So, couple of big weapon-y type homebrew type things floating around lately. Got me thinking about some ideas. From a story perspective, I like Melee weapons. While I would never want to necessarily put using melee above shooting people with bullets (I mean, every modern soldier carries a saber around still, right?) I do think there are some interesting things you could do with melee weapons in EP, so I put a couple of these ideas together. Plus, its no fun if Guns get all the tech porn fiddly-bits attachments. So here are a few of my spit-balled ideas for Melee Weapon Enhancements/Accessories. [b]Melee Weapon Enhancement[/b] Balanced Hilt A common attachment for any melee specialist. It features an ergonomic grip of memory materials, and a reworked core which often incorporates density-shifting smart materials to keep the weapon perfectly balanced in the users hand. It grants the wielder of this weapon a +10 to Fray to defend against Melee Weapons, and grants a +10 to attack rolls with the weapon. [Moderate] Masterwork Blade Most bladed weapons are mass produced and machine-tooled in fabricators, but there are some groups (Hobbyists, certain Scum or Brinker clades, Ultimates) who practice the art of producing high-quality blades using stronger than normal alloys and composites. Individual smiths often protect the secrets of their particular mix of forging. A Masterwork Blade adds 1 DV and 1 AP. [Low] Shock Capacitor This modification enhances a small battery and capacitor to a conductive element built into the weapon. This allows the weapon to deliver an electrical shock when it makes contact with an enemy. It adds the Shock effect to any weapon that doesn't already have it. Due to limitations as an add-on (rather than being built into the weapon), the Shock Capacitor can only deliver the shock effect once per Action Turn. [Low] Thermic Weapon This is a complete rebuild of the weapon to include a nuclear battery and a heating element in the contact surface of the weapon. When the heating element is activated, the weapon's surface gets extremely hot, and may even glow in the visible spectrum. Wielders of a Thermic weapon need to take great care not to come in contact with their own weapon's business end while it's active or cooling, lets they harm themselves. Adds 2 DV and AP, and an excellent success with the weapon sets the enemy on fire [Moderate] Toxin Alloy A tactic used by assassins, crime rings and a few nasty Scum or Anarchist weapon-engineers, this builds a blade of a weapon out of toxic materials, such as heavy metals, which are designed to flake off and get inside the blood stream of the target. Some lunatics even use radioactive isotopes. If a Biomorph or Pod takes damage from a Toxin Alloy weapon, they must make a DUR test (Medichines makes this DURx2) or begin feeling the effects of the poison, taking 10 damage per Action turn for each full 10 MoF on the test (minimum 1), which ignores armor. Even if they pass the test, they take a -10 penalty to all actions in the next Turn as their body metabolizes the toxin. However, use of this coating or composites degrades the quality of the weapon for it's normal use, reducing AP and DV by 1 each. [Moderate] Collapsible Weapon Using the latest smart material components and manufacturing techniques, this allows a melee weapon to fold up or collapse into a much smaller and more compact size and shape. While compressed, the weapon is much easier to handle, carry or conceal. It takes a Quick Action to unfold the weapon back to its normal size. When in it's collapsed state, it's a -20 penalty to detect the concealed weapon or its nature. [One Cost Category Higher] Oversize Weapon For Large Sized morphs, using a normal sized weapon is sometimes not enough. In that case, they can choose to enlarge the weapon to a size more befitting their size and build of morph. An Oversize weapon doubles your Damage Bonus to melee damage with the weapon. Small size morphs cannot wield an Oversize Weapon. A Medium Sized morph can wield an Oversize weapon, but they take a -20 penalty to do so unless they have a SOM of 20 or higher. While doing so, the Medium-sized user also gains Reach relative to other Medium Sized morphs, but must use it in two hands, if it is not already a two handed weapon. [One Cost Category Higher] [b]Blades[/b] Viper Sword The big brother of the Wasp Knife, the Viper Sword doesn't cause as much harm as a Vibroblade or Monofilament Sword, but has one advantage in the form of an internal arterial structure. When combined with a triple-cartridge system in the base of the weapon, this allows the Viper Sword to be almost instantaneously coated in any Toxin, Chemical or Nanotoxin from storage. It can also be used to cause damage in pressure differential situations like a Wasp Knife, though this requires a stabbing motion rather than a slash to apply. The Viper Sword has a series of three canisters which hold three separate doses of a drug or chemical substance. [Moderate] AP -1 2d10+2+DB DV [b]Unarmed[/b] Power Fist A high-power unarmed weapon which uses the same technology as a Synthmorph's Pneumatic Limbs. It's favored by a few martial artists and sportsmen, or some particularly aggressive or vindictive security forces. It takes the form of a massive gauntlet with a strike-plate hooked to some high-pressure pneumatic cylinders. When an impact is made with the gauntlet, the cylinders release concentrating a lot of force into a small space. The gauntlets are so hefty that most users only wear one at a time, and their bulk grants a -10 penalty to all tests using the gloved hand, but offer an additional 1/3 AV to that arm. Scoring an excellent success with the Power Fist also forces the target to make a SOM x3 test or be knocked down, as if they had taken a wound. [Moderate] AP -4 2d10+DB DV Vibroknuckle A nasty little high-tech version of a knuckleduster used by some street gangs and pugilists. Instead of using hard rings or spikes, the Vibroknuckle has oscillating blades which vibrate at high frequencies when activated. Under normal circumstances, these don't do much besides add a little bit extra penetration when punching (and inflicting more painful injuries), but when used to make prolonged contact, they add an additional -3 AP and +1d10 DV. [Low] AP -2 1d10+2+DB EDIT: So added rules for the Toxin Alloy. Damage is high because toxicity damage in EP is high. You could also use the Toxin rules for a kinetic ammo type, probably, if you really felt like being a bastard. Also added a couple of Unarmed weapon ideas for you punching aficionados out there.