Equipment Locker: Laser Sword

I was a little dissatisfied with the selection of melee weapons in GURPS Ultra-Tech. Vibroblades are cool but I wanted something a little lower-tech than a force sword that still had an 'energy sword' feel. There's also issues with the immense power of force swords, so you can't really just dial down the TL on them. This is where the laser sword comes in.

Let me get one thing straight – force swords are cool. I have no quarrel with them and they're designed pretty well. But they're a common target for early developments in settings. Above TL9-10 things tend to get weird, with the addition of matter transmission, nanofabrication, super-intelligent AI, mind transference, etc. changing the definition and place of humans drastically. TL10 is a great baseline for safe-tech settings. But what if you want TL10 safe-tech with cool energy swords? Force swords are very powerful, even for TL11^ weapons, and their inclusion into a setting should not be taken lightly.

Not only are they incredibly lethal, possibly unbalancing combat, but they can short-circuit adventures by allowing players to just cut through anything, given sufficient time. Uncrackable safe on the players' stolen ship? Given an hour and a few fresh C cells, the force sword can cut through it. Ancient alien precursor door that requires an equally-ancient key? Might take a bit longer if they're using advanced materials... but the force sword can eventually get through it. In contrast, the laser sword is something that can be safely introduced at TL10 without worrying about disrupting combat encounters or handing the players a skeleton key.

The laser sword is a weapon that uses a cutting laser as its edge, rather than a blade. The beam is continuous and constantly-on when the weapon is powered, glowing an aggressive red as it scatters through air and dust. A laser sword may be activated as it is being readied on a successful Fast-Draw roll. Otherwise, it takes a Ready manoeuvre to activate it. In either case, the laser activates instantly once the switch is pressed.

When attacking, the laser burns into the target, while the reinforced backing smashes into them, dealing crushing damage in addition to the laser's burning damage. The weapon can be held to the target, dealing damage once per turn. Since the laser is only along the blade’s edge, it cannot cut into a flat surface. The 'point' is simply an endcap for the laser that absorbs and recycles the energy, so stabbing deals crushing damage only. The laser is powered by a C cell inserted into the pommel, which powers the laser continuously for 15 minutes. If power runs out, the laser sword functions like a light club, dealing its normal crushing damage only.

The backing can be made telescopic, allowing it to collapse into the handle to reduce size for carrying at the belt, storing or concealing. Collapsible laser blades are +1 CF and decrease the penalty to Holdout from -4 to -2 while collapsed. A sharpened point can be added to the end, which changes the thrust damage to thr imp and adds $20 to the cost. This point can take normal melee weapon options, such as superfine.

If the laser emitter is removed or the endcap is knocked out of alignment, it doesn't function as a laser pistol. The laser is designed to remain focused and coherent only over a short range. It does normal damage up to a range of one yard (use Beam Weapons (Projector) to hit). Past one yard, the laser defocuses, doing nothing more than warming the target. This can be useful for boiling water or tricking a thermal sensor but deals no actual damage.

Use Broadsword to wield it since, unlike force swords, the blade itself has mass. However, familiarity penalties should be strictly enforced, since untrained use of a laser sword still runs the risk of hurting yourself. The statistics below represent a single-edged laser sword. A double-edged laser sword is +1 CF, an extra 1.4lbs and has a reduced operating duration of 450 seconds per C cell. There's no benefit unless techniques that specifically use the back of a sword are used.

TL	Weapon	Damage	Reach	Parry	Cost	Weight	ST	Notes
10^	Laser Sword linked or	sw+1 cr 2d(2) burn thr+1 cr	1 1 1	0 0 0	$200 – –	4.8 – –	11 11 11	[1] [2]

[1] Uses a C cell per 15 minutes use, which is included in the listed weight.
[2] This attack can be parried but anything that parries automatically takes damage.

Under the Hood
The laser sword is a combination gadget, combining a light club (GURPS Basic Set p. 271) with a laser torch (GURPS Ultra-Tech p. 80). The laser torch is expensive for double cost and two-thirds weight, excluding the 0.5lb power cell. The club is heavier so 80% of the laser torch's weight is used. The torch is more expensive so 80% of the club's cost is used. This turned out to be 4.8333...lbs and $204, which were rounded to 4.8lbs and $200. The ST requirement was recalculated using the new weight.