NA-LB1 Laser Bow to charge eclips?

[J_cobbers]

So the Spirit West's NA-LB1 Laser Bow (pg 203)is kind of silly as it is an MD weapon powered by characters with a mere minimum strength of 12.
It also has the ability to store enough power for one shot in it's internal battery, and can carry a back up 20 shot e-clip (fairly standard for a 2d6 MD laser weapon like the c-10 laser rifle) if the plunger and string breaks, which it supposedly does somewhere around 500 pulls of the plunger.
It seems to me that an Operator ought to be able to convert this "bow's" the charging function from simply storing one shot, to recharging empty e-clips instead. Sure maybe it'll need some capacitors and additional circuitry and rewiring etc, but it should be easy to do with the appropriate skills, which an Operators has.

The bow costs only 8000 credits, and is good for 500 shots. That works out to 25 e-clips with a 20 shot capacity i.e. standard capacity e-clips, worth of power. The average standard e-clip costs 1200-1500 credits to recharge, meaning at the low end, this thing would pay for itself and then some after 7 recharges! Even if it's not totally efficient (maybe it takes 25 pulls per clip instead of 20, a 25% loss of power, so you can only charge 20 clips before it burns out), it's still going to be way more cost effective, and very time effective. On long e-clips (30 shot capacity, you're looking at about 16 recharges if there's no drop in efficiency, or 13 if you're looking at say 38 pulls instead of 30 (roughly the same rate for my inefficient example with the 20 shot e-clip). That is still a minimum of 2000 credits of recharging cost per clip, so you pay for cost of the bow with just 4 clips, and the rest is a gain.

If your character using it has WP Archery even at level 1 that's still a ROF of at least 8 per minute, you can charge one standard e-clip in under 3 minutes, and a long e-clip between 4-6 depending on what rate of efficiency. Going full tilt at this rate you'll burn a bow out in just over an hour, faster with a higher ROF. As a money maker, a party with one of these systems could offer the service on their down time to make enough to pay for the replacement bows needed as soon as the first one burns out, or keep it for them selves as a very cost effective way to charge their weapons.

Thoughts?

[taalismn]

I've abused that little bit of munchkiny goodness with pump-action energy rifles(but only after it was pointed out to me by others who spotted the snapper).

[glitterboy2098]

click for a visual response

[eliakon]

After years of discussion and many zombie threads...
The consensus is "If your GM allows it go right ahead"
Some people feel that it is abusive twinkery where as others feel it is clever thinking that should be rewarded.

[taalismn]

After years of discussion and many zombie threads...
The consensus is "If your GM allows it go right ahead"
Some people feel that it is abusive twinkery where as others feel it is clever thinking that should be rewarded.

Hey, some of the best pleasures are guilty ones.
I abused the stats for MD plastique explosives to make a truly VICIOUS rendition of Brunswick RAW(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifleman%27s_Assault_Weapon). and the small size of mini-missiles to mount Coalition Missile Rifles on a revamped Ontos

[J_cobbers]

click for a visual response

LMAO, Rifts broke physics way before this; discussions on the RUE Glitterboy ammo capacity threads alone are proof of that!

Is this a total twink and munchkin idea? Absolutely, but hopefully a clever one.

[Killer Cyborg]

viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480

PCA-PMPP1 "String Theory" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
Utilizing the technology behind the Laser Bow, the techs at PCA have developed a perpetual motion device that is used to generate power. Each PMPP1 is a small, sealed box containing the power-generating plunger from a laser bow, connected instead to a MDC wire instead of the weaker string typically used in the weapon. This string is repeatedly pulled and released by a small robotic arm, with each pull of the string generating enough energy to power the robotic arm itself, with a hefty power surplus left over.
Since we know that each E-Clip has the same storage capacity as 1,000 standard car batteries (CB1 47), and we know that each pull of the string on a Laser Bow generates 1/20 the total energy of 1 E-Clip (RGMG 154), we know that each pull of the string generates the same amount of power as can be held by 50 standard car batteries.
With a single robotic arm able to pull a string 6 times per 15 seconds, this power plant can produce a net amount of energy equal to 1 standard E-Clip per approximately every 60 seconds, or equal to 60 standard E-Clips per hour.
Each "String Theory" PMPP comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 250,000

PCA-PMPP2 "Stroke-Off" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
A refinement of the PMPP1 power plant, the PMPP2 replaces the overly-elaborate robot arms with a simple two-stroke engine that repeatedly pushes the plunger, each push generating enough power to power the engine AND produce a significant surplus. At a slow-but-steady 1,600 Revolutions Per Minute, the PMPP2 can produce roughly 80,000 standard car batteries worth of energy per minute, which nets out as enough to charge to about 8 E-Clips.
Each PMPP-2 comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 20,000

[taalismn]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480]

THIS...is the thread that utterly corrupted me over to the munchkin side.

[Killer Cyborg]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480]

THIS...is the thread that utterly corrupted me over to the munchkin side.

Oh, sure... that's what did it.

[glitterboy2098]

click for a visual response

LMAO, Rifts broke physics way before this; discussions on the RUE Glitterboy ammo capacity threads alone are proof of that!

Is this a total twink and munchkin idea? Absolutely, but hopefully a clever one.

Most of their other breaks are not quite so flagrant though.

given the low power requirements of a motor (especially in rifts with its super electric systems), you could build a perpetual motion machine with massive output. electric powered lever arm hooked to the plunger. each plunge generates enough for an MD laser blast, which is hundreds of times what you need to run the electric motor.

which is actually a far worse violation of physics than the average magic spell. (that at least PPE expense proportional to the result)

[J_cobbers]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480]

THIS...is the thread that utterly corrupted me over to the munchkin side.

Oh, sure... that's what did it.

Great minds think alike hmm? Brilliant work on extrapolation on the laser bow, but with the PPM you need more than a better string to get past the 500 cycle burn out ratio because it's not just the string that breaks or wears out but the plunger too Do that my good man and you'll have solved the Rift's Megaverse energy needs.

[Killer Cyborg]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480]

THIS...is the thread that utterly corrupted me over to the munchkin side.

Oh, sure... that's what did it.

Great minds think alike hmm? Brilliant work on extrapolation on the laser bow, but with the PPM you need more than a better string to get past the 500 cycle burn out ratio because it's not just the string that breaks or wears out but the plunger too Do that my good man and you'll have solved the Rift's Megaverse energy needs.

Hm.
I thought it was just the string, and I don't have New West here to verify.

Regardless, have an alchemist enchant the "weapon" to be indestructible, and it shouldn't ever wear out.

[taalismn]

[

Great minds think alike hmm? Brilliant work on extrapolation on the laser bow, but with the PPM you need more than a better string to get past the 500 cycle burn out ratio because it's not just the string that breaks or wears out but the plunger too Do that my good man and you'll have solved the Rift's Megaverse energy needs.

Or..fumble the pull/strike roll, and you wind up snapping the bow HARD on your arm or face(slap-stun damage, lose 1 APM and initiative that round, and blow your Cool/Mighty Archer Reputation for looking like a yutz face-tangled in your own bow).

[Axelmania]

What can a Power Leech do with a Laser Bow?

[J_cobbers]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480]

THIS...is the thread that utterly corrupted me over to the munchkin side.

Oh, sure... that's what did it.

Great minds think alike hmm? Brilliant work on extrapolation on the laser bow, but with the PPM you need more than a better string to get past the 500 cycle burn out ratio because it's not just the string that breaks or wears out but the plunger too Do that my good man and you'll have solved the Rift's Megaverse energy needs.

Hm.
I thought it was just the string, and I don't have New West here to verify.

Regardless, have an alchemist enchant the "weapon" to be indestructible, and it shouldn't ever wear out.

Hehe, and problem solved!

[rem1093]

Reminds me of the crank laser musket from fallout4

[taalismn]

What can a Power Leech do with a Laser Bow?

Hmmm...O'd have to check the PLs' strength stats...damn, 2d6, but it's supernatural, so I imagine it easily meets the minimum PS of 12 needed to pull the bow string...
Yeah, this could end up looking ugly...the PL's getting more energy out than they're putting in...so it's going to be like (reference to self-administered pleasure) for them...

[Blue_Lion]

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2600480#p2600480

PCA-PMPP1 "String Theory" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
Utilizing the technology behind the Laser Bow, the techs at PCA have developed a perpetual motion device that is used to generate power. Each PMPP1 is a small, sealed box containing the power-generating plunger from a laser bow, connected instead to a MDC wire instead of the weaker string typically used in the weapon. This string is repeatedly pulled and released by a small robotic arm, with each pull of the string generating enough energy to power the robotic arm itself, with a hefty power surplus left over.
Since we know that each E-Clip has the same storage capacity as 1,000 standard car batteries (CB1 47), and we know that each pull of the string on a Laser Bow generates 1/20 the total energy of 1 E-Clip (RGMG 154), we know that each pull of the string generates the same amount of power as can be held by 50 standard car batteries.
With a single robotic arm able to pull a string 6 times per 15 seconds, this power plant can produce a net amount of energy equal to 1 standard E-Clip per approximately every 60 seconds, or equal to 60 standard E-Clips per hour.
Each "String Theory" PMPP comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 250,000

PCA-PMPP2 "Stroke-Off" Perpetual Motion Power Plant
A refinement of the PMPP1 power plant, the PMPP2 replaces the overly-elaborate robot arms with a simple two-stroke engine that repeatedly pushes the plunger, each push generating enough power to power the engine AND produce a significant surplus. At a slow-but-steady 1,600 Revolutions Per Minute, the PMPP2 can produce roughly 80,000 standard car batteries worth of energy per minute, which nets out as enough to charge to about 8 E-Clips.
Each PMPP-2 comes standard with 12 E-Clip recharging ports, connection cables and/or ports for replacing a robot or vehicle's conventional electric or nuclear power supply, 1 connection port for an energy weapon designed to attach to nuclear power supplies, 3 standard AC outlets, 3 standard DC outlets, and a built-in clock-radio!
Weight: 25 lbs
Cost: CR 20,000

If I recall right it was originally 1 gigawatt or 10,000 car batteries. (I all ways assume a amount of power like that without a time reference from a common person refers to 1 hour. At the time the writers most likely had no idea how much power was in a standard car battery in truth not all car batteries have the same amount of power or even size at best is we can use average for a time.) For some reason it has become popular to just focus on the car batteries and not the 1 gigawatt.

Honestly if it works comes down to if the GM will let it work. Many consider it a munchkin weapon to begin with.