| 2 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
So Rel-Batteries were introduced in the Devastation Arc, and provide an unlimited amount of power for the device in which they are installed. All well and good, but the wording of the Automatic weapon property means that such a weapon with a Rel-Battery would fire an infinite number of shots. Now, RAW, this merely means that you could hit a hypothetically infinite number of targets within half of the first range increment of the weapon, yet I doubt that even this was intended.
If a FAQ or Errata is written to address this, I would further recommend that any statement include future proofing against the eventuality of such things as extended magazines, belt fed or drum fed options, etc.
FAQ'd.
But... what are the consequences other than 'well, I'll do it again next round'?
Or, hitting 'too many' targets at once?
The first, probably unintended. The second, I have doubts about it coming up at all in gameplay.
A good part of the question has to do with the future proofing aspect; in the presence of Null-Space chambers and similar technology, it would seem simple to have a very high quantity of ammo available for use, but the automatic property, as written, means that would be irrelevant, as all that ammo would be sucked right down as soon as the full auto setting was engaged.
A good part of the question has to do with the future proofing aspect; in the presence of Null-Space chambers and similar technology, it would seem simple to have a very high quantity of ammo available for use, but the automatic property, as written, means that would be irrelevant, as all that ammo would be sucked right down as soon as the full auto setting was engaged.
Yes, exactly. Hitting an arbitrary number of targets in a cone, then you need to reload, seems reasonable.
The unreasonable part is the quantum battery not needing to be reloaded the next round... but, these are also high level relic items unavailable on the market, impossible to craft, and only found in one specific AP (that ends at level 20) so far. Something to keep in mind.
There are at least two other ways to full attack every round without a reload action. A soldier fighting style (that costs RP) and the new Helping Hands spell that you can get via a couple of the spellcasting dabbler feats. Oh, and a stunt and strike operative.
It’s only modestly higher damage than a good blast weapon, with less accuracy, no crits, much much worse ammo consumption, and no ignoring total concealment. It’s just insanely better than a blast weapon at range or to full attack a single target.
I agree. It's an expensive, level-locked, technically AP locked (these batteries aren't introduced to the galaxy until the sivv attack), relic (which by the rules can't be crafted) that, end of the day, provides some very situational exploits. And considering how SF adventures are generally designed, I'd be tempted to throw a trash mob of low-level minions into an encounter just so a player could exploit their shiny toy once.
Coming back to this thread I'm seeing two people that think that Rel-Batteries are relics. They are not, you are thinking of Kishalee Batteries, which while they are relics, they are also of a much lower level than Rel-Batteries, which start at level 16, and go up from there. https://www.aonsrd.com/HybridItems.aspx?ItemName=Mk%201&Family=Rel-Batt ery (Holds true in the book, too; page 53 of The Devastation Ark, part 3.) Also, Kishalee Batteries become available in the Dead Suns arc, so not end of campaign.
On a minor note, with regards to using Null-Space Chambers to make the ultimate snail magazine, the notion that the action on a firearm could suddenly cycle several hundred times faster to eat through all that available ammunition just because it is there, because RAW, is flat ludicrous. As such, my group's current house ruling on the topic is that unless an upgrade or other option specifically states otherwise, a weapon can only fire up to its listed capacity in shots per round, ie., if a Rel-Battery is placed in an Autobeam Rifle, Elite, the maximum number of shots it could fire in automatic would be 20 (100 charges/usage 5=20).