Buzzers seem to be an oddly neglected topic around here: if you do a term-search, it only comes up with seven hits , and none of those are particularly helpful, given that one is a translation term listing, another has to do with sprayer ammunition, one is about an IBM 'AI', another is about reducing weapons' signature...And then there's one that is just part of a self-replicating joke.
First off, buzzer utility is limited only to nanomachine swarm utility. Given the swarms available and the things the swarms can do, the buzzer becomes one of the most flexible weapon-systems in the game.
Per its description on p.341, a buzzer contains a hive that can construct one new swarm per hour. Since the buzzer doesn't come with a default nanoswarm type, this hive clearly needs to be purchased separately...Which suggests that one can have several hives available for a buzzer, so that they can be swapped in and out. Additionally, the buzzer is a three-shot weapon. Nothing suggests it cannot be reloaded, so one can imagine that the hive is feeding nanoswarms into a magazine which can be replaced by a standard reloading action, should one not wish to wait an hour to obtain a fourth shot. This fits well with the size description of a specialized hive (approximately the size of a 12-gauge shotgun shell or a cherry tomato) from p.328. It bears mentioning that swarms (and the hives which produce them) can be programmed with limited duration as well as commands and conditions. This permits you to program your buzzer's swarms so that they will effectively have IFF, not attacking any organism or synth which has guardian swarms with specific identifier keys.
The obvious weapon-mode uses of the buzzer are easiest to delineate: load it up with disassembler swarms and you have a very effective anti-synth and anti-armor weapon. There's definitely something to be said about having a team-member able to peel the armor off of hostiles. Against biomorphs the buzzer becomes an even more flexible weapon. Your 'go-to' swarm becomes the injector nanoswarm, which offers yet another wide range of options. Able to carry chemicals, toxins and nanotoxins, injector nanoswarms can generate an amazing array of effects. For lethal purposes, injectors loaded with frog bite are hard to beat, offering immediate paralysis and potentially lethal damage. The necrosis nanotoxin takes a full minute to do its damage but can [i]theoretically[/i] do twice the damage of frogbite - on average it will be about the same and does not have the additional side-effect of causing paralysis. If one really wants to make a statement one could use the injector nanites to inject the designer pathogen Trigger, which is lethal if a DUR test (or DUR x2 if the target has medichines) is failed (Caution is advised; while the nanites can be programmed to avoid you and your friends, pathogens have a tendency to be rather less discriminatory, and if they get loose in a habitat are liable to get you talked about for a long time.).
The lethal capabilities above do not represent anything like the full range of the buzzer's capabilities. Different loadouts permit a wide range of utility roles. A buzzer loaded with guardian nanoswarms can be fired at an enemy to remove [i]their[/i] guardian swarms, or fired at an area containing hostile nanoswarms to eradicate them.
For more subtly offensive effects, injector swarms loaded with various chemicals can be used to inconvenience or incapacitate opponents. Flight, Oxytocin-A, Neuropath and Inhibitor all offer interesting possibilities. If your opponents are getting tense in a confined area, a swarm full of BringIt might have them fighting each other (use with caution). Add some Buzz or Hither to increase the confusion.
The buzzer can also be used to target areas for various effects. Capability to cover a 10m cube translates into 600m^2 of surface area. Load the buzzer with cleaner nanoswarms to quickly destroy evidence (including genetic evidence). Load it with Smart Dust and [i]don't[/i] wait twenty minutes for the dust to fill the room and report back (depending on the size of the room). Enemy targets in the hydroponics lab? Grab a magazine of gardener swarms programmed to act as defoliants. Oxygen and fresh produce can be acquired later once hostiles have been neutralized. If you have plenty of time, lay down engineer nanoswarms and wait a while to have them convert the floor into a fractal nightmare of difficult ground...And once you've dealt with whatever tried to come across it, program a few to smooth it all out. If you have plenty of time and want to be really fancy, have them honeycomb part of the floor over an underlying room or corridor while leaving a seemingly intact surface to make a pit-trap. Fire saboteur nanoswarms (which ignore armor!) at synthmorphs, armories, communication junctions, power plants, security systems, or just into the ventilation shafts to see where they go...The local life support engineers will NOT thank you. Similar to the Smart Dust trick, fire scout nanoswarms around corners into rooms where you know you'll meet resistance. Fire taggant swarms at fleeing enemies and know where and when they decide to stop running and make a stand.
One notable issue is the cost of all of these substances and swarms. A protean hive is a wise investment for the buzzgun owner, as is a fabber capable of creating various 'medical' substances. Creative nanoconstructors are cautioned to be extremely circumspect when attempting to culture or otherwise replicate non-targeted organic compounds such as trigger.
Take care of your buzzgun, and it will take care of you. (And anyone who threatens you.)
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Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
Thu, 2011-08-04 20:44
#1
Re-Laborat
Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
Thu, 2011-08-04 23:32
#2
Prime Mover
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
Great stuff can't wait to try some of this against my players.
—
"The difference between truth and fiction, people expect fiction to make sense."
Fri, 2011-08-05 03:37
#3
Re-Laborat
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
Bonus "How to annoy your sylph friends" loadout:
Injector nanoswarm loaded with skindye. Bonus points for rainbow colors with the nanites programmed to clump contiguously before injecting to create large blotchy patches of color.
Fri, 2011-08-05 09:11
#4
Yerameyahu
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
On the other hand:
• How fast are nanoswarms? (Does using a buzzer imply they're instantly at the target? Probably.)
• Tiny range. (Which is why swarm speed is a factor.)
• Do they work in adverse environments? (I think the consensus is 'no'.)
• Can you exceed/deal with the 'clip size' of 3? (… *maybe*).
• Expensive, two-handed, and large.
• One kind of 'ammo' per large firearm.
• Are they more effective than other firearm equivalents? (Perhaps not.)
I definitely grabbed one or two in my last game (with the Saboteurs, superior to Disassemblers), but I wouldn't say they're a high priority for weapons.
Fri, 2011-08-05 16:57
#5
Re-Laborat
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
p.341 "Spray weapons blast their ammunition outwards in a widening cone, allowing them to strike several targets at once." You roll to hit, then the ammunition affects the target or targets. No 'loiter' time is described. They're a spray weapon which means that you can hit multiple targets to the same degree of effect. No scatter rolls. No extra ammunition expenditure required. No to-hit penalty for striking the second or third target.
They'll work anywhere a nanoswarm will work. [i]Vide[/i] p.329: "Swarms are not affected by vaccuum." They should be less affected by gravity than anything except a laser, although particularly dense atmospheres will probably affect a spray weapon sooner than a kinetic weapon. I doubt they'd work for a damn underwater, but that's a rather specific and uncommon situation. A significantly corrosive atmosphere should hit nanites pretty hard, although the rules don't say so, but if you're in a corrosive atmosphere that will destroy a swarm in a round or two, the rest of your equipment probably requires special coatings to avoid being damaged as well. (Come to think of it, if corrosives are significantly effective against nanites, a corrosive sprayer should make as good an anti-swarm weapon as fire, possibly even as effective as hellballs.)
Not using RAW. Extended magazines are only available for firearms and seekers. Also, notably, most swarm attacks are 'the gift that keeps on giving'. Puff a swarm at your enemies, then go to your more conventional weapon. Anyone hit will stay 'hit' and will continue taking damage/effect from whatever you unloaded on them. There are no rules which suggest that hitting someone with more than one disassembler swarm will double the effect.
Did I note the cost in my earlier writeup? Yes, yes I did.
For specific comparison, they are more expensive than firearm [u]pistols[/u] and the low end of beam weapons; and on par with or cheaper than Railgun or Seeker weapons (particularly including Seeker ammunition costs). Arguably, their ammunition is the gift that keeps on giving. Hives don't run out so long as you keep supplying them with mats. There's no reason a gamemaster should make you start out with 'You only get three rounds of ammunition. Period. No reloads.' if your character has a hive and has presumably not purchased it thirty seconds before start-time.
One kind of ammo per magazine...Just like everything except a Conventional/Railgun or Seeker for which you've purchased an extended/selectable magazine (more expenses).
I don't believe I said anything like 'Throw away all of your other weapons.' This was not an article on how buzzers replaced machine guns or lasers. This was an article on [u]how to get the most out of a buzzer[/u], and if you have suggestions for how to get more utility from them than I have listed, I'd be quite happy to hear them. They're predominantly a support weapon for creating effects that cannot be achieved using other weapon types. Firearms, Grenades and Seekers can all be used to deliver swarms, but only Grenades have a possibility of delivering one swarm to more than one target, and grenades have their own drawbacks (scatter and return). None of the above regenerate their own ammunition over time. All of the above require purchasing the ammunition delivery system AND the swarms for each shot, rather than just the swarms.
Yes, they are limited in range. Yes, getting an extensive array of swarms is expensive (but getting an extensive array of munitions for any weapon system is expensive). Yes, issuing everyone a railgun SMG or MG will deal more damage downrange per round at longer range (I don't know about your experience, but close-range fights seem to be the norm, not the exception.).
That said, buzzers may be just the ticket for particular nonlethal effects. As a support weapon their ability to strip armor makes other weapons more effective. Their ability to deliver quantities of nanoswarms to locations which a grenade or seeker can't (through vents, for example) can be put to quite a bit of use with some forethought; and they're also useful for area denial and battlefield defense against enemy nanite attacks.
Buzzers are another tool in the toolbox. Like any tool, they are useful for solving some problems, not so useful for others, and there are times when they are absolutely the wrong tool for the job. My goal was to show some ways to use buzzers that make the most of their flexibility and which might not have been immediately obvious to someone who was just eyeballing the stat line and going 'Oh, short range. Weak.'
Fri, 2011-08-05 17:39
#6
Yerameyahu
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
Multiple targets is very occasionally a useful trick, if it even works with swarms; though, I don't think I asked about that. :)
Several people have previously argued that swarms shouldn't work in space (as distinct from mere vacuum); I'm not saying it's RAW, though.
Given the often *extreme* costs of the various toxins and swarms, I didn't see anything wrong with reiterating your footnote. Sorry.
They don't have magazines at all (I'm not granting your hive-swap assumption). You get one kind of swarm per forever, and only 3 shots at a time. It's not a question of not being able to switch mid-mag (hardly a minor benefit for normal firearms, though). It's true that, after some hours, you can shoot again (like the awful Eridian guns in Borderlands :D ). As always, house rules are fine, but I don't think it's a good idea to say this is the normal RAW. Besides, if you're going there, I can't see why you'd say that grenades/seekers can't be loaded from your existing hive; instead, you implied that they cost more because you'd have to buy new swarms each time.
You were quite enthusiastic about their benefits, so I just injected some points. It seems like you took my 'reminder' points as an attack on the utility of buzzers for any purpose. It wasn't, so I apologize if I caused a misunderstanding. They are indeed a specialized tool, clearly useful in certain situations: situations where you can carry an *extra* large two-handed gun to shoot a delayed-effect at close range, yet excluding situations where simply releasing the swarm from a handheld hive wouldn't work just as well.
Fri, 2011-08-05 17:55
#7
Thampsan
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
One point I would like to bring up is other miscellaneous environmental factors on Buzzers. What about areas of high radiation, acidic environments, etc.
I don't recall Buzzers having much in the way of armour piercing, which means if you coat the victim in a swarm the swarm requires time to cause an effect, which mean environmental factors like heat, radiation, etc come into play as far as I can see. Swarms are highly complex machines and it is doubtful that they would have any significant shielding from things that might corrupt or destroy their programming or form.
Having said that given their size and the fact I am not in any way knowledgeable about the affect of such hazards on things that small I am hoping someone on this board will be able to provide insight.
Otherwise your post is double plus good Laborat, I am just playing devil's advocate.
Fri, 2011-08-05 19:11
#8
Re-Laborat
Re: Notes on the Care and Feeding of Buzzguns
I didn't perceive it as an attack, and my response was more geared towards 'You appear to be missing the point of the article, which is to give some examples of what you [i]can[/i] do with them.' and at some points 'No, actually the rules say/suggest.' depending on which item. Again, the article was aimed at ways to make them [i]useful[/i]. That in itself suggests that the ways they can be useful aren't necessarily obvious. If they were...No need for the article. The downsides of short range and limited ammunition capacity are blatant to anyone skimming the weapon tables: clever swarm tricks, not so obvious.
Ability to engage multiple targets is used by many gamers as a standard argument for the use of burst weapons, it's built into the rules for spray weapons by default, and uses slightly different systems with (again) some pros and cons. If one is making a comparison between spray weapons and everything else (which you appeared to be doing) then it deserved mention.
Yep. I put in some details on the actual science vs common Hollywood/videogame notions on an EMP discussion recently. Such arguments are dependent on the degree of ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation exists in all sorts of places. If you're sitting in front of a CRT, you're getting a bit. Most ionizing radiation is not strong enough to cause the effects of EMP. RAW, swarms do take significant damage from EMP. If one is in a situation in space where one has that much radiation, swarms certainly should be taking damage...And everything else that suffers from EMP should also be suffering. I wouldn't suggest trying to use a swarm on the sunny side of Mercury or downstairs on Venus, or on the sunny-side of a habitat during a flare, etc. Note that these are all places I wouldn't suggest a character hang out unless they had an armored and EMP-shielded hardsuit.
That's fine. Your game, your assumptions. Having said that, one has to be careful about making too many assumptions on RAW. Magazines are only mentioned in a few places for [i]any[/i] weapons. Notably, it states that extended magazines may only be used on firearms and seeker weapons...Which suggests there are other types of weapons with magazines out there. I don't imagine they mean energy weapons. The smart magazine optional accessory does not make any such exclusion (it's questionable what one would want to do with a smart magazine that reduces capacity to one half on a weapon that only has three shots, but conceivably this could apply to other spray weapons, specifically chemical sprayers, or shredders, so one could flip back and forth between chemical tanks, or between poisoned/non-poisoned shards).
You cannot [i]buy[/i] spare magazines for [i]any[/i] weapon, if you use RAW...They aren't available for sale, but their existence may be inferred, so clearly a certain amount of reasonable interpretation is required. (The argument about use of swarms in space rests on interpretation, too.) Can you give me an interpretation as to why something that uses compressed air (presumably!) to blow a nanoswarm in a dense cone can't have a magazine? Not 'might not', but 'can't'? Because this is a game system where players can mod blueprints, where there are myriad corporations and designers competing for the market, and off the top of my head I can think of a half-dozen industry designs which exist today meant to distribute colloidal powders and aerosols in research greenhouses and which use easily replaceable cannisters or shotshell-like capsules. I don't buy that that technology has been lost after the Fall.
And, just to clarify, the point was that one had to purchase fresh ammunition in the form of grenades and missiles every time to use swarms in grenades and seekers, while with a buzzer, once one has the hive...You're done. No further expenses unless you lose the hive somehow ("Dang! Left my disassembler swarm in my other pair of pants.")
Not all of the effects mentioned are delayed. Yes, some are, but quite a few are instantaneous. A single swarm from a handheld hive won't disperse quickly over an area (which ostensibly is why buzzers exist: rapid swarm deployment). Smart Dust gives a good RoT for nanite movement, which is why it was mentioned as a possible alternative use for a buzzer: instant room coverage, no waiting twenty minutes for all the nanites to crawl into position.
And no, buzzers are definitely not what you want for a concealed, covert weapon to make a single-shot kill, or for sniping at people from long range. On the other hand, the instantaneous armor stripping capability is useful against armored combat morphs at close range, can be programmed to ignore your teammates armor and gear, and will enhance the effects of other team weapons against any such armored target.
If you want to start a panicked riot in a crowded area, simply walking in with a buzzer and spraying the crowd with saline-filled injector nanites may well be an excellent option... Adding in doses of Buzz, Hither and BringIt will change the overall tone of your riot. Most other weapons which could be used to start such a riot either have to be brandished as threats (firing weapons into the air has limited effect, in the EP environment many people might stick around to shoot back) or used to kill to make some examples. Meanwhile, with nanites spreading through the area, peoples' systems are telling them 'You aren't infected yet by whatever they're spraying, run NOW.' Much better incentive to move immediately.