Fria Ligans forum

To be honest, the way stun guns work seems pretty OP and also somewhat non-sensical to me.

The fact that MPs are WIT + EMP means, that e.g. soldiers or strong creatures are much more affected than weak but smart and emphatic characters. It doesn't help that stress ignores armour...
As an example, my group encountered a Nekatra. What could have been a tough fight was cut very short by my PCs by using a stun gun. Nekatra have 11 HP but only 4 MP. Two hits and the beast was down.

Stun weapons are described to affect their target through electrical pulses. Why should an electrical pulse affect someones mental state? What's more MP recovery works differently than HP recovery. Why would someone who was hit by a taser get PTSD or something (at least it should be more likely than when someone is attacked with lethal weapons, right?)?

Any suggestions how to deal with this?

My houserule for stun weapons is that a success causes... Wait for it... The stunned effect (bottom of p94). 1 turn per success, up to a number of turns equal to the damage rating of the weapon.

My houserule for stun weapons is that a success causes... Wait for it... The stunned effect (bottom of p94). 1 turn per success, up to a number of turns equal to the damage rating of the weapon.

That sounds like a good idea. I'm currently thinking about modifying your rule slightly: I'd make the stun effect duration consistent with regular weapon damage (i.e. succes => stunned for dmg turns plus extra successes) but include armor etc (armor made of iron was quite fashionable in the middle ages but I guess modern armor should also help against electrical pulses...). In addition (somewhat D&D-like), a stunned character can, at the start of the turn, make a Strength check. If successful the stun effect ends.
The reasoning behind the strength check is that it should be way easier to stun an Ekilibri than, say, a Desdemodu.

The description of Stun on page 125 says its available "as an add on to all thermal weapons". I can't see stun addons listed anywhere, but if they work by just adding the "Stun" feature, then you could use one to convert a Thermal Rifle to Stun 5. That would be a devestatingly effective weapon for crowd control. Or a Thermal Carbine.

Can we get an official word on this? Does the add on convert the thermal gun into a stun weapon, and if so what are the rules and costs for this? If it's just an underslung stun gun you can fire without swapping weapons, why is it only for thermal weapons?

Also, I'm wondering about this: " This process requires huge amounts of energy, which means that some thermal weapons even require fusion batteries."
Which ones require fusion batteries and which don't? Do you require a heavy battery backpack to use the light thermal cricket, as well as the advanced reloads for the hydrogen? Do zap weapons require fusion batteries or just advanced reloads?