Tasers

The taser is an electrical shock device designed to incapacitate the victim. A transformer is used to provide a high voltage and low amperage from a small battery. For those of you not electronically minded, voltage causes the shock effects, stunning and paralysing. Amperage cause the real, lasting damage to the body (5 milliamps across the heart muscle will kill). In a taser, the voltage is stepped up and the amps stepped down. Anyone hit by the unit will get a sudden pain as the shock shorts out the nervous system, causing convulsions, paralysis and extreme pain.

Old or cheap tasers work purely by volume, pumping huge voltages through the victim and hoping it stops them. This causes superficial burns, shocks, and incapacitates, but with long term effects like aches, tingling, numbness or even permanent nerve damage. Its also quite possible for the shock to not incapacitate at all. They can be very random.
Modern high tech tasers use high voltages, but tuned to the same frequency as the human nervous system. This means than shock is more efficient at shorting out the nerves, causing more immediate effects but less long term damage.

Taser weapon types

Delivering the shock can be done in several interesting and fun ways.

Game notes

Touch weapons uses either Melee or Unarmed skills to hit with and have no range.
Wire and dart weapons have a range of 5m, but the dartgun system has a range of at least 10m, making the range bands Point Blank 0m-1m, Close 1m-2.5m, Medium 2.5m-5m.
Arc throwers have a basic and maximum range of 10m.
Capacitor bullets are one shot, discharging all their power as soon as they hit.
Taser nets are anti personnel nets with a single long taser discharge to incapacitate whoever they hold. The BODY test must be made every 3 rds in the net and the stat penalties last as long as you are entangled, on top of normal net rules.

Effects of the shock

Roll Body + 1D10, target based on the power of the shock (depends on the weapon).

If you fail, you're incapacitated for 1 minute per point you failed the roll by.
If you fumble, you also get a roll on the "long term effects" table.
If you pass, you can still act, but are at half REF and COOL for as long as the shock lasts (depends on the weapon).

Long term effects table

High tech tasers give +5 to the roll.
Multiple rolls in a short time subtract one from the roll per extra hit.
The effect normally comes and goes over the next few days (1D6 days) until the body sorts itself out.

1Permanent nerve damage / brain damageREF -1 (INT -1 if a head hit) permanently
2Temporary nerve damage / brain damageREF -1 (INT -1 if a head hit)
3Shakes-2 to REF or TECH based skills needing fine control
4Nausea-1 to all skill rolls. Fast movement calls for BODY 10 rolls or miss your next action
5Dizzyness-3 on all skill rolls involving movement
6 - 7Numbness in location-1 to REF / TECH / INT or MA using that location.
8 - 9Pins and needlesFor hours, returning for next few days.
10No effect 

Illegal "killing sticks"

These are tasers that have been "upped" to killing power and tuned to stop the heart, cause paralysis and death instead of incapacitation. They act as normal tasers, but they do damage equal to the amount you fail to save by, doubled on head or torso hits, and if a head or torso hit results in a fumbled BODY roll, you die (treat as a failed Death save) as your heart stops.
Any hit that results in damage / unconsciousness calls for a roll on the long term effects table.

Protection

Earthed armour (+50% cost) : protects vs shocks & vs tasers.

Taser weapons models

High tech tasers add +5 to BODY needed due to the fine-tuning. The various taser models can be found in their respective sections : melee weapons for all contact, throwing and cybernetic weapons; non-lethal weapons; and finally beam weapons.