Lasers

Weapons

Laser Guns

Lasers do aggravated heat damage to targets, as energy is transmitted into the target by a coherent beam of light (probably not visible light - see the science notes if you dare). In order to effectively transmit enough energy into the target to do damage, the beam must remain focused on a relatively small region for a small amount of time. The amount of time necessary depends on how much energy is poured into creating the beam in the first place.

Since Light travels as fast as light, it is impossible to see a laser coming. Dodging a laser is possible only with some kind of precognition, or good knowledge of when it will be fired and where it will go (a clear view of the shooter and his trigger-finger, for instance). Even then, dodging a laser is exceptionally difficult - a minimum difficulty of 8 is likely.

Lasers do not make the neat "pew pew" sounds we remember from Star Wars. Neither are they silent. Lasers strong enough to do damage make a cracking sound (less loud than a modern firearm but quite audible), and kick backward along the line the laser takes. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Military-grade laser weapons have a very high effective rate of fire. Civilian models (where they are available) produce energy less quickly, and are thus more limited.

Soaking most laser damage follows the same rules as soaking fire. Specifically tuned Microwave lasers can only be soaked with fortitude (and most humans cannot soak microwaves at all). However, most armor offers complete protection against microwave lasers for all that it covers, at no risk to the armor (Again, I dare you to read the notes on science!).

Timeline

2020's: vehicle-mounted laser weaponry becomes available: The power requirements are beyond what can be carried by a person. Most militaries fail to adopt them, because they do not pack as much destructive potential as similar projectile weaponry.

2050's: In the lead-up to WWIII, intense research creates the first effective laser weaponry. Rates of fire are low, and the weapons are comparatively heavy.

2057-2062: WWIII sees intense weapons research, including into ways to microwave entire enemy battalions (though the technology remains most useful against unarmored civilians, and is used for some of the greatest atrocities across Africa and the Balkans). Laser weaponry becomes comparable to other small arms.

2060's: Military surplus laser rifles are available for purchase by civilians.

2100's: Lasers, including pistol models, become commonly available to civilians. The technology largely stagnates, as it is lethal and cheap enough for most purposes. Militaries continue designing new and better models, mostly in an effort to get around the new and better anti-laser armor they are also developing.

A Few Notes on the Science

Lasers are probably the most poorly understood futuristic weapon out there. Let us simply say that the multi-colored bolts of light flashing from ship to ship in Star Wars are never going to be a reality. I could go into the science, but I don't think anyone wants to read a poorly edited physics text. That'd be one chapter on actual lasers, and the rest on various tangents that occur to me as I write it. However, there are a couple of important scientific points I feel are important if we introduce laser weaponry into the game. Also, a lot of this is over-simplification, but if you know what I'm talking about, don't bother to read this. -Jamie

Laser is a generic term for coherent mono-chromatic electromagnetic (e/m) radiation. A laser beam can be composed of anything from radio (very long wavelength), microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, to gamma (extremely short wavelength) radiation. The term stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."

To simplify the concept, I'll skip speaking of photons (particles of e/m energy)- an equally valid means of understanding light: light and other very small things are simply neither particles or waves, but something else, unique to the quantum scale of things, that have some properties of waves and some properties of particles. I will also skip the concept of wave frequency: Suffice to say that if the frequency is higher, the wavelength is shorter, and vice versa.

The most common misconception about e/m radiation is that the shortest wavelengths are universally the most dangerous. This is not true. The energy of a particular laser is a function of the brightness (amplitude - height of the waves) and the wavelength (how much energy a certain amplitude wave carries). An equal amount of energy can produce a large, high wavelength wave or a small wave with a lower wavelength.

Of more importance is what the wave is interacting with. When an e/m wave hits a surface (lets pretend that air is simply vacuum), it can do three things: penetrate, reflect, or be absorbed. For instance, glass is transparent (mostly) to visible light: the e/m waves simply pass through relatively unimpeded. A mirror reflects almost all visible light, while most solid objects reflect most light, while absorbing certain specific wavelengths (thus absorbing the energy contained by those waves). Why?

Molecules capture radiation that has the same wavelength as the bond-length between their atoms. For example, comercial microwave ovens heat food using this principle: They emit a specific frequency of microwave radiation that are the same length as the oxygen-hydrogen bond in water. The water in food captures the microwaves (and thus their energy, since e/m radiation is simply a form of energy). The water molecules begin vibrating faster, which we interpret as heat. Too much heat, and the temporary bonds between the water molecules begin to break (we call this boiling).

High and low wavelengths are both pretty useless as weapons. Radio penetrates because there is no bond long enough (Radio waves have wavelengths in meters). You have to build devices specifically designed to capture them. X-Rays and Gama rays penetrate because they are shorter than any atomic bonds. They are sometimes captured by the nucleii of atoms, causing pretty spectacular effects on the quantum scale. However, a vanishing percentage the energy put into either radio or x-ray lasers is transferred into the target.

Like food, living targets contain a great deal of water, making microwave lasers very dangerous to people. Similarly, steel, titanium and other metals are extremely vulnerable to specific wavelengths (generally longer wavelengths than what affects water). However, microwaves are easily reflected by other materials (and thus you may be in the room with a microwave oven without being horribly burned). If you know what material you are aiming at, you can guarantee nearly 100% absorption of the energy. However, a composite armor made of multiple materials will shrug off such damage easily.

It is possible to reflect visible light across the entire spectrum (see any mirror as an example). Thus, lasers that use this spectrum are unlikely - "Glitter-Boy" armor would be too easy to make.

Instead, weaponized lasers are likely to be in the infra-red range (often called "heat radiation") or the near-ultraviolet range (which would allow a certain amount of penetration). Since a specific wavelength can easily be blocked by an armorer who knows what is coming, they will probably vary their wavelengths, even within the same production run. This is not easy: Every color of laser requires an entirely different material to produce. The search for a good blue laser cost Sony ten years and hundreds of millions of dollars in research. The industrial uses of the laser have since recouped their investment many-fold (think of blue-ray players).