Real quick one for you guys today.
One thing that I get a lot of requests for is way to update the ETC (Electrothermal-Chemical) rules from Ultra-Tech (pg. 139) which many agree are a bit wonky. Well, I've been collecting what little info on this tech that is available openly, trying to see if I can come up with a better figure.
Welp, David beat me to this. In this GURPS forum post he listed the current (well current as of almost 3 years ago heh) values he's using for the Armorers Handbook (His and Hans inhouse weapon design system that will hopefully see the light of day some decade....The things I would do to just get half an hour with that manuscript....).
For what it's worth, my research was leading me to believe that 1st gen ETC would make rounds about 1.3 times more powerful so it at lest seems we were on the same page.
Well there you guys go, values for ETC that aren't as game breaking and more in line with reality.
1.3 has the advantage of matching hotshot lasers and gaining a simple +1 per die.
ReplyDeleteYeah, funny how real world figures line up pretty well with that.
DeleteBut till the official rules come out, using the 1.3× figure for TL9 ETC is the simpler option so for what little it's worth it gets my stamp of approval heh.
What is the cost multiplier for the ammo?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply. David didn't post any but I can say there wouldn't be any cost to the ammo, the propellant for ETC isn't that expensive, basically a conductive liquid as a reaction mass with nano scale shaving of metal to act as the ignition. The guns, however, will be more expensive for needing a fairly powerful power supply built into them (nowhere near the level of a full EM gun though). Ultra-Tech has a 2× cost multiplier for ETC guns and that works for TL 9 though I'd drop it to 1.5× at TL 10 and no multiplier at TL 11+ while making normal guns cheaper.
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