OK, here's the re-written writers notes turned into a more general section. I haven't got all the comments in and I wasn't sure how to get the tone right to include them. Any suggestions will be welcome.
I'll drop the whole thing on the Wiki in a few days to allow comments.
===== Weapons and the Wave =====
Of course, in Fenspace nothing is ever entirely simple. There are two main difficulties for the use of weaponry in the realm of the Wave. These are The Slapstick Effect and good old Space.\
==== Acme Corporation, for all your needs ====
The main impediment to the development of all those neat things like phasers, blasters, death-rays and the other cool Sci-Fi weapons is the property of Handwavium to tend to protect life.\
This has come to be called **The Slapstick Effect**, after several well known incidents where heavy mil-spec hardware like mini-guns and bombs were waved and used against people. The end result of these incidents was a lot of people looking like classic cartoon characters after an explosion (soot covered and blinking in surprise). The surroundings (and sometimes the victims' clothes) are usually not so lucky. Not one person has been confirmed as more than trivially injured from Handwaved weaponry. Attempts at various rayguns, death beams, antimatter bombs, and other staple Sci-Fi weapons have proven otherwise impossible via Wavetech.\
This has prompted some to declare the Effect as proof of a Higher Purpose and/or origin for Handwavium.\
Regardless, the Effect has been used by many to create 'Weapons of Mass Amusement'. Sometimes strange, often silly, but never harmful, these were the weapons of choice until Operation: Great Justice.\
One thing of note is the recent rumours of the Effect weakening. Whilst recent developments hint at this, there is no solid proof as of yet.\
==== It's cool to look at, but it doesn't really have any atmosphere ====
Handling guns in space is a bit of a tricky thing. The main problem is not the lack of oxygen, as all cased rounds contain an oxidiser in their cartridge for more efficient combustion. You can fire a gun underwater after all.\
\
No, the main problem is the lack of atmosphere.\
\
Guns from the Really Real World are designed to work in an environment where there is an atmosphere. That's were we live after all. This causes a few things:\
* The lack of pressure translates to not enough recoil to re-cock the weapon.
* There is no heat dissipation due to atmospheric gasses.
* There is no stable temperature for the gun, and as such metal fatigue will occur, as well as chipping as the metal becomes brittle in the cold.
\
Depending on you and what you use, a simple Handwavium treatment of the weapon's component parts (individually done, to get round the Slapstick Effect) could be all you need. This is particularly appropriate with semi-automatic weapons.\
On the other hand you might have to modify the gun to have a water cooling system. Or even make it its own spacesuit. For automatic weapons like assault rifles this might be a necessity.\
Lubrication can be handled by 'Dane ultra-low temp lubricants, or by a simple coating of Black Handwavium.\
This doesn't stop certain people from selling "Space-adapted Weaponry" to unsuspecting tourists and the ignorant.\
\
Another thing to consider is recoil. If you're not anchored to or braced against something, the act of firing a gun could spin you round and send you flying.\
\
The last thing that a gun-slinging Fen might want to keep in mind is the mess made by all those bullet cartridges flying everywhere. Not only are they a hazard to navigation (the Space Shuttle has had cracked windows due to paint flecks for instance), but metal is recyclable. If you don't use a brass catcher, someone else will probably sweep them up and make use of them. In general the Fen aren't rich enough to afford the loss of money from not recycling.\
I'll drop the whole thing on the Wiki in a few days to allow comments.
===== Weapons and the Wave =====
Of course, in Fenspace nothing is ever entirely simple. There are two main difficulties for the use of weaponry in the realm of the Wave. These are The Slapstick Effect and good old Space.\
==== Acme Corporation, for all your needs ====
The main impediment to the development of all those neat things like phasers, blasters, death-rays and the other cool Sci-Fi weapons is the property of Handwavium to tend to protect life.\
This has come to be called **The Slapstick Effect**, after several well known incidents where heavy mil-spec hardware like mini-guns and bombs were waved and used against people. The end result of these incidents was a lot of people looking like classic cartoon characters after an explosion (soot covered and blinking in surprise). The surroundings (and sometimes the victims' clothes) are usually not so lucky. Not one person has been confirmed as more than trivially injured from Handwaved weaponry. Attempts at various rayguns, death beams, antimatter bombs, and other staple Sci-Fi weapons have proven otherwise impossible via Wavetech.\
This has prompted some to declare the Effect as proof of a Higher Purpose and/or origin for Handwavium.\
Regardless, the Effect has been used by many to create 'Weapons of Mass Amusement'. Sometimes strange, often silly, but never harmful, these were the weapons of choice until Operation: Great Justice.\
One thing of note is the recent rumours of the Effect weakening. Whilst recent developments hint at this, there is no solid proof as of yet.\
==== It's cool to look at, but it doesn't really have any atmosphere ====
Handling guns in space is a bit of a tricky thing. The main problem is not the lack of oxygen, as all cased rounds contain an oxidiser in their cartridge for more efficient combustion. You can fire a gun underwater after all.\
\
No, the main problem is the lack of atmosphere.\
\
Guns from the Really Real World are designed to work in an environment where there is an atmosphere. That's were we live after all. This causes a few things:\
* The lack of pressure translates to not enough recoil to re-cock the weapon.
* There is no heat dissipation due to atmospheric gasses.
* There is no stable temperature for the gun, and as such metal fatigue will occur, as well as chipping as the metal becomes brittle in the cold.
\
Depending on you and what you use, a simple Handwavium treatment of the weapon's component parts (individually done, to get round the Slapstick Effect) could be all you need. This is particularly appropriate with semi-automatic weapons.\
On the other hand you might have to modify the gun to have a water cooling system. Or even make it its own spacesuit. For automatic weapons like assault rifles this might be a necessity.\
Lubrication can be handled by 'Dane ultra-low temp lubricants, or by a simple coating of Black Handwavium.\
This doesn't stop certain people from selling "Space-adapted Weaponry" to unsuspecting tourists and the ignorant.\
\
Another thing to consider is recoil. If you're not anchored to or braced against something, the act of firing a gun could spin you round and send you flying.\
\
The last thing that a gun-slinging Fen might want to keep in mind is the mess made by all those bullet cartridges flying everywhere. Not only are they a hazard to navigation (the Space Shuttle has had cracked windows due to paint flecks for instance), but metal is recyclable. If you don't use a brass catcher, someone else will probably sweep them up and make use of them. In general the Fen aren't rich enough to afford the loss of money from not recycling.\