On 20/05/2026 12:32, Jeffrey Schwartz - schwartz.jeffrey at gmail.com
(via tml list) wrote:
> The Sky Raiders trilogy back in the CT era had  an Ancients site where
> there are "Meson Rifles" that have exactly this effect: meson attack
> against the guy you shoot with them.
>
> The players even have the chance to capture and use them.
>
> Turns out that on close examination of them, the 'rifle' is just a target
> designator for the deep meson gun in the Ancient base.
>
> So...  It's been done in the game in the past.
> There are a couple questions:
> A) is a FASA adventure canon or not?
> B) Is the fine control something only the Ancients could do? What TL is it?

I think it's mostly a matter of the quality of the target solution. So
if the Evil Overlord is sitting in their special box at the Razorboard
Tournament, and decides to zap someone in the crowd, it should be doable
- the target is unmoving and their location very precisely known
(especially as there'd be real-time CCTV of them from multiple cameras,
plus GPS info from their own phone, etc.).

If the Evil Overlord decides to blow up one of their faithful underlings
during a safari, and the underlying (on their own personal grav-yacht)
gets winds of this and starts evading, maybe not so easily - the target
is moving erratically and their location not so well known (less
surveillance, and they've turned off their phone, etc.). I'm sure the
yacht would be hittable which might be 'good enough', depending on the
message the Evil Overlord wants to send.

--

Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>