Mechanik’s Union

In a constant drive to find new and innovative ways of hurling bullets at each other, the problem of rapidity has lead to devices like the slugger and the chain gun, both of which chew through gold faster than they chew through foes.  Pneumatics has seemed a decent stopgap in recent years, even surpassing firearms in some respects, although equally weak and somewhat worse in others. A pressure repeater is the chain gun of its particular science. It is capable of producing a rate of fire in excess of its rival, but at the expense of stopping power. It is also wildly inaccurate, making it a vicious weapon at close range, but laughable over mid to long ranges. It can also be plumbed into the far more advanced engines of a set of Steam armor, producing a deadly short range weapon for these lumbering metal warriors.

The weapon works by using the built up pressure from a reciprocating air compressor powered by a small steam plant to fire a small iron ball at lethal velocities.  The steam plant along with a thick metal compression chamber is slung on a backpack harness and must be fired up and fed prior to strapping in, or by another, either way it takes 1-3min to achieve operational temperatures. Gutta-percha hoses feed from the valves of the chamber to a thick ugly iron stock with a large gravity fed hopper on-top filled with iron balls. Below this are 6 rotating barrels to which the hopper feeds the iron balls seconds before the pressure valve launches them from the weapon as the trigger is depressed.  The handheld version of this device is a lever action gun, with the barrels mounted on a large lateral gear, meshed to a large horizontal gear flat to the left-hand side of the gun and sporting a crank handle. One hand is used to turn the crank to rotate the barrels, the other to depress the trigger and release the pressure valve. If this device is mounted on steam armor the crank is integrated into the steam armors own pneumatics by rotating cam-shaft, and at the cost of -1 strength produced from the power plant all that is needed to fire the repeater is the trigger.

Exotic Weapon Pressure Repeater:-

• Damage: 1d4
• Range: 40ft
• Critical: x3
• Ammo: 100 balls per hopper (1gp per 10 balls)
• Reload: 1 full round action [Craft: Clockwork DC 6]
• Pressure: The compression chamber must be fed by a working boiler or steam plant, it takes 1 full round to store enough pressure for 6 shots. The chamber can contain 5 rounds worth of pressure. Shots taken with half the necessary pressure reduce range and damage done by half.
• Weight: 50lb. [encumbering: two handed use only]
• Cost: 1300gp
• Special: Spray [can make a number of attacks to an initial target and targets in adjacent squares. Allocating a number of attacks up to twice the users BAB and half the remaining pressure & ammunition. Each attack is at the users highest bonus, but attacks suffer a cumulative -2 for each additional attack.]
• Available Upgrades –  Embellishment [10-200gp], Two-stage compressor (12 shots worth of pressure per round) [575gp], Cut-off Valve Tanks (can store only 2 rounds worth of pressure, can continue to charge pressure while firing) [1500gp].