New weapons illos

I've cobbled together 2 new weapons illos, showing the TNG Riot Gun Phaser and a Tetryon Pulse Rifle.

http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/game/s...ce/riotgun.jpg
http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/game/s...ce/tetryon.jpg

Very nice. I kind of wish they'd have gone with the "riot gun" concept for TNG instead of that boxy phaser rifle.

...And another:

http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/game/m...ultphaser2.jpg

I don't know, the initial urge to design something that didn't look like a 'gun' seems like a good ethos for Starfleet futurism.

I kind of wish that they had hand-held forcefield generators in the show; it feels like a very Trek-ian defensive technology innovation to me.

That's the thing about the riot phaser--it only vaguely looks like a gun. More of a "super-dustbuster" if you ask me.

As for personal shields, the LUG TNG Player's Guide actually introduces them as Rapid Response Team equipment (as a device attached to the forearm that produces a forcefield "shield" about a meter in diameter), but I can understand why we don't see them on screen. Transporters make it hard enough to find ways to get an Away Team into real trouble without them carrying around portable forcefields.

Another thing we didn't see was advanced uniforms or materials embedded within a uniform able to absorb or dissapate damage caused by energy weapons. Granted designing a uniform that will reduce the results of a weapon that can instaniously disintegrate a solid metal wall is difficult, but it is the future, and Kidneys can be grown with pills

The Riot gun is very similar to the trench gun which is essentially a shotgun or gernade launcher. Possibly Starfleet's riot gun was brought about due to the need of something similar to a BAR but with also the possibility of a non-lethal option, to be used in CQB situations.