New sights, over sized ammunition feeds, new stocks, they all can help to
make your weapon more effective. Some accessories are weapons unto themselves, such as grenade launchers and bayonets, but they will not be
covered here. Here, we will be discussing what you can use to make your weapon itself more effective. Due to size constraints, we will have to cover only the more common or useful add-ons on the market.
Basic sights, also called "iron sights", are usually black. This
produces a poor sight picture, especially at night. Nowadays, most
weapons are produced with either white dots and/or a high visibility front
sight for an improved ability to actually see the sights. But it still doesn't
mean much in the dark. If you can't see the sights, you can't hit much past,
say, two or three arm lengths away. For this reason, many people have
small, glowing beads inserted into their iron sights. Sometimes they are
LEDs, or small chips of mildly radioactive material, or even self-contained
microbiomes with luminescent bacteria or plants in them. Regardless of
what they are, "night sights" allow you to get a sight picture in even the
darkest gloom. Unlike light enhancement or thermal imaging, they can't die
at an inconvenient moment, and unlike glowrods and laser pointers, they
don't give away your position. Most professionals have had these installed
on their weapons, including the Stormtrooper legions. Most major
manufacturers, including BlasTech, Merr-Sonn and SoroSuub, can add
night sights to your blaster for a small fee (usually about 75-100cr) before
it leaves the factory. Of course, you can always have them added later, but
not only do you have to buy the sights, you need to have them installed by
someone of usually questionable ability, or worse, yourself. And just
because you have scope or something similar, these are still a nice idea, as
they almost never break, unlike some things.
This is one of the most basic weapon accessories, and it consists of
a small glow rod that clamps onto the weapon, and activated by a squeeze
switch. The problem with them is that your sight picture goes to hell
unless you are using a red dot sight, laser sight or night sights. They can
also be seen from much further away than t hey project a useful
illuminating beam, usually out to about 25m. These are commonly found
with Stormtroopers assigned to urban or subterranean areas. Due to their
size, they can only be mounted on pistol sized and larger weapons.
The most primitive and common form of enhancing scope is a
simple, optical magnifying scopes. Using a simple tube with lenses at either
end, it requires no power, as few, if any, moving parts, and is inexpensive.
Having existed in most cultures since before space flight, they are still
popular. To indicate were the shot will fall, scopes have some kind of
aiming point inside the scope, usually crossed hairs, a small dot, or a ring.
Most of the ones manufactured today have a luminescent aiming point,
meaning that they can be used more efficiently at night, much like
comparing night sights to plain iron sights. For example, the E11s that are
issued to Imperial forces are fitted with a small, low-powered scope with a
ring reticle that measures 1.8m at 200m and equipped with fine, electronic
tubes that glow when activated. To further the utility, the tubes feed off
the powercell, providing the trooper with a silent way of telling when his
powerfcell is expended, even if he can't feel the pulser in the grip. Less
complex models of optical scope are popular with hunters, gun fighters and
target shooters. They can be mounted on nearly any weapon larger than a
hold-out, and provide a good addition to almost any weapon.
Externally similar to an optical scope, except that it has no
magnification. Instead, it has a small glowing bead in it, similar to a night
sight. While some question the utility of such a thing, those who have
worked with "red dot" sights know that they are faster to find than iron
sights, and they are meant to be used with both eyes open, meaning that
there is no loss of peripheral vision. It also means that the effects of
shooting a long arm with your weak hand and eye (or analogous organs) is
lessened. Many elite forces, including the Sector Rangers and Storm
Commandos make use of these sights on their blaster carbines. This is
because they bridge the accuracy of the iron and optical sight, but they are
fast as, and usually faster than, irons, especially in close quarters. They can
be mounted on anything from a sporting blaster on up, with models that
incorporate magnification also being available.
Working by "seeing" heat radiation, these can work in total
darkness, as long as there is thermal variation in the environment. It also
takes a certain amount of training to interpret the images provided by these
sights, as they only show heat. A blob of red in your sight's display might
be a squad of troopers, a pair of banthas or a landspeeder. Fairly bulky,
they are about the size of a macroscope, and can really only be mounted on
rifles and large carbines at the low end of the scale. Due to the difficulty is positively identifying your target, they are not in common use anywhere.
(skill: PERCEPTION: Thermal Interpretation (no specializations).
Improves normally. Used by those species that do not naturally see IR to
figure out what the thermal display they are looking at means. Not very
common.)
Using time proven passive, ambient light enhancing technology,
"night scopes" are popular with many. Not much larger than an optical
scope, the techniques that go into their manufacture are almost as old as
space travel itself. Providing a green or blue tinted view of the world, they
can only function were there is at least a little light. These capabilities are
often built into macroscopes, and are standard Imperial issue to E-Web
teams.
Using the same technology as marcobinoculars, macroscopes are an
excellent addition to shoulder fired arms. They are autofocusing, and
include ranging information in their reticle. Being simple and tough, they
have become popular with mercenaries and the Rebellion. However, they
are bulky, meaning that they can only be placed on weapons no smaller
than rifles and large carbines. To increase their versatility, they are often
fitted with passive light enhancement filters for night operations.
Designed for pistols and carbines, these smaller macroscopes have
become popular additions to larger weapons as well. These are usually
small enough to be holstered, and are common among smugglers and
mercenaries. As a general rule, they are built along the same lines as red
dot sights, and usually feature an "intensifier cutout" that deactivates the
enhancement part of the scope, causing the scope to function as a standard
red dot sight. These are especially popular with people on both sides of the
law, including the (in)famous Rebel, Han Solo, and the Corellian Security
Force Special Operations teams.
Consisting of a small imaging system, a miniaturized comlink and
visor, these are a useful gizmo for urban warfare. The imager is mounted
on the weapon, and shows you what the weapon "sees". This is in turn
scomp linked to a very weak (typically 1m range) comlink. The visor contains a
miniature receiver that converts the data from t he imager into a aiming
point on the visor. If the weapon should be looking at something that is
outside of your field of vision (ie: behind you, around a corner, etc), the
visor open a small "window", allowing you to see what the imager does.
The only problem with this is that it is quite disconcerting to look at and
process the data from two different sources. Those who are not used to
the visor have been know to reach for something that is actual behind them,
because they forget that the window is not what is in front of them. Due to
the size of the equipment, it may not be mounted on a weapon smaller than
a blaster pistol.
A small, packboard mounted fusion generator, these are about the
same size as those used in survival packs and carried by handybeings the
Galaxy over. What is noteworthy about these is they are reinforced for the
wear-and-tear of field ops, and they are fitted with power cables. These
cables terminate with interchangeable plugs that fit nearly any blaster on
the market, as well as a number of sensors, high-powered communications
rigs and personal shields. They are also used by miners, construction
workers and Holonet news teams. Models capable of accepting multiple
cables are available. Most commonly found attached to a repeating blaster,
riot gun or selective fire blaster, these are popular among commando teams
and bounty hunters. During press demonstrations, members of His
Majesty's Royal Guardsmen and Storm Commandos have been seen using
these in conjunction with light repeating blasters.
Many people have found that fitting a blaster pistol with a shoulder
stock makes it more accurate. However, most of them think that the
bonus is greater than it actually is. The best of the detachable shoulder
stocks double as holsters. The problem with those is that they are bulky
and inconvenient. Other models are skeletonised and fold into a small
package that can be carried in a belt case or on the off side of a shoulder
holster. This combination is sold to many a TIE pilot as a personally
purchased item, and is one of the few their commanders approve of. It
can only be used on sporting pistols and larger weapons.
This allows a heavy blaster pistol to have the same range of a blaster
pistol. It consists of a power converter, a focusing lens adapter, new
galven circuitry and modified gas flow regulator. Very expensive, very
hard to find and usually quite illegal. It should be noted that even though
it is possible to fire a heavy blaster fitted with a converter at the longer
range without a loss of throughput, there is a real and serious danger of the
weapon overloading, usually with explosive consequences.
A shot expander consists of several focus gems in a adjustable
housing that replaces the original focusing lens on a blaster. It causes the
blaster bolt to disperse, with a reduction in damage. They can be mounted
on any weapon ranging in size from a sporting blaster to a blaster rifle.
This is a highly illegal device that converts a simple stunner into a
lethal blaster. They are very, very expensive and very difficult to install.
They are common on heavily industrialized planets that regulate the sale
on possession of lethal weapons, especially n the Core Worlds and the
CSA. It is only used by those who wish to legally, and without hassle,
purchase a weapon, but can not, or will not, buy an intentionally lethal
weapon. When they are purchased, these items often look like a
collection of spare parts to a portable computer, a small droid or
cybernetic limb, and do not register as parts to a weapon under most
customs investigations. Weapons so modified still appear on scanners
to be stunners.
Return to the Armoury
Self Luminescent Sights
Laser Sights
A very low powered laser, these project a point of light onto your
target. Were the little dot is where your shot goes. Simple. They can also
be seen on your target, can get "lost" on full light and illuminate anything in
the air between you and the target, including windows, force fields, smoke
and rain. This last is one of the biggest complaints about laser sights, as
the beam points back at your location, which is often a bad thing. They do
lessen he effects of off-hand shooting and unsighted shooting on the other
hand, making them valuable tools in com booth-tight quarters. Available in
many sizes, right down to the nearly microscopic, and in many point colors,
they leech a minute amount of power from your powercell, and are usually
fitted with a squeeze switch, activating them when they are lifted. They are
very popular with the less experienced shooters, especially popular on
hold-out class weapons, and with hotshots who follow the "two-gun"
method. Problem is, the beam gets harder to spot over distance, meaning
that brighter sights must be used for further distances.
type: projected aiming point
Weapon Light
to hit, unless some form of illuminated sights are used.Optical Scope
type: optical scope
Aiming Point Sights
type: red dot sight
Thermal Imaging Sight
Light Enhancing Sight
Macroscope
type: weapon mounted macrosight
Miniature Macroscope
type: handgun mounted macrosight
Visor Sight
type: remote sight with visor display
Backpack Power Generator
type: near infinite powercell
Shoulder Stocks
Blaster Converter
type: blaster converter
Shot Expander
type: blaster bolt expander
"Kill Shot"
type: stunner converter