Itching Powder Gun

ITCHING POWDER GUN

pic

Universe:

Beta

Type:

Kid-made silly weapon.

Ammo:

Itching powder-filled pellets, of some harmlessley-shattering substance.

Introduced:

~1993

Withdrawn:

~2000

Faction(s):

Blues / Yellows

General Info:

A possibly battery-operated, or else reciprocal spring-loaded, rapid-firing gun that shoots pellets full of itching powder. These showed up in a few Battles stories. They were treated something like "flamethrowers", though they shot "bullets". Anybody hit with loads of the pellets would be left writing on the ground, uncontrollably scratching. In one story, a boy was firing one which had been modified to burst the pellets as soon as they left the barrel, spraying a more distributed cloud of itching powder.

Origin / Inspiration:

God knows how it was supposed to work. Latter-day Battles is quite obviously inspired by Doom and Command and Conquer, so I gave the setting rapid-fire weapons.

As a mostly unrelated anecdote, I remember somebody getting in horrendous trouble at my school for using itching powder on somebody. It was even mentioned (thunderously) in assembly by the deputy head. I was furious - itching powder pranks are the sort of things done in The Beano! They're the innocent, harmless fun that's the right of every child. Later some kids got me with itching powder. It took a while to work, and one of them asked me "does your back itch?" before it took effect, so I knew exactly who did it. I was going to tell that terrifying deputy head about it, but decided to stick to my principles and keep quiet. Still, maybe I should have done something equally "Beanoish" for revenge, eh?

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ITCHING POWDER GUN
pic
Universe:	Beta
Type:	Kid-made silly weapon.
Ammo:	Itching powder-filled pellets, of some harmlessley-shattering substance.
Introduced:	~1993
Withdrawn:	~2000
Faction(s):	Blues / Yellows
General Info: A possibly battery-operated, or else reciprocal spring-loaded, rapid-firing gun that shoots pellets full of itching powder. These showed up in a few Battles stories. They were treated something like "flamethrowers", though they shot "bullets". Anybody hit with loads of the pellets would be left writing on the ground, uncontrollably scratching. In one story, a boy was firing one which had been modified to burst the pellets as soon as they left the barrel, spraying a more distributed cloud of itching powder.
Origin / Inspiration: God knows how it was supposed to work. Latter-day Battles is quite obviously inspired by Doom and Command and Conquer, so I gave the setting rapid-fire weapons. As a mostly unrelated anecdote, I remember somebody getting in horrendous trouble at my school for using itching powder on somebody. It was even mentioned (thunderously) in assembly by the deputy head. I was furious - itching powder pranks are the sort of things done in The Beano! They're the innocent, harmless fun that's the right of every child. Later some kids got me with itching powder. It took a while to work, and one of them asked me "does your back itch?" before it took effect, so I knew exactly who did it. I was going to tell that terrifying deputy head about it, but decided to stick to my principles and keep quiet. Still, maybe I should have done something equally "Beanoish" for revenge, eh?