Editing FederalSpace:Technology (section)

==== Weapons ====

"Phasers" are multi-function lasers—with the tricorder scope, the laser can be tuned on the fly to the most effective wavelength for a particular atmosphere and target type. The power output is variable, too, from a harmless marker or dazzle beam, up to a high power burst. (Instant disintegration mode, as in the TV shows, seems unrealistic. Lasers blast and scorch.) In the default "stun" mode, it's an electrolaser. (A sad problem: electrolasers don't work in all environments. Sometimes, you ''can't'' just stun them!)

"Blasters" are particle beams. Right now, I'm tending toward banning these as portable weapons, but ships definitely have them. Indeed, a starship's "phaser banks" may be ''very'' multifunction weapons, capable of switching between different laser or particle modes as necessary. 

There are also microwavers and sonic nauseators, though no "sonic stunners" or the like. 

No plasma, force, or neural weapons. 

Also, people still use GUNS. You can't "stun", and you need to manufacture and bring ammo, but bullets can penetrate through walls, are hard to resist or thwart, and the weapons themselves are inexpensive and durable. Presumably, modern guns are electrothermal caseless or liquid-propellant weapons, but there are undoubtedly lots of old models floating around, with hobbyist replicators still churning out ammunitions… and some old classics will still be in use, like the venerable Colt .45 autoloading pistol. 

One compromise is the airgun—it's easy enough to make 'em almost as powerful as chemical firearms (some exist today), and the ammo supply train is simpler. I envision the Federal Starfleet making wide use of airguns when it needs to deploy special ammo types (darts, grenades, etc.). The Alliance and the Empire prefer firearms, both from tradition, and also because they consider the need for a full ammo train an acceptable exchange for the increase in punch. 

'''Pilgrim:''' Also, this may break the feel, but smart/guided/homing bullets may be possible under this. With the right payload, this can open up some ''neat'' less lethal options (stun bag expands just before impact, or tase the target into unconsciousness, darts with a drug, etc.)

'''Shadowjack:''' I do think that various stun munitions are a good idea—a way to handle those pesky aliens who happen to be immune to whatever setting your phasers are tuned to, or to more carefully control dosage… I suppose someone out there is using gyrojets, no?]
I don't know about gauss guns—I may do with them as with blasters, limit them to large vehicles. 

'''LordDraqo:''' Stun weapons are provided by various forms of sonic attack.  True there needs to be an atmosphere, however unless you are acting in vacuum, or an evacuated ship, this is not a problem.

Missiles and hand grenades, oh my. One trick I think would be fun: hand grenades that function as a LAW or similar weapon. You can throw them around a corner, and their rocket motor activates, and they guide themselves toward the target. 

I'm sure there are mininukes, and I'm sure people are hesitant to deploy them.

All sorts of fun munitions are possible with smart materials and biotech, though I'm not sure that knockout gas would be as useful as all that in a society where multiple similar-but-different biochemistries live together, and air masks are over-the-counter equipment for space travellers. 

Cops will still have riot batons, just in case—probably electrically-charged.

'''Myth:''' Any given species/planet can have a reasonable safe stun solution (sonics, strobe, taser, gas, etc.)  Once you start adding other genotypes in, though, I'd think you get a huge possibility of non-stun effects.  They might be immune, they're more likely to take extra damage, but it's not a reliable solution for multi-genotype crowds.