Flechette Guns

Weapons

Flechette weaponry: These weapons become available in the late 2030's, and common by the 2050's. They are either gas-driven (using extremely compressed air), or thrown by a small flywheel within the gun (which lasts longer, but imposes a +1 difficulty to aim at moving targets). Starting in the 2060's, man-portable electromagnetic railguns are available that use the same types of ammunition, but those are covered under a different section. Flechette weapons fire bursts of tiny, sharp, aerodynamic metallic slivers which tear through flesh, cloth, and other soft materials, while leaving bone and other harder substances largely intact. Humans hit with flechette fire tend to bleed profusely, and even Vampires take lethal damage from the tearing and slicing inflicted.

Standard fabric-based bullet-resistant armor (kevlar, silk, and re-enforced clothing) provides only one die of protection when hit with flechettes (just as even the best medieval armor provides only one die of protection versus bullets): Such armor is designed to redirect impacts over a wider area, but the sharp slivers cut the strands and penetrate with relative ease. Conversely, hard armor (modern ceramic plates, titanium or even ancient bronze breastplates) halve the damage done by flechettes before the soak: Most of the slivers flatten on the surface.

Advantages vs. bullets

• Flechettes are very small when compared to other ammunition, and despite the numbers of flechettes fired at a time, they pack much smaller: a typical flechette firearm can pack more than twice the number of shots in a magazine.
• Flechettes cause lethal damage to vampires.
• Silver flechettes are possible, and cause no modification (range, lower damage, etc.) to the weapon's ability.
• Even plastic flechettes are possible, though they reduce the effective range by 1/2.
• Flechettes penetrate most inconspicuous armor easily (1 die maximum for fabric armors, including chainmail).
• A plastic flechette pistol firing plastic, poison-laden darts is possible, offering a difficult-to-detect weapon of assassination.
• All Flechette weapons are easily modified to allow fully automatic fire (though most do not offer that option off the shelf).
• The lighter ammunition reduces the kick, making it easier for less strong individuals to use the weapons. In addition, the lighter kick reduces the penalty for burst (the standard mode) and automatic fire by 1 each. (Thus, a 3-round burst is difficulty 6, and full auto is difficulty 7, with the standard die and damage modifiers).

Disadvantages vs. bullets

• Flechettes are harder to make, and easily damaged. Individual flechettes can be damaged fairly easily, and are more difficult than bullet cartridges to load, making it harder for the hobbyist to create ammo cheaply. Flechette ammunition is typically sold in pre-loaded, disposable cartridges fitted to the weapon's specific brand and model.
• Flechettes are lighter than bullets, and thus have lesser range. Flechette weapons typically have 1/2 to 3/4 the range of comparable firearms, and true "sniper rifles" are not possible.
• To militaries, flechette-armed enemies are less dangerous, as flechettes are of dubious use against military and police using modern ceramic-reinforced combat armor (damage is halved when flechettes hit anything harder than, for instance, drywall).
• There are several means of providing the compressed air that propels most flechettes. Simple pre-compressed air is most common, but runs out more quickly. Several chemical reactions are tried by different manufacturers before the weapons go out of vogue, some of which are somewhat harmful to breathe. This variety reduces the appeal to hobbyists: Bullet cartridges have been standardized for more than a century.
• Victims are seldom killed instantly, as the heart and brain are both protected by bone: instead most of the damage is done to soft tissue, and victims die of exanguination (ironically, many governments promote flechettes as "more humane" because shooting victims can often be saved). Cleaning a flechette wound can be difficult, as the slivers easily fragment. To vampires, healing such wounds is similarly painful, as jagged fragments are forced through the flesh to clear wounds.

Flechette Firearms as of 2040:

Weapon	Difficulty / Damage (burst size)	Difficulty (Full Auto) # fired per round	Range	Standard Clip size	Rate of fire	Resources
Light Pistol	6 / 4 lethal 3 round burst	7 30	10 meters	30 rounds (10 shots)	4/round	2
Heavy Pistol	6 / 5 lethal 4 round burst	7 40	15 meters	60 rounds (15 shots)	5/round	3
SMG	6 / 6 lethal 4 round burst	7 50	17 meters	100 rounds (25 shots) Some versions offer 1000 round clips that run the entire length of the stock	9/round	4
Assault Rifle	6 lethal / 8 lethal 5 round burst	7 60	25 meters	200 rounds (40 shots) many varieties of extended clips are available	8/round	4