Bit of Analysis: Rifts II

[Connor MacLeod]

Thanks, Connor. I suppose for now blasting basketball-sized holes in things will do, at least for the energy weapons.

It might be better just to make an all-in-one 'rifts' calc thread, because the stuff is kind of a hodgepodge to me. I always have this mix of admiration for their dedication to internal consistency and worldbuilding as well as being frustrated by their obsessive attention to detail, because it leads to all sorts of good and bad stuff.

Like the aformentioned 'recoil' thing. Mutants in Orbit says this about zero gee warfare:

Weapons made for use on space stations come in several varieties, but almost all have two important features. First, they have no recoil. In zero gravity, firing a conventional pistol would send the shooter spinning backwards at about seven feet (2m) per second until he slammed into something or a towline, umbilical cord, jet pack, or companion stopped him. Violently swinging a heavy club will send the attacker swinging in the opposite direction and/or spinning in circles (that's why smart people learn zero gravity combat). So most weapons are either very light, recoilless, or shoot light/energy, as in the case of lasers. Of course, conventional, recoil weapons work perfectly on space stations with artificial gravity.

Secondly, the damage a weapon does to people should, ideally, not damage the hull of the ship or station. Breaching the hull or a contained environment is a very fast way of ending a combat in a draw; everybody dies in an explosive decompression. As a result, weapons have been developed ot hurt people, but not equipment or inorganic structures.

Now the good thing is, they're paying attnetion to the idea of zero gee and the risks it entails (if you're detail oriented, at least) but that obsession with numbers (always give both metric and imperial) always leaves things open for derision or confusion. I'm lazy so I'll just quote Atomic Rockets here

If you wanted to use your handgun for propulsion, Trip the Space Parasite calculates that a .45 automatic will give 0.12 m/s of deltaV to a 50 kg person.

I don't know if that accounts for momentum or not, but IIRC as a rule propellant basically doubles the recoil imparted at most (at least in the nubmers I've ever run or seen it doesn't add much more than that, even for tank guns)

Basically even a fairly light, 100 pound person (a pipsqueak compared to my own massive 6'3, 300 lb frame) would still be only propelled back by about 12 cm/s (about 5 inches) per second, contrasting with the 7 ft/sec they imply (about 15-20x more powerful.) and someone bigger would mean en ven greater disparity (again myself) EVen a ludicrously powerful revolver like the S&W Model 500 would only give something under 40 kg*m/s recoil (assuming you could control it, which for the 50 kg person about .8 m/s velocity. Better, but still not quite close to that dreaded 2 m/s (nevermind the spin, which for the sake of my calcs I ignore.)

To put this another way, your 50 kg person to achieve 2 m/s recoil would have to be subjected to a recoil somewhere in the vicinity of 100 kg*m/s worth of recoil, which is something akin to an assault rifle/machine gun on full auto. This means you could argue things one of two ways: RIFTS pistols (even on SDC) are ludicrously powerful (although this can still present recoil problems), or they goofed on the math.

That said, recoil could be a useful way of actually calcing the guns, especially as certain things like the Glitter Boy's boom gun are recoil-heavy and many of the stats can be derived (useful baseline for establishing railgun performance.) How this translates into MDC is, however, still a bit murky like for energy weapons (And correlating between the two, I expect, will be even crazier.)

The hull puncturing one may or may not be good depending on your view. Given the narrow disparity between sidearms and capital ship weapons (compared to other universes like Star Wars, Trek, or 40K) this may not be as 'wrong' as it may seem, but again I suspect there's potential for numbers fuckup.

There was also your 'crate of frag grenades' analogy - technically MDC is meant to be equated as 'blow apart human torso, obliterate small animal, tear apart deer in two' - unless you take the vaporize shit literally (which you may or may not, that always provokes a new argument) we're talking roughly frag grenade level damage (or less, in the case of small bunnies, unless we go with literal vape, in which case it probalby is more than a frag grenade.) This bears out with that Narui K-HEX stuff (MDC damage from a grenade-yield) roughly. This may mean contact detonation or burying it inside the target (like a bolter) but again by the MCD logic any antipersonnel grenade should have the potential of harming MDC anything, unless there were more factors involved (which seems to be the case.)

The best 'definition' as of yet for MDC is that its basically synonymous with 'overkill', but interpreting how that overkill works is not neccesarily strictly defined. It can mean not just kililng but blowing the target apart, or overpenetrating the hell out of the target and everythign behind it, and/or with tremendous potential for collateral damage. And it could even be a combination of those and other factors, but it also apparently can include things like 'you lose a limb cuz its severed/blasted off or charred to a crisp', which is not nearly so devastating.

I know I still had a few other tidbits squirreled away when I looked this stuff with the assistance of gigabytelord, but I cant remember where (it had stuff about Coalition technology in general, esp their laser rifles.)

But anyhow, I'd say make a separate thread at least to start discussing it and maybe encouraging other people to offer their input/analysis into how the weaponry works. I'm sure I've not even scratched the surface of 'quantifiable' stuff (I remember there was one story/fluff blurb that was quantifiable but I can't find that either, and it was in the 'blow apart torso/put huge hole in it' vein.) but the more stuff you can collect the more information you'll have for figuring out how it all works.

[Ahriman238]

NSF-119 Rapier Fighter



Stealth in space is really hard, sometimes if you're lucky you can pull it off. If you hide in a radioactive belt, behind a planet or star, or if the other side has a novice sensor operator. Generally though, in the race between sensors and stealth, sensors easily win and true stealth in space is virtually impossible. Well, Naruni Enterprises prides itself on delivering impressive capabilities for a reasonable price, and impossible ones to those who have a lot of money. They've been developing the Rapier Stealth fighter for a few years, ever since they discovered a material that scatters most sensor beams. Corbin Decker began mass production 2 years ago, and has been funneling the fighters to the Deevils while telling his superiors it's still in development. Mind there is a price, the fighter has some teething problems that could be worked out if he were open and had more people on the project.

450 MDC with shields 400 MDC to a side. Two seater deal with a pilot and option gunner/navigator. With active stealth systems the fighter is undetectable at a thousand miles, 50-50 at 300 miles and can only be locked on by targeting computers at 2 miles or less. Sadly, no weapons in active stealth, one of those problems a larger team could likely fix. Mach 16 in space, Mach 7 in atmosphere. The majority aren't jump=capable but there is a phase-drive variant, the NSF-119J, that can do 5.2 LY/hour.

2 particle beams (they couldn't adapt the stealth tech and plasma guns) doing 20-120 MD each at a two-mile range. 2 lasers that do half the damage but can reach to 5 miles. It has a special belly launcher that can accommodate all sizes of missile. Either 2 of the serious antiship missiles, a dozen long-range missiles, 2 dozen mid-range, 4 dozen short range or 96 mini-missiles. The fighter also has three retractable pods that normally house mini-missile turrets, each with 24 missiles. For recon missions, the turrets can be easily swapped out for enhanced sensor packages, a popular configuration for the jump-capable Rapiers.


NSF-1003 Espandon Frigate



A Naruni frigate that famously sold out within a week of it's release. Very popular with smugglers, pirates and system defense forces, this is an unapologetic gunboat, a cannon and missile launcher strapped to some over-sized engines. Decker was able to get less than 8,000 of these into Deevil hands, but that;s nearly half as many as are out there.

Oh, and it combines with the cruiser to form the Naruni Megazord, so it's got that going for it too, I guess.

5500 MDC with shields 1200 MDC to a side. 90x130x295 feet, or 27x40x90 meters crew of 30 with room for 36 passengers or marines. Speed is considered Mach 10 generally, but is capable of bursts of speed up to Mach 13, Mach 15 if you're willing to push the safeties. It can do Mach 7 in atmosphere, and land. FTL is phase-drive, can be pushed to 5.5 LY/hour but the standard is 3.5. Main weapon is a laser doing 200-1200 MD with a 50 mile range. This is backed up with 3 antiship missiles with thousand mile ranges and each can launch 20 missiles at one. 2 long-range (but smaller than the big missiles) launchers with 80 missiles. There are 6 laser-based point defense turrets, each doing 30-180 MD.

[Ahriman238]

Umm, please disregard that last. Wrong RIFTS thread.

Just a bit I should have mentioned earlier regarding the Mega Damage debate. At various points a natural bolt of lightning is listed as 4-24 MD, 5-30 MD, and 6-36 MD. This doesn’t really contradict itself, not all lightning bolts are equal, but it does give us a range and we know something about where the range of lightning damage lies.

Likewise, there are SDC and MDC dynamite (and plastique but then there’s commercial and military versions of both, various weights and scaling and it gets complicated fast) where one stick of SDC dynamite does 5-30 SD with no mention of a blast radius. MDC dynamite does 2-8 MD with a 10 foot blast radius. Whether MDC is enhanced dynamite, or SDC is watered-down or if either of them have anything to do with dynamite as we know it besides being stick-shaped, I cannot say.


Oni



Oni of the One Hunrded are extremely varied. Tall and short, thin and fat or muscular, animalistic or alien, reptilian and feathered and a thousand other variations. Literally, there’s a generic template and you roll 10 dice to determine what features they have. Some, like the inclusion of wings, a fish-tail or a serpentine lower body, effect speed. Some grant minor abilities like extra arms or bludgeoning tails. Several effect MDC, like a hunchback adds 5 MDC but you get 25 MDC for flesh covered completely with boils and scabs.



Oni have 60-160 MDC, notwithstanding modifications and regenerate 2-12 MDC per hour. Supernatural strength and endurance, nightvision, impervious to disease and resistant (half damage) to fire and cold. Oni have a magic ability to invoke 8 spell-like effects a day, there are four classes of “spells” known, divided fairly equally among the Oni population.


First group knows Minor Curse, Luck Curse, Fear, Compulsion, Repel Animals, and Tongues.

Second is Animate & Control Dead, Sickness, Spoil, Befuddle, Blind and Tongues.

Third group can “cast” Fool’s Gold, Cloud of Smoke, Globe of Daylight, Ignite Fire, Fireball, and Tongues.

Fourth and finally, Summon Fog, Wind Rush, Fly as the Eagle, Breathe Without Air, Summon Storm and Tongues.


Oni hunt and fight in groups of 5-80 warriors. An Oni clan can boast 20-500 members, while a village will have 300-1200 Oni, a few dozen allied casters or supernatural beings, and several hundred human slaves.



Their leaders and elite warriors are known as Oni Masters, and they are usually 2-3 feet bigger than the more human-sized regular Oni, and far stronger. 130-280 MDC, regenerates 10-40 MDC per hour. All the same abilities as the normal Oni, but is also immune to possession. They also cast 8 spell-like abilities a day, but have a wider range and only two types of Master Oni.


The first can use Concealment, Detect Concealment, Chameleon, Mask of Deceit, Calling, Trance, Compulsion, Domination, Constrain Being, Banishment, Minor Curse, Luck Curse, Sickness, Fear, Agony, Blind, Mute, Cure Illness, Life Drain, Repel Animals, and Tongues.

The other half of Masters can use Sleep, Escape, Breathe Without Air, Thunderclap, Energy Disruption, Energy Bolt, Fireball, Call Lightning, Wind Rush, Summon & Control Rain, Summon Storm, Summon Fog, Fly as the Eagle, Time Slip, Lesser Teleport, and Tongues.

Masters are usually skilled at martial arts and in the use of weapons, particularly firearms which are rare among the common Oni.



Roughly one in fifty Oni are born with a third eye, these are Oni Mystics, more intelligent, aggressive and magically powerful than their peers. Mystic are almost always the leader of any group of Oni that has them. Sometimes they may defer to an especially strong and charismatic master, and sometimes they strike out on their own, so not every clan or village has one.

Mystics have all the strength and endurance of a faster, and are far smarter. 300-600 MDC, regenerates 10-40 MDC and hour and has all the natural abilities of a Master. Unlike a Master, they understand enough to actually cast spells and are limited only by their knowledge and PPE. Mystics know Armor of Ithan, Mystic Alarm, Apparition, Multiple Images, Mask of Deceit, Chameleon, Escape, Fool’s Gold, Fly like the Eagle, Befuddle, Energy Bolt, Fireball, Call Lightning, Negate Magic, Commune with Spirits, Mystic Portal, Metamorphosis: Insect, and Tongues. Learns one spell every level, no higher than level 10 from the standard list.

Of course, a Mystic is a psychic spellcaster. Oni Mystics’ powers are derived from their third eye, so putting it out will disarm them. Mind Bolt, Psi-Sword, Bio-manipulation, Resist Hunger, Resist Fatigue, Mind Block, Sense Magic, Detect Psionics, Sense Presence, See Aura, and Clairvoyance.



Kappa



Pretty much green sea monkeys. Kappa have 20-80 MDC, supernatural strength and some limited Ocean/Water magic, making them reasonably dangerous. They are fiercely territorial, sometimes eat people, but are also stubbornly honorable and sometimes good guys to know. Kappa must remain in contact with water at all times, or they grow terribly weak (first time I’ve seen a downgrade to SDC) losing all their strength and magic. For occasions when they must travel overland, they have a bowl-like depression in their head. Should it spill they’re in trouble, but because of that sense of honor they will remember anyone who helps them.



Goblins

Apparently exist in Japan as throughout the world, and in great number. RIFTS goblins are straight imports from the Palladium Fantasy World. They are somewhat faster and stronger than humans, but dumber and possess a whopping 10 SDC and 4-90 hp (so very dead) good hearing and nightvision. Goblins are a debased form of faerie, and one in twenty is a cobbler goblin that retains their ancient powers, this mostly means they can shapeshift at will into a small animal (generally rats, cats, toads, weasels, or birds) and can cast Tongues, Mend Wood, Wither Plants, Sense Magic, Charm and Darkness each twice a day. Pretty much it, they’re numerous and thuggish and easily impressed by power, natural minions. Physical might may cow them, but it’s magic they are deeply and truly awed by.



Goblin Spiders



Tsuchigomo to the locals, though they don’t really resemble those legends that much. Outside of being, you know, giant spiders. These ones are real sadists who enjoy killing lesser species, they enjoy bringing down powerful beings to, but rarely find it worth the extra effort and risk. On their homeworld, they conquered much land and killed millions, until an Atlantean stumbled upon them and raised an alarm, leading a whole army of Atlanteans to liberate the planet, kill most of the Goblin Spiders and banish the million or so survivors forever. This was a thousand years ago.

In the ensuing years the Goblin Spiders carefully studied the Atlanteans, following them across dimensions, killing them whenever possible, hoping to unravel the secrets of their power. They followed them all the way to Earth and decided they liked this place, particularly China and Japan. Goblin Spiders are great spies, assassins and saboteurs, and can often be found hiding under another face working with a ninja clan or a crime ring of some kind. They can easily shapeshift to look like a goblin, hobgoblin, or oni, they can get close enough to human, if they wear bulky clothes or ninja-style body stockings.

200-800 MDC, regenerates 10-40 MDC every five minutes, can regrow legs in 2 days. Nightvision and see invisible, can climb on walls and ceilings is very good at sneaking around, and can track by scent. Completely impervious to all poisons, drugs and disease. Goblin Spider venom does 3-18 MD (insta-kill squishy humans) and their blood is similarly poisonous. There webs are only slightly sticky, but very strong, one twine-thick strand can hold 2400 lbs./1080 kg. They are vulnerable to fire.
Major psychic with Death Trance, Object Read, Mind block, Empathy, Empathic Transmission, Telepathy, and Bio-Manipulation.

Ley Line Walker type caster, can learn standard or Temporal magic spells. Definitely knows Dimensional Portal, Close Rift, Mystic Portal, Shadow Meld, Eyes of Thoth, Tongues and Time Slip, plus 10 more spells.



Japanese Imp

A different sort of Imp, with 40-100 MDC, no flight almost none of a Dyvalian Imps’ powers. Just immune to disease, good nightvision and regen, and fire and cold resistant. In place of magic, knows 3 Mystic Arts of Invisibility. Meh.



Hannya



Hannya are semi-demonic hags who hide themselves in the illusion of a pretty woman to lure their victims alone, then murder them and feast on their flesh and PPE. Because they operate on fairy-tale rules, a Hannya must show its true face before striking. They are especially fond of young warriors and samurai, to whom they appear as a seductress, and monks and priests who see a woman in need.

110-160 MDC with regen 10-40 MDC an hour. Nightvision, see invisible, turn invisible, fly, impervious to magic, cold, poison, possession and disease. Plus the special disguise as a pretty young woman, which they could technically keep up indefinitely, but they rarely have the patience for anything complicated. Strictly limited magic, Mask of Deceit, Float in Air, Thunderclap, Escape and Tongues.

[Ahriman238]

Sorry all, I'm still converting pictures for all the (insane) mecha in this book. So instead, let me offer you a generic rant on the RIFTS stats system I've had building up for a while. I'm sure someone, somewhere has said all of this before.

So in RIFTS there are 8 attributes, Intelligence Quotient (INT) Physical Strength (STR) Physical Endurance (STA) Speed (SPD) Physical Prowess (DEX) Physical Beauty (CHA) Mental Affinity (also CHA) and Mental Endurance (WIS, sort of.) These are summarized as IQ, PS, PE, Spd, PP, PB, MA, and ME.

As a human (some racial classes differ) you roll 3d6 (3 six-sided dice) for each. An 'exceptional result' of 16 or higher means you get to roll a single bonus dice. So the maximum you can get just from rolling is a 24. Various things like cybernetic implants or alien symbiotes or superpowers can boost your stats to an ultimate cap of 50. There are also bonuses you get from having a stat higher than 17, except for speed which just gives you a shot to be even faster.

For the most part, I've ignored these except for strength and speed. Bluntly, the strength stat until 17 means you can lift ten times that many pounds, and actually carry around half that. 17 and up, you're assumed to be really strong, get bonus punching damage, and it's 20x the stat. With supernatural/robot strength it's 50x the stat, and you can now dish out Mega-Damage with your fists, which is as far as most of the game goes and why most mecha can only lift a ton or so. But wait! There's a friendly superpower called Extraordinary Strength which lets you lift 200x and, just to muddy the waters, a superpower called Supernatural Strength that adds 32-42 to your strength (unless your initial roll was abysmal, enough to hit the 50 cap or bring you damn close) and boosts you to 500x your new PS stat. For true strength-centered munchkinry, combine with the Gravity Manipulation power that lets you lift 100 times what your strength would normally allow and you can lift 1200+ tons!

I've done a lot of conversion calcs around this since I started. Luckily they're pretty easy. Now, speed...

The number 3-24 in speed is officially "the number of yards/meters character can cross in a melee round" which is 15 seconds. Now, yards and meters aren't the same thing, as you well know if you're here. Now, it's only a difference of 3.6 inches or 9 centimeters, but that difference can accumulate fast. Vehicles speeds or usually given in mph/kph or with a conversion in paranthesis, for human characters I usually have to figure it on my own. I eventually adopted a shorthand I got from Palladium Game's own forums, where I multiply the stat by 0.7 to convert to mph, and from there to kph, but on reflection I don't know if I've put enough time into understanding why that works, though I did test it against the book's conversions before loosing it on you guys. They also reverse-engineered the stat to show that Spd could also be represented in feet per second.

For the rest, eh. IQ times ten is supposed to give actual IQ points, so it's actually possible to play a character of IQ 30, or less for some inhuman races like Ogres. At 17 IQ, you get a one shot +3% bonus to apply to any one skill (skills use percentage dice) and for every point higher than 17 ad 1% to that.

ME mainly determines your resistance to psychic attack or insanity, as well as determining any contest of will you get yourself into. For every point past 16 you get a straight +1 to save from insanity or psionics. If you're a psychic, ME determines how much ISP you can have.

Unusually high PP leads to increased dodge, parry and strike (to hit) bonuses, but so do learning martial arts or boxing.

Physical Endurance is extremely important, it determines your hitpoints (probably your MDC if you get any) and PPE for casting magic, as well as how long you can exert yourself and your resistance to poison, magic, coma and straight death. The saves get boosted from 17 on, but more PE is always appreciated whatever your class or race.

The two charisma stats, I admit I've never gotten. Our attitude towards them when I played the game was pretty much "screw the stats, we'll go for straight rolls." It seems a high beauty nets you bonuses to "charm/impress" while higher Mental Affinity, a more personal and intangible force-of-character charisma gets you more "trust/intimidate" which are pretty much the only time I've seen those phrases anywhere.

[Connor MacLeod]

Some more of the hoardd rifts calcable stuff I've accumulated over various scattered documents and iterations of debates. Its not as weird as the use of ramjet and explosive bullets or caseless DU rounds to convert SDC arms to MDC as outlined in Rifts: Mercenaries.

Rifts ultimate edition main book
Page 69

The armor's main weapon, the equally famous 'Boom Gun', is a powerful rail gun that hurls 200 projectiles simultaneously at Mach Five speeds and inflicts more damage per blast than the cannon of some actual tanks. The massive, seven foot (2.1) weapon is attached to a swivel unit on the right shoulder and is stored, locked into place, behind the shoulder.

Page 71-72

Glitter boy power armor:
Running: 60 mph (96 km) maximum.

Leaping: The robot legs can leap up to 12 feet (3.6m) high or across. Add 10 feet (3m) with a running start. Jet thruster assited leaps can hurl the power armor 80 feet (24m) up or across. If necessary, the thrusters can momentarily hold the G10 aloft as high as 12 feet (3.6m) off the gorund, but only for 1d6x10 seconds. The thrusters are not made for flying.

Underwater capabilities: Swimming: The Thruster system provides good mobility and ocntrol underwtaer but at a sluggish speed of 15 mph (24 km or 13 knots); same speed on the surface of water.
..
To fire its Boom Gun underwater it must be able to engage its pylon system into the sea floor, rocky outcropping or other means of firm support.
..
Without suitable support, the force of the shock wave from teh gun will propel the Glitter Boy backwards in a spiral for 1d4x100 yards/meters...
..
Half this distance and 1d4 lost actions if sunken into the typcial soft underwater flooring. MAximum Ocean Depth: One mile (1.6 km)
..

Height: 10 feet, 5 inches (3.1m)
Width 4 feet, 4 inches (1.3M)
Length: 4 feet (1.2m)
Weight: 1.2 tons, fully loaded.

Page 72-73

RG-14 Rapid Acceleration Electromagnetic Rail Gun: The famous 'Boom Gun' is a unique Rail Gun that can accelerate its flechette style rounds to a speed of Mach 5 and actually creates a sonic boom when fired. The gun is the most powerful personal or vehicular weapon to survive the Great Catacylsm. The weapon is attached to the back and right hsoulder of the power armor (it may be reversed for those who are left-handed). When not in use, the gun is flipped back and stored in an upward position. When needed for combat, the Glitter Boy's operator simply reaches back, grasps the handle and pulls forward.

The blast is so powerful that without the automatic stabilization system, the Glitter Boy would be thrown to the ground and knocked back 30 feet (9.1 m) The automatic stabilization system is a syncrhonous system of jet thrusters in the back and retractable reinforcement pylons in the lower legs that hold the armor steady and in place. The pylons and the jets fly into action the moment the Boom Gun is fired.

Primary Purpose: Assault, anti-armor and anti-aircraft.

WEight: Rail Gun: 867 lbs. (390 kg)

Mega Damage: One Boom Gun flechette round holds 200 slugs that inflict a massive 3d6x10 M.D. to its target!

Effects of the Sonic Boom: The power armor suit is specially insulated form the shock waves of its own Boom Gun, however, everyone within 200 feet (61 m) will be temporarily deafened.
..
The sonic boom also affects the physical surroundings by shaking buildings and shattering SDC windows within a 300 foot radius (91m) of the boom.
...
Maximum Effective Range: 11,000 feet (about 2 miles/3.2 km)
...

Payload: 100 rounds (shots) auto-feed ammo canister.

It mentions in the accompanying picture that the drum holds 100 rounds of 20,000 slugs. Oddly for some reason, it also has a casing ejector, which I gather from the diagrams is to hold the submunitions shotgun style (it has a fall-away sheathe, indicating its a sabot). But why would it need a shell casing at all? The sabot should hold them together. Anyhow the casing is 7" across, whilst the slugs themselves are an inch long, which means ~4.8-5mm diameter. Assuming Depleted uranium or something similar I figure they'd be about 8-10 grams per slug. This is less than the 20-40 grams I get from other examples, but I'm assuming usually that the belts or similar are nothing but bullet (not including the magazine and internal feed mechanisms, belt linkages, etc.) 200 rounds at ~8-10 grams apiece would be ~ 1.5-2 kg per 'shot' of the boom gun. A single shot would, therefore, have between 2,550 and 3400 kg*m/s of momentum, and around 2-3 MJ of KE.



Page 87

Power armor may be thought of as a suit of armor like the knights of old, only this sout is made of Mega-Damage materials, powered by a fusion power supply and is the product of advanced technology.

Page 238

They are a community of families living off the land best they can, yet even here we see the disparity between tech-levels. Old Zeke down by the big oak tree (there are no streets) is the village doctor. He has an old electrical generator and lights in his study and medical office (a traveling Operator installed it), the rest of the house is lit by oil lanterns like the rest of the village. The doc is a master of Holistic Medicine, but also utilizes a laser scalpel and modern tools traded for at the big city down a piece. Meanwhile, Mr Kramer's pride and joy is his hover truck, Bobby hunts rabbit with his M-14 carbine, and just last week Lil' Kenny gunned down a bear-monster with his ion blaster (Thank goodness he had it with him.)
..
A hundred miles (160 km) away is a factory town that has been around for a while. It makes parts for Wilk's (or the Black Market) who sends hover trucksto transport goods once a week. It looks like a cross between something out of World War II and the Jetsons. There are automobiles and hover craft, horses and power armor, giant robots and bicycles, gunpowder weapons and energy weapons
...
There are thousands of tiny little villages, towns, outposts, farms and homesteads, dozens of fledgling cities. All are vulnerable to men and monsters of great power. The advent of the augmented human and high-tech soldier heralded the age of supermen. Thus, a handful of sorcerers, armor clad warriors with M.D. weapons or even a lone dragon or demon can enter a town and lcaim it as their own. Who is going to stop them? Not a bunch of farmers or workers with few Mega-Damage weapons and pitchforks. Especially not if there are a couple of full-conversion 'Borgs or power armor or a combat robot or two. These invaders are equipped with Mega-Damage energy weapons, and are roughly the equivalent of Twentieth Century tanks. Four or six (worse, if its more) walking tanks come into town and say, "I like it here. Think we'll stay." Who is going to say no? Sadly, this scenario is played out every week. That's why small towns come and go so quickly. That's why other towns hire mercenaries and adventurers.

Page 258

The rifle has three settings, one S.D.C. and two M.D.C. settings. The rifle can also be set to fire a single shot or a burst of three.
...
Mega Damage: Setting one 2d6 M.D. single shot, Setting Two (Burst): 6d6 M.D. and a Setting Three (S.D.C.): 6d6 S.D.C.
Rate of fire: Each laser blast or burst counts as one melee attack:
..
Payload: 20 M.D. Blasts from standard E-clip or 30 from a long E-Clip, plust another 30 can be added with one E-Clip canister, a new Coalition invention. Note that six S.D.C. shots equals one Mega-Damage blast.

Stats on C-12 heavy assualt laser rifle.




Page 258

Introduced in 102 P.A. it remains a popular 'anti-Glitter Boy' weapon, though mostly used by military specialists and other special forces. The CV-212 is designed to overcome laser resistant armor. A microchip in the weapon's computer will automatically analyze an opponent's armor (if not already preprogrammed into its memory) and after one melee round (half damage) will adjust to the light frequency that will inflict full damage.
..
Mega Damage: 26d M.D. or 4d6 M.D. or 6d6 S.D.C.
...
Payload 20 M.D. blasts from standard E-clip or 30 from a long E-clip, or E-clip Canister. Note: Six S.D.C. shots equal one, light, Mega-Damage blast.

Page 260-261

The armor is a lightweight ceramic, with metal accents, bonded on a molecular level, making it stronger than steel. Each suit of armor offers Mega-Damage protection and complete environmental systems, making it a self-contianed unit, like a spacesuit. Air filters, circulation and cooling, and independent oxygen supply (engages when needed) mean that toxic fumes, gas attacks, and smoke iwll not affect the soldier protected in the suit unless the armor is breached.

The CS Body armor is a variation of an old infantry armor developed by the United States military shortly before the Coming of the Rifts.
..
CA-1 Heavy Body ARmor (Old Style Armor): Weighs 18 pounds (8.1 kg) Worn by the infantry.
..
CA-2 Light Body Armor (Old Style ARmor): Weight 9 pounds (4 kg) worn by pilots and city police forces, as well as for espionage type operations.
...
Features common to all 'Dead Boy' Armor:
Complete enviromentla battle armor suitable for use in all hostile environments, including space.
Computer controlled life support system.
Internal cooling and temperature control.
Artificial air circulation systems, gas filtration, humidifier.
Computer-controlled, independent oxygen supply and purge system that automatically engages in low oxygen or contaminated air environments. Five hour oxygen supply.
Insulated, high temperature resistant shielding for up to 300 degrees centrigrade. Normal Fires do no damage. Nuclear, plasma, and magic fires do full damage.
Radiation shielded.
Polarized and light-sensitive/adjusting tinted visor.
Build-in loudspeaker: 80 decibels.
Directional, short-range radio built into the helmet. Range is 5 miles (8 km)
Helmet face plate is removable.
Wrist Mini-Comp: A multi-purpose miniature computer and display that will indicate system errors within the armor, damage levels, and oxygen supply, as well sa direction (compass), time and date.

Page 270-271

A rail gun is an electro-magnetic system mass driver that fires metal spikes, balls, or rings at such high velocity that projectiles inflict massive amounts of damage. The projectiles need no gunpowder or explosive charges to inflict Mega-Damage, thus they are inexpensive to make and popular throughout the land. The famous "Boom Gun" of the glitter Boys is a rail gun. The down side to the rail guns are their size, weight kick loudness and expensive and potentially dangerous power source. Few humans other than those with bionic augmentation can operate a rail gun as a handgun., Rail guns are commonly used with power armor where they are perhaps their most formidable, mounted on vehicles and giant robots, or as heavy, tripod mounted machine-guns.
...
NG-101 Rail Gun:
Weight: Gun 128 lbs (57.6 kg), Power Pack: 80 lbs (36 kg). One ammo-belt: 25 lbs (11 kg), case of six belts: 160 lbs (72 kg)
Mega Damage: A burst is 30 rounds and inflicts 6d6 M.D., one round does 1d4 M.D.
..
Effective range: 4000 feet (1219 m)
Payload: 300 or 1200 round belt.
...
NG-202 Rail Gun:
Weight: Gun: 198 lb (89 kg), Power pack: 100lb (45 kg), One ammo-belt: 35lbs (16 kg), Case of six belts: 210lbs (94.5 kg).
Mega-Damage: A burst is 40 rounds and inflicts 1d4x10 MD. One round does 1d4 MD.
..
Effective Range: 4000 feet (1219 m)
Payload: 300 or 1200 round belt.

Page 271
Northern Gun Samson Power armor:
Height: 11 feet: (3.3m)
Width: 5 feet (1.5m)
Length: 4 feet, 6 inches (1.4m)
Weight: 460 lbs (207 kg) without rail gun and drum, 1000 pounds (450 kg) fully loaded.
..

NG-202 Super Rail Gun: This is standard equipment for the Samson and is a powerful weapon; the unit is hooked directly into the armor's nuclear power supply.
..
Weight: Gun: 210 lbs (94.5 kg), One Super Ammo-Drum: 300lbs (135 kg)
Mega-Dmaage: A burst is 60 rounds and inflicts 1d6x10 M.D., one round does 1d6 M.d.
..
Effective Range: 4000 feet (1219m)
Payload: 6000 round drum, that's 100 bursts.[/quote]



Page 328

A familiarity with all types of projectile firing handguns, including revolvers and pistols. Revolvers are the classic cylinder-based 'six shooter'. Pistols are 'automatic' weapons which means the gun keeps firing while the tirgger is depressed and doesn't stop until the trigger is released or the ammunition is spent.
Damage: Light caliber guns: 2d6 to 3d6 SDC. Medium caliber guns: 3d6 to 4d6 SDC. Heavy/large caliber guns: 4d6 (.45 automatic) to 6d6 SDC (MAgnum revolvers). Double damage for a standard short burst (3 rounds/bullets fired), but only pistols (not revolvers) can fire in bursts.
Average range: 140 feet (42.7n)
Typical payload: Revolver: six bullets. Automatic Pistol: 8-16 rounds.

Page 328-329

A familiarity with the very accurate, single shot bolt action style of rifles used for hunting and sniping, and automatic and semi-automatic military assault rifles like the M-16 and AK-47:
Damage: Light caliber rifles: 5d6 per single round. Medium caliber rifles: 6d6 SDC per single bullet. Heavy/large caliber rifles: 7d6 to 1d6x10+3 SDC per single round. Double Damage for a standard short burst (three rounds/bullets fired.). Triple damage for a long burst (six rounds/bullets fired) but counts as two melee attacks. Note: Only Semi-automatic and automatic rifles can fire a three round burst. Only bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles can be used for sniping and firing a single bullet.

Average range: 1300 feet (396 m), plus 500 feet (152m; that's 1800 feet/548.6 m total) for precision bolt-action rifles.

Typical Payload: Bolt-action rifles, semi-automatic and light to heavy calibre rifles: 5-20 rounds loaded by hand or by one box magazine/ammo clip. automatic assault rifles: 20-50 round magazines, with some capable of taking a 100 round drum.

Page 329

A familiarty with the classic double-barrel shotgun and police and military versions of shotguns with ammo drums.
Damage: Buckshot: 2d6 SDC (half damage for rock salt) to a 10 foot (3m) radius, two SDC (stings like the dickens) for riot control rubber bullets. Light shot: 3d6 SDc. Meidum shot: 4d6 to 5d6, Heavy shot/large bolre 6d6 SDC. Note: In all examples listed above, damage is for a single round. Double the damag eif both barrels are fired simultaneously.
Average range: Sawed off: 60 feet (18.3m), hunting: 200 feet (61m) and police/military shotgun: 300 feet (91.5 M)
Typical payload: 2-6 in common shotugns, 20, 50, and 100 round ammo drums for police and military style (each single blast counts as one mele eattack: Can't fire two simultaneous blasts but has rapid-fire and larger payload.)

Page 329

A familiarty with small arms automatic weapons like the Uzi.
Damage: 4d6 SDC per single round, or 1d4x10 SDC per three round burst.
Average range: 500-600 feet (152 to 183 m; an Uzi is the latter range.)
Typical payload: Fires pistol rounds. a single bullet does 3d6+1 SDC, 6d6+3 for a three round burst, 1d6x10+4 for a long burst (six rounds/bullets fired) but counts as two melee attacks.

Page 329

Familiarity with military hardware, including grenade launchers, mortars, machine-guns, mini guns and SDC and equivalent light M.D. weapon turrets.

Damage: light or medium caliber Machine-gun: 5d6 SDC per single round or 1d6x10 per short burst (12 rounds/bullets fired; counts as one melee attack) or 2d6x10+20 SDC per long burst (36 rounds fired), but counts as three melee attacks.

Heavy Caliber Machine-guns and mini-guns: 7d6 SDC per single bullet, or 1d8x10 SDC per short burst (10 rounds/bullets fired; counts as one melee attack) or 2d8x10+20 SDC per long burst (30 rounds fired) but counts as three melee attacks. Note: Can only fire bursts and is so large, bulky and heavy that it must be mounted on a tripod, vehicle, or supported on a stone or other strong support to use.
Grenade Launcher Rilfe: 1d6x10 SDC per grenade to everything in a 10 foot (3m) radius. Can only fire one at time..
..
Portable Mortar/Rocket Launcher: 2d4x10 S.D.C. per explosive round to everything in a 15 foot (4.6m) radius, but each shot counts as two melee attacks.

Average range: Light Machine-Guns: 3000 feet (914m) and HEavy Machine Guns: 5000 feet (1524 m). Grenade Launcher: 1200 feet (366 m), only 800 (244 m) when part of an over and under assault rifle. Mortar or Rocket Launcher: 4000 feet (1219m).
Typical Payload: Machine-Guns: 100 short bursts (3000-3600 round belts). Grenade Launcher rifles: 2 hand loaded or 24 grenade drum or six-shot, pump action on a rifle. Mortar: One hand-loaded round at a time.

Page 329

Familitary wifh different types of flame-casting weapons used by the military and mercenaries.
Damage: 5d6 SDC per burst of flame (counts as one melee attack) with a 01-75% likelihood of anythign flammable catching fire.
Average range: 60 feet (18.3m)
Typical payload: 20 blasts per single canister of fuel, 40 per double canisters.

Page 356

This is also why the fabled Glitter Boys became so feared and respected. They were one of the most powerful MDC armors on the planet and armed iwth one of the most powerful MD weapons. One glitter Boy could challenge and destroy a less well armored tyrant or band of lightly equipped MDC brigands. A pair, trio or small squad of 4-8 Glitter Boys could take on a dragon, Demon Lord or terrible monster and have a good chance of coming out the winners.

Page 357

However, to the average person, Mega-Damage items are rare and valuable. The typical SDC town will be 90-98% SDC in its construction. Members of its militia, lawmen, and/or some of its citizens may be the only ones who have one or two MD energy weapons and MDC armor each, plus one or two MDC combat vheicles or a giant robot to defend the two, if that. Many communities hire mercs on an as-needed basis, or invite a band of mercenaries and adventurers with Mega-Damage capabilities to retire in their home towna nd serve as the communities' champions and defenders.

Page 361

Some modern lasers and othe renergy weapons fire 3-4 instantaneous energy pulses at the same target. This happens so fast it is not even considered to be a burst, but a single, heavy blast.

PAge 361

One may attempt a shot that is as much as 30% farhter than the maximum effective range of any given weapon, but the shooter suffers a penalty..

Accuracy in other words. Preusmably more advanced scopes and sights mean you could get further ranges than the listed ones.


Page 362

Plasma and M.D. fire-based explosives will blast everything with destructive Mega-Damage intensity, flash-burning grass, trees and everything in its blast radius. Any S.D.C materials (including hit points and SDC living beings) caught in the blast radius of M.D. plasma or M.D. fire are incinerated without a hope for survival, barring magical or other type of intervention. The blast radius of plasma explosives is usually a little larger than high explosives, not bad, but smaller than fragmentation. Note: The intense M.D. heat of a plasma explosive lasts for 3-5 seconds, leaving a scorched radius. It may suprise some people, but the intensity of the heat is so great and incinerates SDC materials so fast, that it does not start collateral fires. Hence the term 'flash burns' Some of the disadvantages of this weapon are that there is usually no salvagable evidence or supplies after this attack, making any positive ID of its victims impossible, and there can be no mistaking what did the damage. Also note that creatures resistant or impervious to fire and heat are unharmed by plasma weapons, while other M.D. explosives will hurt virtually all living beings with the exception o ghosts and ethereal beings.

[Ahriman238]

And now we break into further power armor of Japan.


Ninjabot



Ninjabots... have absolutely nothing to do with ninja except the name and maybe some aesthetics. A ninja of any type wouldn't be caught dead in such a clumsy, slow and un-stealthy thing. In fact, the whole thing is mostly an attempt to market second-rate power armor by making it sound and look cool.

190 MDC can run at 50 mph/80 kph and jump 10 feet (3 m) high or long and lift just over a ton. Has a 4-24 MD ion gun on the chest, a cheap knock-off of the Power-Spy's, plus vibro-blade gauntlets and 6 mini-missiles. Not a lot more to say.



Dai-Katana Bugei (Great-Sword Soldier)



This one is an Ichto Robotics creation, in service to that tiny breakaway state, the premier power armor of the Ichto Army. The Bugei was designed to be extremely mobile, tough enough to survive meeting the monsters, and agile enough not to get hit by anything it couldn't take a hit from. In service to this, it has an integral jetpack and can run at 100 mph (160 kph) and fly at up to 200 mph/320 kph in an emergency but a more normal speed is 60 mph/96 kph.

250 MDC, can lift a ton and a half. Armed with a railgun stowed over the shoulder like a Glitter Boy, 10-40 MDC, and 6 mini-missiles. Plus one or two 2-12 MD laser pistols in the helmet. 3 foot vibro-katanas retract into each forarm, and there's a secondary vibro-blade, a sort of under-arm fin.



Ikusa (Warrior)



Another Icto creation, a less mobile, more heavily armored and armed variation on the Bugei. Very popular with the officers, non-technophobic samurai and those who like to think of themselves as warriors rather than mere soldiers. Most of the fluff text is about how a rival corporation (H-Brand) has been marketing a knock-off with 20% less MDC called a "Warlord" and the measures IR will take to protect their property rights.

290 MDC, can run at 50 mph/80 kph and jump 15 feet high or long and can lift 200 lbs. more than the Bugei. It has a heavier railgun that does 10-60 MD, backed up by 8 mini-missiles. Small shoulder laser with 3-18 MD, and is issued with two slightly scaled-up samurai vibro-blades.



Grenadier



You guessed it, Ichto Robotics. They wanted something heavier to engage enemy power armor, tanks, giants, elementals and dragons and the like, some real heavy firepower. The Grenadier has great against tough, slow-moving targets, so much the RoJ is worried it would make a decent Glitter Boy-killer, and may have been designed for that purpose. The Otomo Shogunate has purchased 300.

580 MDC, can run at 50 mph/80 kph and jump 10 feet high or long, similar strength to the Ikusa. The huge double-barrel is a grenade launcher with a 1600 ft/488 m. range. It fires your normal frag, and HE grnades, also flash, stun, smoke, tear-gas, acid and plasma (5-30 MD.) Can fire up to 8-round bursts and carries 200 grenades. 31 mini-missiles scattered among over half a dozen different launchers, and gauntlet lasers 2-12 MD apiece.

Yeah, I have no idea how this is a serious threat to GBs except perhaps in greater numbers.



Tazu-Tengu



A light armor optimized for flight, also Ichto Robotics. Though Tengus are the only power armor the RoJ allows civilian ownership of. Make of that what you will. Military suits are usually light blue-grey for camouflage against the sky.

200 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph and jump as feet high or long, 100 feet with thruster assist. Max altitude is 10,000 feet, max speed is 350 mph/560 kph while cruising is 100 mph/160 kph. It can glide and must cool jets ever 10 hours of max flight and 24 of cruising speeds. The armor can lift 2200 lbs. The armor is unarmed but for some gripping talons on the feet that can be used to rake someone. Soldiers usually carry a gun and 30-70 grenades on various bandoleers and pouches for dive-bombing.



Super-Tengu

A heavier Tengu with more armor (260 MDC) and weapons (a dozen mini-missiles) but trades away flight capability. Specifically, it can only do 260 mph/416 kph max, though cruising speed is unaffected to a max altitude of 6,000 ft. And the inclusion of a grappling hook. Everything else is the same. SUper-Tengu are used for quick response and to extract Ichto soldiers, each suit can carry 1-2 people, though no faster than cruising speeds.



Mizu-Mi (Water Serpent)



An armored diving suit, most of it's ground Triax walked long ago. And yes, it's Ichto tech.

330 MDC can run at 40 mph/64 kph and jump 10 feet high or long, and lift 3800 lbs. for salvage purposes. Underwater propulsion allows 50 mph/80 kph underwater, but only 40 mph/64 kph surfaced. The suit has air and water for 8 days and can dive to a mile's depth. The suit trades in power armor's standard radar for sonar, and the feet and hands can adhere to any smooth surface, like a ship's bottom.

The right shoulder has a twin-barreled underwater (blue-green as opposed to red) laser turret that does 2-12 MD. The left shoulder has 10 mini-torpedoes. The right hand has a plasma cutter meant for salvage and rescue, but can be used as a weapon doing 6-36 MD. The other hand has a vibrating digging/cutting tool that does 1-6 MD.

Missing the Power Spy which isn't listed with the rest. Otherwise, that's power armor done for this book.

[SAMAS]

You'll notice, if you haven't already, the distinct lack of H-Brand mecha. There's a good reason for this. Simply put, compared to Arma-Tech and Ichto, their designs skills suck, as exemplified by the Ninja-Bot. Instead, H-Brand primarily makes cheap knock-offs of Ichto mechs. They do have their own body armor and small arms, however.

[Ahriman238]

This is so. Only Ichto and Armatech power armor and mecha.


Ka-Kuma (Metal Bear)



Kind of a lost opportunity not doing something like this for Russia. In fact it reminds me a lot of their Thunderstorm Cyborg, though this is a bit bigger. Anyways, this is the RoJ's artillery, (kind of short-armed, though) normally deployed in batteries of 3 with 5 SAMAS for close-in protection.

590 MDC, 30 ft (9 m) tall and can run at 40 mph/64 kph and lift 2500 lbs. Crew of 3 men, can also go underwater to a depth of 2 miles. The two big guns can launch shells 7 miles, variable payloads. The big ones are baby nukes (40-240 MD, 100 ft. blast radius) and plasma (30-180 MD, like a GB.) Can also do frag rounds for massed oni infantry (20-120 MD, 80 ft. radius) and boring HE (30-120 MD, 30 ft. blast radius.) It carries a hundred rounds, usually half of them the heavy nukes/plasma. It's also got 24 mini-missiles and 4 short-range heatseekers. For personal protection it has an arm railgun that does 20-80 MD, a belly laser turret doing 3-18 MD, 10-40 MD particle beams in each eye and a flamethrower (1-4 MD) in each lower leg.

Still, the heaviest shell it throws is 50 lbs. and they can only do it for 7 miles? Really? A hundred years into the future, this is artillery?



Kani (Crab)



Another Ichto creation, this one is an amphibious mini-sub. Again more of a salvage thing than a frontline fighter. H-Brand does a knock-off "Terrain Crawler, again with 20% less MDC.

200 MDC, runs at 40 mph/64 kph with a water speed of 30 knots, strength can lift 3600 lbs. 3-man crew can dive to 1.2 miles/ 1.9 km. They have flexible launchers that can hold 8 short-range missiles or torpedoes, likewise six mini-missiles or tiny torpedoes. A belly laser turret with 2-12 MD, the left arms has a laser torch, the right a plasma cutter.

[Simon_Jester]

No... it can't be... METAL BEAR!

Anyway, the seven mile range is weak for indirect-fire artillery. On the other hand, it's good for direct-fire artillery, i.e. guns that have to be pointed more or less straight at the target to hit effectively.

[Ahriman238]

The Republic has large numbers of Glitter Boys, I feel like they'd got their direct-fire needs pretty well covered.

[Simon_Jester]

Is this artillery explicitly referenced as indirect-fire? Is there mention of spotters or the like?

[Ahriman238]

No mention made either way, only that it is the RoJ's primary artillery.


Wrecker



A demolition/construction mech sometimes retasked for combat, but only rarely. Usually they mount a missile launcher on it, sometimes a laser or ion cannon.

480 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph and jump 10 feet high or long, and lift 2400 lbs. Crew of two. There's a large buzz-saw for cutting through MDC girders, with a plasma torch on the other hand. Laser torch on a little arm. A storage compartment holds 10 fusion blocks for demolition 40-240 MD.

The H-Brand knock-off is called Battler. Though Ichto and Otomo almost never send these into combat, and the RoJ never, various mercenaries and adventurers do so with some frequency.



Destroyer



The Destroyer is meant for mountain and urban combat, how I'm not sure. But it's unusually mobile for a mech, can climb and even fit a jetpack and fly.

420 MDC can run at 60 mph/96 kph and jump 10 ft/3 m high or long (25 with a running start) and lift 1900 lbs. Can climb with great skill, and operate underwater to a depth of 1500 ft/457 meters. With a jetpack it can fly at 140 mph/224 kph to an altitude of 8,000 ft and even hover. Armed with 16 mini-missiles, 2 railguns doing 10-40 MD, 2 forearm lasers doing 4-24 MD, and a small laser torch on a little arm. The other arm has a computer data-link, and they're generally used for fine manipulation. They also carry 10 mech-scale grenades including smoke, gas, and 5-30 MD HE.



Apocalypse



The newest and most powerful Ichto creation, two dozen were sold to the Otomo Shogunate, 10 to Yukamura and just 50 others, the rest remaining at home. The most unusual feature is a large UAV deployed and controlled from the mech.

625 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph and lift 2500 lbs. Crew of 4. Carries 8 medium-range missiles, 16 short-range missiles, 80 mini-missiles, 2 forearm lasers (10-40 MD) a belly railgun turret (20-80 MD) a plasma belly turret (10-60 MD) and arm blades.

The UAV scouts for the Apocalypse, has a speed of 250 mph/400 kph with a 50 mile range for the radio control. The UAV has two plasma-blaster arms that do 18-48 MD at a pitiful range of 300 ft/90 m. Also 4 mini-missiles.

[Ahriman238]

Banshee



A 17 foot tall flying mecha, built around a giant sonic cannon, with an English name. This can only be another Ichto creation. This mech is just two years old, meant for clearing out the zone. Otomo brought up an awful lot of them, and the Republic wants Ichto to stop selling them, believing that these and the Tengu armor are an attempt to top RoJ's SAMAS-based aerial supremacy.

400 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph and jump 15 feet high or long, 100 with rocket assist, and lift 2100 lbs. Crew of 2. As far as flight, it can do 260 mph/416 kph to an altitude of 6,000 feet, but needs to stop and cool jets for an hour each day. The same system works underwater for a speed of 40 mph/64 kph to a depth of 2000 ft/610 m. The sonic cannon does 10-60 MD to the target, 3-18 to anything within thirty feet of the target. This is supplemented with 20 mini-missiles, 2 forarm lasers (3-18 MD) and a pair of vibro-blades.



Gemini



Ichto again. Gemini are similar to Naruni Enterprises' Nomad scout mech, in that they're both stealthy mecha of similar size. It can fire while cloaked, though only with half the damage and range it normally can. Very hush-hush experimental, only got the two dozen prototypes being put through their paces, and definitely not for sale.

500 MDC, able to run at 50 mph/80 kph and jump 10 feet high and 15 long, and lift 2250 lbs. Crew of 2. Armed with 24 mini-missiles, a forearm laser (5-30 MD) and a vibro-blade. Half the prototypes also have a scaled up Bugei's railgun doing 10-60 MD. That feature will probably be dropped from production, as firing tends to spoil the cloak for 2 seconds.



Tatsu (Dragon)



From the people who saw Godzilla and decided the only logical response was Mecha-Godzilla. Ichto Robotics has been so jealous of Armatech/the RoJ's dragon-borgs, they decided to top them with a triple-sized (45 ft/18 m from snout to tail) dragon mecha. Again not for sale, Ichto has 16 in active service, 4 down for maintenance and repair and a plan to build two dozen more over the next two years.

1000 MDC, can run at 40 mph/64 kph, can lift 2 and a quarter tons. Crew of 4. Submersible, though it can't go deep, half it's land speed underwater. The mouth holds a plasma flamethrower (3-18 MD) and plasma ejector (10-40 MD) and the jaws can bite down with MD force (10-40 MD) while the nostrils hold two dozen mini-missiles. There's also two palm lasers int hte front two claws, 2-12 MD, a dozen medium-range missiles in shoulder launchers and a double-barreled tail laser (3-18 MD.)



Hi-Tora (Fire Tiger)



The final mech making up Armatech line and the main force of the Republic of Japan. Glitter Boys, SAMAS, the tiger and the bear. The Hi-Tora is supposed to be a very mobile mech covered with flamethrowers because a lot of monsters the RoJ encountered early on were vulnerable to fire. I haven't seen anything but a Kappa vulnerable to fire in this book, and Oni are fire-resistant but sure, we'll go with that.

500 MDC, can run at 60 mph/96 kph and jump 30 feet high or long, and lift two tons exactly. Crew of 3. Can swim at half it's running speed to a depth of 1.5 miles. One heavy plasma flamethrower in the mouth (3-18 MD) and a small turret on each shoulder and hip (1-4 MD) each eye is a particle beam (10-40 MD) and the index finger of each hand has a laser (3-18 MD again.) The chest has 3 hidden spray guns linked to three separate chemical tanks, which can can carry tear gas, a chemical stink spray like a skunk's, acid, fire-retardant foam (good idea if you'll be spraying flamethrowers all over the place) and holy water.



Mecha, done. Japan, done? Almost.

[SAMAS]

Turning back to North America for a quick second, the new Northern Gun book came out recently.

[Ahriman238]

Right now the plan is Australia, then the two Underseas books, the two South America books, and then the million or so North American ones.

[Highlord Laan]

Underseas and Australia are two of the best books in the whole collection.

[SAMAS]

Australia is one of the few places where you can actually get away with being SDC. Sometimes.

[Ahriman238]

Still getting held up a bit by technical issues transferring files. But let's have a word about Australia.

It's a book that has a serious reputation, as you may have gathered. I'm still looking it over, but I'm starting to get an idea why, this is the book where there are tons of classes that are ordinary people. distinguished by their skills and gear.

They also went to the trouble of getting an Aussie to write it, unlike all Europe and Asia.

Now, I will be the first to admit a certain ignorance to aspects of history and culture that don't terribly interest me. I have reached a point in life where you couldn't write everything I know about Australia on the head of a pin (unless you had a very tiny and precise laser or something) but could still probably fit it on a single page. Most of it from highly reputable sources like Crocodile Dundee, Kangaroo Jack, the Rescuers Down Under, my fourth grade geography class and On the Beach.

So let's try this. Discovered by Janszoom, who named it New Holland and the largest island New Zealand, then 'discovered' again by James Cook. Already settled by aborigines in the dawn of prehistory, but the British set up a colony at Botany Bay, New South Wales (seriously, there's a New South Wales) populated largely by convicts transported in inhumane conditions. There was another colony on Van Dieman's Land, which is the archaic name for on of the ancillary islands (Tasmania, I think?) The colony did not do well, the trees were to tough to fell easily, and there was a distinct lack of both arable land and potable water. One of the early follow-up expeditions (I think the second) sailed in starved with half their number dead, only to find the colonists in the same shape waiting for the expedition to rescue them. Bit awkward. Oh, can't forget Billy Hunt and his kangaroo suit.

Disappears from my knowledge of history until the 1850s gold rush, then the World Wars.

Largest cities are Sydney (home to a famous landmark that, by statute, must be included in every establishing shot of Sydney, like the Eiffel Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.) Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. There's a great big rock (Ayers') somewhere about the middle too. National Anthem is Waltzing Matilda. Home to a flowering diversity of life, the kangaroo, koala bear, wombat, platypus, dingo, some sort of boar-thing, way too many poisonous snakes and spiders, and Stark.

I am assured by people I trust that the national sports are cricket, rugby, and alcoholism.

I am also aware through this board that there's considerable debate regarding immigrants from Malayasia.

And yeah, that's pretty much it. So any insult to Australian board members, and any resemblance to people real or imagined, is not the result of deliberate malice, but a combination of ignorance and laziness.



The dace before the Cataclysm is said to have been a period of unprecedented racial tensions in Australia, with relations between European-stock immigrants, more recent Asian immigrants and Aborigines breaking down spectacularly. The Aborigines tended to get dreams before the Cataclysm, suggesting that staying in cities and reservations was a really bad idea. So they took shelter in various sacred sites and actually weathered the disasters just fine. And when the dust cleared, the Aborigines had regained their ancient magic, a gift from the gods to reclaim their lands with. The Inland Sea was back, most of the cities were underwater or in ruins. Only Perth and Melbourne remained, and they became walled cyberpunk police states in short order. Still, many people who weren't in the cities survived and do so to this day.

[Ahriman238]

A quick word on skills. There are upwards 400 skills in the game by now, some of which are included with most classes. I haven't made a habit of listing them because, frankly, I don't want this to turn into even more of a reposting of the books, and a lot of them are fairly common sense, a samurai will know swordsmanship, how to ride a horse and archery, a mechanic will have mechanical skills, a medic will know first aid etc. But Australia is the book where skills matter again, and class skills are fewer, not as many people who can kill you with their eye-beams (disregarding phreakers) so expect at least a brief commentary on skills.

In RIFTS (and other Palladium games) there is a skill for everything to delineate clearly what characters can and cannot do. If you take Radio Operator, you cannot use a radio, if you do not take Basic Math, even simple arithmetic is beyond you. All skill checks are performed with a percentile dice and no matter how good your skill or how familiar a task, there is always a 2% chance of failure, greater if you're distracted, in pain etc. You assign some skills, and have to burn more than a few to arrive at "functional human being with a high school education" then your class gives you more, either reinforcing skills or providing a minimum threshold for new ones.


But for now, let's talk about classes.

Bushman



Nomads, wanderers. In RIFTS Australia, one lives and dies only in community, but some people go out into the wild alone. Some are explorers trying to locate new resources, make contact with other communities, some are just sick of their tiny towns or crowded cities and want to go it alone. All share a love of nature and a distrust of city-dwellers and technology.

The major class abilities are an internal compass that makes it very difficult to get lost, and automatically memorizing landmarks and unusual sights, later able to describe or draw them in near-perfect detail. Bushmen's fierce self-reliance and connection to nature leads them to develop minor psionics. Start with Summon Inner Strength, Resist Thirst and special variations on Empathy and Hypnotic Suggestion that only work on animals. Later add Sixth Sense and one physical or sensitive power of choice. Not that they'll ever accept being psychic, it's just some old Bushman's tricks. They have a very strong will, which gives them a correspondingly greater resistant to illusions, mind control and fear effects.

Bushman are skilled at navigating an surviving in the outback, can identify most plants, track and hunt (and skin and prepare) their own food, some cooking some drawing, first aid, basic math. Oh, and skilled with a knife, boomerang, rifle and two other weapons.



Bushranger



Bushrangers are bandits and highwaymen. Some are Robin Hood-like figures, some are like stock Western gunslingers, some really are just criminals. Most are pretty jaded about life, and just try to make the most of the most of things with what amusements they can find. Whatever the case, Bushrangers tend to be experts in small-unit guerrilla warfare.

Bushrangers get a bonus to rolling with a punch or fall. Each Bushman specializes in a skill-area he builds his reputation around and which give him a bonus, such as being unusually tough, or fast, an expert boxman (safecracker) a horseman, master of disguise, wilderness survival/stealth expert, a charmer (bonus to charisma) or a dead shot, who gets extra shots off per round, can dual-wield guns and takes no penalties from shooting while running, on horseback on in a moving vehicle. Another option is to be a minor or major psychic with the same odds of that happeneing as anyone else. Bushman rarely have cybernetic implants, but if you want they can have up to 3 implants and a limb replacement.

Will have simple math, electronics, and mechanical skills. Outback survival, can drive a motorbike or a hovercraft and at least one other vehicle type. General athletic, military and thief skills.



Wilderness Guide



The book talks up the Aborigines a lot, how the mass die-off of white settlers has made them the majority once more, how their traditional ways are almost perfectly suited to survival in the new Asutralia, how the return of their ancient magic and Gods have made them a power to be feared. Yet this is the only Aborigine class, presumably the others were being saved for the Australia 2 book that is much delayed. The Guide is an Aborigine who chooses to work with white parties or communities, serving as a guide to the local terrain and hazards, or an intermediary for dealing with other Aborigines. He is often looked down on by his kinsmen for this association.

Guides get bonus SDC, speed and physical prowess (dexterity) to reflect that they are rugged he-men who can survive the perils of the Outback.

Bilingual (English and the Aboriginal tongue) good at survival and finding their way around, tracking hunting, climbing, swimming, sneaking, holistic medicine and fishing. Proficient with a boomerang, spear and something called a woomera (I'm told it's a spear-chucking stick like an altatl) plus two other weapons. Can learn from a list of more civilized skills; pilot, rogue, military, science, technical etc.

[Ahriman238]

Jackaroo

The Jackaroo (or feminine Jillaroo) is traditionally an Aussie cowboy or apprentice rancher learning the trade. In RIFTS Australia though, Jackaroos are flexible survivors of the Outback, able to do most odd jobs, whether it's hunt down a demon frog or help with the harvest. They tend to wander from one village/community to another looking for work or adventure. Their two special skills are rope use (can determine how strong a rope is, tie expert knots) and prospecting (knows how and roughly where to pan for gold and silver, can assess precious metals and gems to determine value and spot fakes.)

Jackaroos have diverse skillsets, they can herd and farm, are broadly familiar with Aborigines and their traditions, as well as various forms of demons and monsters, can ride, count, cook, do basic maintenance and repair on most bits of technology, hunt fish, drive, ID plants and animals. They are skilled in a fistfight, with a knife and two other weapons, and can select a variety of further skills. Including piloting power armor.


Runabout



Much like a Jackaroo (with less skills) an Outback Runabout is a rugged individual struck with wanderlust who wanders from community to community seeking work and adventure. And there really isn't a lot more to say, they also get some basic wilderness survival skills, prospecting and rope work.


Raider



In the last 50 years or so it has become common knowledge around the Outback that the high-tech cities of Perth and Melbourne survived the Cataclysm, and also that the 'Tech-Cities' look down on everyone else as filthy barbarians and have no intention of letting outsiders in, or sharing any of their impressive resources and technology. City Raiders are cat-burglar/commando types willing to brave the alarmed minefields and razor-wire, scale the 300 ft. walls while evading helicopter drones, or otherwise smuggle themselves in and out the city gates with precious bits of technology to sell.

Raiders are expert thieves, streetwise and accomplished at picking locks and pockets both. They are also rather acrobatic, good at climbing (naturally) and tumbling safely. Expert hackers, skilled with security and surveillance systems, with basic math and literacy, skilled at hand-tohand, knife combat and two more weapons. Can learn a wide variety of skills, only medical are restricted (to first aid.)

Raiders are hard to scare, and harder to surprise, with big initiative bonuses.

[Ahriman238]

There are two "White Wizards" or spellcasting classes that aren't D-Bees or Aborigines. This is deeply offensive to the Aborigines, who see the return of ancient gods and magics as vindication that they were the chosen people all along.


Sham-Man



Sham-men are "False Shamans" to the Aborigines and just really creepy to everyone else, the majority of people not being all that comfortable with magic. Some really are illusionists and tricksters, some try to study the Aboriginal culture to understand their powers and place in the universe, and many just figure it out as best they can on their own. Sham-men can sense ley lines and rifts like a Ley Line Walker, and can likewise read, hover over and heal on ley lines. They can sense supernatural evil for free, like a Mystic. Their main power though, is to tap into 'the Dreaming' as Aborigine Shaman do, allowing them to impersonate a shaman to the various demons, nature spirits and Millenium Trees of Australia. Okay, maybe they're due a little contempt from the locals after all.

Casts from the standard magic list. Starts with 4 level 1 spells, 3 level 2, and 2 each from levels 3 and 4. Learns one per level as they advance. For once it's not specifically said if they can learn other spells from study and practice or only by leveling, though I strongly believe it's the former. Either that or is this is the most nerfed caster I've seen in the game.



Songjuicer



Well, it took us twenty-odd books to get to anything as broken as a spellcasting Juicer. I guess the game is kind of over now? Good game, folks. What's that? They're not precisely Juicers? Alright, let's talk this out.

Wherever a lot of magic is thrown around, or runs naturally through ley lines and bubbles from the earth at nexus points, the ground, plants, rocks, whatever tend to accumulate a small charge of PPE (magic energy) that sticks to things. These scraps can be extracted with the proper rituals, condensed into a sort of liquid ectoplasm. Now you could collect this all day and not come close to the requirements of a single spell, much less what a body produces in a day, so most casters seriously would not see any point to the activity. But if a non-caster ingests, injects or absorbs enough of this "Songjuice" they become hyper-sensitive to it, able to sense the Juice in apparently mundane things, and it has an effect on them, strengthening their body and giving them spellcasting abilities.

Small problem, well, four. First, Songjuice is rough on the body, causing rapid aging and enfeeblement after a short time of superpowers, and sometimes a faster death. Second, Songjuice is highly addictive, by the time you can sense Juice and get powers you need a daily fix or you'll enter bad (eventually fatal) withdrawal. In game terms, a Songjuicer peaks about level 7 (mid-way) then starts shedding physical abilities until their death at max level. They also have a second PPE pool that they cannot access for spellcasting, and expands with each level, if it becomes large enough, they die. Oh, and third they become progressively more obsessive and paranoid, and somewhere along the way become mostly supernatural creature and pick up a weird weakness.

Songjuicers start with 10 spells from the standard list: 4 level 1 spells, 3 level 2 spells, 2 level 3 spells, and 1 from level 4. Each level they gain a spell equal or less than their new level. Pure instinctive casting, no learning spells elsewhere, and they at least continue to learn new spells as they level, but will lose PPE to cast with. They also get three psychic powers, 2 sensitive and a physical. Their hyper-sensitivity to magic lets them sense ley lines, rifts and read ley lines.

The physical progression looks like this: at level one add a die to strength, endurance and dex, and two to speed. Second level they get 18-30 MDC and enhanced reflexes. Third add some more strength and speed, a bit more MDC and the reflexes get better (still no auto-dodge.) Level Four is all magic bonuses, more spell strength, better saves against magic and mind-control. Fifth they get supernatural strength and endurance, and add 60-160 to MDC. Sixth level their running speed doubles, but they gain a weakness to something (wood, silver, fire and ice, that sort of thing.) From there on out, it's all downhill though it takes until level ten or eleven that ability loss becomes truly serious.

But, as with Juicers there is a detox option, If the Songjuicer throws himself upon the mercy of an Aboriginal Shaman and undergoes a cleansing ritual before level four (where the addiction becomes incurable) they can be saved. They take a few penalties, and can never touch magic again. On the other hand, they keep level two's 18-30 MDC and will gain 1-6 with each level of their new class, plus an extra die for speed, strength and endurance.

[gigabytelord]

Oh Rifts Australia, you weird, wacky, not really sure if wonderful place.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I feel like by the time they got to Australia they were of the 'why the hell not?' mindset. Makes me wish they'd done Antarctica.

[Simon_Jester]

I'm not clear on exactly why this is so weird. A lot of it sounds like the same kind of stuff in play elsewhere; the only real difference is that the power level is lower in the Outback so that characters whose only schtick is 'rugged independent bush ranger' can actually function and aren't getting their heads torn off by massive twitchy roidasauruses and angry psychics.

[Ahriman238]

I'm not clear on exactly why this is so weird. A lot of it sounds like the same kind of stuff in play elsewhere; the only real difference is that the power level is lower in the Outback so that characters whose only schtick is 'rugged independent bush ranger' can actually function and aren't getting their heads torn off by massive twitchy roidasauruses and angry psychics.

Pretty much. I joke about the Songjuicer, but honestly? This game has Godlings, Cosmo-Knights, even Wormwood had that RCC class where you'd start with every illusion and mind control spell/psychic power, and only have to worry about running out of juice.

Mind, there are some reasonably nasty monsters in the back of this book. You may not want an all 'rigged bush ranger' group unless you're aiming for a TPK.