Lasers

Lasers are among the most versatile of beam weapons, with a wide range of offensive and defensive applications. Laser weapons can be broadly classified by the effect on their target:

Dazzle lasers cause temporary blindness.

Blinding lasers cause permanent damage to eyesight or optics.

High-energy lasers blind, and inflict physical burn damage.

Chemical lasers are obsolete at TL10 – it is assumed that all lasers are solid-state, using a solid crystalline material as the lasing medium. They require no hazardous chemicals and are compact, light, and easy to use. Another option is the free electron laser, usually found on vehicle systems – see pp. 117-118.

A laser dazzler is a low-energy laser that fires a wide beam of coherent light. Dazzlers temporarily blind eyes and optical sensors, and are designed for personal defense and riot control. They also have a more sinister use: if the beam blinds someone performing a dangerous activity such as operating a vehicle or climbing, the target could suffer an accident. If the accident is fatal, there will be no evidence of the assault… unless the victim had laser sensors and recorded the attack.

A laser dazzler delivers a Vision-based affliction attack against anyone struck. To be affected, the target must be looking at the laser. The victim gets a HT roll to resist, at the penalty noted on the weapon table; add +3 to HT if he is beyond 1/2D range. DR has no effect, but Protected Vision adds +5 to resist. A Nictitating Membrane adds +1 per level. Failure to resist inflicts Blindness (p. B125) for minutes equal to the margin of failure.

Laser dazzlers deliver cone attacks – see Area and Spreading Attacks (p. B413).

Dazzler Carbine (TL9): A long-range dazzler weapon, most often used for police or covert operations (disrupting crowds, blinding suspects, causing vehicle accidents).

Penlights, Flashlights, and Searchlights (TL9): Ultra-tech flashlights have a “laser dazzle” setting; see Flashlights (p. 74) for descriptions. The combat statistics are presented below.

Any high-energy laser may be designed with a dazzle mode. Switching to or from this mode takes a Ready maneuver. When in dazzle mode, the laser fires a low-power laser beam that is identical to the effect of a dazzle laser, except that it does not have a cone effect – it must strike the target’s face or eyes. A HT-5 roll is needed to resist the affliction. Dazzle mode uses up negligible power. The setting adds +10% to laser cost.

These weapons emit a medium-power laser beam that can cause permanent blindness, or fry optics, without burning flesh. The beam is wide enough that it need only be aimed at the target, not the eyes.

Dedicated blinding lasers are rare at TL9+, since more effective high-energy lasers are also available. However, military active sensors, targeting systems, and electronic warfare systems that utilize lasers often incorporate a “high-power optical countermeasures” mode that is designed to blind sensors, including eyes.

A blinding laser delivers a Vision-based affliction attack. Anyone hit who is looking toward the laser can be affected. The victim gets a HT-10 roll to resist (HT-7 past 1/2D range). Protected Vision adds +5 to resist; a Nictitating Membrane adds +1 per level.

Failure to resist inflicts crippling Blindness (p. B125).

• [1] Projects a cone with the specified width at maximum range.

Blinding Mode: A high-energy laser (below) may be designed with a Blinding Mode, enabling it to fire a medium-power laser beam. Modify the laser’s statistics as shown on the table below when using this mode. Changing to or from this mode requires a Ready maneuver. This mode adds +10% to cost.

Military Ladar: These are military sensor arrays that can focus laser energy into a beam powerful enough to function as a weapon. The weapon statistics of these arrays are given here; the sensor statistics are covered in the appropriate section.

• [1] Use the high-energy laser’s statistics for everything noted as var., with the exception that each shot in blinding mode counts as one-tenth of a normal shot (i.e., it has 10 times as many shots).
• [2] Multiply range shown by the sensor system’s detection range, e.g., a ladar with a 100-mile range has a blinding laser range of 10/30 miles.

The generic laser weapon is assumed to be a high-energy laser. It emits near-infrared or visible coherent light in a narrow, tightly-focused beam that can burn through armor or explode flesh into steam. The beam usually has a duration of only a few microseconds; lasers cycle multiple times per second.

Lasers inflict lower damage than equivalent-sized projectile weapons, particle beams, or plasma guns, but they’re far more accurate and completely recoilless.

High-energy lasers are available in different sub-types depending on the frequency of light used, including infrared, blue-green, and ultraviolet. All inflict tight-beam burning damage, but with various armor divisors and damage modifiers.

Laser eye injuries are especially dangerous. If an eye takes enough laser damage to cripple it, the result is always permanent crippling (giving the victim the One Eye disadvantage, or if he only has one eye, Blindness).

High-energy laser beams are silent and invisible, but in dusty air, there will be a slight glow from incinerated dust particles.

Rain, fog, smoke, snow, and similar weather or atmospheric conditions interfere with all high-energy lasers, adding extra DR to the target equal to the vision penalty (per yard). Thus, if a yard of smoke would be -10 to vision, then each yard gives DR 10; if every 100 yards of haze gives -1 to vision, then 1,000 yards provides DR 10.

A high-energy laser beam can pass through material transparent to its particular frequency of light, which includes most glass, plastic canopies, etc. Increase the laser’s armor divisor to (10) when it strikes glasses, visors, windows, etc. unless the material was specifically designed to be laser-resistant. Assume that modern transparent armor is laser-resistant.

Most mirrored surfaces are not effective against a high-energy laser: any laser powerful enough to inflict damage destroys the mirror, ruining its reflectivity. In cinematic games, however, a shield-sized mirror will provide its Defense Bonus vs. a visible-light laser.

Different beam colors will change the beam performance. Shorter wavelengths allow longer ranges, but attenuate more rapidly in air.

High-energy lasers inflict tight-beam burning damage with a (2) armor divisor.

The water attenuation range is that range at which water eats enough away at a lasers energy to halve its damage. Halve the damage again for each multiple of this range the beam reaches. If the water is murky then it acts just like rain, fog, smoke or snow using the rules found on pg. 114 of Ultra-Tech.

Wavelengths shorter than 1.5 microns (such as 1 μm, red, green, UV, etc.) are much more dangerous to unprotected eyes. Flash protection goggles will provide complete protection from accidental blinding from lasers (but not from direct hits to the eye). Anyone who is not wearing adequate eye protection and who can see the point of incidence (where the beam hits) of a non-eye-safe laser beam must roll vs. HT at a bonus equal to minus the Speed/Range penalty for the range to the point of incidence and a penalty equal to the damage on the Speed/Range table. If you are actually hit by the laser, the Speed/Range bonus is equal to your SM; if hit in the face, SM-5. Failure causes blindness for one minute for every point by which the roll failed. Failure by 5 or more causes lasting blindness. Treat this as a crippling injury, with effective injury for recovery purpose equal to the margin of failure (but no actual wound is taken). A hit to the eye which penetrates armor always causes permanent blindness.

A few early-era high-energy lasers are chemical lasers, as noted in their descriptions. They are continuous- beam weapons powered by highly reactive, energetic and corrosive chemicals – usually hydrogen-fluorine or oxygen-iodine. Chemical lasers are obsolete – all modern (TL9) lasers are solid-state, using a solid crystalline material as the lasing medium. They require no hazardous chemicals and are compact, light, and easy to use; another option is the free electron laser, usually found on vehicle systems.

Chemical lasers cost half as much as normal lasers, and weigh the same. They are highly dangerous; they are usually found in the hands of robots, troops in sealed suits, or used as boobytraps, as fumes from the exhaust inflict 1 HP of toxic damage per second to anyone within a yard of the weapon. Carrying a man-portable chem-laser poses similar risks to a flamethrower – if the chemical tank is damaged, the spill can injure the wielder.

IR lasers emit a coherent beam of near-infrared frequency light. They are the most common high-energy laser at TL9, and the only weapons-grade lasers available at TL8, as they are more efficient to generate than other frequencies and propagate well in both air and space.

Treat each yard of water as having a cover DR 40 that ignores any type of lasers armor divisor. This stacks with any additional cover DR granted by the water being murky.

Civilian laser weapons are required to be Eye-Safe. This lowers range to 2/3 of normal, but does not require flash protection goggles to use.

Treat each yard of water as having a cover DR 40 that ignores any type of lasers armor divisor. This stacks with any additional cover DR granted by the water being murky.

During TL8 and early TL9, blue-green lasers require more power to generate, but permit greater ranges, and can also propagate underwater. Blue-green lasers inflict the usual tight-beam burn damage with the (2) armor divisor. Double the Range, but halve the RoF; treat each shot as consuming two shots for purpose of power drain. Blue-green lasers can fire underwater. Blue-green lasers inflict half damage per 55 yards traveled underwater. It is possible to fire into or out of water (out to normal ranges) as long as the maximum range through the water is not exceeded.

During TL8 and early TL9, ultraviolet lasers require much more power to generate, but permit even greater ranges, and can also propagate underwater. Range is 3x normal, but Damage and RoF is halved; treat each shot as consuming three shots for purpose of power drain. UVA-B lasers are not intended for underwater use, and attenuate relatively quickly in atmosphere as well; they are primarily used in space combat.

Phased plasmonic nano-antenna arrays and similar developments being made practical allows for the maturation of laser technology, allowing for a laser to be made in any wavelength from 1.5 μm IR up to ultra-violet without affecting Damage or RoF. Exchanging the beam assembly from a weapon to switch to another wavelength is a favorable action (+1 to Armoury (Beam Weapons skill) that takes 10 minutes and requires replacement parts equal to 1/3 the cost of the weapon.

At TL9, lasers can be made multispectral. Although many combinations are possible, the one that seems most useful is a beam that mimics the solar spectrum. Treat this as a yellow beam as far as range. Its main benefit is that any target that has a Weakness, Vulnerability, Dread, or Phobia of sunlight will have that Disadvantage triggered by the laser. Lasers with this option may be very popular with monster hunters. Multispectral lasers can also project a targeting beam of a different color from the full power beam, which can make them useful even in settings without supernatural elements. The multispectral option increases the price of the laser by 10%. At TL 10+, the laser can switch between multispectral and single-color modes.

Some high-energy lasers fire a beam in the near-ultraviolet wavelength. An ultraviolet laser has superior range (in vacuum) compared to infrared or blue-green lasers, but its beam is rapidly absorbed by atmosphere. The beam is invisible, but it ionizes air molecules when fired in atmosphere of greater than trace density, producing a visible green glow along its path.

An ultraviolet laser has triple the usual Range, but due to its lower efficiency, its Damage is halved. Treat half-dice as a +2 modifier, e.g., 5d(2) becomes 2d+2(2). UV lasers are mainly used for space combat and on airless worlds. In atmosphere, the Range cannot exceed 500 yards divided by atmospheric pressure.

The standard high-energy laser is a beam laser. An alternative is the pulse laser, which fires a wider pulse of higher energy coherent light with an extremely short duration. A hit causes a surface explosion, concussion and blunt trauma – sometimes enough to knock a person down. Its range is superior to a beam laser, but it has less penetration. Pulse lasers aren’t listed on the weapon tables; rather, they’re available as an option that may be taken for all lasers except chemical and rainbow lasers. Change the damage from burning to crushing, add the explosive damage modifier, and reduce the armor divisor one step, e.g., (10) to (5) for grasers, (5) to (3) for X-ray lasers, or delete it entirely for ultraviolet, infrared, and visible-light lasers. Double the range. The other statistics remain the same.

It’s also possible to design a laser that can function as both a beam and a pulse weapon. A pulse-beam laser is +100% to cost; switching modes takes a Ready maneuver.

Free electron high-energy lasers can easily vary their wavelength. As a Ready action, a user can switch a free electron lasers to any wavelength from 1.5 μm infrared to violet. At TL11 and higher it can reach up to ultra-violet (UVA) frequencies.

A high-output pulse laser, rather then firing a coherent beam of photons at the target, fires its energy in a series of densely focused nano-second pulses. Due to how tightly the pulse is focused, the small pulse is able to strip some of the electrons off of the matter the pulse comes into contact with. This area then flashes into plasma blasting out a small crater; the next pulse arrives just as the plasma flash fades, and then hits the same area unimpeded and blasts a little deeper then the first pulse, and so on, effectively explosively drilling its way into the target.

Each flash of plasma sends shock waves that compress the material being hit, causing it to fracture and crack; more elastic material (such as meat) expands, forming a temporary cavity, just like what happens when a bullet smashes its way through an object. To this end, high-output pulse lasers do not cause tight beam burning damage but rather a category of piecing damage depending on the beams damage (more power the beam the bigger the wound channel it's going to blast out!) with the incendiary modifier.

• For 3d or less, damage is small piercing (Pi-).
• If over 3d through 6d+2, damage is piercing (Pi).
• If at least 7d-1 through 10d-1, damage is large piercing (PI+).
• If 10d or greater then damage is huge piercing (Pi++)

You can convert an existing laser to being a high-output pulse laser by multiplying is damage by 1.67, giving it the (3) AD, changing its damage type as shown above and then dividing its range by 36.

Area Defense Laser: This is built to engage lightly armored targets, such as spacecraft and ballistic missiles, at a range of a few hundred miles.

Point Defense Laser: This is a vehicle-mounted system. It is designed to destroy soft targets like missiles, aircraft, and personnel at a range of several miles, with minimal collateral damage.

Semi-Portable Laser: This continuous-beam chemical-powered weapon is the size of a heavy machine gun. Its chemical tank is separate, and has SM-2, DR 10, HP 12. If disabled, the chemical splash inflicts 2d corrosion damage over a 2-yard radius.

Laser Cannon: A large vehicle-mounted weapon. It is a standard spacecraft and air defense system.

Strike Laser: A smaller version of the laser cannon, often used by fighter aircraft, and as a defensive weapon for armored vehicles or spacecraft.

Gatling Laser: A rapid-fire laser weapon. Infantry use these on a tripod; they’re also often vehicle mounted or used as “small arms” by powered troopers.

Heavy Laser Pistol: A bulky but rapid-firing military-style laser sidearm, often used as an alternative to a machine pistol.

Holdout Laser: A favorite of spies and assassins, this is a tiny weapon disguised as an innocuous object, such as a wrist communicator or pen. Its mechanism uses nonmetallic ceramics and exotic composites, so with the power cell removed, an ordinary scanner cannot distinguish it from a civilian electronic device.

Laser Pistol: The basic laser sidearm. On some worlds, it may be as ubiquitous as six-guns in the Old West.

Laser Crystal: A tiny, one-shot device consisting of a 1/16“ focusing crystal and power cell, designed to be implanted in a fingertip or concealed in an object.

A two-handed weapon that is shorter than a rifle, resulting in a shorter sightline and focusing array, but more stable than an equivalent pistol, with a more compact frame with a lower bulk. Typical of PDWs, short carbines, and weapons designed for CQB.

Laser PDW: A two-handed laser weapon using the same generator as the heavy laser pistol (GURPS Ultra-Tech, p. 115) with a higher rate of fire, mounted in a compact carbine frame with an integrated stock, pistol grip and foregrip, like an FN P90.

A long, thin weapon of the size and shape of a staff, with the optics, accelerators, or other internal components distributed through the long haft. The lack of a stock or proper sights reduces accuracy, though advanced shooters can mitigate this by holding the staff over the shoulder like a rocket launcher to use the entire length of the weapon as a sightline.

Laser Staff: A long, two-yard staff with weighted heads on either end. One holds the emitter of a laser rifle and the other holds a power cell. The staff can also be wielded as a melee weapon, acting as a quarterstaff (GURPS Basic Set, p. 273) with +1 damage per die for swing attacks only. The staff is both Cheap (-1 Acc, -1 Malf., -0.5 CF) and Heavy (+50% weight, -0.25CF).

• [1] Malf. 16.

Assault Laser: This is an early-TL9 chemical-pumped laser. It is most often used for microgravity combat. If its chemical power pack is attacked, it has SM-4, DR 10, HP 7; if disabled, it inflicts 1d corrosion damage in a 1-yard radius.

Laser Sniper Rifle: A bulky but accurate chemical laser rifle, used as a battlefield sniping weapon. Its backpack chemical tank has the same vulnerability as the chemical laser carbine.

Dinosaur Laser: A big laser sniper rifle, capable of stopping a battlesuit or a dinosaur (hence its nickname). Also called a “heavy laser.” These are mostly military weapons, but are sometimes used as an “elephant gun” for big game.

Laser Carbine: A compact “assault” version of the laser rifle, favored by vehicle crews and special ops teams. Its low bulk makes up for its lack of range.

Laser Rifle: The standard infantry combat laser, capable of full automatic fire. In some areas, it is as ubiquitous as the flintlock rifle was in its day.

Survival Laser: A carbine version of the heavy laser pistol. Survival lasers are designed to be broken down into four pocket-sized components, which take one minute to assemble or disassemble. Although the survival laser is not very powerful, it is a good choice as a survival weapon due to its excellent accuracy (useful when shooting small game) and the modest drain it imposes on power cells. It is also a favorite weapon of assassins.

The Karpov Arms LBV-M47 (Lazernaya Bitva Vintovka Modela 47, or “Laser Combat Rifle, Model 47”) is a military-grade light laser carbine manufactured by the now-defunct Karpov Arms corporation. Karpov Arms went out of business at least forty years ago, yet newly-made LBV-M47s still show up in the hands of guerilla armies, criminals and mercenaries across the solar system, all either with the serial numbers filed off or with the stamp of some armory nobody's heard of.

Commonly described as “the Kalashnikov of lasers”, the anecdote goes that you could bury the LBV-M47 in fine dusty regolith on the Moon for a century and when you dig it back up, it'll still fire. You can keep your sandwich in the lasing cavity and as long as you take it out before firing (or don't mind a roasted sandwich), it'll still fire. The legends get more ridiculous from there: sliced in two, boiled on the surface of Venus, left in solar radiation, spat on by bioengineered acid beetles, orbital re-entry… it'll still fire. Every tall tale is backed up by someone claiming it's true, because they were there and they saw it.

The LBV-M47 has Malf. 18. If the roll indicates a malfunction, roll again. If the second roll is lower than 18, no malfunction occurs. If the weapon is overheating or firing hotshots, Malf. becomes 16 instead of 14. If the weapon is overheating while firing hotshots, Malf becomes 14 instead of 12.

This high reliability even while overheating or hotshotting makes it common to fire hotshots as standard, which increases damage to 6d(2) burn but halves the number of shots to 19. Another common modification is to jerry-rig a power cable into the power cell slot, connecting it to a thigh- or belt-mounted D cell, quintupling shots to 195 (changing weight to 5.1/Dp). This requires a successful Armoury (Small Arms) roll but gives a further -1 to Malf. unless the margin of success was 2 or more. With both options combined, the LBV-M47 can fire 97 shots per D cell at 6d(2) burn damage, making it a formidable weapon for its low price tag.

The given cost is the retail price of a new article bought legitimately from Karpov Arms. Given that all existing LBV-M47s are either old hand-me-downs or unlicensed copies, typical prices are between 40-60% of the listed price, or between $2,400 and $3,600.

The LBV-M47 was made using Eidetic Memory: Blaster and Laser Design in GURPS Pyramid #3/37 with 4.5 dice of damage and a small focal array. After it was made, the Cheap and Very Fine (Reliable) properties were added.

These weapons fire powerful nanosecond pulses of laser light. The light’s interaction with the atmosphere does most of the work of focusing the beam, so that laser needs only a small lens. A rainbow laser beam is polychromatic, appearing as a needle-thin line of blue-white light. A rainbow laser inflicts burning damage with a (3) armor divisor. It is effective in atmospheres with a density ranging from very thin through superdense. In vacuum or trace atmospheres, the laser defocuses. Its range is divided by 10, and its damage loses its armor divisor. Rainbow lasers have an underwater range of only two yards. Rainbow lasers come in similar varieties to visible light lasers.

These free-electron laser weapons use a particle accelerator to generate a beam of coherent, deep-penetrating Xrays. They inflict tight-beam burning damage with a (5) armor divisor and the surge damage modifier.

If an X-ray laser had the same diameter lens as an ordinary laser, its range would be thousands of times greater! But it’s difficult to build large X-ray lenses, so practical weapons have tiny focal arrays. The range is still great… in vacuum. X-rays are quickly absorbed by atmosphere; Range drops to 7/20 yards in a standard atmosphere. (For thinner or thicker atmospheres, divide this range by the relative air pressure.) X-ray lasers have no range underwater.

This minimal atmospheric range means X-ray lasers are best used as space combat weapons, or for boarding actions and close-range assassinations. To mitigate this, superscience X-ray lasers are often field-jacketed (p. 133). A field-jacketed X-ray laser is a terrifying weapon, with tremendous range and penetration in all environments.

These weapons are available in the same models as TL10 high-energy lasers (p. 114), but they appear one TL later.

* [1] Range cannot exceed 20 yards in a standard atmosphere unless field-jacketed (p. 133).

The gamma-ray laser is the ultimate high-energy laser. Its effect is similar to an X-ray laser, but with superior penetration and even greater range. A graser inflicts burning damage with a (10) armor divisor and the surge damage modifier.

Graser beams are rapidly absorbed by air, but have better propagation than an X-ray laser. The maximum range in air cannot exceed 70/200 yards in a standard atmosphere (for thinner or thicker atmospheres, divide this range by the relative air pressure). They have no range underwater.

As with X-ray lasers, superscience weapons can be field-jacketed (p. 133). Grasers replace X-ray and visible-light lasers for space combat, or in all roles if field-jacketed. Even if not field-jacketed, they may be useful as close-assault weapons.

These come in the same models as high-energy lasers, but two TLs later.

* [1] Range cannot exceed 200 yards in a standard atmosphere, unless field-jacketed (p. 133).