I can remember seeing rules for a laser axe in a former Edition and it amused me to no end. But where is it in SR4? Does it exist at all?

I know what you mean. It isn't in fourth edition.

I think this was in the Street Sam's Guide or Fields of Fire.

Either way, I recall one of the comments in that weapons entry were that the laser had a great tendency to be pushed out of alignment. Maybe the manufacturers of the weapon (Ares?) thought that it wasn't worth keeping around.

It was in SR3.
The Ares Laser Axe.
Rules were STR Serious Damage.
If Armor/Barrier of struck target was bigger than the PowerNiveau(STR) then the lasers are knocked out of alignment and the Axe only does STR Medium Damage untill repaired, if i remember correctly.

Cannon Companion pg. 8 (Laser Crescent Axe)

My guess: Ares discontinued the product.

First showed up in first edition Street Sami book, and been ridiculed out of existence, gone the way of the Program Carrier.

It could be re-created pretty easily though.

Str/2 + 3P vs half impact reach 2

same rules for alignment of the lasers, maybe also require it to run on a battery like the laser weapons, give it a combat life of 1 turn per charge.

Also, light Elemental Effect Weapon, for fighting HMHVV and Aids.

Too bad it doesn't exist anymore. What's more Pink Mohawk than a Cyberdwarf Punk with laseraxe going Tolkien on your sorry ass?
Anyhow, if I wanted to houserule it into 4th Ed, I'd probably start with combat axe statistics and add several points of AP. If a glitch is rolled, the lasers need to be readjusted and if the glitch is critical the lasers are broken.

Per normal Glitch: lose one point of AP
Per critical Glitch: lose all points of AP

It does have a certain coolness factor, but from a physics standpoint, it's pretty stupid. I mean, how are the lasers mounted? They go along the edge? And what stops the beams from burning everything in the vicinity of where that end of the axe is pointed? And what happens at the point where the beam meets the target? It's no longer going along the edge of the blade. Or is it two or more lasers that only reach cutting intensity where the beams cross? Laser beams cross at points. How do you cut with a point? Or even several? And how do they cut fast enough to lead a blade? How many shots do you get with the power pack on a laser pistol? That's a very short blast. Even with a sensor that only turns the axe on when you swing it, that's a long "on" period.

Sounds like a vibro axe would be not only easier, but cheaper and more reliable. Just string some nano-LEDs along the blade and call it a laser axe.

I'm working on it. Each freelancer earns a certain number of Fiat Points depending on how many words they write (editors and developers can award extra FP if we did a good job and they didn't have to work as hard, or if the book sold well), and we're given opportunities to cash them in and get to add something to the setting that the editors won't take away. If I save 1,000 FP I can write my own ebook on whatever I want. I could do Beyond the Monofilament Edge (Gear/Augmentations) or Beyond The Sky (Shadowrun in Spaaace) or even Harlequin 3: Shooting Immortal Elves in the Face for Fun and Nuyen (adventure/safari board game).

Oh c´mon. That is really nasty. We all are waiting for books like these and now you are kidding with our hopes? Taht is not very polite. ^^
Besides that, it would be great to get some of the old fluff back to the game. If you stand a chance to do so or take influence on the devs, please try it.^^

That's a book I'd buy it.

laser axe at [STR] S damage? not sure about that but there was a combat axe with that damage code and a reach of 2 on page 275 SR3.

I actually once made a fun character who used that (minus the LEDs). He also had Geas (Blood for the Blood God) and considered K-10 a tranquilizer

The axe is worse than the usual combat axe, which never dulls and can have dikote applied to the edge for a grand total of (STR)+1D Damage and halved Barrier Rating on the Target.
BUT IT IS STILL A LASER AXE!! HOW FRIGGING COOL IS THAT?!
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BOTH Axes have a Reach of 1, not 2. Pole-Arms have a reach of 2. But who's gonna stop you from getting a Laser SCYTHE?
Seems as if my idea of knocking the lasers out of alignment only if the armor was bigger than the power was a house-rule applied in our group.
Yes, a Vibro-Axe would be better. But i still want the CHAIN-KNIFE-TECHNOLOGY to be brougt back. I want the Mono-Chain-Saw in my Axe!

@UncleMeanie-Head
I'd buy all of those books. Start writing, i want them done in time for my Birthday, which is June 20th

there is a combat axe is listed under pole arms and has 2 reach.

Hmm, curious. You are right O.o
I never noticed that in all these years.
I allways played them with reach 1 <.<;,

makes the thought of a troll Paul Bunyon a little frightening.

Oh don't get me wrong, i also had a dikote applied scythe.
Blade foldable to the stock, stock retractable to half the original length, poison in the blade, retractable thrusting point on the holding end so i could use it the other way too.
Electro-shocks in the grip end too, if i wanted to stun someone. Built in biometric safety that shocked anybody else trying to use it. The works.
Yes, reach bonus of 3 is REALLY bad for anything else.
Especially, if your GM allows you to split the reach bonus.
This meant i could get a +2 on the other guy for the 2 reach of the weapon and a -1 on my end from my arms.
Or a +1 on the other guy and a -2 on my end. Or a +3 on the other guy or a -3 on my end.
Most devastating was the -3 on my end, of course. With 16STR and this Weapon i looked at 2's in most cases as my Target number.
With 6 to 8 dice to roll, plus combat pool, one success meant 20D Damage allready. And i more often than not had 4 to 6 successes too.
Even REALLY big critters had a hard time resisting 23D Damage. And afterwards if they were still there, they got to resist 10D Stun from Poison with only natural body.
Yep, nothing much stood in my way back in the day.

I also have a deep, deep love for poisoning weapons that nobody could possibly survive taking damage from to begin with. I used to treat my troll doombow projectiles* with narcoject in SR4 basically for shits and giggles. Nothing like "sedating" someone with what amounts to a barely subsonic length of plasteel rebar.


*I refuse to call them arrows. My rule of thumb is that if you can use it for truck hunting, it ain't an arrow.

An elven go-ganger toting a scythe from the back of his racing bike, now, that's coolness. You could call him "Mort" and have him chase down spirits with mundane means...

edit: oops wrong forum