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Are there weapons in Starfinder that could accurately be described as "charged particle" weapons like Star Trek's phasers or the LZ Answerer in Resident Evil VIllage?
You can imitate the LOOK of these things with standard lasers and plasma weapons, but they're technically not the same things, and the only things with a label resembling "particle weapon" I can see on AoN are all starship weapons.
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What would be the actual difference between a plasma weapon and a particle weapon?
By the physics definition, plasma is indeed made up of charged particles. Likely most electrical damage weapons could also be described as charged particle weapons.
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What would be the actual difference between a plasma weapon and a particle weapon?
I thought plasma had, like, a canister of specific gases that you vented when you activated it, like a kind of energy super-soaker, while charged particle things didn't emit a beam so much as charged existing particles in the air and target like some kind of super-tightly-focused-microwave.
What would be the actual difference between a plasma weapon and a particle weapon?I thought plasma had, like, a canister of specific gases that you vented when you activated it, like a kind of energy super-soaker, while charged particle things didn't emit a beam so much as charged existing particles in the air and target like some kind of super-tightly-focused-microwave.
Most beams are at least partially composed of particles anyway (see photons, electrons, particle/wave duality rabbit hole)
As far as my limited understanding of physics goes, they'd have to send out some sort of electron/proton/positron in some method to do cause particles in the air to become charged.
I think you're wanting a sci-fi mumbo jumbo gun called a charged particle weapon, but the physics definition is anything that shoots plasma or lightning.
I was mostly thinking in regards to Star Trek phasers. They're apparently distinct from plasma weapons somehow? From what you're saying is true than nearly every sci-fi weapon I'd want to emulate: lightsabers, blasters, omni-blades...it's plasma weapons all the way down?
Anything that does electrical damage works too. But, lightsabers and blasters, almost definitely plasma. Omniblades (assuming mass effect) probably hard light weapons of some sort? Phasers are described by various wikias as either plasma or some other made up particle weapon (nadion). Yeah, science terms often mean pretty mundane things in real life (not that plasma is mundane in any way).
Starfinder seems to simulate "radiation damage" with some combination of weapon special effects and fire damage.
So either a plasma weapon with the irradiated property, or a special weapon that forces saves vs. radiation regardless of armor level.