It wouldn't be embroidering the truth to say these are only sew-sew weapons. You may groan now.
Needlers are a class of small arms mostly used for personal self-defense, especially on board starships and orbital habitats. Often seen as a sub-class of Burp Gun, these are usually light gauss pistols that fire small needle-like metal darts or flechettes at medium velocity, fast enough to shred flesh but not quite hard enough to risk damage to vital equipment or pierce a starship hull plate. Usually.
Most needler pistols have multiple barrels to fire bursts, which spread out to nearly guarantee a hit at short ranges, at the cost of reduced long-range accuracy. Some weapons, usually designed for covert work or assassinations, fire single darts with great accuracy. This type of needler is sometimes even seen in shoulder-fired rifle versions, for use in a sniper role.
Behind the Scenes[]
Image and concept from the old Star Frontiers game, a Dungeons and Dragons clone for sci-fi settings.