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Ranged Weapons

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High Tech Weapons

There are many types of advanced weaponry used within the Imperium, often designed using the ideas of radically different schools of thought. This is usually due to the isolation of many human worlds during the Age of Strife, and occasionally due to different human cultures imitating different forms of alien technology.

For example, melta weapons were unknown on Earth at the start of the Emperor’s Great Crusade and used melta technology to eliminate heavily armoured opposition. At this time, plasma weapon technology was the almost exclusive preserve of the eldar, who were well away from Earth at this time. However, humans indigenous to other portions of the galaxy had long traded and warred with the collapsing Eldar Empire and had developed their own version of the starcannon – the weaker and more unstable plasma gun – but had no understanding of melta weaponry (despite its small-scale use by the eldar). Once humanity began to coalesce into a single political entity – the Imperium – plasma technology was sent to Earth by the worlds that developed it, in exchange for melta technology. Within a few centuries, both technology types were commonly seen side-by-side all across the burgeoning Imperium.

This is a device used to alternately inhibit and enhance the effects of a Culexus Assassin’s pariah mutation. It takes the form of a bulky helmet that actively generates a low-level psychic charge, in an attempt to neutralise the Assassin’s negative psychic signature. This is never 100% successful, and all but the strongest willed individuals will still feel sick with fear at the presence of the Assassin’s presence.

Specialist Weapon: Animus specula require the Specialist Weapon – Animus Speculum ability.

Pariah: Only characters with the Pariah ability can use an animus speculum. Anyone else who attempts to use a speculum gains one Insanity point per minute worn.

Anti-Psyker: While inhibiting the pariah aura, the speculum’s ‘third eye’ remains closed and the Assassin counts as having the Untouchable ability, rather than Pariah. When the Assassin wills the iris to open, the enhanced effects of the Pariah ability are unleashed and all characters (not just psykers) find the Assassin Terrifying. Psykers within six yards halve all mental characteristics and must pass a Toughness test to avoid losing control of bodily functions.

Damage: Damage is deducted from Willpower, rather than hit points, and does not cause location injury. Armour does not protect against an animus speculum, but force fields work as normal.

Looking like a bulky crossbow, the bolas launcher is designed for medium-range live capture of targets, and is as popular with big game hunters as it is with law enforcement agents. Its main weakness is its inaccuracy, but sometimes circumstances necessitate a live capture at all costs.

Specialist Weapon: Bolas launchers require the Specialist Weapon – Thrown ability, even though they are not technically thrown weapons – the same knowledge of trajectory and weight is required to use them properly.

Combi-weapons are reasonably common, as far as customised weaponry goes. Using the philosophy that two guns are better than one, a gunsmith will patch multiple weapons together to create a bastard hybrid firearm. They are incredibly unwieldy, but are capable of creating devastating displays of firepower. Combi-weapons are status symbols in various warrior circles, from the lowest gang member to Space Marine Chapter masters.

Specialist Weapon: Certain barrels of a combi-weapon may require Specialist Weapon abilities, as noted under the appropriate weapons’ descriptions. If a barrel requires an ability not possessed, other barrels can still be fired without penalty.

Combi-Pistol: Between two and four pistol-sized weapons can be patched together to create a combi-pistol. This normally costs 25% of the cost of each weapon. A character using a combi-pistol can switch between barrels between actions without penalty, and each barrel has its own ammunition supply.

Fusillade: Normally, only a single barrel of a combi-pistol is fired at a time, but additional barrels can be fired at the same target, although all the shots count as being in one fully automatic burst. For example, a laspistol/autopistol/needle pistol combi-weapon firing all three barrels at once would count as having the firing mode Full Auto (6) – one shot being a las-bolt, another being a needle, and the rest being Limax bullets. Although not every barrel needs to be included in a fusillade, barrels used must fire their full complement of shots (e.g. an autopistol would fire four).

Encumbrance: The Encumbrance value of a combi-pistol is equal to the Encumbrance of the heaviest weapon, plus half the Encumbrance of the other weapons included in the patch job.

The alien Jokaero are the most well-known producers of miniature technology in the galaxy, and the Ordo Xenos suspects that the Adeptus Mechanicus either has dealings with them, or keeps a number of specimens in captivity, such is the effectiveness of the digital weapons available to Imperial agents. Digital weapons are normally worn like rings (hence their name), although they are not normally so small that they can be disguised as such. Sometimes, digital weapons are fitted to items like walking canes, amulets or bionic eyes.

Specialist Weapon: Digital weapons require the Specialist Weapon – Advanced ability, plus inferno pistol and hand flamer digital weapons require the Specialist Weapon – Melta or Specialist Weapon – Flamer abilities respectively.

Digital Weapons: Laspistols, hand flamers, needle pistols and inferno pistols can all be manufactured at a digital scale. The smaller size of a digital weapon is such that ranges are halved and all but the laspistol variant only have a one shot capacity (although all can be recharged at any mains outlet, via adaptors supplied with the weapon). Laspistol digital weapons have a capacity of five shots.

Fingers: A character can wear up to one digital weapon on each finger. The thumb cannot be fitted with a digital weapon, since that is used to fire the weapon.

Inferno pistols are incredibly rare and a weapons collector is lucky to come across more than one or two in his lifetime. Melta technology does not apply itself well to miniaturisation, and so each inferno pistol has to be assembled by hand by an experienced Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest. As such, they are generally given to heroes of the Imperium, such as Space Marine commanders or renowned Inquisitors, following some great service to the Machine Cult.

Specialist Weapon: Inferno pistols require the Specialist Weapon – Melta ability.

Short Ranged: Melta beams lose effectiveness the further they are from the target, so for every full 10 yards between the firer and the target, damage is reduced by D10. For example, a shot at 32 yards will lose 3D10 damage.

Incandescence: If more than 15 points of damage are caused by a shot from an inferno pistol, there is a 25% chance that a single location next to the one hit will be set alight for D3 damage per round. If more than one location is applicable (e.g. both legs, both arms and the head are potentially flammable if hit in the torso), determine randomly which location is set alight. Alternatively, the GM may decide that there is a chance for more than one location to burst into flames.

Initially designed as a family of weapons for assassins, needle weapons are frequently considered an elegant and non-destructive personal defence weapons for the nobility and wealthier merchants. After all, a few tears in a ten thousand year old tapestry are far preferable to smouldering las-scorches or gaping bullet holes. The needle pistol has the added advantage of being easily concealable and doesn’t interfere with the cut of a tailored suit.

Needle weapons work by firing a low-powered laser that carries either a sliver of crystallised toxin or, more commonly, a metal needle that is scored to fragment on impact. Needle weapon wounds can be mistaken (on a cursory examination at least) for injuries caused by broken glass, although if deeper examination is undertaken, it will be found that needle fragments have ricocheted around inside the victim’s tissue, causing wounding on a par with a larger projectile.

Specialist Weapon: Needle pistols require the Specialist Weapon – Needler ability.

Dual Ammunition: Needle weapons need to be loaded with both a clip of needles and a power pack in order to fire. The first number in the Capacity and Reload boxes refer to the needles, while the second refers to the power pack.

Silent: Needle weapons are totally silent, although the laser carrier projecting the needle can be spotted in humid, dark or smoky environments if a character passes a visual Awareness test.

Basically little more than a plasma reactor with a grip at one end and a nozzle at the other, the plasma pistol is a dangerous and unreliable weapon capable of injuring its wielder as severely as its targets. Nevertheless, it is still a popular sidearm for the slightly unhinged battlefield officer or gang leader.

Specialist Weapon: Plasma pistols require the Specialist Weapon – Plasma ability.

Power Pack: Each month, there is a 10% chance that the power pack has drained to the point where it only has a few days of safe operation left in it. The weapon will begin to emit a repetitious (and extremely irritating) high-pitched beeping, and most models have warning lights as well. Once the beeping begins, it will go on until the weapon’s internal backup capacitors have drained away D100 hours later (this length of time should be kept secret from the player). If, by this time, the power pack hasn’t been replaced, the weapon will explode, as if a 1-2 had been rolled on the Plasma Malfunction Table (below). It takes two actions to replace the power pack.

Note that a plasma weapon can operate without its power pack, provided there is energy remaining within the capacitors.

Energy Settings: The default setting for a plasma weapon is Norma (Standard). It can also be fired on a weaker, Sustentare (Sustained) setting, which is capable of more prolonged bursts of fire at a short range. The stats for a Sustentare burst of fire are given in italics beneath the normally formatted Norma stats. It takes a single action to switch between settings.

Malfunction: If a matched failure is rolled when firing a plasma weapon, it means something has gone wrong. Roll a D6:

The eldar are the undisputed masters (and creators) of shuriken weapon technology. That doesn’t stop the Imperium from having a go and proving the superiority of the human species. That it has a shorter range, slower rate of fire, lower ammo capacity and is more than twice as heavy as the eldar version is irrelevant – that humans can play the eldar at their own game is enough.

This ideological supremacism does not sway most military commanders and it is incredibly rare to find a human-manufactured shuriken weapon in use on any battlefield. The most famous human users of shuriken technology are probably the silk-clad skaters of the Karkason Planetary Defence Force, although the Inquisition suspects that they have been tainted not only by the notorious eldar decadence but also by darker powers.

Specialist Weapon: Shuriken pistols require the Specialist Weapon – Shuriken ability.

Requires Gravity: Shuriken pistols will not operate in zero-gravity.

Drum Magazine: Shuriken pistols are typically fitted with a horizontal drum-feed mechanism that is prone to jamming. As such, semi-automatic fire now jams the weapon on a matched failure when rolling to hit, and fully automatic fire jams on either a matched success or a matched failure.

Several rifle-sized combi-weapons have been designed so efficiently that they are officially sanctioned (if rare) Imperial weapons – the storm bolter and plasma blaster are fine examples. However, most combi-rifles are unwieldy, ugly, crossbred guns. This doesn’t prevent serious gun collectors or fighters dreaming about possessing such an unusual weapon.

Specialist Weapon: Certain barrels of a combi-weapon may require Specialist Weapon abilities, as noted under the appropriate weapons’ descriptions. If a barrel requires an ability not possessed, other barrels can still be fired without penalty.

Combi-Rifle: Between two and four pistol-sized weapons can be patched together to create a combi-pistol. This normally costs 25% of the cost of each weapon. A character using a combi-pistol can switch between barrels between actions without penalty, and each barrel has its own ammunition supply.

Fusillade: Normally, only a single barrel of a combi-rifle is fired at a time, but additional barrels can be fired at the same target, although all the shots count as being in one fully automatic burst. For example, a shotgun/autogun/needle gun combi-weapon firing all three barrels at once would count as having the firing mode Full Auto (12) – one shot being a Caedes shell, another being a needle, and ten being Limax bullets. Although not every barrel needs to be included in a fusillade, barrels used must fire their full complement of shots (e.g. an Necromunda pattern lasgun would fire three).

Encumbrance: The Encumbrance value of a combi-rifle is equal to the Encumbrance of the heaviest weapon, plus half the Encumbrance of the other weapons included in the patch job.

The graviton gun uses a sophisticated array of force field projectors to create a localised gravitational anomaly around the target, greatly increasing the existing gravity field’s strength and pinning the target to the ground. It can be somewhat unreliable in effectiveness, although the effects against aerial targets are almost invariably messy.

Specialist Weapon: Graviton guns require the Specialist Weapon – Advanced ability.

Requires Gravity: Graviton guns will not operate in zero-gravity.

Thud: Graviton guns normally cause no damage to a target (although the GM may rule otherwise in certain circumstances). The target is, however, pinned to the ground and treated as stunned for a number of rounds equal to 3D10 minus one-tenth of his Strength, to a minimum of one round. For example, a Strength 50 character that rolls a 12 will be stunned for 7 rounds (12-5=7).

The melta gun uses a magnetic containment beam to create microwave agitation that causes targets to vaporise or at least suffer severe burns. They are inaccurate, use a lot of energy for each shot and require a safety check every time a new power pack is loaded, but are popular for the sheer destructiveness of a short range blast.

Specialist Weapon: Melta guns require the Specialist Weapon – Melta ability.

Short Ranged: Melta beams lose effectiveness the further they are from the target, so for every full 10 yards between the firer and the target, damage is reduced by D10. For example, a shot at 32 yards will lose 3D10 damage.

Incandescence: If more than 15 points of damage are caused by a shot from a melta gun, there is a 25% chance that a single location next to the one hit will be set alight for D3 damage per round. If more than one location is applicable (e.g. both legs, both arms and the head are potentially flammable if hit in the torso), determine randomly which location is set alight. Alternatively, the GM may decide that there is a chance for more than one location to burst into flames.

A roughly submachine gun-sized scale-up of the needle pistol, the needle gun is also known colloquially as the needler, stapler, mincer or sewing machine. Whereas other types of needle weapon rely on toxin-tipped needles to attain perfection, needle guns rely on their larger ammunition capacity and semi-automatic rate of fire to shred a target (or targets) with a spray of shots in total silence.

Specialist Weapon: Needle guns require the Specialist Weapon – Needler ability.

Dual Ammunition: Needle weapons need to be loaded with both a clip of needles and a power pack in order to fire. The first number in the Capacity and Reload boxes refer to the needles, while the second refers to the power pack.

Silent: Needle weapons are totally silent, although the laser carrier projecting the needle can be spotted in humid, dark or smoky environments if a character passes a visual Awareness test.

The needle rifle is the ultimate sniper weapon – no sound, no muzzle flash and (if toxin darts or used) no evidence of assassination beyond a hypodermic puncture wound. It also possesses an unrivalled range, allowing an assassin to fire from a position of safety well away from the target. Unfortunately, the weapon is incredibly rare and expensive, and finding ammunition is always difficult.

Specialist Weapon: Needle rifles require the Specialist Weapon – Needler ability.

Dual Ammunition: Needle weapons need to be loaded with both a clip of needles and a power pack in order to fire. The first number in the Capacity and Reload boxes refer to the needles, while the second refers to the power pack.

Silent: Needle weapons are totally silent, although the laser carrier projecting the needle can be spotted in humid, dark or smoky environments if a character passes a visual Awareness test.

Designed originally for Space Marines wearing Terminator armour, the plasma blaster is essentially a twin-barrelled plasma gun. It has a shorter range than the plasma gun, but makes up for this with a higher rate of fire.

Specialist Weapon: Plasma blasters require the Specialist Weapon – Plasma ability.

Power Pack: Each month, there is a 30% chance that the power pack has drained to the point where it only has a few days of safe operation left in it. The weapon will begin to emit a repetitious (and extremely irritating) high-pitched beeping, and most models have warning lights as well. Once the beeping begins, it will go on until the weapon’s internal backup capacitors have drained away 5D10 hours later (this length of time should be kept secret from the player). If, by this time, the power pack hasn’t been replaced, the weapon will explode, as if a 1-2 had been rolled on the Plasma Malfunction Table (see the rules for plasma pistols). It takes two actions to replace the power pack.

Note that a plasma weapon can operate without its power pack, provided there is energy remaining within the capacitors.

Energy Settings: The default setting for a plasma weapon is Norma (Standard). It can also be fired on a weaker, Sustentare (Sustained) setting, which is capable of more prolonged bursts of fire at a short range. The stats for a Sustentare burst of fire are given in italics beneath the normally formatted Norma stats. It takes a single action to switch between settings.

Malfunction: The plasma blaster will overheat on a matched failure when firing, as described under the rules for plasma pistols.

Plasma weapons store highly unstable energised photohydrogen (aka plasma, or star matter) in a plasma reactor. This plasma can be focussed and projected towards a target in a bolt of blinding energy. Typically this plasma bolt is white, but some less efficient weapons produce bolts tinged with other colours.

Once the plasma reactor is started (usually when it is first purchased, rather than any earlier, for safety reasons), it can potentially run forever. In order to prevent the plasma generated from leaking out of the weapon, a strong magnetic field must be maintained to imprison it. This is provided by a standard power pack that drains over the course of several months.

Plasma weapons are incredibly difficult to manufacture and maintain, and frequently malfunction. If the weapon doesn’t explode, the cooling vents may be overloaded and evacuate superheated excess gases over the wielder.

Specialist Weapon: Plasma guns require the Specialist Weapon – Plasma ability.

Power Pack: Each month, there is a 20% chance that the power pack has drained to the point where it only has a few days of safe operation left in it. The weapon will begin to emit a repetitious (and extremely irritating) high-pitched beeping, and most models have warning lights as well. Once the beeping begins, it will go on until the weapon’s internal backup capacitors have drained away D100 hours later (this length of time should be kept secret from the player). If, by this time, the power pack hasn’t been replaced, the weapon will explode, as if a 1-2 had been rolled on the Plasma Malfunction Table (see the rules for plasma pistols). It takes two actions to replace the power pack.

Note that a plasma weapon can operate without its power pack, provided there is energy remaining within the capacitors.

Energy Settings: The default setting for a plasma weapon is Norma (Standard). It can also be fired on a weaker, Sustentare (Sustained) setting, which is capable of more prolonged bursts of fire at a short range. The stats for a Sustentare burst of fire are given in italics beneath the normally formatted Norma stats. It takes a single action to switch between settings.

Malfunction: The plasma blaster will overheat on a matched failure when firing, as described under the rules for plasma pistols.

Using the same technical systems that allow land speeders to hover above ground within a planet’s gravity field, and based on a human interpretation of eldar technology, the shuriken catapult propels small metal projectiles towards a target. The actual quality of Imperial weapons vary from model to model, and sometimes the shuriken discs do not even have the mono-molecular edge that makes them so successful for the eldar.

Nevertheless, some weapons enthusiasts prefer the shuriken catapult to other automatic weapons. This is not necessarily for practical reasons, but aesthetic ones.

Specialist Weapon: Shuriken catapults require the Specialist Weapon – Shuriken ability.

Requires Gravity: Shuriken catapults will not operate in zero-gravity.

Drum Magazine: Shuriken catapults are typically fitted with a horizontal drum-feed mechanism that is prone to jamming. As such, semi-automatic fire now jams the weapon on a matched failure when rolling to hit, and fully automatic fire jams on either a matched success or a matched failure.

Also known as the thermal cannon, the multi-melta is strictly military-only. Although short ranged, its hitting power is unequalled and it is one of the most effective tank-busting weapons in existence. On the down side, its energy consumption is astronomical, and so it is virtually impossible for an infantry squad to carry enough ammunition to make the weapon effective and carry their own wargear. For this reason, multi-meltas are almost always vehicle mounted.

Specialist Weapon: Multi-meltas require the Specialist Weapon – Melta ability.

Short Ranged: Melta beams lose effectiveness the further they are from the target, so for every full 10 yards between the firer and the target, damage is reduced by D10. For example, a shot at 32 yards will lose 3D10 damage.

Incandescence: If more than 15 points of damage are caused by a shot from a multi-melta, there is a 25% chance that a single location next to the one hit will be set alight for D3 damage per round. If more than one location is applicable (e.g. both leg, both arms and the head are potential targets if hit in the torso), determine randomly which location is set alight. Alternatively, the GM may decide that there is a chance for more than one location to burst into flames.

Barely portable by the average soldier, the plasma cannon is the largest of the common plasma weapons (although starships and titans carry versions that make the cannon seem insignificant). Primarily intended for anti-tank work, the plasma cannon can also be down-powered to give it limited sustained fire capabilities. Even in its weaker form, this weaponry is easily capable of blasting its way through squadrons of light vehicles or heavily armoured infantry.

Specialist Weapon: Plasma cannons require the Specialist Weapon – Plasma ability.

Power Pack: Each month, there is a 50% chance that the power pack has drained to the point where it only has a few days of safe operation left in it. The weapon will begin to emit a repetitious (and extremely irritating) high-pitched beeping, and most models have warning lights as well. Once the beeping begins, it will go on until the weapon’s internal backup capacitors have drained away 5D10 hours later (this length of time should be kept secret from the player). If, by this time, the power pack hasn’t been replaced, the weapon will explode, as if a 1-2 had been rolled on the Plasma Malfunction Table (see the rules for plasma pistols). It takes two actions to replace the power pack.

Note that a plasma weapon can operate without its power pack, provided there is energy remaining within the capacitors.

Energy Settings: The default setting for a plasma weapon is Norma (Standard). It can also be fired on a weaker, Sustentare (Sustained) setting, which is capable of more prolonged bursts of fire at a short range. The stats for a Sustentare burst of fire are given in italics beneath the normally formatted Norma stats. It takes a single action to switch between settings.

Malfunction: The plasma cannon will overheat on a matched failure when firing, as described under the rules for plasma pistols.

The thermal lance is a precision melta weapon. Although its range is limited, the weapon’s length and construction allow for greater focussing of the melta beam, to the extent that it is possible to burn a hole through a person without scorching the skin surrounding the wound.

Specialist Weapon: Thermal lances require the Specialist Weapon – Melta ability.

Short Ranged: Melta beams lose effectiveness the further they are from the target, so for every full 10 yards between the firer and the target, damage is reduced by D10. For example, a shot at 32 yards will lose 3D10 damage.

A remarkably simple form of ammunition, bolas bundles are little more than a number of small but dense weights (usually three), linked by lengths of cord, wrapped around one another in such a way that they will come apart in flight and spin.

The Imperium has never been able to successfully replicate eldar technology, and this even includes the ammunition feeds on its imitation shuriken weapons. Where the eldar use a solid core of ammunition, from which individual discs are sliced as the core pushes its way into the breech of the weapon, Imperial versions of shuriken weaponry relies on pre-formed discs stored in a drum magazine. The quality of work varies greatly from design to design, but most Imperial shuriken discs are shoddy in comparison to eldar examples.

Conventional needle ammunition is made up of metal slivers about an inch long, scored so that they will shatter not on impact, but after penetration, when they hit dense body tissue, such as bone or thick muscles. In many respects they work in the same manner as a bullet, although the splintering effect can cause severe internal injuries.

Projectile Lodging: Because of the nature of needle ammunition, it rarely leaves exit wounds, and so the projectile (or rather, its shrapnel) remains within the body. A character injured by needle ammunition automatically requires minor surgery to remove fragments from the wound.

Harder to find, but far more effective than conventional needle ammunition, toxin ammunition works on slightly different principles. Rather than relying on physical damage from a splintering metal needle, toxin needles are crystallised poison, formulated to melt at body temperature, but not under the lower temperature of the laser carrier beam that sends it into its target.

Toxin Type: Several types of toxin can be used in needle toxin ammunition. When a character finds a toxin ammunition on sale, roll on the following table to determine the type:

Toxin Effects: If the target is injured by a toxin needle, roll 2D6 damage as normal, but only for the purposes of penetrating armour. Toxin needles cause no direct hit point or location injury damage. However, if the needle beats the target’s armour value by one or more points, the target must take a Resistance test. If this is failed, the toxin has its usual effect.

Dissolves: Because toxin needles dissolve into the target’s bloodstream, cause no physical damage beyond a tiny hypodermic entry wound and the weapons are silent and flashless, it requires close examination (or post mortem) to discern if a target has been shot with a toxin needle. A character whose skin is pierced by a toxin needle must pass an Initiative test to feel a slight twinge of pain, and then pass a Sagacity test to realise he has been shot, the latter test with a +20 bonus if he suffers the effects of the toxin.

Note that toxin needles neither count as lodging in the body or cause exit wounds.

The power pack is described under the section for las-weapons.

The large power pack is described under the section for las-weapons.

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