Underwater Combat

[JonA]

Has anyone worked out any rules for underwater combat?

I presume you work it in a similar fashion to zero-g combat.

But do you think phasers would still work underwater? I doubt they would because of light refraction (although I am basing this on light based weapons such as lasers). Phasers work differently so I wonder what your take is.

[Kronok]

Originally posted by JonA
I presume you work it in a similar fashion to zero-g combat.

For ease of play, that's what I would do.

[Ergi]

Phasers work under water, as seen in the Voyager episode about the holograms in the Hirogen training station, some holograms were firing from below the surface at the Hirogen hunters standing next to the lake. And even lasers should work under water, as long as it is clear enough. The only problem with lasers weapons is that a laser beam changes its direction every time it passes from one medium to another one with a different density. However that wouldn't really be a problem, since the light from the target would be deflected equally. So, a laser would be more accurate than a phaser beam, travelling in a straight line.

[qerlin]

You'd get a lot of energy bleed in the water, IMO: I'd half the stamina TN for resisting stun -- the electrical charge in the beam would lose some punch. On other settings, it's gonna get HOT in the water. Make them roll a stamina vs. it based on the damage rating (1/2 max damage, maybe?) Shooting into or out of water in air, etc would give your a +5TN due to refraction. Light does it, so do bullets and other particle forms.

[David Riggen]

Since a phaser beams are basically particle beams, the person that fires it might also get a electric shock from firing the beam in the water since water cinducts electricicity very well. And since Phaser beams can have alot of wattage in their beams, it might become a real factor. I'm not sure though if it would be a factor but it might be something to think about.

There is a great site out on the net called How Stuff Works that a friend turned me onto. The science section esspecially, since they tell you how alot about how basic scientific principals work without getting overly technical. I found an article on how Lasers work, and it might have info on Particle Beams too.

Here's the address: http://science.howstuffworks.com/laser.htm

They also have an article on how Atom Smashers work
heres the address: http://science.howstuffworks.com/atom-smasher.htm

I hope you find these article useful

[buck rogers]

I've think that you can ire phasers underwater. in the Star Trek: Starfleet survival guide there is a section on how you can use a phaser to sterilize water for drinking. it says something like put it on beam intensity 3, beam width 7 and place the emmiter crystal into the water 1 centimeter below the water line. A single 15 second discharge would bring 12 liters of water to the boiling point. Maybe this little tidbit will help out.