Re: [HOE] Another Junker question.

["Kai Tave" <kaitave@harborside.com>]

>The former is probably official. I happen to think that weapon speed
penalties
>are an abysmally stupid side effect (why the hell should electrifying a
sword
>make it heavier and more unwieldy?)

Well, it was one of the only things the COULD do to balance adding a ton of
extra damage dice.  I mean, with firearms, you have all sorts of stuff you
can penalize for taking certain mods; ammo capacity, rate-of-fire, drain,
range, etc.  Melee weapons don't have much to tweak really.  Defensive bonus
and speed is about it.

And as for why it should make the weapon heavier, I can certainly see a few
reason, the main one being that Junker tech is neither lightweight nor
elegant.  An electrified sword would have a (comparitively) bulky power
system, and the blade design would probably be modified as well.

Now, it DOES get ridiculous when you add so many extra damage dice that you
get a weapon with a speed of six or more, but in my opinion that's a good
thing, as it discourages people from making things like 7d8 damage swords
(at least without a selector switch).

                    --Kai Tave