Mechanik’s Union

(The ideas and designs for this weapon were originally created by my GM, but through in-game circumstances, as well as her blessing, I’ve updated and revised this weapon with my character’s clan name and stamp of craft)

Although a rather new addition to the standard arsenal of soldiers and the lucky few adventurers out in the field, grenades are expensive, yet devastatingly powerful weapons of war. The fine clockwork mechanisms and large quantities of powder vaporized in a split second are well worth the power to stop the advance of a charging enemy. As well as its cost, one disadvantage to the grenade is the range of which it can be effectively used, for the human arm(or even dwarven for that matter)  is only capable of chucking that weighty metal sphere so far. One of the first designs for a grenade delivery system was built by a younger and less experienced Glenrock Copperfist, but after a catastrophic breech failure and the crippling of his hands, a certain dwarf by the name of Baldaxe stole the rough schematics for it and created a revised, yet still hazardous, model called the Ironstone Grenade Launcher. Years have passed, and recently the newest designs have fallen back into it’s original creators’ (now mechanikal) hands.

The Copperfist Thumper is a smooth bore, short barreled, and sturdy framed rifle that uses compressed air to send a grenade far further and more accurately then simply lobbing one could accomplish. In the original designs of the Ironstone, a breech on the side of the weapon allowed a powder charge and a specially modified grenade to be placed inside. While still a grenade in and of itself, the outer casing is reworked into a smoothed cylinder, instead of the usual pineapple or studded shapes most have, but keeping the clockwork trigger and primer intact. A small, sturdy hook inside the weapon is placed on the clockwork trigger of the grenade, and when the weapon was fired, would launch the now primed grenade a fair distance before detonating soon (but not exactly immediately) after impact. Because of the use of gunpowder to launch the grenade, it’s maximum range (not increment) is 30ft, since adding any more would certainly detonate the grenade instantly. Because of the complex and intricate nature of the loading of the weapon, it took a Craft (Demo or Cannoneer) check (DC 12) as well as a full round action to reload, but on a natural 1 on a d20 craft check or attack roll, the weapon jams, causing the grenade to detonate inside the barrel and destroy the weapon, as well as causing the operator and anyone within the blast radius of the grenade to take damage.

Now, a safer and more effective version of the weapon has been crafted. Still very similar in outer design, the inner workings and the grenadepropulsion have be rethought, adding a bit more cost and maintenance to the weapon, but ensuring its effectiveness.

The first redesign started with the grenades. Following up on sabot technology, the grenade now resembles an oversized projectile, most of the shell casing filled with the contents of various grenade ingredients. The tip of the shell is a dome-shaped cap with a clockwork button that detonates only upon immediate impact (Move action to detonate the grenade by hand, where it then instantly explodes). Secondly, the reloading mechanism now involves the entire barrel unlocking with a heavy latch and sliding forward, allowing a shell to be inserted via a breech at the bottom of the weapon. The barrel must then be slid back and locked in place before it can be fired, eliminating the need for unnecessary intricacy. Lastly, the dreaded excuse to launch an explosive device with more explosives has been replaced by a tank of compressed True Air located in the stock of the weapon. With enough charges to launch 10 grenades, this method eliminates the chance of the grenade detonating during reloading, but on an attack roll of 1, the True Air canister ruptures and only sends the live grenade 1d3 spaces from the user, exploding accordingly. The entire weapon is rendered useless until repaired.

Weapon Statistics:

Copperfist Thumper (Grenade Launcher)

• Range- 40ft (Increment)
• Weight- 12 lbs
• Length- 2’10?
• Damage- As per Grenade
• Crit-x3
• Reload- Craft (Demo/Cannoneer) DC (12),  1 Standard

Costs:

Copperfist Thumper: 2250G

Grenade Sabots: x5, DC (+5) Craft (Demo)

True Air Canister: +50 G, DC (25) Craft (Alchemy)

Extras:

Due to the innovations of the weapon, 2 upgrades have been created to further enhance the weapon’s performance.

Arc Sights- This upgrade installs a sliding iron sight scale that can be used to estimate the arc needed to reach a desired target. During an Aim action, the user my lessen the  range increment penalties by -1 per increment. For example, if a Rhulic fighter were targeting a group of advancing Winterguard 140ft away, an Aim action would lessen the range attack penalty to -3 (3 range increments would normally be a -6 to attack). Cost: 35G

Rifle Mounting Frame- By removing the stock, downsizing to a True Air canister with only one charge of air, and attaching the Thumper beneath the barrel of a rifle using a series of metal rails and leather straps, the user can effectively mount this weapon as per a bayonet. Because the mount unbalances the rifle, all ranged or melee attacks with this weapon combo takes a -2 hit penalty. This penalty is increased to -3 when the launcher is loaded. Cost:170G (For all intensive purposes, this upgrade is partially considered as a Lightweight Customization.)

*Note: As with normal splash weapons, the Thumper and all launcher variants do not need LOS to hit a target, and can be fired over cover, albeit a -2 penalty for Total Cover. Concealmeant and Total Concealment still apply.

*Update:

Steam Power Propulsion-  Although the use of True Air canisters provide excellent portability to the weapon, finding the canisters, creating the alchemical compounds, or simply forking up the money to get it all can be very costly. So instead  of  using alchemy, a hose made out of the same armored, flexible material that arcano coils are made of are hooked up to either a small steam engine, or directly into the steam engine of steam armor. This completely eliminates the need for the canister and offers an almost unlimited power source, but changes some of the weapon’s properties. The base range of the weapon decreases to 20 ft,  but the range of the weapon increases 10ft for every Standard Action of charging the weapon. The Range increment is 20 ft, and every increment beyond it incurs the normal penalties, but unfortunately there is another weakness. For every increment beyond it’s normal range, the increased pressure on the couplings may cause a similar failure as the original canister, but with the addition of inuring a cumulative 5% failure.

Cost- 125 Gp (Does not include steam engine)