Ion Rifle - Availability/Restriction

Prodromoi

Banded Mongoose
Hi,

What are people's opinions of the restriction level (per Central Supply Catalogue page 5) of the Ion Rifle (page 151 of the CSC 2023 update)?

My players are tooling up for a fight and are considering parting with some hard-earned credits for an ion rifle (or more than one). What availability category would you consider it to be?

Currently my thinking is Category 3 (Paramilitary) or Category 4 (Military). The weapon is non-lethal (vs. typical sophonts) but extremely effective against robots and sensitive electronic equipment. In the wrong hands it could cause a lot of damage and indirectly death and destruction. Imagine it being used on a vehicle's electronics, a computer controlling important systems, or gravitic drives.

One of the things mentioned in the description of Military (Cat 4) equipment is "military-grade electronics ... electronic warfare equipment". Arguably the ion rifle could be described as the latter - so I'm inclined to call it Cat 4, with military-grade restrictions (and commensurate pricing on the black market!).
 
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OK, looking it up in CSC 23 ppg 151 & 153, I tend to lean towards Cat. 3 Paramilitary but outlawed at LL 3 [about the same level as laser weaponry].
But I would also make them highly illegal on any world that requires mass life support [domed cities, grav cities, etc.], basically anywhere that one knucklehead with an ion rifle could threaten the lives of everyone if he kills the vital systems with it. It's the same logic that prohibits slug throwers in soft dome settlements.
The one thing that the description doesn't give us is the radius of the ion effect and that will determine a whole bunch about just how illegal such a weapon would be. If firing that thing would take out the electronics in half a city bock, then it's gonna be about as legal as a flamethrower ;)
 
I agree with every post above; Cat 4. Sometimes the spirit of the law (/rules) makes more sense than torturing the letter, and this seems like a case of that.

And that still doesn't preclude the party getting one, just gives you a point of interest around getting it and around using it.
 
I agree with every post above; Cat 4. Sometimes the spirit of the law (/rules) makes more sense than torturing the letter, and this seems like a case of that.

And that still doesn't preclude the party getting one, just gives you a point of interest around getting it and around using it.

Oh, absolutely. There are ways and means. That only adds to the fun of it!
 
Restrictions are one thing.
Legality is another thing.
AVAILABILITY... that's a WHOLE 'nuther thing... ;)
Cuz you can bet that if some BD suited troop finds you with a 'zap gun', they're gonna take a deep interest in you 'other' other activities.
 
This is also a case where the legality will depend on the world/society. A low-tech planet isn't likely to care about ion weaponry simply because there's nothing there to use it against, so an ion rifle would have the same legal status as any other makeshift club.
 
This is also a case where the legality will depend on the world/society. A low-tech planet isn't likely to care about ion weaponry simply because there's nothing there to use it against, so an ion rifle would have the same legal status as any other makeshift club.
Don't let the TL fool you.
Just because a given world is listed at TL 3 doesn't mean that they don't have radios or assault rifles. They cannot manufacture higher TL items, but they could import them. That's what 'trade' is all about, after all.
There is nothing whatsoever preventing a TL 5 resource world from importing a TL 10 computer system to help administer the population, and I guarantee you that if some offworld clown fries their very expensive computer with his zap gun the world leaders are gonna be highly and quite possibly lethally vexed. That computer is a trivial expense on a TL 10 world, but it's a significant slice of a TL 5 world's GDP.
 
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Maintenance would be more important than manufacture.

Rugged and simple.
That's true in a lot of cases.
The beginnings of many worlds' industrial base is the development of local sources to make replacement parts for offworld technology that need frequent replacement.
 
Not everything in a tool needs high technology to manufacture, or maintain it.

And the parts that do, you can import those, or hire an expert.
 
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