Shadowforce Archer: "The Presence"
The American's Pistols
The American’s Pistols are a unique pair of 18th century flintlock dueling pistols that were owned by Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy (who was known to his Russian countrymen as “The American” because of his voyage to North America.) Count Tolstoy was a gambler, drunkard, and avid duelist. It is believed that Count Tolstoy personally used these pistols in at least eleven duels and he let his friend, reknowned author and national hero Alexander Puskin, borrow the pistols in the fatal duel that tragically ended Puskin’s life.
This legacy of death and loss has caused the relatively modern weapons to develop a mystical signature in the fringe that rivals many relics. For this reason, the Archer Foundation’s “Nihil Division” sought out the weapons and “appropriated” them so that they could be converted using Teslian Phsyics into a pair of powerful fringe weapons.
The modified pistols are now covered in runes and enlayed with all manner of super-science components and vacuum tubes that run the length of each weapon, inside the barrels, and all over the breach mechanisms. The pistols no longer fire conventional amunition and can no longer perform their original function. Instead, they collect energy from the fringe and fire it as a focused blast of devistating mystical energy. The energy focus time for the weapon to recharge will be equivelant to the reload time of the pistols. The weapon is fired using the normal skills and rules for firearms.
The pistols do no damage to normal things and only harms mystical targets (spirits, mystics with thirst levels, individuals with fringe feats, and normal people who are acutally in the Fringe).
The beam passes through all solid objects so it ignores all armor and cover. The weapon deals the user’s current action die pool in damage. So an individual with a d8 action die type with two action dice available does 2d8 damage. The weapon also inflicts 1 point of additional damage for every individual who can be harmed by the weapon and every mystic relic within 100ft.
Example: Phil is a mystic with thirst levels who fires the weapon against a spirit. There is one relic, two spirits (including the target), and one individual with fringe feats inside 100 feet. Phil has two action dice and his die type is a D6. Each weapon does 2d6+5 damage to the spirit if it hits the target.
Carrying one or both of the weapons increases the monthly roll to check for the random appearance of the Fringe or spirits by +10% and the number of spirits encountered is doubled.
On a botch, the faulty heat sinks in the experimental weapon discharges an extreme blast of superheated air which causes damage to the wielder and anyone occupying the same square as the weapon. The blast deals 1d6 points of damage for every action point that the GC spends on the failure. Individuals can make a reflex check DC 15 for half and all armor, heat resistences, and DR is applied. The weapon takes no damage from this discharge.
Both weapons were discovered in the hands of the Nihil Agent commonly referred to as “The Pistoleer”. During an assault on a Shop bunker in the Arctic Circle, the Pistoleer was exposed to Fringe creatures and went mad. The pistols were picked up by the party.
The current status of “The Pistoleer” is unknown.