Table: Excuses for Swordplay (Build Your Own Space Opera Table)

In a space opera, there are at least 12 possible reasons why swords and other hand-to-hand weapons have not been made obsolete by the ubiquitous ray gun. This is the first table of the Build Your Own Space Opera Table.

Excuses for Swordplay

Roll 1d12

1. Honor (and most disagreements) are traditionally settled with duels.
2. Ray guns must be recharged or reloaded after every shot.
3. Technology is too fragile and expensive to risk exposure to ray weaponry.
4. Military advancement is only possible through hand-to-hand combat.
5. All spaceships have ray-nullifying onboard humidifiers.
6. Most spaceships and spaceports have a courtesy ray gun deactivation switch.
7. Most cities and spaceports have "NO RAY GUNS ALLOWED" signs prominently displayed.
8. Firing a ray gun in proximity to most technologically advanced equipment causes an explosive chain reaction.
9. Ammunition is a very scarce resource.
10. Ray guns misfire fairly often.
11. Rays interfere with spaceship functions (such as piloting, life support, not exploding, etc.).
12. Ray guns are unstable and tend to explode inconveniently.