Weapon Ammunition

[Narcostas]

I was wondering about the Light Repeating Blaster Rifle on pg128. Its description says "After 30 shots, the power pack must be replaced." The weapon can only operate in auto-fire mode so does this mean 30 rounds of auto-fire? If not how did they expect a clone trooper to only get 3 shots off before having to reload? It's even worse with the heavy version of this gun. Just wanted some opinions. Thanks in advance.

[Webhead]

I would interpret "30 shots" as "30 autofire attacks" with this weapon. It would make sense for a "autofire only" weapon to have an extended ammo capacity to offset the huge amounts of power it chugs. Just like a heavy machine gun is fed by a large ammo belts, a repeating blaster would be fed by a large clip.

[Etarnon]

Then again, the BAR was notorious for running out of ammunition.

[canadiansatan]

I would interpret "30 shots" as "30 autofire attacks" with this weapon. It would make sense for a "autofire only" weapon to have an extended ammo capacity to offset the huge amounts of power it chugs. Just like a heavy machine gun is fed by a large ammo belts, a repeating blaster would be fed by a large clip.

I would not, but I would say the player could hook up to a generator for unlimited shots. A power pack is an interchangeable battery for various weapons. Look into how many shots a blaster pistol gets vs the much higher output of the heavier weapons.

[Narcostas]

Thank you for all the input! My group is about to start the Dawn of Defiance campaign and I am hoping to get this cleared up before we get going.


I would not, but I would say the player could hook up to a generator for unlimited shots. A power pack is an interchangeable battery for various weapons. Look into how many shots a blaster pistol gets vs the much higher output of the heavier weapons.

It's true you can attach these weapons to larger power sources for unlimited ammo.

As for the blaster pistol getting more shots...the heavy blaster pistol only gets 50 single shots. Yet somehow does the same damage as an 'effin machine gun blaster? That's kinda where this question came from. If the Lt. Repeating Blaster had 50 shots (same as a regular blaster rifle which has an auto-fire setting) and did a little higher damage (say 4d6 for a higher minimum) I could justify the extra 200 credit cost.

[Barrier Peaks]

As for the blaster pistol getting more shots...the heavy blaster pistol only gets 50 single shots. Yet somehow does the same damage as an 'effin machine gun blaster? That's kinda where this question came from. If the Lt. Repeating Blaster had 50 shots (same as a regular blaster rifle which has an auto-fire setting) and did a little higher damage (say 4d6 for a higher minimum) I could justify the extra 200 credit cost.
Don't forget that a light repeater also has a greater range than a blaster pistol or a heavy blaster pistol. The autofire benefit (allowing a player to make an area effect attack against as many as four targets with one burst) is also a pretty big deal.

In conjunction with the Burst Fire feat, a character with a light repeater can expect to hit for 5d8 points of damage; that's a lot of dice, IMO, and it only uses 5 shots (instead of 10). If a player plans to carry a light repeating blaster, I'd suggest he invest in the Burst Fire feat to get the most bang for his buck.

A number of other feats make autofire very attractive. Artillery Shot (from The Clone Wars Campaign Guide) allows you to add two extra squares to the attack's area of effect, while the Strafe feat (from The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide) gives you the option of attacking a 1 square by 4 square area, rather than a 2 square by 2 square area.

Concerning the original question, I've always said that the 30 shot capacity of the light repeater indicates individual shots, not bursts. It just means that a gunner is going to need to carry some extra power packs with him.

[Narcostas]

Don't forget that a light repeater also has a greater range than a blaster pistol or a heavy blaster pistol. [90% of all encounters take place within point blank range, so range means very little] The autofire benefit (allowing a player to make an area effect attack against as many as four targets with one burst) is also a pretty big deal. [I reiterate that the regular blaster rifle can do auto-fire also]

In conjunction with the Burst Fire feat, a character with a light repeater can expect to hit for 5d8 points of damage; that's a lot of dice, IMO, and it only uses 5 shots (instead of 10). If a player plans to carry a light repeating blaster, I'd suggest he invest in the Burst Fire feat to get the most bang for his buck. [I agree the Burst Fire feat has it merits. However the pre-req of Heavy Weapon Proficiency kinda kills it for me.]

A number of other feats make autofire very attractive. Artillery Shot (from The Clone Wars Campaign Guide) allows you to add two extra squares to the attack's area of effect, while the Strafe feat (from The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide) gives you the option of attacking a 1 square by 4 square area, rather than a 2 square by 2 square area. [Again I agree that these feat greatly increase the effectiveness of auto-fire. That being said, I failed to inform everyone that we are only using the Core book and Scum and Villany.]

Concerning the original question, I've always said that the 30 shot capacity of the light repeater indicates individual shots, not bursts. It just means that a gunner is going to need to carry some extra power packs with him. [I think I am going to miniaturize a power generator (Equipment Mods from S&V) and mount it to the Lt. Repeating Blaster for unlimited ammo.]

[canadiansatan]

Of course you could do what I do when GM'ing... not pay attention to ammo at all. Only have "you're out of ammo" come up as a plot point.

[Barrier Peaks]

Of course you could do what I do when GM'ing... not pay attention to ammo at all. Only have "you're out of ammo" come up as a plot point.
I seem to remember this was a mechanic in one of the games I've got, but I can't recall which one. It was very cinematic. Ammo wasn't an issue, you just didn't keep track of it unless the player fumbled/botched, in which case the belt/clip/whatever went dry. That'd probably be a fine house rule for a cinematic Star Wars campaign.

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

Don't forget that a light repeater also has a greater range than a blaster pistol or a heavy blaster pistol. [90% of all encounters take place within point blank range, so range means very little] The autofire benefit (allowing a player to make an area effect attack against as many as four targets with one burst) is also a pretty big deal. [I reiterate that the regular blaster rifle can do auto-fire also]


Choose a weapon for your character based on how you envision your character, not based on which weapon is going to give you a min/maxed advantage.

Star Wars has never really been focused around weapons and equipment, so the differences between weapons has always been slight. And choosing one weapon over the other has always come down to a characters personal preference.

Concerning the OP, the description reads that you can fire 30 shots before you need to replace the power pack. Since it is an auto-fire only weapon then it must have 300 rounds of ammunition. Each auto-fire attack uses 10 rounds of ammo, so you get 30 shots out of a single power pack.

[Barrier Peaks]

Concerning the OP, the description reads that you can fire 30 shots before you need to replace the power pack. Since it is an auto-fire only weapon then it must have 300 rounds of ammunition. Each auto-fire attack uses 10 rounds of ammo, so you get 30 shots out of a single power pack.

I can see why you might be inclined to say this, but I have to respectfully disagree. Saying that a blaster rifle can squeeze 50 shots out of a power pack, but that a light repeating blaster can somehow squeeze 300 shot-equivalents out of the same power pack makes no sense.

Another argument against this interpretation is that the Burst Fire feat burns 5 shots from a power pack instead of the 10 that autofire does. According to your argument, would using the Burst Fire feat only consume half a shot when used with a light repeating blaster?

The rules for autofire specify that a weapon "consumes ten shots or slugs." The light repeater entry specifies "After 30 shots, the power pack must be replaced." In this context, a "shot" is a finite, specific amount that represents the same quantity across the board.

The benefit of the light repeater (or any repeater, for that matter) is that you can attach it to a power generator, which allows for an unlimited ammo supply. This suggests to me that such weapons are designed to be fired from fixed positions, but they offer the advantage of being portable at the expense of ammo. Given that a power generator has a listed weight of 15 kilos, I'd say it's within the realm of possibility for a strong character to carry one (even a man-portable "backpack" version) in addition to a light repeating blaster. The danger is that, if hit, the power generator will go boom.

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

I can see why you might be inclined to say this, but I have to respectfully disagree. Saying that a blaster rifle can squeeze 50 shots out of a power pack, but that a light repeating blaster can somehow squeeze 300 shot-equivalents out of the same power pack makes no sense.

Its because different weapons are designed to pull a different amount of power from a power pack. A sporting blaster rifle can get 100 shots out of a power pack.

A heavy repeating blaster gets 20 shots out of a power pack.

However, it does make sense that if you use a blaster rifle on auto-fire you get 5 attacks out of the power pack (50 shots), vs. the repeating blasters that will get 2 (20 shots) or 3 (30 shots) shots out of a power pack.

[RexxRedfoxx]

I agree witrh the running out of ammo being a plot point most of the time. But there are times I fucus on the ammo, like when it is a powerful, or unique weapon that is difficuly to reload for some reason. As for weapons taking the same blaster pack type, I dont believe anywhere it says that it takes only one pack.

[Dytrrnikl]

Thank you for all the input! My group is about to start the Dawn of Defiance campaign and I am hoping to get this cleared up before we get going.



It's true you can attach these weapons to larger power sources for unlimited ammo.

As for the blaster pistol getting more shots...the heavy blaster pistol only gets 50 single shots. Yet somehow does the same damage as an 'effin machine gun blaster? That's kinda where this question came from. If the Lt. Repeating Blaster had 50 shots (same as a regular blaster rifle which has an auto-fire setting) and did a little higher damage (say 4d6 for a higher minimum) I could justify the extra 200 credit cost.


Don't forget the autofire rules. Autofire targets a 2x2 square area (or 10 foot x 10 foot area for those of us who hate the laziness of squares to determine area and range). A single attack roll is made at -5 penalty, with the result compared to the Reflex defense of every creature in that 2x2 sq. area. Any creature you hit takes full damage, while the rest take half damage. The repeaters are meant to be supressors, so a limited number of autofire shots makes sense to me. My in house rule, is that the Repeaters do full max damage no rolling involved - 24 points Lt. Repeater, 30 points Hvy. Repeater, 36 points E-Web.

As someone else pointed out, the Burst-Fire feat allows the wielder of a Repeater to target one individual, still at a -5 to hit, but with a gain of +2die of damage (5d8 Lt Repeater, 5d10 Hvy Repeater, 5d12 E-Web) and it only uses five shots instead of 10.

[Inquisitor Tremayne]

My in house rule, is that the Repeaters do full max damage no rolling involved - 24 points Lt. Repeater, 30 points Hvy. Repeater, 36 points E-Web.

That seems a bit extreme. So with a repeater you are always doing at least 12, 15 or 18 points of damage, cause even on a miss the targets take half damage. That seems a little too good. The variances in damage can account for the target(s) ducking out of the way at the right time, etc...

But if it works for you...!

[Dytrrnikl]

That seems a bit extreme. So with a repeater you are always doing at least 12, 15 or 18 points of damage, cause even on a miss the targets take half damage. That seems a little too good. The variances in damage can account for the target(s) ducking out of the way at the right time, etc...

But if it works for you...!

Extreme? No doubt and by design. It was a lot harder to stand up to Repeaters in the WEG d6 edition. Many of the house rules and way I handle WotC Star Wars games is based on trying to bring in some of the flavor that was lost from d6 WEG. I really wish they created a skills based Star Wars game instead of the class-level based system that they have now - I've got my own in the works right now.

In anycase, as for repeaters, I figure if they're spraying a 2x2 square area with 10 blaster shots it makes those weapons truly scary and adds a certain level of lethality to the game that requires player's to play smart - use cover, fall prone, covering fire, and so forth. I should add that if a 1 is rolled on the attack, it's still a miss and I do allow the evasion talent to be effective in that if they miss - you don't sustain damage at all.

[korhal23]

Yeah, I'm inclined to say that the rifle in question has 30 shots... which, due to the autofire rules is consumed in 3 autofire attacks. That's still a lot of potential damage.... 3 rounds of hitting (potentially) 4 enemies per round with an "on miss, half damage" weapon... You can afford to reload every 4 turns no problem. Just get to cover so you don't get obliterated.