Date: Fri, 01 Mar 1996 10:52:24 -0500
From: Heywood254@aol.com
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 new blaster rifle and rules for how to modify a rifle to make one.

I try not to run a big guns campaign, and I don't approve of PCs running
around with repeating blasters, but this conversion of a beloved weapon from
an old Traveller game I used to play in is a nice compromise.

Comments are most welcome. By the way, the technobabble comes straight from
Cracken's Field Guide. I hope I got it right.
     Mark H/heywood254@aol.com
-----------
SW-APE

A joint venture of Stysor Arms and the Westin Corporation, the SW-APE was
designed to be a portable alternative to heavier squad support weapons such
as repeating blasters. Effectively reinventing the blaster rifle, Stysor
redesigned the blaster chamber's prismatic crystal housing and galvern
pattern to boost the static pulse output from the weapon's actuating module.
Westin contributed a microprocessor engineered to refocus and cool the
crystal filter to prevent overloads in the static pulse field. The resulting
rifle had greater power and superior range to standard rifles. Due to a
complex design and need for high quality crystals in the blaster housing, the
SW-APE proved to be prohibitively expensive and the Old Republic cancelled
the contract before mass production could begin.

However, several prototypes found there way into the black market where a few
canny gunsmiths reverse engineered the weapon and began constructing their
own, using the closely guarded secrets of its design. Nicknamed "Southwest
Ape", the SW-APE became popular with mercenaries and assassins who could
afford the expense of the rifle's construction.

Although the SW-APE is not currently mass produced, SoroSuub is said to have
begun incorporating many of the APE's advancements into their latest designs,
notably the custom built blaster carbines of elite Imperial Stormcommando
units.

Model: Stysor/Westin Advanced Particle Emitter Blaster Rifle
Type: Blaster Rifle
Scale: Character
Skill: Blaster: Blaster Rifle
Ammo: 100
Cost: not for sale (original list price: 2500)
Availability: R or X
Range: 3-50/150/400
Damage: 5D+2
Game Notes: No longer for sale, the SW-APE is technically a modified blaster
rifle. Although the rifle's exterior housing may appear much the same, the
SW-APE's interior is a different story, having been almost complete rebuilt
to house the modifications. Therefore no two APEs are exactly the same, each
individualized by the parts used in construction and the skill and artistry
of the gunsmith doing the work. The process is delicate and the cost for
parts runs around 3000 credits (including the rifle shell); the gunsmith's
time tends to cost at least as much if not more. The construction requires
two successful TEC skill rolls: the first is a Difficult Blaster Repair roll
for the physical modifications and the second is a Very Difficult Computer
Programming/Repair roll for the microprocessor which controls the prismatic
crystal housing.