mouths?"Stand down, Sathar Agent... and prepare to get SHAVED!!!" |
 November 8, 2007 - 8:42pm | The "squeeze bulb" firing mechnaism wouldn't make it off the drawing board much less actually into production, the Vrusk don't seem remotely that careless. Squeeze bulb firing mechanism would be exetremely dangerous just to store much less use. Would be just like storing primed artillery shells on their fuzes. There would still be a "trigger" the vrusk would have put to use, most likely inset that activated when pressed and such a design would still allow the other races to fire it without any serious issues. Vrusk designs would benefit some of the other races weapon designs as well, because its a sure guarentee those Vrusks had to design one heck of a small and highly efficient recoil system for their automatic rifles. But as it was pointed out that's just getting bogged down in the weeds, and it's something our group refuses to do with Star Frontiers. I think it would be interesting if a GM decided that at some point in the game one of the challenges could be using unfamiliar weapons or equipment - maybe something very specialized for a particular core race. Sundown on Starmist does this with the players getting access to a plethora of completely alien devices up to a giant Hover Tank. It's something our group enjoyed, but we had to repair a good deal of them before they could even be used and some weren't even broke before we "repaired" (aka broke) them  |
