Name: Mote Weaponry, ricoguns (deadbeats) Description: Mote guns are a classification of ranged energy weaponry that makes use of round metallic grains (the 'motes') to superheat and propel into a highly reflective shot of thermal energy. The resulting shot is weaker compared to traditional energy weapons, but has the ability to ricochet off of flat surfaces with minimal loss of energy. Abilities: The pinpoint beam shot of a mote gun has the ability to reflect off of flat surfaces. The maximum number of reflections depends on the power of the mote gun. A mote pistol, the most common kind of mote weaponry, will reflect up to two times. A mote rifle can reflect up to four times. Any larger weapons can reflect more. Some models of mote weaponry have a "charge fire" mode where a mote gun's chamber has the ability to hold multiple active motes at once and fire them in quick succession. In this case, one mote can be charged/fired in a combat round. Charge fire shots can fire in microsecond intervals to make the charged shots act like one single beam, compounding their power. Or, they can fire in longer intervals to appear like a burst of rapid, even scattered, shots. Due to its reflective and thermal properties, mote weaponry is more effective against flesh than it is armor. The velocity of the superheated mote allows it impressive piercing power in contact with flesh, typically resulting in an exit wound (which can sometimes keep going if using a powerful gun, or a charged shot.) Software exists that allow the prediction of shot ricochet patterns using ballistic prediction AI. If used can typically result in extraordinarily stylish shots, but also requires a combat round of set up to calculate the path. Naturally this can be challenging to predict against a fast moving target. Ammo is limited by the gun's stored energy, working fairly similarly to laser weaponry. Limitations: The mote shot is fairly weak compared to its laser or plasma equivalents. Compared to a laser pistol, a mote pistol would be similar to a .22 caliber in power. Due to its weakness it can be stopped more easily by any form of armor, with armor rated for energy weapons being the most effective. This makes it more worthwhile for the user to use the gun's reflective properties to land shots in unarmored spots. Cannot be automatic or semiautomatic. Typically a mote gun can only fire one mote per combat round as they require a short charging time. Charge fire modes are an exception. Only reflects off of flat (or close to flat) surfaces. Most walls will work so long as they are flat. Metal walls produce the most precise ricochets, however. Examples of surfaces it won't ricochet off (and simply hit) are: Flesh, carpet, plate carriers, dirt/grass, non-metallic liquids, clothes, etc. Can sometimes reflect off of armor if the armor is composed of flat metal (like on many vehicles). Firing a single mote requires a very short charging time, typically one to two seconds. This makes it slow to fire in scenarios that require immediate action, but a shot can also be 'primed' and made to simply suspend in the chamber until fired. While primed, a mote requires constant energy from the gun's battery, making priming a mote for long periods of time ineffective. This requires more power the more motes are primed at once. Reacts to EMPs the same way a plasma gun would. How it works: A tiny grain of metal is shaved from a metallic substrate and superheated into a dense particle in the gun's chamber. When the trigger is pulled, the charged mote is propelled at ballistic speeds by superconductive electromagnets through the gun's barrel, making the projectile act more like a pinpoint energy projectile than a bullet that is highly effective at piercing soft material and reflecting off of flat surfaces, with the downside of being ineffective against armor. Flavor text: Invented by novakids and given to the deadbeats, mote weaponry is a highly niche but stylish form of energy weapon. Mote guns were sought after by collectors, and were popular with novakid gunslingers and deadbeat gun priests alike. For the material of the motes, many used whatever metals they could find, and many mote guns can even take in irregular pieces of metal as ammo like scrap metal or casings- or even shavings of the gun's frame. A small piece of metal can last for around 50 shots, and it is the sign of a well-used gun to have shavings taken off from it. Many models of mote guns exist- mote revolvers can utilize disposable supercapacitor cells to fire shots off, interchangeable with many standardized disposable laser or plasma gun energy cells. Higher end guns can have holographic optics with ballistic prediction software and charge fire modes, but these can get quite expensive. Attainability: Open Tags: Military Referenced Tech: Laser & Plasma weaponry Category: Ranged Armaments may need revisions very tired
