Are Stunners silent?

[Janitor_Prime]

Stunners: Stun weapons are non-lethal and do not
inflict normal damage. A target struck by a stun
weapon must make an Endurance check with a
negative DM equal to the damage (after armor is
subtracted). If this Endurance check is failed the
target is knocked unconscious for as many rounds as
the number of effect is failed. If the Endurance check
is successful, the character is unaffected by the
weapon and the stun damage is ignored

Are Stunners silent? Is there a sound emitted when the stunner is discharged?

 

[Spinward Flow]

If the stun effect is cause by electrical shock, such as a Taser (either by conducting points or wires for via ionizing laser through atmosphere) ... then I would say no, the stunner is not silent. There will be the sound of rapid electrical discharge pulses, which while quieter than a slug thrower, will not be silent. It would have a distinctive "electrical cracking" sound, and the loudness would vary depending on use case and context.

Alternatively, if the stun effect is caused by a tranquilizer drug, then such weapons can potentially be very quiet but still not completely silent.

One of the few weapons that I would expect to be (almost) completely silent (aside from the click of a trigger assembly) would be laser weaponry.

 

[kilemall]

I imagine this is written from an MgT2 perspective. However, any system I would tend to apply damage to DEX.

 

[Dragoner]

Are Stunners silent? Is there a sound emitted when the stunner is discharged?

An electrical sound, similar to a static discharge.

 

[whartung]

I would say no, but they aren't loud either. You might be able to hear them in an adjacent room, depending on how well insulated the walls are. But it certainly wouldn't carry like a gun shot does.

Mind, I'm making all that up.

 

[Condottiere]

Would this be by wireless transmission?

I would assume vibrating air.

 

[Janitor_Prime]

If the stun effect is cause by electrical shock, such as a Taser (either by conducting points or wires for via ionizing laser through atmosphere) ... then I would say no, the stunner is not silent. There will be the sound of rapid electrical discharge pulses, which while quieter than a slug thrower, will not be silent. It would have a distinctive "electrical cracking" sound, and the loudness would vary depending on use case and context.

Alternatively, if the stun effect is caused by a tranquilizer drug, then such weapons can potentially be very quiet but still not completely silent.

One of the few weapons that I would expect to be (almost) completely silent (aside from the click of a trigger assembly) would be laser weaponry.

A laser would have a loud snap or crack sound. The laser would heat and ionize the air it passes through, and the cold air rushing back into the void caused by the laser beam passing through would produce a loud snap like a thick dry branch breaking.

The stunner doesn't have a action mentioned only the effect. The hivemind posits that it is a snappy electrical discharge sound? That works, in a very busy or loud location it may not be indistinguishable from the background noise.

I have been around tasers and suppressed pistols a bit. The taser "bacon frying" static sound is below conversational level. A .22 lr pistol with standard ammo was like a loud snap, like a branch breaking, plus the metallic clink of the slide cycling. A suppressed .45 ACP with sub sonic cartridges sounded like a heavy rock dropped into thick mud. A "thump" sound, but the slide still cycled making a metallic double clink. Hard to say if they would be noticeable in loud busy environment like a shopping or a factory.

Players bounty hunter wants something that is silent and doesn't damage the goods. LOL

 

[Spinward Flow]

Players bounty hunter wants something that is silent and doesn't damage the goods. LOL

Have you considered a Welrod Mk II loaded with non-lethal (rubber?) ammunition?

Or for a more modern version, try a "veterinary weapon" (used for the euthenasia of livestock) ... the B&T VP9 ... which was rather obviously inspired by the Welrod. Once again, load with "less than lethal" ammo if you don't want to permanently damage your ... goods.

The advantage of such a weapon would be concealability, as demonstrated during the B&T VP9 video I've linked.
Any weapon that can be a "go to" for counter-terrorism will probably find "use cases" among bounty hunters.

However, if you really need an "electrical shock takedown" type weapon, you're probably better off with some sort of laser "hot" enough to ionize a path to target and then dump an electric shock through into the target. For a bounty hunter, that's probably some form of (modified) laser pistol ... possibly with a very limited magazine capacity (so no battery belt needed).

 

[mike wightman]

I wonder if a ball (or a rotating toroid to maintain structure) of plasma can carry a charge large enough to incapacitate, but with insufficient kinetic energy or thermal to cause more than superficial damage.

Didn't the B5 PPCs have a stun setting?

 

[Spinward Flow]

Didn't the B5 PPCs have a stun setting?

Not ... really ...

Star Trek phasers most DEFINITELY have a stun setting though.

 

[Condottiere]

Fast reacting gas.

Or tranquilizer.

 

[mike wightman]

Not ... really ...

Star Trek phasers most DEFINITELY have a stun setting though.

I am pretty sure they were used to stun in an episode or two in the powered down setting... but it has been a while.

An excuse to dig out the DVDs...

 

[McPerth]

Are Stunners silent? Is there a sound emitted when the stunner is discharged?

First of all, I guess we must define which kind of stun weapons are we talking about, as I see various possibilities, and I guess all of them are usable in Traveller (most of them already existing IRW):

• Stun grenades: they stun throught light and sound. Obviously, they cannot be silent
• Sonic stunners: they stun through sound waves, again not silent
• Electric stunners: already told about
• Concussion stun guns (rubber ball throwers and symilar): they use to use compressed gas as propulsor, and they are not silent
• Hypodermic bullets (tranquilizer guns): also use to use compressed gas, though they are more silent, as they need lesser muzzle speeds. They ned some time (usually minutes) to have effect, though...
• Neural guns (at least they appear in MT at TL16+): they act as a psionic assault, but it's not clear if they are silent or not (or maybe only audible by psionic characters?)
• Of course, most (if not all) melee weapons can be used to stun, and they are silent, but I guess he OP wasn't asking about them...

 

[whartung]

Sonic stunners: they stun through sound waves, again not silent

Eh, could be an ultrasonic stunner of some kind.

For me, for the electric style of stunner, its not necessarily the sound of the "stunning" force, but more the sound of energy discharge. Like the whine of flash capacitors and the "pop" of lasers firing when the circuits close.

Simply, the discharge event has a sound all its own.

 

[McPerth]

Eh, could be an ultrasonic stunner of some kind.

True. I wonder what effect would it have on Vargr...

 

[Condottiere]

Their senses are heightened.

Wouldn't be surprised if they wear goggles and ear muffs to tone that.