Items · Ranged Weapons · Combat
The C-47 Thaumatech Rifle
"Since I was issued with this rifle, it's saved my life on more then one occasion. It's the best weapon that I've ever been issued with." John Volkov, a private in the army of the De Madden Company.
Quest entry
Quest entry
Quest - Steampunk
Steampunk! Any sort of steampunk at all from thaumatech to simple old-fashioned steamtech. Wind up your imaginations and start the kettle boiling! 15XP for each submission with 100XP for 1st and 50XP for second. Open the quest
Full quest brief
Steampunk!
Any sort of steampunk at all from thaumatech to simple old-fashioned steamtech.
Wind up your imaginations and start the kettle boiling!
15XP for each submission with 100XP for 1st and 50XP for second.
Full Item Description
The C-47 thaumatech rifle is a foot and a half long, with a wooden stock and handle, a bayonet on the end that can be detached, and an awesome reputation.
History
For centuries since its founding by one of the kings of antiquity, the mighty De Madden Company had monopolised the vital supply of amethyst on the world of Acqua. Without at least a small chunk of amethyst, which turned into clear quartz once used up fully in a spell, even the simplest charms and the most common spells were impossible to cast. Starting with its own deposits on the Isle of Banhoesea, the Company formed an army and a navy with ships capable of withstanding almost any storm. Then they invaded the other islands, taking over their amethyst to feed their ever-growing state.
The more amethyst they took, the richer they became and the better their armed forces got, until they believed themselves invincible. Which is when they came up against Big Red and other krakens that had learned how to get the humans on nearby islands to provide them with amethyst stockpiles of their own. In the forthcoming war between the Company and the Kraken States, Company scientists came up with the C-47 thaumatech rifle.
Magic/Cursed Properties
The weapon itself has been shortened from earlier versions to a mere foot and a half long. It has a scope for long range shooting mounted on it, along with a compass and a mini version of an Aetherometer to warn of possible malfunctions in advance, before the weapon blows up. With only six parts in the weapon itself (handle, trigger, breach, magazine, barrel, bayonet on the end) a soldier or marine can be taught how to use it properly within as little as a week, and it can survive an amount of fouling that would jam most guns much earlier.
It is loaded through the breach with a *bullet* of amethyst and when the trigger is pulled, it touches a glyph that automatically casts a Create Lightning spell. The lightning bolt can be fired thirty times, or the trigger held down for thirty seconds to produce a continuous bolt of lightning. Its awesome power is strong enough to seriously hurt even Krakens, and when it hits water it electrifies the top few inches of water close to it.
After a few minutes of shooting it requires water to be poured over the barrel to cool it, after having first touched the ground to ground any remaining magical energy. If the guns owner does not cool it quickly enough, it may get too hot to hold,even setting it's wooden stock and handle on fire in extreme cases, whilst if it is not grounded first it can give a nasty shock to its owner. It is not a good weapon to use in a hot desert.
Medical personnel have a version of this that fires a healing spell, and high ranking officers have a version that, as well as the amethyst, has different kinds of bullets that casts a different spell depending on which secondary bullet (which could be jet, coral, gold or silver) is in the gun. In practise it is not unknown for an officer to *fire* the wrong spell in the heat of battle, whilst the normal version of the C-47 only fires lightning bolts so does not have this problem.
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This article links to 2
- Aetherometer Kassil linked by Cheka Man
- Big Red Cheka Man linked by Cheka Man
Also for this quest
Other entries under Quest - Steampunk.
-
Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam
As the world grows and changes, so to do the gods. One such creature is Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam.
-
Clockfolk
"It's important to remember, when dealing with the clockfolk, that they only LOOK like toys."
-
Melders
The followers of the mechanogod Whrrrm, those who could never have come about until the advent of steamtech.
-
Mech-Undead
The grinding of gears in the dead of night is a precursor of an unforgiving danger. Survivors remember little, save the smell of metal and death.
-
Conversion Warhead
"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, the destr…
-
Steamwalkers
In the deep of night, even the most jaded of criminals will look over their shoulders for the telltale scarlet glow of the steamwalkers.
-
Potential Cannon
"It was as if, for a heartbeat, the world awoke, and lashed out in rage at those who disturbed it."
-
Aetherometer
Odd little devices, almost ubiquitous in any city which relies on thaumatechnology.
Use alongside
Submissions that pair well with this one at the table.
-
Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam
As the world grows and changes, so to do the gods. One such creature is Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam.
-
Clockfolk
"It's important to remember, when dealing with the clockfolk, that they only LOOK like toys."
-
Melders
The followers of the mechanogod Whrrrm, those who could never have come about until the advent of steamtech.
-
Mech-Undead
The grinding of gears in the dead of night is a precursor of an unforgiving danger. Survivors remember little, save the smell of metal and death.
-
Steamwalkers
In the deep of night, even the most jaded of criminals will look over their shoulders for the telltale scarlet glow of the steamwalkers.
-
Arachniwerk
"...I'll be damned if I go within a league of the Girders. Death is there on eight damn legs clicking and chugging away." Ex-salvager Tim McClanny
An interesting application of thaumatechnology, the mechanics seem sound enough and the only part that stuck out to me was the placement of a bayonette on what is a rather small weapon. Most bayonettes would be mounted on long barreled rifles for reach and leverage.
There is a reference for things along these lines. The spectacularly bad idea of the gunblade - a fighting knife bonded to a pistol - really did exist; perhaps in Acqua the notion is a better idea than our own unwieldy, awkward, and poorly-balanced gunblades were.
Longer barrels are effective for longer-range shots, though.
The guns, they be everywhere! I like the switch from traditional projectiles to a raw lightning attack.
This is pretty cool. I would definatly have the different rounds color-coded or numbered. A good example of an idea like this is the anime Outlaw Star which featers a rare gun known as a 'caster' which can create different attack spells based on the shell's number, and they are quite expensive and rare since it's a space anime and there isn't much magic around anymore.
Not bad Cheka, though if you are going to call it a rifle, make it longer. This is more of a submachinegun-size.