Poisoned High-Tech Weapons for GURPS

Crossbows, Poisoned Bullets and Tranquilizer Weapons
Contemporary Ways of using Poisons and Drugs with Ranged Weapons
Version 1.44

1. Introduction

Poisons are an old and sometimes very effective way to incapacitate or kill. There is a sidebar about poisoned weapons on page 132 in the GURPS Basic Set, dealing with fantasy-style weapon poisons. Also GURPS Espionage (pp. E62-64) and GUPRS Compendium II (pp. COII137-146) give some information on poisons and other chemicals. But you learn little from these descriptions about the possibilities of poisoning high-tech ranged weapons. That knowledge might be useful for GURPS Espionage, GURPS Special Ops, GURPS Illuminati or GURPS Cyberpunk, to name but a view. To fill that gap, read on.
     This article provides technical and GURPS rules information about weapon poisons but it will not deal with the moral or legal consequences of using them. These are possibly severe in most cases and will limit availability, access and usefulness of weapon poisoning to special applications. To buy or even make the poisons is often simple if the right knowledge and a professional license is present (like for a chemist, pharmacist or medical doctor). Use the Poisons skill or its defaults; a failure may raise suspicion or result in you mishandling the substance and damaging yourself. The modification or manufacture of weapons or ammunition for the use with poisons is in most cases the only way to get them. The only market for drug filled ammunition is with special drugged darts for animal handling purposes.
     The consequence for the GM is that she does not have to allow any access of the PCs to poisoned weapons or ammunition if she whishes so. For a twist, special agents or operatives might encounter these items in the hands of ruthless villains to their profound distaste. The simple knowledge of their existence in certain circles will give any otherwise unimportant minor injury a new importance and worrisome implications.

2. Crossbows

Modern manufacturing technology and materials have led to a high-tech successor of the old crossbows that is lighter, more powerful and reliable, easier to use and more accurate. The advantages over a firearm are the very low operating noise and the ability of the bolt or arrow to carry relatively large amounts of payload (like e.g. poison), compared to a bullet.
     The rules for crossbows on p. B114 cover TL3 medieval crossbows, and the crossbow on p. CII23 are also TL3. Modern TL7 composite crossbows are much improved. Most notable, it is possible to cock them without any "slow mechanical devices", even if the bow's ST exceeds yours by more than 4. Use the Crossbow skill.
     Crossbows are rated and named generically for the strength or their throwing arms. The two examples given below are a big high performance crossbow and a small pistol crossbow. Both use the compound technology (CII30), increasing effective throwing strength further by 2. Even without poisoned arrows these weapons are quite deadly.

TL 7 Crossbow Weapon Tables

Weapon Malf Type Damage SS Acc 1/2D Max Wt. RoF Shots ST Rcl Cost LC  Holdout
ST 18 Crossbow Crit. Imp. 3d+1 11 8 400 500 7 1/8 1 10 0 $300 5 No
Compound crossbow with laser sight, effective ST 20. Requires two hands to ready and fire and 8 turns to cock and ready. It may be equipped with a night-sight. Quiver with 6 arrows: 1 lb., $60.
 
Weapon Malf Type Damage SS Acc 1/2D Max Wt. RoF Shots ST Rcl Cost LC Holdout
ST 5 Crossbow Pistol Crit. Imp. 1d+2 10 4 140 175 1.5 1/5 1 6 0 $150 5 -4
Pistol compound crossbow, effective ST 7. Quiver with 6 arrows: 0.5 lb., $30.

Notes: The arrows of both crossbows are not interchangeable. Impaling attacks do never less than 1 hit of damage. Kevlar body armor protects only with DR2 against impaling attacks.

Poisoned Crossbow Arrows

The poisons used with crossbow arrows serve one primary purpose: To raise the chance of immediately incapacitating the target with the first hit. For other poisons, aimed at maximizing overall lethality, see under poisoned bullets.

Hydrogen Cyanide (AC): The arrow carries a capsule with a colorless highly volatile liquid that breaks on impact and releases a small cloud of hydrogen cyanide gas. The victim immediately takes 8d (ST19 crossbow: two doses; about 600mg) or 4d (ST5 crossbow: one dose; about 300mg) poison damage, in addition to any damage from the arrow. Depth of respiration increases within a few seconds. This stimulation is so powerful that casualties cannot voluntarily hold their breath. No resistance roll is possible (p. CII141). Violent convulsions occur after 20 to 30 seconds with cessation of respiration within one minute. Cardiac failure follows within a few minutes. If the target is not penetrated (e.g. because of body armor or a near miss) the capsule still breaks and the poison takes effect through inhalation. A protective mask (gas mask) helps. AC has a faint odor, somewhat like peach kernels or bitter almonds, and sometimes cannot be detected even in lethal concentrations. The poison looses its effectiveness rapidly. It is normally safe to approach the victim after several minutes. The poison arrows are stored in a shock-resistant container, 6 to a set: 2 lbs., $4,000 ($2,000 for ST5 crossbow).

Curare: The arrowhead is treated with Curare (p. CII140). A protective cover has to be removed before firing it. Roll for normal arrow damage plus a roll vs. HT-6 to resist the effect of the poison. If the victim makes this roll, he is at -5 DX for the next 15-HT minutes (minimum of 2). Failure means the victim is completely paralyzed and falls unconscious. The dosage is measured not to affect the lungs of an adult human (HT 10). Smaller or weaker victims have to make a second HT roll, without penalties, to remain breathing. Otherwise they suffocate (as per p. B91). For further details about First Aid in this case see p. CII140. The poison arrows are stored in a shock-resistant container, 6 to a set: 2 lbs., $2,000.

3. Poisoned Bullets

Some missions require the positive elimination of a target with just one hit. It was technically no problem to make bullets with cavities sufficient for containing poison at TL 5, but the experience to poison bullets effectively had not been accumulated. The use of poisoned bullets or darts was internationally banned in 1907. Since World War II (TL 6) the knowledge how to produce effective poisoned bullets exists. To be caught with one of them is not advisable. They are LC -1 (totally illegal) everywhere (p. CII188). That makes it difficult to buy them. But they are neither too expensive, nor too difficult to produce (use Biochemistry, Chemistry or Poisons skill, all at -2, for the filler and Armoury (Rifles and Handguns) skill for the bullet).

Technically poisoned bullets are a special type of expanding bullets (all rules for expanding bullets apply; see p. HT7). The poison is contained in a sealed cavity and released upon deformation or fragmentation of the bullet.  Three poisons that have been used are documented: Aconitin, Botulin, and Ricin.

Aconitine is made from blue aconite (a plant). It was used 1944 by Russian assassins (TL 6). For game purposes (only) the costs and effects of aconitin are the same as for botulin. The minimum caliber is 7mm.

Botulin is covered on page 139 of the GURPS Compendium II (botulism is caused by botulinum toxin, a.k.a. BTX or botulinal toxin). It was used in WWII by British SOE assassins (TL 6). Botulinum toxin is today commercially produced and is used in treating squinting and other muscular disorders. This makes it relatively easy to acquire the toxin. It takes effect after 1dx18 hours, causing 4d damage per dose. Victims may roll vs. HT for half damage. It is possible to vaccinate against botulism but once the victim has become poisoned there is no antidote (The antidote mentioned in CII is fictional. It may be possible at TL 8. However there is an antitoxin, that is only effective if given immediately after poisoning, lowering the amount of active toxin.). Symptoms include difficulty of speaking, dilated pupils, inability to swallow and flaccid paralysis. Death is possible due to respiratory and heart failure.
Lethality is so high that not only one dose (about one microgram = 1/1000 mg) but sixty (damage 6dx40) easily fit into a 7mm pistol bullet. It is only a question of cost (one dose costs $200). To apply a proper therapy for stabilizing the victim a skill roll against Poisons skill -2, Physician skill -5, or Diagnosis skill -9 must succeed. If successful the victim gets +2 on HT for all checks for dying. If the diagnose fails the very rare type of poisoning is mistaken for something else (like wound infection) and treated ineffectively (no HT bonus on dying rolls).

Ricin was used in 1978 by an Bulgarian assassin in the "umbrella murder" in London where a ricin-treated bullet was used to shoot a Bulgarian defector who died within a day. It is a toxin derived from the castor bean plant (a.k.a. castor oil plant or Palma Christi; scientific name Ricinus Communis; Spurge (Euphorbiaceae) Family), available worldwide, that is relatively easy to produce in large quantities. There have been several documented cases involving ricin throughout the U.S., particularly in rural areas. Ricin poisoning occurs through blockages of the body's synthesis of proteins. The development is slow (1dx6 hours) and includes decreased blood pressure. Death frequently occurs through heart failure (4d damage per dose). Lethality is so high that not only one dose (about 2 mg) but six (damage 6dx4) easily fit into a 7mm pistol bullet. One dose costs $100.

Note: All poison damage is in addition to the normal bullet damage for an expanding bullet.

4. Tranquilizer Weapons

The usual application of tranquilizer weapons is in animal handling but they are also employed against unruly prisoners sometimes. The most common filler for the drugged darts is tranquilizer, hence the name for the weapon class. But nothing limits the use of other drugs or poisons with these darts. Curare is one possible option.

Tranquilizer Darts

The drugged darts fired by these weapons won't penetrate armor that has greater than DR 2 vs. impaling damage. Slow flying darts are more easy to deflect than bullets. Give any target PD +2. A deflected dart may ricochet and hit anything within a range of 1/2D minus the distance it traveled to the target. Use the rules for hitting the wrong target, p. B117.

If the needle of the dart penetrates DR, the victim takes superficial damage from the dart and can make a HT-6 roll to resist the effects of the injected drug. If resisted, the drug makes drowsy and reduces ST, DX, and IQ each by -2 for (20-HT) minutes. If the roll is failed, the victim suffers 5d fatigue. If this brings him to 0 ST, he falls unconscious for one hour. He remains so for one additional hour for every point of ST below 0. A failure by 8 or more results in a coma - unconsciousness lasting 1d hours. After that, roll vs. HT. If the roll fails, the coma continues another 1d hours, and so on. A coma longer than 24 hours reduces all attributes and skills by -2 for a period of time equal to the duration of the coma.
     Any critical failure means death from shock within (20-HT) minutes if no antidote is given. Use Diagnosis skill to recognize a potentially lethal shock. The antidote changes a critical failure to an ordinary failure and wakes other victims within (20-HT) seconds. Standard practice is to apply the antidote immediately after the tranquilizer, using the seconds until the victim recovers to restrain him.
     The drug doses are calculated to subdue an average human of about 145 to 155 lbs. To match the dose to other targets requires a roll vs. Poisons, Physician, or Veterinary. Using unmatched doses is potentially dangerous: If the target is smaller, subtract -1 from effective HT per 15 lbs. under 150 lbs. from all rolls to resist the drug (a dose calculated for an adult can easily kill a baby). If the target is bigger, add +1 to effective HT per 15 lbs. over 150 lbs. to all rolls to resist the drug (a tiger is likely to get drowsy and seriously annoyed). More than one dart fired at the same target may do the trick but also carries the risk of an overdose.

Note that drugs used for humans and animals usually are not interchangeable. A tranquilizer drug for humans used on an animals may produce no effect at all and is usually not as effective as on humans; all HT rolls are at +2 instead of -6, success by more than 5 indicates no effect at all.
A tranquilizer drug for animals used on humans often produces catastrophic results. A tiny fraction of the normal dose of a commonly used drug that will usually restrain a cow is immediately lethal if used on humans. If the veterinary that loads the tranquilizer pistol just scratches himself accidentally with the drugged dart he may be dead before he could reach for the ready antidote injector in his pocket. 6d damage; damage is halved if a HT roll is made, it is quartered if the antidote is given within HT-6 seconds. If you do not believe this ask a veterinary.

Bioregulator Substance P

Bioregulators may be used instead of Tranquilizers. These types of substances are closely related to substances normally found in the body and may be algogenic (causing pain), anaesthetic, or influencing blood pressure. A characteristic of them is that they are active in extremely low doses and frequently have rapid effect. One example of this group of substances is Substance P, a polypeptide which is active in doses of less than one microgram. Substance P causes a rapid loss of blood pressure which may cause unconsciousness. Darts loaded with substance P function similar to tranquilizer darts except for the drug effect. If resisted the victim loses 6d fatigue. If the resistance roll fails fatigue loss is 6d×2.
Substance P has some disadvantages, however. It is not well tested and may cause other potentially lethal effects in rare cases (a critical miss on the resistance roll gives 6d hit points damage). It is expensive ($1,000 per dose). There is no antidote available. If the darts are broken the substance will take effect immediately if inhaled. And it is very rare because it is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

TL 7 Tranquilizer Weapon Tables

Weapon Malf Type Damage SS Acc 1/2D Max Wt. RoF Shots ST Rcl Cost LC  Holdout
Tranquilizer Rifle Crit. Spcl Spcl 12 11 20 50 6 ¼ 1 9 -1 2,000 4 -6
Caliber .450 MH. Use the Guns [Rifle] skill. 1/2D is only effective regarding accuracy since damage is based on the tranquilizer used. Each dart costs $100. A set of 6 darts is packed with a set with 6 antidote-darts and 6 antidote-injectors: 1 lb., $2,400 for the whole set.
Weapon Malf Type Damage SS Acc 1/2D Max Wt. RoF Shots ST Rcl Cost LC  Holdout
Tranquilizer Pistol Crit. Spcl Spcl 10 2 20 50 2 ¼ 1 8 -1 200 4 0
Caliber 10mm. Use the Guns [Pistol] skill. 1/2D is only effective regarding accuracy since damage is based on the tranquilizer used. Each dart costs $100. A set of 6 darts is packed in a set with 6 antidote-darts and 6 antidote-injectors: 1 lb., $2,400 for the whole set.
Weapon Type Damage Reach ST Wt. Cost LC  Holdout
Tranquilizer Injector Spcl Spcl C - 0.5 200 3 +4
This is a one-shot injector, about pen-sized. It can penetrate normal clothing but no DR. To handle the injector is easy, no roll required. If the victim actively resists, play it as a close combat, with DX+1 to hit. The tranquilizer-injectors are packed in a set with two similar antidote-injectors.
 




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