Firearms and blades are a big part of Everwinter roleplay, and the whole system is built on one idea. A gun is worth far more worn than fired, and a blade far more worn than drawn. Carrying is a deterrent that raises the tension in a scene. Firing is loud, draws the Civil Authority and worse, and usually escalates a scene past the point anyone enjoys. The rules below exist to keep that balance. Read the in-world companion, Firearms in the Bastion, for the fiction; this page is the plain version.
The two kinds of gun
Every firearm in Everwinter is either deaf or leashed. This is a roleplay choice, not a stat, and it shapes how your character reads to others.
- Deaf. Mechanical, off the network. Cannot be traced, jammed, or hacked, and works in Wastes dead zones. No targeting assist. The choice of professionals and paranoids.
- Leashed. Smart-linked chrome with targeting overlays and neural triggers. Superior in fiction, but networked, so traceable, jammable, and legible to the Civil Authority and anyone with a hacking kit. The corporate and enforcer look.
Blades have no network to join. Every blade is deaf.
Earning armed status
You do not start armed. A dealer checks your standing on the Interlink before selling you so much as a round, because the world only arms people with a history, not fresh arrivals looking for trouble. You become eligible by playing, which means working jobs, joining scenes, and being a consistent presence in the world.
- Requirements. At least 5 chapters, 50% signal strength, and 50% pulse strength.
- How to earn them. Active roleplay, working around jobs, recovery and medical and detainment scenes, and steady time in-world.
- Checking. Your eligibility shows on the Story HUD. Once eligible, apply through a weapons dealer in the city or the Wastes.
- Proof. Your Character Card shows your armed status. Keep it attached.
What you can carry
Weapons sort into three access levels. The city enforces order; the Wastes demand survival; the rules bend accordingly.
Standard, no approval needed
Concealed carry in the city, open carry in the Wastes. The everyday deterrent, good for defense and for raising the stakes in a scene.
- Pistols and revolvers, deaf or leashed.
- Shotguns, the sawn-off and pump-action kind.
- Blades, from knives to katanas. Long blades have their own city rule, below.
Restricted, admin approval to carry in the city, free in the Wastes
Heavier hardware that reads as intent inside the walls. Allowed freely in the Wastes, where larger threats and longer ranges justify it. In the city these need approval, and carrying one without it means the Civil Authority treats you as a threat, not a permit-holder.
- Submachine guns and compact automatics.
- Assault rifles.
- Sniper rifles and long-range platforms.
- Support and squad weapons, reserved for fortified faction use.
Special ammunition and gear
- Armor-piercing rounds. Faction-approved arcs only. Never usable against ordinary characters or for one-sided advantage.
- Non-lethal and utility. Tasers, tear gas, launcher-based tools, approved for rescue operations and law enforcement under faction rules.
Forbidden
These break the setting or end scenes instead of building them. Not allowed, and in the fiction the city’s sensors read an explosion as a Wastes-tier emergency, answered with force, not a patrol.
- Explosives of any kind, including rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and shaped charges.
- Oversized or genre-breaking weapons, including miniguns, handheld cannons, fantasy greatswords, and glowing or energy blades. Anything outside grounded cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic realism.
- Unlisted weapons. If it is not here and has not been adapted for the setting, it needs approval first.
City carry versus Wastes carry
- In the city. Concealed only. Open carry is prohibited unless part of a sanctioned faction operation. Violations invite confiscation, detainment, or loss of armed status.
- In the Wastes. Open carry is expected and encouraged. Restricted weapons may be used freely for survival roleplay against the environment, creatures, and rival survivors.
Blades
A blade is the quiet option. No network to trace, no rounds to run out of, no sound when it clears the sheath. It works anywhere a gun does, the Wastes dead zones included.
- What counts. Knives, machetes, short swords, and katanas. A folding knife used as a tool is scenery. Once it is drawn to threaten or to cut, it is a weapon and these rules apply.
- In the city. A knife hides. A katana or a machete does not, so wearing one openly inside the walls is open carry, and the Civil Authority treats it as a threat.
- In the Wastes. A long blade across the back says what a slung rifle says.
- Not a blade. Edges built into the body, like arm blades, are chrome and follow the chrome rules.
Using a weapon in a scene
The mechanics of drawing, firing, and striking, the two-step rule and the per-emote limits, live in Combat Rules. The short version. Never enter a scene with a weapon already drawn unless everyone agrees out of character. Draw in one emote and fire or strike in a separate one. A gun gets two shots per emote, a blade one strike, and no flurries written into a single post. Never force an outcome on another player. A drawn weapon does not have to be used. Offer the other side a way out.
Keeping your armed status
- If the Civil Authority confiscates your weapon twice within 30 days, gun or blade, your armed status is temporarily suspended.
- Continued disregard for these rules can lead to permanent revocation.
Be discreet, be immersive, and treat every draw as a real moment. The privilege lasts as long as you use it the way the world intends.