Few weapons do everything equally well, and many have various disadvantages. Each Defect assigned to a weapon provides one Weapon Bonus Point (WBP), which the player can use to either increase the weapon damage by 15 points, or acquire an additional Weapon Ability (page 39).
Exposed — The gunner must expose him or herself outside the mecha's Armour on the
round that the weapon fires (and stay exposed until his or her next action in the following round). An exposed character targeted for attack receives no protection from the mecha's Armour. An example of this Weapon Defect would be a machine gun mounted on a bracket atop a tank — the gunner must lean out of the hatch to use it. This Defect cannot be taken if the mecha has the Exposed Crew Defect, and is not normally usable with the Cybernetic Body Attribute or hand-held weapons.
Fixed — The weapon has a very limited arc of fire and must be aimed by turning the
mecha, rather than the weapon. For example, the weapon could be a set of fixed forward- firing guns on a fighter plane, or a ramming prow on a galactic ship. In many battles, a manoeuvring enemy who has a higher Initiative score can move to a position that cannot be targetted by the fixed weapon. A hand-held weapon may not be fixed.
Inaccurate — The weapon is not as accurate as usual. Clumsy melee weapons (such as
a ball-and-chain), guns with short barrels, or low velocity projectiles (including bombs) tend to be inaccurate. The weapon gives a +1 penalty to all Attack rolls. This ability can be taken two or three times for a +2 or +3 penalty.
Limited Shots — The weapon is only useable for a few combat rounds of fire, and then
means the weapon can make up to six attacks; if taken twice, up to three attacks; if taken three times, only one attack. If the weapon also has the Auto-Fire Weapon Ability (page 40), one "attack" means a single auto-fire burst (one attack roll).
Low Penetration — The
attack is easily deflected | by Armour such as those I from shotgun blasts, or hollow-point bullets. The Armour and Force Field Sub-Attributes (page 18 and 29) stop twice the usual damage.
Melee — The weapon is only
usable against adjacent opponents (weapon examples include swords, limpet mines, and animal jaws). This Defect cannot be combined with the Long Range Ability or Short Range Defect. Note: This Defect is sufficiently limiting that it is equivalent to two Defects, and has a value of 2 WBP.
No Damage — The attack does not deliver ordinary
physical damage. This Defect is usually only taken if the weapon has the Flare or Tangle Weapon Abilities (page 40 or 42). The damage value of the attack is then used only to rate the effectiveness of these special abilities — the greater the damage value, the more effective the attack.
Only In Water — The weapon (for example, a torpedo)
can only target objects that are on or under water.
Short Range — The weapon is only usable at thrown grenade,
pistol or shotgun-ranges (effectively up to 50 metres range). This Defect cannot be combined with the Long Range Ability
Slow — The gunner must use one combat action to aim, charge, or load the weapon before
each attack. A gunner with the Extra Attacks Attribute (see BESM, page 21) can use one of his or her extra attacks to prepare the weapon rather than wasting the entire round.
Static — The weapon cannot be fired while the mecha is moving under its own power.
This could result from the weapon being too bulky, requiring precise aim, or draining too much power. Alternatively, the mecha's fire control system may not be advanced enough to aim while the mecha is in motion. The mecha pilot may not even make Defense rolls on the round a Static weapon is fired; if he or she has already made a Defense roll, this weapon cannot fire until the following round.
Stoppable — The attack is quite massive, or slow enough to be shot down, and does not
reach the target until Initiative zero. Consequently the attack can be stopped in mid-flight. A cannon shell would probably not qualify, but a missile or plasma-ball might. Anyone with an unused combat attack action during the same round may make a ranged attack against the projectile. To stop the attack or shoot it down, a successful hit (or hits) must deliver at least one-third as much damage as the damage delivered by the Stoppable attack. The Melee and Stoppable Defects may not be assigned to the same weapon.
Toxic — The attack is a gas, toxin, radiation, biological weapon, sound, or other harmful
effect that only damages living species. Non-living material (such as most mecha) are immune to its effects, as is any person with appropriate protection (such as a gas mask, or inside a mecha or structure with life support). If this weapon is used against a mecha, the crew inside are unaffected unless the mecha has the Exposed Occupants or Mutual Damage Defects (pages 47 and 49).
Unique Weapon Defect — The weapon has some other unspecified limitation, subject to
GM approval. Examples could include a weapon that fires in a random direction, one that is extremely costly to operate, one that drains Heath Points from the user, and many more.
Unreliable — Any time a mecha pilot makes an attack and rolls an unmodified (or
"natural") 11 or 12, the weapon fails to fire and either jams, over heats, or otherwise malfunctions. The weapon will not work again until it is fully repaired. Repairing a mecha requires a skilled individual to make a successful Mind Stat check (one attempt each round); while the character is making repairs, he or she cannot carry out other activities.
Uses Energy — The weapon draws upon the personal energy of the gunner; each attack
drains 5 Energy Points per Level of the weapon. Weapons that utilise Energy Points are usually partially magical or psionic in nature.