Well, I know there is a reason you can't make a gun into a weapon foci...But what about lasers?

Yup, a laser is just shooting particles of energy rather than particles of metal. It is still a projectile weapon as far as foci are concerned.

Well, here it is you see bullets and arrows (etc)are not part of the gun. Lasers are...

how, exactly, are lasers more a part of a laser weapon than bullets are a part of a firearm? U PHYSICS EXPLAININ': LACKING

Not to mention the implications... if you did create a weapon focus laser, would that project with you when you are astrally projecting? Would you be able to shoot "astral lasers"? Weapon Foci are defined as magical melee weapons, although in the same page of the BBB, they describe the problems with enchanting magical missile weapons. I think it is a lot more involved than the weapon leaving the user's hands. The weapon when bonded is an extension of the Awakened character, and that allows the weapon to manifest astrally as part of the Awakened character's aura (making it effective against astral targets). You could make a Weapon Focus into the shape of a laser, but it would be no more than an astral club... the beams would not count for the purposes of weapon foci rules.

You can probably attune a laser (along with any other missile weapon) as an adept, but that's as far as the rules go.

Well, tell me what guns do to bullets? Aren't they simply high tech pipes that contain and control the reaction of the gunpowder to cause the bullet to fly in one way?

Laser changes the state and form of energy. You take a battery and use it to send energy threw the laser. The enegry goes threw the parts of the gun. It moves threw it. The laser changes the photons.

guns change the state of matter, releasing stored energy through the application of other energy. laser weapons change the state of energy, drawing energy from a power source and converting it into other energy through the use of voodoo. i'm still not seeing how the laser is more a part of the laser weapon than a bullet is a part of the gun.

If the a laser beam is considered to be connected to the weapon through the photon particles, I'm gonna argue that the bullets are connected to the firearm through the atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in between.

Heck, screw that. Instead I'm gonna argue that everything is connected and start a sect where we come together to enchant Mother Earth into one big foci.

another thing to fix in SR4.

Yes, they really should give a complete list of every weapon that can be enchanted in order to avoid confusion.

A knife
A spoon
A pointed stick
A banana
A tiger...

yes, exactly, except not. instead, they should make sure that the enchanting rules match the rules for buying enchanted items.

I suppose mentioning the laser crescent axe at this point would only agrivate the discussion?

If you do, I'll pull out ye old Threats book and ask my GM to let me build a nuclear bomb weapon focus like Winternight.

not really. the same arguments still apply; you're enhanting the axe (which is still sharp and still does damage on its own), not the lasers. if the GM allows you to get the extra damage that a laser axe deals, when you go wandering around the astral with it, it's his job to explain why--not mine.

Anyone who thinks that a ranged weapon foci isn't munchkinny should be subjected to a week of public humiliation anyhow.

Though it's not a canon explanation, my view is as follows:

All weapon foci require contact with a living aura to function. In a way, you could say ones aura is the source of its power and that it channels it in such a way to extend it into the weapon and create a more damaging effect.

Now, this is why I think the laser argument doesn't wash:

You're trying to say that it's different because the laser creates the focused beam of light. Well, you're right in the sense that it's different. You're dead wrong in the sense that the light is part of the weapon. The light is generated at the time--it bears no part of the enchantment that allows the weapon to be used as a focus. Moreover, you're firing photons--which leave your aura as soon as they leave the weapon. It's a projectile weapon alright. It doesn't matter how they're generated, it just matters that it stays in contact with your aura.

If you really want a ranged weapon focus, you might be able to swing that tired old chain on a harpoon trick. I wouldn't recommend that, either though.

I bet Leonardo could have done it. Optics was his specialty after all.


*runs and hides*

A laser, in effect, shoots a stream of photons. A minigun, in effect, shoots a stream of bullets. In both cases, it's a large number of independent objects flying out of the weapon (though obviously there's more of them from the laser).

So... nononononononononono.

JaronK

What was the explination from SR2 (or maybe just how one of my GMs explained it)...

If it leaves your aura, it no longer works as a focus.

So shooting a bullet would therefore make the bullet leave your aura. No more use as a focus.

And, as far as I figure, you can't enchant energy.

How about this.....


Dragons have dragon sized aura's even in human form. Can they make bullets into weapon foci, then shoot people who are standing close enough to them that they would be inside the dragon shaped astral form? Its still in conact with his aura after all.....

Haha. I know you're being a smartarse, but I don't see why not. *grin*

Well I wouldn't allow it for balance's sake, but heck, it's a bloody dragon. The sight of a groups jaws dropping as a hail of enchanted bullets came streaming at them would be priceless. Course, one has to wonder what the reach would be on those suckers (for the purposes of determining cost).

On another note, I think physical contact with the focus is also required, but I'm unsure why.

Only way I would not smack the person suggesting this in my game is to make it so the laser can only fire anchored Laser spells. The karma cost would be so prohibitive that no sane PC would think of it and the ones with dedication deserve to have it.

Ummmm... NO!
Anyone who tries this in my game get horrer marked, pisses of Lofwyr, and the Azys.
No muchkining allowed!

(Yes, I realise there are no horrers yet. I don't care. And my former character, a mage vampire with 200 karma, might also join the party. )

/end rant. <g>

i still don't see how that would work. if you're using anchored laser spells, you're rolling the allocated sorcery dice to determine whether or not the spell hits; the skill of the character holding the weapon doesn't come into play at all.