A tour of African technology.

MELEE WEAPONS

Jacques shaded his eyes from the dust thrown up by the stampeding Wildebeest and looked to his companion. "Shouldn't you be using a gun? What if they turn our way? I mean, I'm all for returning to our tribal roots and all that, that's kinda the point of this tour, but a spear seems a little suicidal to a technodweeb like me." Kojo just looked at the self-proclaimed 'technodweeb' and shook his head, "They really spoil you in the EC. Besides, I like technology just fine." he added as he turned his spear sideways and slid the ergonomic hand grips together in an action reminiscent of a shotgun being pumped. The spearhead began to blur and give off a steady buzzing...

Various forms of melee weapon are still carried in the UAN, but generally, no matter how lethal the device, no pure hand weapon was ever created. Almost all of the weapons indigenous to the continent, and certainly the most common ones, started as tools. Thus the development of the sword, the most common European hand weapon, had hardly come about in Africa, with the multipurpose club, axe or spear being more common. While an axe or machete can be used for chopping wood or plant fiber, a spear or bow can be used for hunting, etc, a sword is essentially a weapon for killing other men and has no use outside of war or murder. While plenty of weapons were made and used to kill men, often including refinements that were clearly not for hunting or chopping wood, no specific design for killing other men had been implemented as with the sword.

Melee Weapons Chart

Dmg Mnv Conc Mass Cost

Axe Str + 4L D P T W O 3 1

Club Str + 4B D P W Tw J 1 1

Club, Throwing Str + 3B D P W T Tw O 2 1

Knife, Enamel Str + 2L D P T W Tw J 0.5 1

Knife, Fighting Str + 2L D P T W Tw J 0.5 1

Knife, Hunting Str + 1L D P T W Tw J 0.5 1

Knife, Throwing Str + 4L* D P T W O 3 2

Spear, Stabbing Str + 4L D P S W N 4 2

Spear, Throwing Str + 3L D P S T W N 3 2

Staff Str + 6B D P S W N 3 1

Stick, Throwing Str + 1B D P T W Tw J 0.5 1

Sword, Machete † Str + 4L D P W Tw O 3 2

* The Congo Throwing Knife inflicts only Strength + 1d10 Lethal when used to strike. The damage listed is used only when the weapon is thrown.

† 'Machete' is a catch all descriptor for the various short and heavy blades ranging from the broadest of Assegai/iXwa (short spears) of the Zulu to the 'long razors' (Nyek-pie-nen-toh) of the Dahomey to the Ethiopian Shotel to the generic 'swordlet' of central Africa to the Moroccan flyssa to the Tuareg takouba. Depending upon tribal affiliation, the weapon may take on a bewildering array of forms, but generally the blade will be short and heavy by European standards, often having a flared head lending to a vicious chopping action and more clearly showing its origination as a tool for chopping.

VARIANTS

Spears, axes and short blades (knife to machete) could be made with sonic blades, vibroblade heads or even modified to have the effects of a poison knife. Poison knife effects (TTM p 43-44) would add 2 to the cost and are restricted, Sonic Knife effects cost 4 and can do 1-6d10 B or L, remaining adjustable and identical in effects regardless of weapon size (and being unable to P or S), and adding a Vibro setting adds 2 to the cost and adds 1 die of damage.

The most celebrated warriors have access to a Plasma Spear variant (spear only) that does 4d10L [5], costs 5 and is restricted! These weapons are derived from the same technology used in VARG plasma weapons are not at all safe for prolonged use. Generally these warriors have to wear special protective gear and anyone not doing so risks 2d10L damage per turn of use as special fire-retardent goggles, gloves and head and torso protection are required.

A less costly weapon of great popularity (and effectiveness), sometimes used in formal challenge matches (even televised ones!) is the ShockStaff. A standard quarterstaff is composed of rugged carbon-alloy composites and outfitted with a Taser Baton function. It essentially acts as a normal quarterstaff and includes the 6d10 Bashing (armor-bypassing) electrical effect of a Taser Pistol shot upon a successful hit (assuming it is active, the effect is not automatic and the weapon can be used as a normal quarterstaff!). Note that these damage pools are not combined and the user must declare before rolling if any extra damage dice conferred by the attack roll are being used to augment the staff strike (representing a more forceful blow to a weaker or less-armoured area) or the taser charge (representing a strike directed more towards a sensitive nerve cluster). The extra damage dice for an above-average attack do not apply to BOTH. They may be split as the user wishes however! The cost for this weapon is only 2 and it holds 50 charges and weighs only 3, no more than a sturdy staff of wood. A cost 3 version is also capable of the standard ranged attack of a Banji Lightning Taser Baton (p 265). The design of the staff is clearly sturdy with most of the damageable components located within the ergonomic handgrips, suitably far from the striking surfaces or the center (which is often used to parry and is reinforced for that purpose).

SHIELDS

"You have got to be kidding me! What is that for? Serving entrees perhaps? This IS the 22nd century you realize. Or does that fly off and cut peoples heads off or something?" Jacques said in a sarcastic aside to Kojo as the group of European tourists viewed a ceremonial dance. Biting back his first choice of response and remembering that babysitting these twits was his summer job and was helping to pay for his engineering degree, Kojo responded, "The shield is a very useful tool in a climate that does not condone itself to walking around in armored clothing." He led Jacques over to a decorated shield hanging on the wall and banged it with his thick copper bracelet, creating a strong metal on metal sound. "It is even more useful when it is made out of Olaminium."

The development of Olaminium has restored the abandoned use of the shield to tribal display (and warfare) as well, and even the shields not reinforced with the nigh-indestructible metal will subtract 1 to 3 dice (depending upon size) from an attackers dice pool, representing the 'cover' provided by the shield, and, <*>upon a Parry maneuver that scores even one success,<*> will add 1 to 4 (depending upon composition) to the users Soak. A Parry that scores more successes than the attackers will fully block an attack normally. As with Armor, any attack over twice the Shields Soak rating will damage it, reducing its overall Soak and 'cover' rating by 1 die until it is repaired. A shield that is reduced to zero Soak is effectively destroyed.

(NOTE: For increased realism (at the cost of increased complexity) the attacking player could roll the 1 to 3 dice subtracted by the presence of the shield separately and if he missed normally, but would have hit but for the presence of the shield, the damage is still applied, *counting the shield Soak bonus dice.* This would represent the shield 'taking the blow.')

Shields 'Cover' Soak Cost Mass Bulk

Sm Wood -1 1 1 2 0

Sm Ceramic, Bone, lt Metal -1 2 2 4 1

Sm Olaminium-laced -1 3 4 4 1

Sm Olamiunium -1 4 5 6 2

Med Wood -2 1 2 4 1

Med Ceramic, Bone, lt Metal -2 2 3 8 2

Med Olaminium-laced -2 3 5 8 2

Med Olaminum -2 4 6 12 3

Lg Wood -3 1 3 8 2

Lg Ceramic, Bone, lt Metal -3 2 4 16 3

Lg Olaminium-laced -3 3 6 16 3

Lg Olaminium -3 4 7 24 4

(Note: If you still use the original ruling about Olaminium use doubling Mass and Bulk, feel free to use it as written, if you prefer the errata which states that there is no real difference in weight between Olaminium and normal metals and composites may do that as well. I chose a compromise for game balance. Due to the nature of shields, the addition of even an indestructible metal doesn't actually confer the defense as well to the bearer as armor. Thus the addition of Olaminium to shields does not confer the full +2/+4 Soak, but actually only half of that rating.)

[Alternate Quicker and Weaker Shield Rules: Use the above chart, but skip the dice pool reduction for foes and add +1 Acc to Parry maneuvers for Med shields and +2 for Lg shields, this will make shields useful only when specifically used and not as 'free cover.']

Some research is underway on using 'reactive armor' technology on man-portable shields, but such items are not yet available on the market. Similary, the wooden or ceramic hafts of most African melee weapons invalidates the utility of electrified shields, a more bizarre notion of a certain twisted Electokinetic student of engineering. He hasn't given up, but is working on a 'glare shield' that radiates strong light, up to strobe like intensity when struck.

FIREARMS

"So, I do this and the head turns into a super cutting tool?" Jacques asked casually, having picked up a spear whose owner had left to use the facilities and pointed it casually at the celebration, still in progress. Kojo swore and snatched the dangerous weapon out of Jacques hands. "Whoah! Have a brew and relax already!" Jacques exclaimed. "This spear does not have vibrational technology." Kojo explained, clearly doing his best to retain his calm as he fiddled with the weapon before setting it aside, "It is a firearm and capable of dropping a rhinoceros at 30 paces." He added in a mutter as Jacques turned away, "And, fortunately, it was child-locked."

The usual assortment of Firearms are also used in Africa, with slugthrowers and flechettes dominating the weapons market.

A uniquely African twist is the existence of staff or spear shaped Carbines, Flechettes and Shotguns. These guns are never concealable (although they could conceivably be mistaken for a common staff or spear by the truly ignorant), but are far more common than 'gun-shaped' guns in the UAN. These weapons do have obvious modern refinements, such as a pair of adjustable ergonomic handgrips, the higher of which includes the 'pump action' necessary to reload or 'cock' the appropriate weapons. It seems purely a matter of preference whether or not to fire the weapon from the hip (a la the weapons in Stargate) or over the shoulder like a bazooka, in either case the action is significantly different than that of a 'normal' firearm. Purists on either side of the issue claim that one version is more accurate than the other, as they have since the dawn of the ranged weapon over every last change in design. As with each of these changes, those who are expert in the traditional technique will quite unsurprisingly be more accurate than those who are novice in the newer technique or unfamiliar with the newer technology, but this does not prove much of anything regarding the innate superiority of the weapon 'the way it was.'

Almost any standard Carbine, Shotgun, Laser Carbine or the carbine-sized versions of Flechette or Sonic weapons would be available in spear size/format in the UAN, as well as a versions of the larger sp-MT L-K Netlauncher, the Voss Plasma Pistol (which would do only 7 or 8d10L but have little or no recoil thanks to the size and design), Coil Carbines and EM-Disrupter round launching carbines (that do not have the flexibility of the Orgotek SAWS, see the TTM).

An extemely small supply of biotech versions were also created, as the customer base was only a thousand or so. (While only 500 or so Upeo wa Macho existed, the numbers of other African Psions, from Clears and Electrokinetics to Legionnaires and Aesculapians are greater yet.)

The long (up to 2 meters) barrel of a spear-shaped firearm also allows for the use of linear acceleration technology in projectile weapons use, a series of reversible super-magnets alternately pulling the 'hammer' down the evacuated tube and then switching polarity in a nanosecond to 'push' it forwards as it passes each individual superconductive ring, causing the rate of acceleration of the 'hammer' to far exceed the standard. This 'hammer' then strikes the projectile, hurtling it forwards and rocketing backwards from the olaminium plug to almost instantly 're-cock' itself for the next projectile, which snaps into place. Even more imposingly, the Railgun doesn't just fire bullets, the tip is generally a spearhead with tiny flanges for flight stabilization, 6 extra spearheads fold flat against the head of the 'spear' and as one is fired, the next flips up and magnetically clicks into place as the 'hammer' resets for another run!

A standard example of such technology follows;

Railgun, Hardtech, Acc 0, Damage 9d10L, Range 150, Mnv N/A, RoF 1, Clip 7,

Conc N, Mass 4, FT N/A, Cost 3.

UPEO BIOWARE

"What did the Upeo have for technology?" Jacques asked from the flyer as they passed over the former Teleporter base, a location clearly not on their itinerary. From the pilot seat, Kojo replied, "They had the usual Psion bioware. Spears and throwing knives that teleport back to ones hand and frameworks or containment vessels that somehow distorted spacetime and allowed the items within them to be transported over the usual limits of weight or distance. As far as I know all of it was taken by the remaining Orders and used during the jumpship research." Kojo did not add that his father worked as an assembly tech at the port and was currently listed as missing. . .

It is known that the Upeo wa Macho had an assortment of specific Bioware, some produced 'in-house,' others by allies in other Orders. No samples are known to have remained behind, save those that were at allies facilities undergoing design and testing at the time. A standard sample was the 'Long Spear' design (somewhat ironically named as the only surviving example, which was being contracted from Orgotek and remained in their vats when the Upeo vanished, was a Congo Throwing Knife and not a spear at all), which functioned as a weapon of exceptional quality when formatted and allowed the user to roll Psi and spend a Psi point when thrown. It would then distort space in such a way as to travel twice the range per success on the Psi roll AND subtract one success per success on the users Psi roll from any Dodge, Parry or other defense of the target as the spear would literally skip most of the intervening space and strike in the blink of an eye. For a further Psi point the weapon could even be recalled to the formatted users hand from anywhere within sight. Weapons or equipment that could be 'summoned' from a weapons locker or even from ones home (at Attunement range) was also a common theme. Sadly, even the designs for most of this technology were lost with the Upeo and jumpship research entailed the 'reverse engineering' of almost every scrap of even marginally teleportive Bioware available.

Technology to impair or augment the ranges or weight limits of teleportation was also a major concern, but this technology, of which several of the Orders possessed samples, as it was often most effective if used both at origin point and destination was similarly seized and utilized in the Tesser project, aiding the designers in creating a jumpship capable of lifting its own enormous bulk and that of a few smaller vessels.