Power Weapons
“Power Weapons” (or “power guns” as they’re called in street slag) are classic firearms that use conventional cartridges of various types and calibers. Tried and trusty, they are characterized by their high rate of fire and significant recoil. They are very popular among civilians, law enforcement officers, and military personnel. The power category includes all kinds of firearms, from cheap and unreliable polymer one-shots and primitive but effective revolvers and shotguns to brand-new precisely engineered automatic pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, and machine guns.
Tech Weapons
“Tech weapons” (or “tech guns”) are firearms that incorporate rail gun technology, fire solid high-velocity projectiles that are propelled with an electromagnetic charge. Although they have a slower rate of fire than other firearms, they more than make up for it with their awesome range and penetrating power.
Tech weapons utilize caseless ammunition (generally a jacketed steel flechette), which is able to penetrate most personal armor, and even vehicle armor when subjected to a prolonged charge.
Smart Weapons
“Smart Weapons” (or “smart guns”) are weapons that employ gyojet technology to fire caseless guided ammunition. Not many people know that the technology was actually pioneered over a century ago in the 1960s in anticipation of orbital space battles, but was quickly abandoned due to its unreliability. We’ve come a long way since then, and smart guns now are true cutting-edge instruments of death-precise and efficient. Smart guns connect with their operators through cyberware implants-usually a smart grip- and they use a laser or sonic targeting system to scan their target and predict its movement. Once fired, the gyrojet projectiles can adjust their trajectory to anticipate the target’s movements.
"Borg" Weapons
“Borg” is the colloquial term for the subcategory that includes power and tech weapons that are designed to be wielded and used only by heavily augmented users. They usually require a special cyberlimb, full-body conversion, or Assisted Combat Personnel Armor. These weapons are especially popular among the heavily cybermodded mercenaries and member sof infamous police psychosquads.
Melee Weapons
You could say that melee weapons are obsolete in an age when a single pull of the trigger can unleash a hail of IS-guided rocket-propelled bullets, but ammo is a finite resource and weapons like knives or cudgels don’t run out or jam. Knives are also peerless when it comes to dispatching enemies stealthily.
Punks on the streets almost always cart a melee weapon of some sort-after all, even a cheap polymer one-shot has its price. These weapons-mainly steel pipes, wrenches, screwdrivers, or hammers-are a crude but effective way to kill. Still they are next to useless against a more prepared cyber-augmented or armored foe.
If you value style as well as substance, you’ll probably be interested in something more elegant-like a katana or monoknife in an exotic tanto style. Then you can upgrade it with some exotic attachments, like a neurotoxin coating, or an EMP discharger. The most expensive melee weapons are cyberware modifications that range from simple reinforced knuckles to sophisticated and deadly nanowire and mantis blades.
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