Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4957813-20140510034158/@comment-24891101-20140525191334

Pyrrhomaniac wrote: 1. You could just have the shotgun be built into the main body of the weapon itself (resulting in a bigger body and a heavier weapon, which is good for attacks that cause trauma/concussion) and have the blades retract beside the barrel.

2. The issue with that would mainly be the heat generated by a firearm so close to your hand and potential structural issues with having a moveable blade. (There is a reason for full-tang blades!) For the Dust-fire function, I'd think that's be do-able so long as the Dust propellant is separated from the round itself and only moves behind the round when it needs to be fired. However, this could cause range issues for the last one or two rounds. That's pretty much what I imagined, the barrels running the length of the "blade". Though on second thought, they could be switched out for rifles, giving a reason for them to be so long.

Tang issue is noted, and now I feel stupid for not thinking of it. I know better than that. Regardless, Gambol Shroud also lacks a tang. The best fix, while retaining the functionality, is probably several locking rods which retract during articulation, then ram home. Since the lower forte would have a tang, the blade isn't totally compromised. There'd be a release catch somewhere. They'd be stress concentrators, sure, but we can engineer around that. For heat generation, and keeping hands from burning, while the blade is alight, we'd use whatever method fire swords use ("And she's got a fire sword!").