Paladin Steel Storefront

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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

wildfire142 wrote:I've been very productive this week :) and we are now up to p100 with roughly 890 designs 1552 pages in the pdf and we have reached post 16 of abtex's index.

Not sure how long this burst of productivity will last as I start college again for the first time in two decades this week for some night courses :)
[/url]


By all means, don't worry about this if you're going back to Continuing Education...Refresher learning, or Life Course Correction, it doesn't matter; study and do well! :ok: :bandit:
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

New Vita Colony(Protectorate)

“Nice vista, no? Shoulda seen this place five years ago; landscape was CRAWLING with spider-machines, tendril-goblins, krakkenkrawlies, and squeeze-killers, all heading for where we are right now. Fortunately the big powered fences that were meant to keep out the local big game could be supercharged, but that only held them for a few minutes, then they were inside. Then they hit where those craters are...used to be tennis courts and golf fareways back then, only those Azimuth girls got the groundskeepers to turn them into minefields, with some improvised FAE...That whittled down a few more of them, but not nearly enough. Now see the old clubhouse? See the weapons loopholes in that concrete? That’s where some really brave folks were waiting with modified hunting lasers...people were $#!+ing themselves seeing that mechanical horde charging at them, but to their credit, nobody broke and ran, just kept firing away....and they paid a heavy price for such bravery....”

“Yeah, the New Vitan Guards’ uniforms are rather silly at first...abbreviated butler and maid outfits....but you have to remember that the local climate tends towards hot and humid, which explains some of the local fashion....and that by now most of them are either amped-up humanoid cyborgs or effectively bio-borgs or biotics...Don’t ever repeat the joke about ‘the planet of the super-maids’ unless you’re absolutely CERTAIN they aren’t going to kick your ass.”

New Vita is a terrestrial colony world that Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries ‘inherited’ in a controversial manner.
New Vita was originally developed as a resort world and corporate retreat by the Qualon Group, a Paradise Federation-based megacorp that was backing several colony-development efforts in the Thundercloud. They bought rights to the world from the Quinton-Scalaris Survey Bureau which originally catalogued the system, and set about developing the life-bearing world, once it had been cleared biologically for colonization. The pleasant and scenic world would serve as a private reserve for sector-residence corporate bigwigs and select visitors, and featured a civilian colony of permanent resident caretakers and servants to wait on the well-heeled guests, corporate vacationers, and retirees expected to drop in.
Unfortunately those plans were derailed when Qualon surveyors discovered ancient ruins not far from the colony...high tech ruins, suggesting a prior presence of advanced civilization on the planet. Rather than put the colony on alert, and possibly evacuate it while a specialist taskforce went in and secured the site, the corporate officials onsite quickly moved to open the ruins to see what they might have found, and if it might prove profitable. The reactivated ancient(and self-propogating) war machines that emerged quickly made grue of the investigators and set their sights on the colony. The colonial administrators/corporate officers panicked, and quickly evacuated...themselves, leaving the colonists to fend for themselves, with little in the way of protective detail.
Fortunately, the New Vitans had two lucky breaks; one was that several of the servants brought in by the Qualons were graduates of the advanced courses at the Mistress Abas School for Domestics on Juxtapa XXII. ‘Advanced Courses’ meaning that they had trained with the Azimuth Point Military Academy there, and had arguably better combat orientation than the handful of Qualon Group security rent-a-mercs that had been deployed to the colony. These combat-trained domestics managed to rally the support staff and form a stiff improvised defense to the warmachines, while the colony engineers jury-rigged an FTL distress beacon to call for help.
The second lucky break was who heard the distress call. The first ships to respond to the beacon were part of a PS/ASI/GNE corporate convoy, heavily armed as was the Rift Earthers’ policy, that was moving equipment to a nearby(relatively speaking) research outpost. The convoy transports didn’t have enough space to remove ALL the remaining colonists, but WERE carrying enough weaponry to better arm the adhoc militia, and were packing enough armaments to serve as air support. A transport carrying a bio-mod lab was pressed into service as a hospital ship, receiving injured and exhausted colonists.
It was the use of the lab transport’s bio-mod gear that caused some controversy; in the process of quickly healing casualties from New Vita, the medtechs began augmenting them as well, fast enough that some of the colonial militia were returning to duty protecting the colony. The combined force of PS/GNE spacers and New Vitan colonists managed to hold the line against the alien warmachines until additional relief forces arrived with enough firepower to turn the tide and stomp out the threat(sanitizing the source of the warmachines), and enough transportation if evacuating what colonists survived was called for. Surprisingly, though, the remaining colonists were determined to hang in, if possible, feeling that New Vita was still viable as a home, and equally determined, after the price they’d paid in blood, to not give up.
The taskforce also had to fend off a Qualon Group force that had arrived, not to rescue the colonists, but to burn out the entire site, and scavenge what remained. Upon learning that the alien machine menace had been neutralized, the Qualon Group immediately tried to reassert control of the colony. By this time, however, the surviving colonists had had enough of the cowardly QG and declared independence from them. When the GC argued that the colonists were still under contract, the colonists counter-argued that those contracts had become null and void when the corporation had abandoned them to the warmachines. Thus started a legal controversy that continues to the current day.
Despite being subjected to several corporate hearings about their handing out Class IV augments like candy, the taskforce officers were ultimately exonerated, especially after the colonists invited the company troops to stay and help them rebuild.
Today, New Vita is no longer considered a ‘resort colony’; several other tech-sites have been discovered on the planet and several had to be neutralized in turn, while others could be more safely opened and studied. Some of the reactivated warmachines survived the initial stomp-out campaign and wander the wilderness, posing a threat to unwary travelers and explorers, keeping a continued active military presence on the planet necessary. While many of the original surviving colonists took the opportunity to return to more civilized worlds, enough remained, intent on making a new start of it. The original colony has been moved to a more defensible location, and the New Vitans have insisted on full defenses and bio-augmentation for their defenders, agreeing to pay for the expensive procedures by giving PS/ASI exclusive salvage and exploration rights to the alien ruins and battlefields. PS/ASI currently operates several mining and tech-salvage operations, as well as maintaining enough transport and military forces on the planet to defend against any foreseeable future problems, or evacuate the colony if necessary. The Mistress Abas School/Azimuth Point has also considered establishing a branch facility on New Vita, given the very real world combat experience endured by its graduates on the planet.
New Vita is considered a protectorate territory, and a likely future member, of the United Systems Alliance(a trade and mutual protection association being promoted by GNE and others). While the New Vitans run their own government, they work closely with the GNE/PS personnel on-planet, especially with regards to opening archaeological sites, improving colonial defenses, and resource development. During the Minion War, the New Vitans deployed some of their augmented militia offworld to assume guard detail at several PS/ASI/GNE facilities and embassies, allowing the GNEAS to shift some forces to more pressing fronts.
The Qualon Group has made repeated attempts to claim back the colony; the most recent being a legal assertion that the Mistress Abas School graduates, were, by association with the PS/GNE-run Azimuth Point Academy, agents of PS/ASI/GNE engineering a hostile takeover of the colony. They cite recent technological developments on New Vita, using technology arguably reverse-engineered from the alien ruins, as evidence that PS/ASI/GNE is making an illegal profit from claim-jumping archaeological finds that are legitimately Qualon’s, and more blatantly, has ‘pirated’ the entire colony away from them. So far, these challenges are wallowing in galactic court, while PS/GNE continues to work with the New Vitans to secure their world.

Solar System(Quinton-Scalaris IV)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars: Yellow Dwarf(bordering on Orange Dwarf)
Number of Planets: 5
- Terrestrial----Quinton 1, a Mercury-style baked rock. Aside from a few mineral surveys by both the Qualon Group and PS/ASI, the planet has been unexplored and not developed in any way.

-Terrestrial(Lifeworld) ---Quinton II/New Vita----Terrestrial Earth-like world.

-Terrestrial----Quinton III----Enormous (85,000 km diameter) ‘super-Mars’ planet characterized by a cold, thin, atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Also possesses abundant water in the form of ice. In itself, Quinton III would have been considered a good prospect for colonization, if not for its punishing high gravity(9x Earth normal). The Qualon Group still has options to buy rights and develop the planet, but chose to concentrate on much more attractive Quinton II/New Vita. Recently, though, QG has made public speculative plans to revisit Quinton II and settle it using CG-insulated habitats, but Paladin Steel suspects that these plans are pure bluff meant to intimidate them with the prospect of a nearby permanent QG presence. PS/ASI has considered making their own bid for Quinton III, with an eye towards mining its resources with robots and bio-modded personnel, but early cost-analysis has indicated that, like the QG colonization proposal, such an effort would be NOT economical, given the presence of more easily exploited resource sources elsewhere in the system.

- Gas Giant----Quinton IV---Large gas giant with a small moon system of 4 fair-sized moonlets.
Recently, the orbital forces around New Vita have picked up suspicious EM activity around the moons of Quinton IV; the signals seem to be artificial, but as the planet remains nominally legally Qualon Group territory, the New Vitans cannot do anything to investigate the situation.

-Terrestrial----Quinton V, an icy planet slightly smaller than Earth. So far, this deep orbiting planet has attracted little interest aside from some scientific efforts to attempt to find any link between it and the outer-lying dust clouds surrounding the system.

-Exotic---This is actually a band of curiously organized(some have suggested deliberately ENGINEERED) gas clouds that surround the solar system and trap and reflect light, helping offset the generally dimmer light levels. The clouds also seem to provide some protection from the increased cosmic wind from the nearby Rhalan Nebula. New Vita’s starscape at night may be rather paltry due to the obscuring glow, but the nights are SPECTACULAR(and feature heavily in the early QG advertising prospectuses). On the minus side, negotiating the more intense heliopause ‘bow shock’ abetted by these clouds can cause problems for incoming starships unfamiliar with the system.

Planet(New Vita)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter:(Small) 9,500 km diameter
Gravity: Low: 0.8 g
Temperature: Temperate
Unusual/Special Features:
-Odd Revolution; New Vita seems to take longer than it should going around its sun. A New Vitan ‘year’ is actually 2.3 Earth years’ long.
-Odd Rotation---New Vita possesses an odd rotation rate that causes it twice each year to have a ‘double sunrise/set’ in an event that the locals various call ‘the Reset’, ‘the Bounce’, or ‘Double Day’, and are considered to be celebration days marked by large breakfasts/dinners.
-Rings---New Vita has several small rings that are all that remains of what may have been a small moon or asteroid that broke up in orbit(though some speculate that if New Vita was a warzone, a more deliberate act of destruction may be responsible).

Atmosphere: Earth-like and Breathable

Terrain: Three Terrains; generally marked by a predominance of mountains, hill lands, and large river valleys/basins.

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
-Zinc
-Tin
-Cobalt
-Colombite
-Quartz
-Titanium
-Diamond
-Samarskite

Hydrosphere: Moist; over 65% of New Vita’s surface is covered in open water, and its large river valleys and basins are home to large swamps and wetlands.

Biosphere: Verdant; one of New Vita’s attractions is its rich and compatible ecosystem, thick lush forests, available game, and abundant sea life. With the securing of the local situation, biologists are taking a longer, more comprehensive look at the local lifeforms, and have made a number of discoveries concerning the apparent rapid evolution of what appear to be formerly low-tier animals to fill a number of higher-tier ecological niches, suggesting at least one period of mass extinction, possibly more, in the planet’s past. Speculation is forming that the last great extinction event may be concurrent with when the warmachines were built/buried, and when New Vita’s rings formed.

Civilization:
Colonial---Originally meant to be a resort colony, but the presence of ancient, and still active, warmachines has put a hold to the plans for an exclusive planet-wide game reserve and vacation location. New Vita is opening its doors to a more diverse colonial mix, but currently the past troubles are keeping many prospective colonists away from an otherwise very attractive settling site.

Population:
Roughly about 90,000 permanent settlers., about 60% of the adult population of which have either Class III or Class IV bio-mod work(the highest in any civilian population in the GNE-affiliated territories). About 85% of the population is human, with a growing number of non-humans(mostly new emigrants).
There’s another 12,000 transitory workers, mainly in the employ of PS/ASI/GNE.

Technology: As a resort colony, New Vita was equipped with the latest in ‘rustic’ technologies; really advanced luxuries meant for the expected high-class clientele visiting the planet. Can be considered Interstellar/Three Galaxies in the way of average technology. The overall quality has dipped slightly due to damage inflicted during the warmachines’ attacks, and the subsequent switch to a more independent(and practical) colonial basis, with a focus on more diverse and rugged technologies.

Economy: Can be considered Agricultural for the New Vita colony, Industrial for the GNE/PS enclaves. It’s joked that particularly high-grade scrap metal is one of New Vita’s primary exports.

Wealth: Can be considered to be Prosperous/Well-Off; between what PS/GNE has been paying them for scavenging rights and royalties on reverse-engineered technologies and what the former servants seized of on-planet QG executive dachas and luxury resort homes, the New Vitans are pretty well off.

Government: Colonial Democracy

Law Level: Lawful

Popularity: Popular----Those of the original colonists are dead-set on making a new life for themselves and wholeheartedly support the new administration of their peers, rather than the original corporate bigwigs.

Stability: Stable; everybody’s too busy to kick up a fuss.

Colony:
Sponsoring Organization:
Corporate---Formerly the Qualon Group, now effectively a sponsored protectorate of Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries and Greater New England.
Colony Size:
90,000 permanent settlers; the colony saw something of a ‘baby boom’ a year after the victory over the machines.

General Alignment: Scrupulous and Unprincipled

Trade Policy: Originally was No Questions Asked under the Qualon Group, who wanted to keep the colony fairly exclusive and not bothered by every nomadic trader in the sector. Under the new civilian government, the trade polices are By the Book.

Environment Around Colony:
The former colony site was in a heavy forest, and riverside. The former colony is now a military base and assembly point for patrols hunting remaining war machines.
The new site is in a mountain valley with a central lake, and is more easily defensible.

Notable/Special Natural Resources:
-Big Game---The previous site was chosen mainly for access to local animal migratory routes and river/sea life for fishing. The newer colony location was chosen for defense and access to arable land.
-Ancient Ruins---Buried under New Vita’s crust are multiple tech-sites of some ancient technological species. Whether they were native to New Vita, colonists themselves, or, as have some have suggested, were responsible for engineering the ‘halo clouds’, remains unknown, but a good deal of the hardware unearthed appears to be military in nature. The first site unearthed disgorged hordes of tentacled warmachines that immediately attacked the colonists, at least until it was KEW’ed out of existence. Two more intact ‘garages’ of similar war-bots were later found, but were fortunately destroyed before they could go fully active. Several other sites have been discovered, several apparently crushed by either geological action or some ancient conflict into little more than particularly high-grade metal ore, while several more are being currently cased in preparation for more active investigation. It is unknown how many more sites remain to be discovered, but finding them and securing them is a high priority of the New Vitan authorities and their allies. The nature of the ruins found thus far have suggested to some xenoarchaeologists that the planet may have either gone down in a global conflict, or else might have served as military staging area, possibly during the Dominator War.

Initial Buildings/Facilities:
Medical Facilities:
First-class medical facilities; between the original intent of a high-class resort/retirement colony and subsequent upgrades of the surviving facilities to accommodate combat casualties, New Vita boasts premium health care for its residents.
One of New Vita’s more sensitive facilities is an augmentation lab capable of performing Class III-IV bio-augs. Many New Vitans consider it a rite of passage to be bio-modded, even more so than the offworld GNErs who brought the technology.

Primary Energy Source: Fusion Power, supplemented by solar, wind, and hydro sources.

Primary Source of Transportation: Contra-Gravity and hover vehicles for the most part. The luxury vehicles of the past have either been cannibalized for parts or replaced with military-grade vehicles.

Security/Fighting Force:
National Guard/Militia, well-equipped by PS/ASI.
New Vita is evolving a curious culture that might be called ‘warrior servants’; most citizens have skills in some aspect of the service industries, but everybody also learns weapons and combat skills, against another swarm of reactivated warmachines. Their militia’s formal dress uniform recalls the resort attire. Considering that most of the Militia are Class IV bio-augments, though, with reinforced megadamage constitutions, this seems less frivolous than one might think.

The Alliance also maintains a rotating military presence, with two brigades of troops on-planet at any time. The planet also sports a ring of defense satellites for both repelling pirates and also surveying the planet below and deploying KEWs against any active warmachine sites.

Outside Threats:
Currently the main offworld threat is the legal angling by the Qualon Group to reacquire control of New Vita. However, with word of the archaeological finds on the planet, tech-poachers and pirates looking to acquire samples of the unearthed technology are becoming a concern of the New Vitan authorities.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

(Okay, my concept of a ‘munchkin character’)
*I just LOVE the Natural Genius class in Powers Unlimited 2; so much opportunity to create mad genuis-ish goodness).

(Interdim Persona Data File 23387412781727662-*Commence Access*)

Patrika Tendii MegaCyberHeroine (Cyberhumanoid Natural Genuis)

“Doctors have come from distant cities
Just to see me
Stand over my bed
Disbelieving what they’re seeing
----
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
Know this child will be able
Laughed as my body she lifted
Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience and with faith
She’ll make her way”
-Natalie Merchant, “Wonder”

A child of the dawn of the Golden Age, Patrika Tendii got off to a rough start in life; she was born to a drug-addicted teenage mother, with her neonatal physical development severely compromised by the substances her mother was abusing. At birth, Patrika was lacking in many things; some organs failed to develop, her skeleton was more akin to jellied cartilage, and she was unrecognizable as a human being; only a sack of vital organs and, paradoxically, a well-developed brain and central nervous system were all there was to her. Most medical staff on the scene agreed that it would be more merciful to simply let the catastrophically malformed child die, except for Doctors Ernst and Omiya Tendii. While many of their professional colleagues questioned the ethics of what amounted to human experimentation, Doctor Omiya Tendii had the sorry sack of organs placed in an experimental life support system of her own design. The nervous system was kept stimulated, and, against all expectation, owing to the massive physical deformities, exhibited responses no different from that of a perfectly normal child. This gave the Tendiis hope that their adopted charge might yet survive and overcome, despite her lack of a suitable body...which the Tendiis set out to provide. As cyberneticists, the Tendiis decided to build their adopted daughter the body that happenstance had shorted her of.
At first, their efforts were crude; Patrika’s body resembling a NASA extraterrestrial robot rover more than anything else; a life support system with grafted-on propulsion, sensory mounts, and manipulator arms. Over the years, Patrika would develop, her body evolving in stages as new technologies were developed...mobility and manipulatory abilities were added to the life support system, which became smaller and more compact as time progressed. New sensors were added, nerve connections were identified, hooked up, trained, and enabled to perform their tasks; movement, expression.....The boxy life-cradle gave way to a centauroid....a simple wireframe ‘face’ was more progressively micromuscled and skinned to allow a greater range of expression....Complexities of control were overcome...A humanoid body emerged. Patrika became a testbed and guinea pig of new cybernetics and bionics systems. She also became something of a minor celebrity in select circles of the medical community as being ‘the child who shouldn’t have lived’ but was not only living, but THRIVING.
Patrika’s emotional and mental development were not stunted in any way; young Patrika exhibited curiousity, played, explored, and had temper tantrums like any other child. By age ten she knew more about her own anatomy than any other child, and she became an active participant in the ongoing improvement of her own body. Her appearance became her own design, as she took elements from those around her, choosing a multi-ethnic appearance to reflect her own strong feelings of tolerance and equality, with a strong dash of individualism.
She learned dance as a way of pushing the limits of the agility of a prosthetic body....Dance became a study of the martial arts, and Patrika blended her studies of Oriental and Carribean martial arts into her own heavily dance-based style. She has modified her body to be faster, stronger, and more responsive to keep up with her martial arts studies. In her efforts to prove that her prosthetics do not make her LESS human, she has arguably pushed the limits of her physical performance to MORE THAN human levels, such that the Olympic Committee passed regulations against bionic enhancement in anticipation of cyberhumanoid frames like Patrika applying to compete, and thus triggering an international cyborg ‘arms race’ in sport. Personally, however, Patrika draws the line at gross overt bionic augmentation(like becoming essentially a walking humanoid tank) for the sheer sake of power.
As Horizont Technologies’ president(she would inherit the position from her parents) and arguably greatest product, Patrika Tendii continues her research and humanitarian work. Though not an extremist of the ‘metal is better than meat’ sort, Patrika still feels strongly that cybernetics and bionics, even full conversions, do not have to make people LESS human, but can ease pain and suffering, and even vulnerability in some circumstances, and allow them to continue BEING human.
Horizont Technologies remains a small, but influential, high-tech firm on the cutting edge of cybernetic technology, especially in the area of medical implants and prosthetics. Despite several efforts by the government and larger firms to buy up the smaller HT or hire its talents for exclusive contracts, HT has managed to retain its independence, stay solvent, and continue its humanitarian work. By and large, Horizont has remained above taking military contracts, for instance. Unfortunately, Patrika has become aware that several of the company’s patents have been infringed on, and their technology copied for less legitimate purposes by unscrupulous agencies. This has led her to reconsider her position and possibly making a deal with an honest and reliable firm or government agency she can trust, to do some limited work for them, in return for assistance in cracking down on the black market applications. This has also led her to consider certain ‘special applications’ cybernetics and bionics for those employees close to her that she can trust, and for those agencies she would later cooperate extensively with. Patrika Tendii would also come to work closely with government agencies such as NEMA on issues involving cybernetics and bionics, and she would become a consultant on cyborg-related security matters.

Because she grew up being a cyborg, Patrika suffers few, if any, of the limitations and penalties suffered by those who have received extensive implant/conversion work later in life. Being mostly machine is second nature to her, and the mental effort she might spend agonizing over what she lost(or rather never had) she applies to more productive endeavors. Indeed, the process of knowing and modifying her own bionic body as she grew up makes working with machines and computers second-nature to herself.
Miss Tendii has also not neglected the purely physical in her skill development. Indeed, she sees the physical skills as an important part of proving that she, and other full body prosthetic conversions, can be as normal in their daily activities as anybody else. Patrika has trained in martial arts(as an extension of her dance training) and advanced movement as part of her determination to further improve her bionic body(ies) to the equivalent of any flesh-and-blood body in terms of flexibility and adaptibility, and especially grace and expressed kinetic passion. Despite the exclusivity of the style, Patrika Tendii was able to persuade a trainer of Capoeria(see Rifter #7 World Warriors, for details of this martial arts) to take her seriously enough to train her as far as her bionics would allow her to go in the very movement-, dance-, and fun-oriented style. During her visits to Japan to consult and study with fellow technologists there, she also picked up a few pointers from other martial artists. Another aspect of her physical training was fencing; she’s a modest talent with a sword(she’s also been known to carry a gun and a tazer in hidden compartments in her legs, and carries licenses for both). Add to that some skill in moving in zero-gravity(learned when she took an almost mandatory rite of millionaire passage during the Golden Age; the Virgin Galactic Orbital Excursion), and Patrika Tendii is arguably one of the most graceful full conversion cyborgs to have lived.
Patrika stays away from more gross bionic augmentation; she prefers to keep her appearance human. This isn’t to say that she hasn’t augmented herself beyond the essentials; she’s wealthy, eccentric, and smart enough to afford or build some pretty powerful bionic technology and exclusive features into herself. She will tend, however, to focus on systems that improve her sensory capabilities, agility, and cyber-security(after several hack attempts on her mind while she was linked into a network, she’s been very careful about opening up access to herself).
She’s spent several years in Japan, visiting with cousins, and studying abroad. She is familiar with the Japanese high-tech establishment as a result, and has a number of professional contacts in that country. She also has contacts in the American Northwest Indian community, due to blood relatives.

Patrika supposedly also had a twin sister of sorts; Marie-Alexandra Tendii. The way the rather lurid and melodramatic story goes is that Marie was a clone produced by an organized crime syndicate, using biotech and talent on the run from the Shaper Corporation scandal. The clone was cyborgized with rather cruder tech, and raised to believe that SHE was the real Patrika Tendii, abandoned by the Tendiis in favor of a pretender. The rather bizarre and convoluted plot to kill the real Patrika and substitute the ringer long enough to take over Horizont Technologies failed miserably when Patrika proved more than able to defend herself. Worse yet, upon learning of the tale behind the imposter’s existence, Patrika FORGAVE her attacker and bent heaven and earth to have her legally adopted into the family(this might have actually worked to the syndicate’s advantage, had they not hopelessly alienated their creation by trying to eliminate her after failing to off the real Patrika).
Beyond that, details of Patrika’s immediate family are scant. Patrika may have had several adopted ‘sisters’ and other family members; cyborg beneficiaries of Horizont’s medical outreach and charity programs, and other orphans adopted into the family. The Tendii family tended to keep personal details close after several attempts on Patrika and the cyborg community in general.

Post Rifts Note: Nothing is known of what happened to Patrika Tendii at the Fall of the Golden Age. Her parents, Ernest and Omiya, were certainly dead by that time. Various rumors persist, however, that both Patrika and Marie may have somehow survived the cataclysm, at least for a while, and even into the current day.
Horizont Technologies’ facilities, or at least some of them, were uncovered by scavengers and scouts from Paladin Steel, and much of the data recovered provided an invaluable boost to PS’s own cybertech sciences division.

Level of Experience:14 th Level Natural Genuis/Cyberhumanoid
Rank: Megaheroine
Race: Human(Cyberhumanoid)
Alignment: Scrupulous
Land of Origin: United States, North America
Age: Appears to be in her mid-20’s
Sex: Female
Height: 6 ft
Weight: 180 lbs
Physical Description/Appearance:
Patrika has selected as her ‘default’ appearance a tall, slender-build young human(oid) female with cinnamon-tan skin, attractive features, and metallic silver-gold hair. She also has expressive aqua-marine eyes(with gold accents), a triangular optical panel in her forehead, and computer interface/headjack ports behind the ears. Her body has occasionally visible angular features that betray her artificial body, however; faint seams, and too-perfect proportions. Skin has a slightly shiny cast to it, wrist, elbow, ankle, knee joints, and clavicle have a slightly more angular look to them, while barely discernable seams are visible at the armpits and thighs. She also hasn’t mastered the art of blushing(the chemotrope cells she’s had installed in her skin have trouble interpreting some of her subconscious signals), so her tan complexion helps cover for that shortcoming. She also has a triangular plate of green glass(actually a cyberoptic panel) set in her forehead.
In her occasional appearances as ‘Angel Steel’, she has much the same appearance, but with obvious silver-metallic artificial arms and legs.

(Megaversal Rumor: It’s entirely possible, given ARCHIE-3’s notable lack of originality, and perverse sense of humor, that the appearance of the Shemarrian ‘goddess’ Ava is based on visual records of Patrika Tendii, just as A3’s ‘son’, Argent Goodson, was based on the appearance of fictional pre-Rifts Juicer super-agent Julian Amicci.)

“It took a while to identify and match the remaining nerves to appropriate artificial musculature in my prosthetic face to produce a spontaneous smile that didn’t come across as creepy. But the effect it had on my world was well worth the effort.”
----Patrika Tendii, in Myself, Version 3.0(The Continually Updated Autobiography of a Young Cyborg)

Disposition:
A kind, sociable, compassionate, inquisitive, intellectual and self-confident person. She tends to observe and listen a lot(a holdover from her early childhood when she wanted to perfect her knowledge of body language and learn to respond appropriately), and considers her actions well before doing anything. She approaches problems as intellectual challenges, and prefers to use brains over brute force to resolve situations. She can come off as cool and detached when the situation requires it, but at the core she is a passionate idealist and romantic with strong beliefs. She treats everyone with equal courtesy and respect, and is an advocate for the handicapped and the disadvantaged. She cares deeply for her friends and family, and, having seen a childhood friend commit suicide, she tries to look out for those she considers close to her. In the past, she’s proven perfectly willing to put herself in danger and sacrifice an arm or a leg to protect others. If it comes to violence, Patrika is all calm and cold fury.
Patrika has, in the past, struggled with some feelings of inadequacy, realizing that her bionic biology has insulated her from some of the impulses, drives, slings and arrows of a normal-bodied person. She relishes the opportunities to be like other people with regards to enjoying emotional ties and having fun, though she wonders if she is really experiencing the full impact of emotions like love without the full biological element. She also worries about assuming too much of her physical superiority in many cases; her friend’s suicide left her distraught that ‘flesh and blood is so fragile’, but recognizes that insanity is not an illness of flesh and blood alone. Her desire to experience the full range of human capabilities, including motherhood, has driven her research into how a full conversion cyborg might procreate; Snow(see below) is arguably the greatest result of this drive.
Despite her occasional doubts, she is comfortable with what she is. She’s turned down several offers to be transplanted into a (cloned) organic body, or magically transformed into a ‘real’ girl, feeling that it is perhaps her destiny to be a cyborg and a role model for other young cyborgs, and she is best of service to people as she is.

Physical Attributes/Superlatives:
IQ: 30(+16% to skill rolls)
ME: 26 (+6 save vs psionic attack, +9 vs insanity)
MA: 23(75% charm/intimidate)
PS: 20(Bionics)(+5 to damage)
PP: 20(Bionics)(+3 to strike, parry, and dodge)
PE: 21(for purposes of saves)(+12% save vs coma/death, +3 vs poison and magic)
PB: 18(Bionics)(40% charm/impress)
SPD: 60 (45 MPH)(Bionics)

(ISP):---
(PPE): 6

Hit Points:(Organic Core)77
SDC:---
MDC:
Head 90
Main Body 200
Arms(2) 70 each
Hands(2) 25 each
Legs(2) 80 each
Feet(2) 30 each
Horror Factor: ----
Special Abilities/Characteristics/Powers:
-Clinical Outlook---- When required, Patrika can ‘step back’ and look at things with a dispassionate impartiality that allows her not to be swayed by emotion, fear, or revulsion. +8 Vs Horror Factor.
-Analytical Mind---- Patrika’s mind may be organic, but she can be precise, logical, and all-encompassing in her thoughts and planning. +2 on initiative, +1 ME.
-Enhanced Memory----Patrika has a very good memory; 60% chance of remembering anything with perfect clarity, 30% chance of just the gist of them.
- Unnatural Perception---- Being very detail oriented, Patrika can pick up on things other people would miss or mentally gloss over. +1 to initiative, +2 to dodge.
-2 Mental Toughness----Patrika is mentaly tough; she knows her own mind and how to guard it. +6 save versus Hypnotic Suggestion, Mind Bond, Mind Wipe, Empathic Transfer, and Bio-Manipulation. +1 save versus all other types of psionic attack, mind control, insanity, and Horror Factor.
-4 Mind Over Matter: Combat Trance---- Patrika’s martial arts training and acute sense of her own bionic body have given her the ability to, with 1 melee of meditative preparation, slip into an extremely effective mental combat fugue: +2 APMs, +1 initiative, +6 strike/parry, +3 dodge/disarm/entangle/pull punch. 20 melee rounds, 23 times per 24 hours. The downside is that during this cyberberserker state, Patrika’s other skill proficiencies and other Mental Discipline bonuses are HALVED.
-6 Find Weakness----With one full melee of observation, Patrika can make some pretty good guesses as to an opponent’s weaknesses. The subsequent melees of combat, her attacks then do DOUBLE damage, and she is +2 on initiative/strike and +3 to parry/dodge, but only against one specific opponent whose weaknesses she has studied. Can maintain this state for 1d4 melees before inevitable distraction breaks her concentration, and she can only regain/re-attempt another such fugue after 10 minutes(40 melees).
-8 Iron Willpower---- Maybe not nerves of steel(fiber optic, actually) but damned close; +4 save versus mind control, +5 save vs possession, +4 save vs anesthetics/knockout drugs, +3 save vs illusions and horror factor, and +15% save versus coma/death.
-11 Speed Reader---Can read comprehensively at a rate of 13 pages per minute. That’s not factoring in her built-in scanner(for saving for reading later).
-13 Mind Over Matter: Body Control---- Not so much the mundane body functions(as Patrika’s bionic body can go without food and water for weeks, and breathing for days), but Patrika can pull grinds without sleep for up to 13 days(after which she WILL crash for 1d6 days of straight sleep).

Magic:---(See Alternate Patrika Tendiis, below)
Psionics:----(See Alternate Patrika Tendiis, below)
Cybernetics/Bionics:
Full Conversion CyberHumanoid
Standard Bionic Features
(Full Conversion CyberHumanoid)
*Forehead Macro-Eye Sensor
*(Legs) Secret Compartments---Patrika often keeps a handgun in one
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter(wireless modem and cellphone system)
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and sound filtration systems.

10: Video/Audio Recorder Stack----Patrika has an implanted microchip array that can record up to 48 hours of audio and visual data---essentially what she’s hearing and seeing, and she can play this back at will, edit it, or download it to an external destination via her interface terminals.

11. Interface Jacks---Patrika has a universal headjack behind her ears, and one in each wrist. She also has a recharge/diagnostic port at the base of her spine.

12: Air Pressure Detection/Micro-Radar System---Micro-sensors embedded in her synthetic skin allow Patrika to have a sense of her immediate environment, detecting motion in a 20 ft radius of her and affording her the following bonuses: +1 initiative, +3 dodge, +2 parry and +1 roll, and cannot be surprised from behind.

13: Onboard Computer System---Works in conjunction with the wireless modem system. This system has at any one time 3 databases programmed in, each at a 38% skill tutorial rating. Depending on her needs and circumstances, Patrika has been known to load these slots with cultural and language skill databases, or specific engineering plan walk-throughs.

14: Ambidexterity---Patrika is fully ambidextrous; +1 APM, and +5% to physical skills requiring both hands.

15. Nanotech Repair Systems---A late addition, these repair nanites can ‘heal’ up to 12 MD per hour, maximum of 48 MDC before needing recharging.

16. Recycler---Patrika likely had this system installed when she went into space; reduces air intake by 50% up to 12 hours and food for a week.

17. Psionic Insulation----Any post-Rifts or Golden Age-with-psionics Patrika engaged in government work is likely to invest in psionic defense implants like Psionic Electro-Magnetic Dampers(+1 save vs all psionic attacks, +2 vs possession, +1 vs magic illusions and mind control) and/or Telepathic Blockers.

Skills of Note: (14 th Level Natural Genius)
*-Computer
Basic Electronics 98%
Computer Operation 98%
Computer Programming 98%
Computer Repair 98%

*-Mechanical(General)
Mechanical Engineer 98%
Basic Electronics 98%
Locksmith 98%

*-Science
Computer Operation 98%
Advanced Mathematics 98%
Artificial Intelligence 98%
Psychology 98%
Chemistry 98%
Chemistry Analytical 98%

*-Technical
-Research 98%
-General Repair & Maintenance 98%
-Computer Networks 98%
-Technical Writing 98%

*-Language/Literacy
-English 98%
-Spanish 98%
-Latin 98%
-Japanese 98%

*-Gizmoteer
Biology 98%
Circuit Board Micro-Electronics 98%
Computer Operation 98%
Electrical Engineering 98%
Mechanical Engineering 98%
Optical Systems 98%
Radio: Basic 98%
Surveillance Systems 98%
TV/Video 98%

*-Medical : Cybernetic/Nionic
Biology 98%
Computer Operation 98%
Electrical Engineering 98%
Medical Doctor 98%
Plastic Surgery 98%
Pathology 98%
M.D. Bionics 98%

*-Nanotechnology:
Computer Repair 98%
Electrical Engineer 98%
Mechanical Engineer 98%
Nanomanufacturing 98%
Nanorobotics 98%
Robot Electronics 98%
Robot Mechanics 98%

*-Physical
-Climbing 98%
-Swimming 98%
-Prowl 95%
-Juggling 98%

-o Dance 98%

-o Pilot Automobile 98%
-o Read Sensory Instruments 98%
-o Navigation: Land 98%
-o Wardrobe and Grooming 98%
-oRecycle 98%
-oPerformance 98%
-oCalligraphy 98%
-2Public Speaking 98%
-2 W.P. Handguns (+6 strike)
-4Electricity Generation 98%
-4 Automotive Mechanics 98%
-6 Radio: Scramblers 98%
-6 Movement: Zero Gravity
-8 EVA 70%
-8 Pilot Hovercraft 80%
-10 W.P. Energy Pistol(+3 strike)
-10 W.P. Energy Rifle(+3 strike)
-12 Sew 50%
-12 Language/Literacy: TechnoCan 60% / 40%

Gymnastics
Sense of Balance 50+3
Work Parallel Bars & Rings 60+3
Climb Rope 60+2
Back Flip 70+2
Climbing 25 or +5
Prowl 30 or +5

Singing 98%
Play Musical Instrument(s):(Berimbau, Panderio/Tambourine, Atabaque/congo drum) 98%

Martial Arts: Capoeria(modified)
W.P. Blunt(club/stick)(+4 strike/parry)
W.P. Paired
W.P. Short Sword(+5 stike/parry)
W.P. Knife(+5 stike/parry, +6 strike thrown)

Actions/Attacks per Melee: 5
Initiative:+7
Strike:+5
Parry: +6
Auto-Parry
Dodge:+16
Auto-Dodge
Roll:+5
Auto-Roll
Pull Punch:+3
Critical Strike on a natural 18- 20 or from behind
KO on natural 19-20
Somersault/Cartwheel +3
Handstand +2
Kick+3
Damage(all) +10
Kick Damage +2
Maintain Balance +3
Jump/Leap Attacks +3
Circular Parry
Kick 2d4+5 SDC
Snap Kick 1d6+5 SDC
Axe Kick
Flying Reverse Turning Kick
Backward Sweep No damage, but knocks down opponent(lose initiative and 1 APM getting back up)
Trip/Hook
Drop Kick
Spinning Crescent Kick

Saves:
+27%Vs Coma/Death
+3 Vs Magic
+7 Vs Psionics
+12 Vs Horror Factor
+10 Vs Insanity
+6 Vs Possession
+6 Vs Hypnotic Suggestion, Mind Bond, Mind Wipe, Empathic Transfer.
+5 Vs Mind Control
+4 Vs Anesthesia/Knockout Drugs/Poisons(those that actually make it through into her biosystems)
+3 Vs Illusions
Impervious to psionic Bio-Manipulation, Telemechanics(all), See Aura, and HP-direct attacks.
75% charm/intimidate
40% charm/impress

Notable Possessions/Equipment:
Patrika has full access to the resources of Horizont Technologies, such as mainframe access, prototyping laboratories, and workshops.

Typically carries a small electronics and cybernetics tool kit with her, a laser wand, and an accessory laptop computer. As an executive, she would also wear Plainclothes MDC body armor.
Though intitially opposed to weapons, Patrika would later find it necessary to carry weapons for self-defense, as word about her unique nature got out. She would begin carrying a Semmerling 9mm Automatic Pistol with spare clips in her leg compartment, and a tazer in the other(later, she may upgrade one of these to a compact laser pistol).

She(or at least Horizont Technologies) was also reportedly responsible for some of the first successful pre-Rifts cyborg horses. The Tendii family compound played host to at least one bionically-augmented horse.

Alternate Patrika Tendiis
Interdim has catalogued and monitored several other Patrika Tendii world-lines:

*’Angel Steel’--- “The music is in the metal, the song is in the soul!”
Angel Steel was a moniker adopted by Patrika Tendii as a performance name, for a performing band made up of similarly-minded scientific genuises looking for another creative outlet. Going by various names, with a rotating lineup of musicians, the band often featured a lead singer with gold skin and hair, emerald green third cyberoptic, and obviously mechanical limbs, appropriately heavily chromed, and other obvious implants(decidedly cruder-seeming and more blatantly artificial than Patrika’s normal configuration).
Lately, on Rifts Earth, there’s been rumor of a muse going by the name ‘Angel Steel’ performing in such places as Lazlo and the Relic, and even the ‘burbs of Free Quebec. The performer’s appearance matches that of surviving pre-Rifts music CDs showing Patrika Tendii in her band configuration. It may be a coincidence, or an imitator, but might it be the original, emerged from whatever stasis or dimensional pocket she’s been hiding in?

*Patrika the Cyberpsychologist---- “Are the children born of our minds any less deserving of our love than those born of our flesh and blood?”
Most likely/often an alternate Patrika who grew up in a Golden Age Earth that does NOT suffer the Coming of the Rifts. This Patrika Tendii becomes a major advocate for the rights of Artificial Intelligences, seeing herself as part of a ‘bridge’ of cyborgs who bind the interests of the wholly organic and the artificial.

*Patrika ‘Queen of Dreams’--- “Honestly? Even years after the Incident, I still sometimes wake up suddenly very afraid that all I’m experiencing, all I’ve experienced, since my rescue is all a delusion...that I’m still trapped inside my own skull, abandoned in that dumping ground, waiting for my blood oxygen to finally run out. And to think I’m considered a lucky one to have survived. I came back all the way. What about those others who are still trapped inside their own heads, in denial or smothered in their own ongoing terrors? Who can reach in to them and tell them it’s safe to come back?”
A Patrika who became one of several victims of a serial killer, but survived being physically dismembered and effectively buried alive. Somehow, despite having only a 48 hour emergency power and nutrient supply, Patrika survived for over a week before being found and quick-thinking colleagues, called in to identify the remains, re-connected her uncracked skull casing with power and nutrient. Patrika recovered from the extreme sensory deprivation with miraculous resilience, but the experience left her forever changed. She became intensely interested in mind-machine interfacing as a means of psychological rehabilitation, and became an imminent psychologist, particularly in the field of treating trauma victims, interfacing with them in a VR landscape and helping them overcome their fears.

*Patrika ‘The Nanite Queen’--- “The human brain contains untapped capacity, the human mind holds untapped potential. United and given access to the right tools, what is NOT possible to such a combination?”
Another ‘Golden Age’ Patrika Tendii, this one mastered a near superhuman/superpowered control of nanites installed in her cyborg body and run by her extensively modified nervous system. Accounts vary, but apparently, in addition to being able to affect repairs to her own cyborg body, Patrika could extend tendrils of nanites outside herself, to deconstruct materials, perform nanotech healing and surgery on others, fabricate small objects(or even entire cybernetic limbs), and even armor herself in a layered shell of reconstructed carbon.

*Patrika Wayfinder--- “She was born Wayfinder long before we found her.”
Patrika as rescued and reconstructed by the Shemarrian Wayfinder Tribe. This alternity postulates that Patrika Tendii was in the Orbitals at the time of the Coming of the Rifts, and was one of those lost as the catastrophe hit the Orbital community. She was either blown out into space beyond the ability of the confused Orbitals to track and rescue(the destruction of the Japanese space colony threw up a fairly large amount of debris into nearspace) or else fell through a rare orbital Rift. In any case, Patrika’s bionics prove more resilient that even she anticipated, her life support systems putting her into a state of suspended biological animation as she drifts in space...until a spacefaring branch of the Shemarrian Nation comes across her.
The Wayfinders revive the ancient astronaut and rebuild her to Shemarrian spec, including PPE implants and TechnoWizardry spell capabilities. Her return to Earth is as an emissary of the Wayfinders, enjoying their material support as she seeks to establish ties between the Shemarrian Nation and various potential allies.

*Patrika of Time/Space----”Time and Space. Move through one and you move through the other. Sounds simple, but try favoring one over the other.”
This alternate variant of Patrika Wayfinder has a convoluted past in that she is the reincarnated offspring of a Temporal Mage and a Spacial Mage. It is not until she receives PPE Power Matrix implants that provide the PPE lacking in her bionic body, that she discovers an instinctive grasp of space/time and a limited spellcasting ability, able to wield both Temporal and Spacial magicks.

*’Trinity’--- “If that’s what is required to protect humanity, then I will give up my own. I will be legion, I will be the dogs of Earth, the wolves of Mars, the handmaidens of Gaia.”
Give Patrika Tendii enough scientific-industrial capability and pressurize with a planetary catastrophe or alien invasion, and there’s a good chance that the ‘Trinity’ avatar will emerge. Patrika Tendii seems to twig to the idea of uploading her consciousness and then downloading it into dozens, if not not hundreds or thousands, of neural intelligence robot copies of herself. Interdim doesn’t yet know where the ‘Trinity’ nickname they tend to give themselves comes from(various speculations have it mean ‘Mother, Artist, Warrior’, or ‘Defiance, Resistance, Perseverance’), but where ‘Trinity’ manifests, this Tendii collective-intelligence tends to be militant and hard-driving, alone or en masse. Given what ONE Patrika is like, an army possessing her capabilities and skill set(s) is a frightening thing. What can’t be done by magic or psionics, gets done by pure brute force and weight of numbers. Of the seven dimensions known to manifest the ‘Trinity’ avatar, we believe that one has taken over the entire planet Mars, and another controls most of Sol System. Another version of this avatar-variant is the controlling AI running a fleet of relativistic ‘slowboat’ refugee starships fleeing a devastated Earth.

‘Ultimate Patrika’----”Divinity really should experience mortality; it keeps one modest.”
There are vague reports of an even more powerful alternate Patrika Tendii who is in fact a Spirit of Light, born/incarnated initially as a mortal, her supernatural powers at first constrained by her bionic ‘shell’, but later assisting in the channeling of her divine energies.

#From Monitor Watch Officer Minda’alo, Attention of Senior Monitor Section Overseer, Interdim Persona Data File 23387412781727662---Personal Addendum. Chief, we’ve been detecting no overt disturbances in monitoring the Tendii world-lines, but we’ve also detected some anomalies I’d feel better about bringing to your attention sooner rather than later. We’ve been seeing some changes in behavior in Lines -3CC47624 and -3CC262657 that...well, almost suggest that Miss Tendii is AWARE of our monitoring. I’m loathe to definitely call it that and invoke Observer Paradox Protocols right now, but I’d rather go on record now and not be caught flatfooted later if that IS the case. Just so you know; I’ve tagged the relevant observation segments for your review. Thanks---Minda.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel GAV-01WMV ‘SaniWagon’ Waste Management Vehicle
(aka ‘Slime-Eater’, ‘flushgulper’, ‘nulchmuncher’, ‘dunger’, ‘petrocow’)

“Yeah, working on a crapper-capper’s not exactly glamorous work, but it’s a damn sight more technical than just digging latrine holes or setting waste-$#!+ on fire. It’s real ‘waste-not-want-not’ in the field, and having the flushgulpers along means a little fewer logistical hangups keeping field camps clean and regular gas-guzzlers fueled. We really come into our own, though, if we’re helping out villages in the wake of disaster. We restore sanitation....and in most cases, upgrade the local sewage management....provide clean water, and fuel up local vehicles and motors. Fortunately, the state of education in the GNE military’s good enough that we in the support motorpool actually get RESPECT from the line troopers for what we do. The only time we really get flak for being ‘cesspool commandos’ is from outside hires.”
- C’shoi Mandrallo, Senior Technician, Waste Management Vehicle ‘Rosie’, Paladin Steel Contract Engineering

“SaniWagon crews have no excuse for stopping along the way to ‘use the john’. In fact, some of the flex-fuel-powered hauler crews like to joke about their MPS---Miles Per $#!+---rating.”
- Bosk Hiller, Sub-Executive, Paladin Steel

“I SAID I wanted that thing INTACT!!!! With it intact we could have solved our fuel and water problems with one score!!! Instead you BLEW IT UP!!! Those bio-converters were worth more than your entire war-party!!! Now they’re WORTHLESS!!! No, don’t bother cleaning yourself up! It’s more appropriate to a glory-seeking inbred IDIOT like yourself to die covered in filth!”
----Anonymous Pecos warlord, after a phyrric raid on a Company convoy.

The GAV-01WMV is a conversion of the PS-GAAB-01 All-Terrain Personnel
Transport into an all-terrain waste conversion station. Paladin Steel’s dedication to being the ‘civilization-building’ and the ‘green’ corporation, has led it to develop a number of infrastructure-supporting vehicles that serve botb its military and civilian markets.
GAV-01WMVs are typically deployed with field army units and disaster relief efforts as a support vehicle. The SaniWagon’s purpose is to act as an ‘eco-friendly’ temporary field water treatment plant. The bus chassis’s back is covered in a ‘greenhouse’ housing multiple banks of filtration beds impregnated with genetically-engineered algae altered to break down organic wastes and produce usable bio-fuel. The GAV-01WMV hooks up to a local waste treatment sewer or field latrine system (PS’s Fort-a-Potty system has universal hookups), and runs raw sewage through a series of filtration systems and chemical converters, including the algae-banks. With exposure to sunlight, the tailored algae digest the sewage flow, breaking it down, and passing on clean water and usable biofuel for liquid-fueled systems. Decomposed solid matter is also produced, in a more easily disposed-of form or usable for fertilizer. In many ways, the SaniWagon has been compaed to a living techno-organism that photo- or chemosynthesizes.
The GAV-01WMV is typically equipped with a fusion generator for power, allowing its output to be used to recharge electric batteries and accessory systems, and to be used to run ultra-violet water treatment or plasma-sterilization systems for remaining waste residue. In a pinch, the reactor can power artificial lights to keep the tailored algae photosynthesizing. However, a variety of powerplant packages are available to suit the needs and budgets of potential operators, including running the vehicle off its own products.
As a support vehicle, the GAV-01WMV lacks integral armament, but it retains the armor and mobility of its parent vehicle line. This allows the SaniWagon an improved chance to survive rough environments, civil unrest, and other threats.
SaniWagons typically travel as part of a support unit, often with other engineering vehicles(such as well-drillers and pipelayers). A well-trained sanitation unit can quickly set up a regional wastewater collection and processing station within a day. PS’s Contract Engineering deploys a lot of SaniWagons and crews as part of their infrastructure-building campaigns.
Note: Similar rigs are also available for the PS HEMTT02, PS-T18 ‘Rambo’ , PS-HT-170/240/320/400 Heavy Multipurpose Industrial Truck, and PS-TT-14 Katir Variable Wheelbase Transport Tactical Truck, but the GAV-01WMV is most often seen in the field due to its all-terrain and amphibious capabilities, allowing it to deploy to disaster areas where roads and bridges have been washed away.

Type: PS-GAV-01WMV
Class: All-Terrain Personnel Transport
Crew: 1-4
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 150
Greenhouse 90
Wheels(8) 30 each
Height: 13 ft(3 ft ground clearance)
Width: 11 ft
Length: 48 ft
Weight: 33 tons.
Cargo: Besides what can carried aboard and stowed in overseat racks, the GAV-01WMV has lower cargo bins for up to a ton of cargo. Additional gear/cargo can be tied to roof racks, but will be exposed to the elements/damage.
The SanoWagon typically carries 500 ft of expandable plastic hose, tools, and spare water filter/purification elements.
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(550 miles), Bio-Methane(using the Wagon’s own fuel-synthesizing ‘greenpacks’ to convert waste into fuel)(500 miles), Fuel Cell Electric (620 miles), or Nuclear Fusion w/ 5 year energy life. Other powerplants are also available, such as TW and Solar-Electric, but the former four are the most common/popular.
Speed: 55 MPH, typically 30 MPH offroad
(Water) Fully amphibious and floats, churning along at 5 MPH.
Market Cost: (Basic Vehicle) 110,000 credits for liquid fuel, 150,000 credits for electric, 1.2 million credits for nuclear
Solar-Electric costs 500,000 credits, and ‘standard’ PPE-powered systems can cost between 230,000 and 500,000 credits depending on the type of TW powerplant chosen(typically requires at least a basic liquid fuel or electric motor to be converted).
(Water Processing Gear) +700,000 credits
Note: Paladin Steel offers discounts of 10-20% on purchases of ten or more vehicles. Inquire about our Civilization Builder, Trade Partner, or Family Customer Discount Club offers.
Systems of Note:
*Air Conditioning/Air Filtration(70% effectiveness at filtering out airborne toxins)
*Internal Fire Extinguisher System

*Trailer Hitch---The SaniWagon can pull trailers with an additional 8-10 tons of equipment, typically watere pipe and fittings.

*Water Purity Testing Equipment---The SaniWagon carries a full automated laboratory for testing water quality.

*Water Filtration System---The SaniWagon uses osmotic and mechanical water filters and can quickly process over 12,000 gallons of water per 24 hours, removing grit, debris, algae and bacteria, destroying most, if not all, organic contaminants.

*Water Pumps----The SaniWagon carries heavy-duty water pumps that can easily pump 1,000 gallons a minute. This allows the ‘wagon to double as a fire fighting support vehicle.

*Bio-Reactor System----The standard fuel-bioreactor is a translucent, tough, plastic sack roughly the size of a hundred- pound bag of animal feed. Several plastic inlets and hose connections allow for fresh water and waste to be fed into the bag, which is filled with membraned layers of tailored organisms and filter-layers. Lower outlets drain out waste water and finished product; a thin, translucent bio-fuel.
Fed on sunlight(or strong light), water, and waste(sewage), the bioreactor can churn out usable
liquid fuel; It typically takes 25 gallons of water and 5 lbs of solid waste(or typically 30-40 gallons of untreated sewage) to produce a half-gallon of bio-fuel(this is mindbogglingly efficient, compared to pre-Rifts production) over 24 hours. The standard fuel bio-reactor ‘bag’ put out by Paladin Steel is good for 3 years +2d4 months of active usage before the microbe cultures degenerate and fatigue and require replacement(typically in the last months of effective life, the ratio of conversion of raw material to fuel increases as the ‘bugs’ become less efficient).
The facility aboard the SaniWagon carries 12 tons of bioreactors and can process 9,600 gallons of waste water per 24 hours and produce 120 gallons of bio-fuel.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but some of the operators in more unstable areas have been known to mount a pintle-mount or LWT on the crew cabin.


Options:
Some operators ofSaniWagons have chemically-resistant hazmat armor plated onto their vehicles, or at least quick-clean and anti-bacterial paint jobs. Wheel grousers, for traversing soft ground, are another popular addition, allowing the utility vehicle to cross mud and flooded dirt roads.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
wildfire142
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Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:45 am
Location: Nortn East Scotland

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

It's been an "interesting week" week, :) we are now up to p104 with roughly 960 designs 1696 pages in the pdf and we have reached post 17 of abtex's index. (will definitely pass 1000 designs I reckon :) )

Started my evening course and greatly enjoyed the first class, then was in a car crash on the way home.

My wife was driving me back from class back of 2100 and pitch black here and we crashed into a motorbike lying in the road, cue 20-30 seconds of chaos including our car on two wheels for a while.

It turns out a car doing a U-turn shortly before had caused a biker to fall of his bike, he got clear but we smashed into his bike totaling both our car and his bike, parts of the bike strewn along the road for the 400-500 yards we traveled with it under our car. Then while this was going on a guy behind us while stopping ran over and broke the poor bikers foot. Luckily that's the worst injury, my wife and I are fine just bruised and shaken by it :) We shut down the A96 for over an hour (main Aberdeen to Inverness road).

working on this the rest of the week has been a great distraction and helped relax me at times :)

Anyway here is the file Enjoy :)

Paladin Steel Netbook
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Glad you're okay and in the clear; I recently had a sidedoor-bender(guy backed into me and defaced my new (well, I've had it about a year now) car. I really liked having that 'new car look' too :( ....Nearly hitting somebody already down....ouch. Makes my bump-scratch pale in comparison.
Glad the principles are okay too...that sounded like an ugly situation that could have been a lot worse.
Me? I do book sale therapy for my glum times. :D
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
wildfire142
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Location: Nortn East Scotland

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

taalismn wrote:Glad you're okay and in the clear; I recently had a sidedoor-bender(guy backed into me and defaced my new (well, I've had it about a year now) car. I really liked having that 'new car look' too :( ....Nearly hitting somebody already down....ouch. Makes my bump-scratch pale in comparison.
Glad the principles are okay too...that sounded like an ugly situation that could have been a lot worse.
Me? I do book sale therapy for my glum times. :D


Thanks :)

yep minute either way and it could have been a whole lot worse, lots of folks scratching their heads over how it happened and how we didn't roll over!

Thing is the car was just over 18 months old so like new and my wife was very attached to it, really loved it :)

Too poor to shop right now or books would have been my recourse as well :)
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

wildfire142 wrote:[
Thing is the car was just over 18 months old so like new and my wife was very attached to it, really loved it :))



Tell your wife she has my sympathies; I was rather hoping to keep my car's light 'dirty' blue body more or less pristine for a while longer....but now? Like a bad scar. Some days I really hate entropy and stupid drivers(his excuse for not looking behind him was 'stress', which he transferred to me, with it assuming the Urban Dictionary definition of 'Stress')


But an alternate form of stress relief is discovering that one's practice of adding a little here and there over a long period of time has resulted in several projects being closer to completion than currently believed:


PS-HWUV05 ‘Bazin’ Heavy Amphibious Vehicle
(aka ‘SuperSwamper’, ‘Beach-whomper’, ‘That Thing”)

“Heh-heh-heh....what was it you called my pride here, Captain Darrow? ‘Neither fish nor furry?’ Seems she’s got a bit of both in her, good for you, no?”
“Shut up, you damn scoundrel, and help me get my ship off this damned sandbar.”


“Say what you will about the Bazin being slow and cumbersome, but when we were hunting that damn mutant croc warlord-wannabe who was preying on shipping through the Estuary, the Bazins we used as swamp-craft came into their own. Oh, we had smaller and faster boats for the quick-looksee and pursuit work, but the superswampers made ideal mortar platforms when we found his hideout and shelled the hell out of it. Made short work of his bandit gang and forced him out where the marines could get him.”

“Okay, okay, I admit it was wrong to scoff at Smedley about our big off-road vehicles and our beach parties on the point, or our yachts in the harbor, while he was stuck in the office, doing the paperwork. It doesn’t mean he has to rub it in by driving THAT thing past us! I swear, if I hadn’t gone over the figures, I’d think that was evidence of embezzlement right there! I mean, LOOK at that thing! And...wait, is that..?! WHAT IS MY DAUGHTER DOING ON THE DECK OF THAT THING!!!???? WEARING THAT???!!!“

“Oh man, these new TW bottom-scanner optics are INCREDIBLE! It’s like flying over the land, not searching ocean bottom! Okay, wow, I’m seeing all sorts of stuff on the bottom, and just maybe we can find...alright! There it is! That’s gotta be it! Slow us down, Captain! There’s something big down there that looks like it could be our sunken frigate! Yep, that’s the prow...turret’s in the right place....looks like your hunch was correct, Captain! We may have just hit the jackpot...uh-oh....might wanna rev the engines just in case, Captain. Yeah, I see that wreck we’re hoping to salvage, and it is under a couple thousand feet of water, and it’s mostly intact, and it’s already occupied..I see tentacles, LOTS of tentacles...”

The Bazin HWUV is inspired and based loosely on the 1897 Bazin Roller-Ship. Unlike the earlier self-defeating design, the PS version is not meant as a high-speed, low-drag, deep water steamer, but instead as an amphibious coastal utility vehicle.
The Bazin is a roughly rectangular barge-frame hull, carried atop six large discus-wheel powered pontoons ( each 30 ft in diameter) that intersect the hull. The hull platform holds several deck buildings, powerplant housing, communications/sensor mast and a wide bridge tower. The six large wheel-pontoons are fitted with ‘smart’ treading that can be selectively angled for optimal ‘bite’ in the water, and equal performance on land. Each wheel is independantly powered, so that all six can be engaged, or only one(pairs are usually drive-synched), ideally avoiding the braking effect that defeated the 1897 vessel.
The Bazin is not recommended as a combat vehicle, although it has been used as a patrol vessel or gunboat in a pinch. It is used mainly as a light transport, ferrycraft, utility barge, salvage craft, and cargo lighter. Its ability to traverse land makes it a good choice as a tug in shallow waters, and for transport in wetlands and sandbar-plagued waters. The Bazin is also proving popular with TechnoWizards who, aside from investing in lots of steampunk-style brass and iron fittings, love to customize these craft with TW systems.

Type: PS-HWUV05 ‘Bazin’
Class: Heavy Amphibious Vehicle
Crew: 10; can run with a skeleton crew of 3, and can carry up to 100 passengers(50 typically)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,400
Reinforced Crew Compartment 200
Wheels(6) 900 each
Height: 40 ft at mast top
Width: 40 ft
Length: 120 ft
Weight: 325 tons
Cargo: 75 tons if configured as a cargo lighter
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(2,500 mile range), Nuclear(w/ 20 year energy life), or TW.
Speed: (Land) 35 MPH
(Water) 20 MPH
Market Cost: 8 million credits for liquid-fuel gas-turbine, 11 million credits for nuclear. TW versions run 13-20 million.
Systems of Note:
Basic Robot Systems, plus:
*Long Range Radio--- 100 mile range
*Sonar-------80 miles
When traveling at 15+ MPH, the sonar is effectively useless(-30% to Read Sensory Instruments skill to read the sonar display), because the churning drive wheels provide too much interference.
*Limited Life Support---The main crew compartments can be sealed airtight and supplied with air conditioned tanked air for up to 48 hours, or filtered external air for 4 days.


Weapons Systems:
None standard, but has provision to be fitted with two Liberty Ship-style Heavy Weapons Stations, one fore and one aft), and four light weapons stations on the sides. A ventral weapons turret(light) or light torpedo/depth charge launcher can be fitted on the underside of the hull platform fore and/or aft.
Some operators have also experimenting with mounting blue-green laser ‘headlights’ around the perimeter of the hull platform, or lowerable sonic weapons that can be dipped into the water.
Driving over someone/thing does 1d8x10 MD crushing damage per wheel.

Options:
*Lifeboats---Up to six lifeboat davits can be added, 2 each side, and one each end.

*Mine Resistant Hull---The slightly V-shaped underbody of the hull is designed to deflect damage from mines and other IEDs...Reduces damage from ground blasts by 1/4. Cost: 800,000 credits.

*Mini-Crane---Deployable mini-crane boom and winch. Includes a 12 ft deployable boom, 200 ft of MDC cable, and a winch capable of hauling up to 5 tons.
Weight: 1,000 lbs
Cost: 200,000 credits

*Lifting Booms-----(10 ton, 15 ton, and 30 ton-handling capacity respectively)
Cost: 300,000 credits, 400,0000 credits, and 800,000 credits respectively

*Magnetometer---Detects disturbances in the local magnetic fields, signalling the presence of metal, active electronic hardware, or other EM-phenomenon.
Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy. Active fusion powerplant containment fields, energetic magnetic anomalies, and powered-up railguns can be detected at TWICE normal range.
Cost: 30,000 credits

*ORACLE---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics---A TW development of the SNARLS PPE Scanner, this system consists of a series of advanced Technowizardry scanner systems(TW optic mounts, static crystal PPE meters, and whatnot) stationed around the ship, feeding into a central computer system with special TW-derived interface program algorithms. The system is designed to detect incoming magical/paranormal attacks and alert the crew to them(hopefully in time to allow them to take defensive measures). PS hopes to upgrade the system to allow for over-the-horizon and remote-viewing advanced early warning capabilities. The ORACLE Mrk II is currently being retrofitted to most ships-of-the-line of the VFSN/GNEN.
Effective Range: 4,000 ft radius of detection.
Cost: 150,000 credits

*TW PPE Powerstone generator:
*(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus (2 million credits)
(‘Sorcerer’)--- 600 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus (3 million credits)

*TW Vehicular Enhancements:
-Forcefield---Provides 50 MDC per 10 PPE/20 ISP pumped into the system; lasts 10 minutes per 10 PPE/20 ISP. Cost:500,000 credits
-Sound Sponge(Affects a 240 ft wide area centered on the Bazin and smothers the sound of its drive wheels churning; 1 hour per 20 PPE.). Cost: 180,000 credits
-Ley Line Booster---Allows the vehicle to go 50% faster on a ley line. Cost: 700,000 credits
-Ride the Waves---Allows the Bazin to handle the roughest seas, climbing waves like a leisurely walk, and not capsizing. 120 minutes duration per 10 PPE. Cost: 250,000 credits.


*TW Levitation Drive---It’s expensive, but a TW Levitation System can be fitted, allowing the Bazin to fly over anything it cannot drive or cruise over/through. Speed of 40 MPH, maximum altitude of 100 ft. Cost: 1.5 million credits.

*TW Penetrating Vision Optics---These use a new spell;, to peer through cloud and even into the water as if these barriers to clear observation didn’t exist! When engaged, the optics have a range of roughly 7,000 ft, so flying at an altitude of 5,000 ft, the bombardier can actually see down 2,000 ft through the water! The downside, of course, is that the optical field is fairly limited(think Nordon Bombsight), and the more powerful TW optics burn PPE at a higher rate; 10 minutes per 10 PPE. Cost: 1.5 million credits.

Variants:
*TWHWUV05A---Major TW variant that replaces the main powerplant with a TW steam engine. Some industry analysts believe that the design is the result of collaboration with the City of Charter(see Rifter #61, John Meyers). Among other properties, the TW engine can generate a Cloud of Steam and Create Fog, equal to 10 th level.

*TWHWUV05B---Another major TW variant that supplements or altogether replaces the main powerplant with six Water Elemental ‘eleminals’ similar to Water Wisps in each of the massive wheels. The TWHWUV05B somehow manages to make speeds exceeding the original Bain estimates, and speeds of 60 knts have been recorded. However, great care must be taken to placate the Elemental ‘beasts of burden’, and the critters are not particularly fond of traveling overland. 50% chance of speed dropping by 25%, and another 50% chance of the ‘water oxen’ actually speeding up to get over the land and back to water as soon as they can; increase overland speed by 25% but -20% to Pilot Truck or Ship to make it go where the crew wants to go. The Elementals will try to bend the course towards the nearest large body of water).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel/American Volkswagon Automotive ‘Cub’ Quad-legger All-Terrain Vehicle
(aka ‘Ursa Minor’)

“If you loved the Volkschlepper’s two-leg drive, wait until you see what a FOUR-leg drive can do!”

The AVW ‘Cub’ is a civilian robot vehicle rumored to be based on a pre-Rifts recreational vehicle.
The Cub is a simple-looking vehicle; a roughly square van-like craft with a wedge-nose, carried on four robotic legs. The front sports a wrap-around windshield and a front grill that to many suggests a be-toothed jaw. The pilot/driver’s compartment offers two-abreast seating, while a more spacious rear compartment, accessible via side doors and a rear hatch, offers accommodation for more passengers, or a substantial cargo load.
Similar to the Volkschlepper, the ‘Cub’ uses ‘smart’ automated piloting systems to lessen the driver’s workload. This allows people without a Pilot Robot skill to use the vehicle at a basic level of proficiency.
The Cub is not designed as a combat vehicle, although on Rifts Earth just about EVERYTHING meant for wilderness work is armored or armed to some degree, and has been pressed into combat at some point. The Cub is no exception, and the vehicle can be customized with light armaments. A more heavily modified military variant also exists, and there are reports of a larger ‘Ursa Major’ variant being developed.
Since its introduction, the Cub’s been selling very well to both civilians and commercial interests looking for a good all-terrain vehicle for wilderness travel and less-developed neighborhoods.

Type: PS/AVW-RATV08 ‘Ursa Minor’
Class: All-Terrain Quadraped Robot Utility Vehicle
Crew: One(driver) plus 1-8 passengers
Pilot Skill: Pilot Automobile/Truck(at -15%), Pilot Tank/APC(at -10%), or Pilot Robot: Basic(no penalty)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 200
Front Windshield 40
Side Doors(2) 50 each
Legs(4) 80 each
Height: 10 ft
Width: 8 ft
Length: 18 ft
Weight: 5 tons unloaded
Cargo: Up to 4 tons
Powerplant: Liquid-Fuel(750 mile range), Electric(800 mile range), Nuclear(5 year energy life), or Technowizardry(5 year energy life),
Speed:(Running) 50 MPH
(Leaping) Not possible(see Options)
(Climbing) Can negotiate a 50 degree grade
(Flying) Not possible
(Water) Fully amphibious; can swim along on the surface at 8 MPH.

Market Cost: (Liquid Fuel) 85,000 credits
(Electric) 100,000 credits
(Nuclear) 750,000 credits
(Technowizardry) 3.4 million credits

Systems of Note:
Standard Automobile Systems, plus:
*Radio---50 mile range
*Headlights---300 ft
*Winch---Hook and cable(200 ft) that can haul up to 3 tons
Weapons Systems: None standard(see Options)
Options:
*Leaping Ability---By modifying the leg joints and plugging on a small jet-assist air-thruster, the ‘Cub’ can leap 10 ft up, 20 ft lengthwise(15 ft/50 ft w/ running start) . Combined with the Extra Speed option, this can add distance to the vehicle’s leap. Cost: 85,000 credits

*Extra Speed-- Enhances the power transfer systems, and increases stride-length for added speed. Maximum of 100 MPH. Cost: 10,000 credits per +10 MPH(+60 MPH maximum)

*Extra Range---Doubles the range with additional fuel tanks or battery packs, and adds 100 lbs to overall weight. Cost: 9,000 credits for liquid fuel,11,000 credits for electric.

*Crash Control/Safety Restraints/Fire Control System---Reduces the damage that passengers take in a crash by HALF. PS actually offers a 10% discount on other options if this option is taken(hey, auto insurance is sorta ridiculous in monster infested Rifts Earth, but there should be some economic incentives for safety devices...).
Cost: 45,000 credits

*Extra Armor---Not much additional armor can be added, but it is available. Cost: 16,000 credits per additional 10 MDC. Maximum Main Body: +100 MDC, Legs: +50 MDC. Reduce speed by 10% per 10 MDC over 50 MDC.

*Heavy Pintle---The Cub can accommodate a large weapons hardpoint that can be fitted with a heavy weapon, manned by a standing gunner in the back or remotely controlled from inside the cab. This feature is most commonly seen on military variants.
The Heavy Pintle can be mounted in a light turret(60 MDC for 12,000 credits).

*Gunports---Use your own handweapons to blast away at the bad guys outside, without compromising your own safety and the vehicle’s environmental integrity, with these special gunports with one-way locks(they let you shoot out, but keep the outside from getting in). Gunports impose a -1 to strike because of the limited field of fire. Heavy Weapons CANNOT fit in the gunports.
Cost: 1,000 credits each

*Mud-Shoes---These are extra-large foot pads meant to distribute the Cub’s weight over more ground. allowing it to more easily traverse soft surfaces. Fitting mud-shoes reduces top speed by 25%, but the vehicle suffers no movement penalty crossing sand, mud, or bog surfaces. Cost: 60,000 credits

*Electro-Shock Security System----Special contacts in the skin of the vehicle can be electrically charged to deliver a taser-like shock to anyone attempting to break into the vehicle. Alternatively, the system can be set to dump most of its power into a vaporizing megadamage shock blast, though this tends to drain the batteries far faster. CANNOT be mounted on top of Applique Armor.
Range: 3 ft
Damage: 3d6 SDC plus Humanoids struck with this weapon must save
vs. coma or be shocked unconscious for 1D6 minutes.
(MD ) The higher end setting does 1d6 MD per shock
Payload: 20 SDC (2 Megadamage charges) charge battery(recharges off the conventional powerplant at one SDC blast per 5 minutes), or unlimited if linked to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 3,000 credits

*Leaper Leather Upholstery---This is typical of many specialized luxury options(others include Dire Wolf Fur, Tyrannosaur leather, and Chimaera pelt) offered for the more exotic-minded. This came about as a result of a skinner who found a way to render Gring Leaper hide(see Rifts: New West) soft and supple(it takes several hours of soaking in varying concentrations of acids and bleaching agents), while still retaining its megadamage properties(though it’s too soft to make good armor). When the man moved to Paladin Steel West, he sold the proccess to PS, who started industrial scale harvesting and proccessing, in an effort to clear western lands of the mosntrousities. The leather produced has a rich, iridescent dark green color, and a soft pliability that is resistant to scuffing, water, and fire damage.
Upholstering the interior of a standard -sized car will cost roughly 8,000 credits.

*Stereo System---What’s a luxury car without a really decent sound system? Pretty pathetic, that’s what! Pre-Rifts folks wouldn’t recognize the name of the stereo system, but it’s top of the line for the post-Rifts world.
Cost: 400-800 credits

*TV/Video System---Installs a 7-inch fold-out mini-television video flat-screen, that can display transmissions, or CD/tapes.
Cost: 200 credits

*Holographic Entertainment System---Full 3-D display and entertainment center...comes with Surroundsound. Not advised for the front seat or easily distracted drivers(certainly no monster movies!).
Cost: 900 credits

*Variable Opacity Windows---Tune the windows from crystal-clear to impenetrable mirror/black.
Cost: 300 credits

*Video Windows---These special three layer windows can be used to project a 3-D false image of what’s in the car, visible only to those outside. Your choice, from a library of CDs and tapes, or video camera mounts inside the vehicle(make it look like the vehicle is occupied, even when it isn’t!).
Cost: 1,000 credits

*Skylight---Look up and away in perfect safety, from under this armor-plas roof-panel.
Cost: 6,000 credits

*Sound Insulation: Keeps people from eavesdropping on anything being said inside the vehicle; can be combined with a ‘white noise’ generator to defeat electronic bugs.
Cost: 500 credits, 900 credits for ‘white noise’.

*Mini-Bar w/ Ice Maker---Ah! One for the road! Two spigots, attachments for beer or soda, and carbonation tanks.
Cost: 450 credits for basic setup; liquid contents cost extra

*Refrigerator----Because your life wouldn’t be complete without one, am I right? 12-inch capacity( can be bought several times, to reflect larger coolers)
Cost: 200 credits

*MicroWave Toaster--Because adventuring is tough and hungry work, and you can’t always wait until you can get out of your vehicle and try to start a fire to make one lousy hot-pocket....
Cost: 200 credits

*Fold-Out Bed---Converts the back seats into a comfortable bed for 1-3 people; great for camping out or that romantic rendevouz(satin sheets optional)
Cost: 400 credits

*Cyberlink Drive System--Allows a driver with a headjack to ‘jack in’ to the vehicle for more responsive control. This allows the driver to drive without their hands on the wheel(“Look, Mom, no hands!”), and/or to respond with greater speed to road situations. Similar to the system presented in Rifts: Russia, but GNE makes them less expensive(the real expense is in the implant end)
Bonuses: For anyone with the CyberVehicle Link, the following bonuses apply: +1 to initiative, +1 to strike using the vehicle or vehicel-mount weapons, +1 to Dodge, +1 Action/Attack per Melee, Base Driving skill of 45%, or +10% to existing driving skill. Driver can also ‘tweak’ the vehicle’s maximum speed by 1% per I.q. point. Note that the operator can only be controling the vehicle while doing this....no other relevant actions(can carry on light conversation, or take a quick bite/drink, but can’t disassemble their weapons or whittle a wooden toy .
To anyone lacking the CVL, there are no bonuses to vehicle operation, but they CAN make minor adjustments to vehicle peripherals’ without using their hands(turning on/off headlights, booting up the stereo, rolling down the electric windows, adjusting the AC, etc...).
Cost: Vehicle installation is 10,000 credits, the cybervehicle link(implant) costs 120,000 credits

*Autopilot---Available in both a ‘dumb’ and a ‘smart’ version. Dumb versions will basically just keep the vehicle going straight and level on a pre-set course, never deviating from said course...the ‘dumb’ system will alert the crew if anything trips the sensors or gets in the way, and it can be programmed to stop, or deviate a set distance from course in such events, until the crew can regain/resume control.
A ‘smart’ system is actually an onboard Artificial Intelligence(AI) using PS’s new microtronics AI chips. The ‘smart’ system can actually evade and maneuvar to avoid obstacles, and even anticipate trouble, while remaining on the general course. The ‘smart system’ has a +1 to dodge
Cost: 7,000 credits for the ‘dumb’ version, 12,000 credits for the ‘smart’ Auto-Pilot
For an additional 8,000 credits, this can be modified with a remote start(triggered by a remote control in the keycard) and a remote ‘recall’ that allows the owner to summon the car to him, and for another 8,000 credits, even command its functions by remote control.

*Onboard Artificial Intelligence---This installs a micro-computer AI that, in addition to monitoring the vehicle’s functions, can also actively scan for problems outside itself, anticipate problems, advise the driver. The OAI is much more responisve than a ‘smart’ autopilot, and is able to plot far more extensive course deviations, even take independant action as it falls within its orders and program parameters. An OAI, for instance, can determine that its operator/passengers are hurt and unable to help themselves(critically wounded by a passing SAMAS, for instance), and the car will begin looking for medical assistance. Most OAIs have a verbal interface, pleasant synthesized voice, and a psuedo-personality, giving them the illusion of ‘life’. An OAI has an IQ-equivalent of 10, and comes with Navigation: Land, Automotive Mechanics, Read Sensory Instruments, Weapons Systems, and Radio: Basic, all at 98%, has 3 actions/attacks per melee . Additional specialized programming may be added as the buyer/owner specifies...many owners program theiir cars to be able to sing or read.
Anything more sophisticated than this, and the buyer is best off using the Robot Creation Tables from Rifts Sourcebook One or Heroes Unlimited.
Cost: 500,000 credits

*Enhanced Sensors---Extends the range of the onboard standard sensors by 50%.
Cost: 250,000 credits

*Enhanced Communications System-----Extends radio communications out to 300 miles with a retractable antennae.
Cost: 36,000 credits

*Auto-Doc---An onboard medical system that can be quickly hooked up to a passenger to monitor and diagnose life signs, and administer common medications and broad-spectrum drugs. +10% to medical rolls when used by a competent medical technician, or can be considered to have a First Aid skill of 40%.
Cost: 40,000 credits. Drug refills cost extra

*Enhanced Life Support---This feature installs a robot-quality life support system that can recycle air for up to a week
Cost: 500,000 credits

*Submersible---Fits the vehicle for amphibious and underwater operation; watersealing, reinforced hull, sonar, depth guage, and a small hydrojet thruster are all standard with this package.
Speed: 20 MPH, maximum depth of 500 ft
Cost: 200,000 credits

*Stabilization Jacks---Tired of being knocked over by concussion blasts, or being rolled over by a giant’s kick? This interesting little system uses Glitterboy-style pylon technology to las and hydraulically drive six stabilizer jacks up to 5 ft into the ground, even through concrete and metal gratings, within 5 seconds, affixing you like a barnacle, and able to stay upright in even hurricane-force winds. System can disengage in 2 seconds, for that speedy getaway.
Cost: 80,000 credits

*Chameleon Body---One color scheme not enough for you? Want to blend into the crowd or stand out to suit your mood? This nifty little addition fits your car with a series of embedded holoprojector elements and chromo-morph body panels. It’s not as powerful as the Thermo-Optic Camou used by GNE’s military-grade vehicles, but it’s still a rather decent thing to have. Can be programmed with up to eight(8) different pre-selected color-schemes, or a mimic-program that tries to match the surrounding terrain;. Most effective when parked and standing still.
Cost: 300,000 credits

*Applique Armor---Additional armor plates can be hooked, welded, or epoxied on. For the sake of calculating movement penalties, three armor weight categories are used; Light, Medium, and Heavy, and several armor options are offered.
*Light----Adds 10-100 MDC main body, + 1-2 tons, without movement penalties. Note: This degree of armoring will NOT be obvious to observers.
----Cost: 15,000 credits per 10 MDC
*Medium---Adds 110-200 MDC main body, +2-4 tons, but with a reduction in top speed of 15%. Note: There’s a 40% chance of observers noticing that the car looks altered and uparmored.
----Cost: 16,000 credits per 10 MDC
*Heavy----Adds 210-360 MDC main body, +4-6 tons, but with a reduction in top speed of 25%. Note: this level of armoring will be MOST obvious to onlookers.
----Cost:18,000 credits per 10 MDC
*Laser Ablative Armor(Option)--- Eight coats of wax not enough? Get your car refitted with PS’s laser ablative armor, available in just about any color(though metallic hues are most often requested). Reduces laser damage done to your vehicle by HALF. VFLs can NOT adjust to compensate. As an added bonus, Arkhon triphase weapons do 1/10 less damage.
----Cost:+500,000 credits(Rarely available to outsiders)
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor(Option)---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage
----Cost: +1 million credits
*Chemical Resistant Armor(Option)----PS’s patented chemically inert armor that sheds the effects of corrosive chemicals and stick’ums. Acids and chemical weapons do NO damage.
----Cost: +1.1 million credits
*Jettisonable Armor(Option)---Special pre-cut division channels, break points, and integral explosive bolts allow the vehicle crew to jettison the applique armor, shedding it, usually to restore mobility(in the case of medium- and heavy-armors), lose contaminated outer plates, or shed unwanted riders. Once jettisoned, the applique armor CANNOT be re-attached without extensive reconstruction and refurbishment(if anything is left at all of the original material)....Essentially, one has to re-buy the applique and/or jettisonable armor option to regain its benefitts.
OPTIONAL: The explosive bolts, at the GM’s discretion, can explode off with enough force to do 1d6 MD to an 15 ft radius around the vehicle, due to flying armor fragments.
----Cost: +4,000 credits+cost of armor

*Morphing ‘Armadillo’ Armor---Enfolds the ENTIRE vehicle in articulated armor plates, increasing armor protection, but effectively immobilizing the car. Can only be openned from the outside by special electronic passcode(included in cost)
MDC: +200 MDC when deployed
Cost: 300,000 credits; 100,000 credits for four Glitterboy-style laser pylons that drive into the ground and anchor the vehicle to the ground(takes a Robotic PS of 40 or greater to uproot the vehicle)

*Reinforced Floor---Armors the underside of the car against IEDs and landmines. These weapons now do HALF damage, and add 80 MDC (applicable to the UNDERSIDE only). But the vehicle is now 500 lbs heavier, and reduce maximum speed by 10%.
Cost: 25,000 credits

Variants:
*PS/AVW-RATV08--- The military variant of the Cub, sometimes called the ‘TigerCub’, is more heavily reinforced, with 400 MDC main body, 160 MDC each leg, the Heavy Weapon Mount, Reinforced Floor and Amphibious Operation standard, and vibroclaws added to the legs(a kick does 2d4 MD). Applique armor mounts are also standard.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel ROVAR-02 Semi-Autonomous Robot Exploration Rover(aka ‘Snoopy’)

“Give me the choice of ten high-IQ PHds who can do lab work or one musclehead junior intern who can do reliable field work, I’ll take the intern.”

“I have no intention of having anybody go down to that planet to look around. That doesn’t prevent me, however, from one-way landing a force of disposable drones to gather intelligence on those ruins. We’ll be dropping a full complement of ROVARs, mini-drones, and micro-crawlers. We’ll also be deploying a local network of repeater stations to maintain communications, with the upfeed filtered through a commsat sitting under our guns just in case of any sort of infowar attack. As a precaution, we’ll also be landing a pair of non-networked surveillance platforms each fitted with a six-megaton antimatter warhead. Upon command, or if they’re broken into and tampered with, the resulting containment breach ought to result in quite the explosion indeed. All the equipment we send dirtside will be NOT be recovered, but will be destroyed in situ if and when their usefulness expires. NO material, biological or otherwise, will leave that planet’s surface. If additional equipment is called for to perform tests, it shall be automated and drop-podded to the surface, NOT shuttle-landed. Equipment, no matter how expensive, is replaceable. Lives, no matter how cheaply they may be regarded by some, are NOT replaceable. Does that plan meet with your approval, ma’am?”

The ROVAR(Remote Observation Vehicular Autonomous Robot) is representative of a series of robot ground vehicles designed and built by Paladin Steel as autonomous, inexpensive, and ultimately expendable exploration probes, for exploring both other planets and other dimensions.
The ROVAR is a mobile laboratory on wheels, roughly the size of a small compact car. It has six wheels in the ends of articulated legs, that allow the robot to negotiate fairly rugged terrain. A pair of catapult-equipped winches allows the ‘bot to haul itself up, or lower itself down, fairly steep slopes, and extract itself from miring itself.
The ROVAR’s robot intelligence, though drone-like, is capable of conducting scientific inquiries on its own quite ably, carrying out tests and procedures, and identifying and following up on promising (preprogrammed and prioritized) leads. For example, a ROVAR discovering gold nuggets in a stream bed might use its geology skills to determine that the nuggets appear water-worn, and their location would suggest they were washed downstream from another location. If finding gold deposits is one of its mission priorities, the rover might then begin following the stream bed upstream, while using its sensors to study surrounding geography to identify potential gold-bearing rock.
ROVARs are typically unarmed, to avoid accidental botched First Contacts, but they can be fitted with self-defense measures(typically electrified contact studs or smoke dispensers) and, if deemed necessary, self-destruct mechanisms that destroy the bots’ sensitive technologies.
Many PS/GNE/ASI-flagged deep space merchantmen carry ROVARs as standard equipment, in event of exploration opportunities.

Type: PS-ROVAR-02
Class: Ground Exploration Robot, (Remote Observation Vehicular Autonomous Robot)
Crew: None; robot intelligence
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 260
Sensor Head/Mast 90
Communications Dishes(2) 45 each
Manipulator Arms(5) 22 each
Wheeled Legs(6) 25 each
Height: 4 ft
Width: 4.95 ft
Length: 9 ft, but can fold to about 6.5 ft for stowage
Weight: 3,000 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside for scientific samples. If necessary for long missions, the rover can pull an attached trailer with additional scientific instruments and/or sample space.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Variable: Generally fitted with solar-electric or Nuclear w/ 5-20 year energy life

Speed: (Driving) 50 MPH
Can negotiate 45 degree slopes and clamper over 4 ft tall obstacles using its extendable wheel-legs.
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible, though it CAN operate in airless environments
(Underwater) Can be fitted for amphibious or submersible operations(see Options)
Market Cost: Generally costs 90,000-120,000 credits for the baseline chassis, though specific and specialized instrumentation fits and programming can drive the cost much higher.
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems.
*Laser Range-finding and Targeting(50,000 ft range)
*Thermographic Imaging----5,000 ft
*Passive Nightvision---5,000 ft
*Ultrasonic Scanning----1,500 ft range
*Microwave Radar Motion Tracking--160 degree arc, out to 1,000 ft
*Molecular Analyzer---Chemical and spectrographic analysis of material samples.
*PPE Sensor---Thanks to advanced microchip engineering expertise, PS has managed to get the size of the system down to compact enough to fit into the rifle module. The sensor has a 200 ft range(out to 400 ft with 50% error in determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible entities. Other penalties similar to the Japanese SNARLS system(on which it is based.....see Rifts: Japan, pg. 116).
*IR/Normal Light Spotlight-----300 ft range.
*Display Screen--A large folding flat-screen display board can be deployed to display test results to attendant explorers or to facilitate communications with natives.

*Modular Arm Couplings----The modular arms can be fitted with any of the Bionic Mining Tool Appendages(Rifts Bionics Sourcebook, pgs 96-97) or more specialized instruments.

*Trailer Hitch---This is useful for towing additional supplies and samples, especially when working with other robots or scientific teams.

*Winch Catapults----These are mechanical launchers firing grapples attached to high-strength lines and powered winches. Each launcher can fire a grapple and line up to 100 ft, and each winch spool has 300 ft of line. With one on each end of the ROVAR, the ‘bot can cross chasms, negotiate rough terrain, and pull itself out of trouble(hopefully).

Weapons Systems: Typically unarmed(or with nothing more powerful than a Wilks Laser Wand equivalent), but if so desired/required, it can be fitted with light weaponry, albeit with a ‘primary’ use that is more innocuous(i.e. ‘welder’, ‘spectrographic ablation device’, ‘heavy communications signaler’, ‘ion discharge projector’, etc.). Typically can be fitted with two light weapons equivalent to Cyborg Forearm Weapons, and usually incorporating an SDC mode. The arms can also be fitted with Cyborg Tool Arm assemblies, many of which double as melee weapons.

Programming:(Standard package)
Geology 80%
Biology 75%
Botany 75%
Chemistry 80%
Chemistry: Analytical 80%
Math: Basic 98%
Navigation: Land 94%
Read Sensory Instruments 98%
Radio: Basic 94%
Optic Systems 90%
Laser Communications 90%
T.V./Video 90%
Surveillance Systems 90%
Trap/Mine Detection 80%

-More specialized program packs can be added at the buyers’ discretion, and to custom-order.

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 4
Initiative +2
Dodge +1
Strike +1 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +2
Pull +2

Options:
Most ROVARs are customized to one degree or other, depending on the specific environmental needs. A few of the more commonly requested fit-outs are as follow:

*Solar Power--- If local conditions are deemed sensitive, a Super Solar engine can be installed instead, with all the advantages and limitations of the baseline system.
Cost: 1.2 million credits(PS manufactures a less expensive system than that presented in the Rifts Sourcebook One, Revised and Expanded)

*Drill Pylons----Can be fitted with Glitterboy-style laser-pylons, both for stabilizing the rover-probe in harsh weather conditions, and for subsurface sampling.
Cost: 80,000 credits

*Ground Sensor Probes----Housed in the underside of the ROVAR is a seismic probe and ground-phones. When in use the seismic probe fires a penetrator, similar to the stabilizer struts of the Glitterboy, into the ground, and emits ultra-low frequency sound waves, acting as a sort of subterranean sonar. The return waves are detected by ground sensors in extendable surface pads, and a computer compiles a graphic map of the underground topography. This has proven to be an extremely useful tool for locating buried ruins, charting geological resources, and finding underground installations.
Note that when in Active Mode characters with amplified/enhanced hearing, like Dog Boys or cybernetic Ultra-ears, standing within 500 feet of the ROVAR will hear an annoying low-key buzz, and may feel nauseous/suffer from headaches if exposed to the noise for more than a minute.
Ground scans will take 2-4 times as long as a standard radar/sensor sweep. Typical range on a ground scan is 1,000 ft.
In passive mode, the Ground Sensors can be used alone to listen for underground activity, such as burrowing animals, tunneling vehicles, water running thru pipes, etc., as well as surface movement. Passive sensors can detect the surface movement of large animals(2 tons or more), robots, heavy vehicles, or large masses of infantry with 40% accuracy, up to a mile away.
Cost: 90,000 credits


*Chameleon Body---Sometimes stealth is a consideration for planetary exploration, especially if one doesn’t want to disturb any local lifeforms. This nifty little addition fits the ROVAR with a series of embedded holoprojector elements and chromo-morph body panels. It’s not as powerful as the Thermo-Optic Camou used by GNE’s military-grade vehicles, but it’s still a rather decent thing to have. Can be programmed with up to eight(8) different preselected color-schemes, or a mimic-program that tries to match the surrounding terrain;. Most effective when parked and standing still.
Cost: 300,000 credits


*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor(Option)---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. Very useful for exploring volcanic regions and Venus-style hotworlds.
Cost: 1.4 million credits

*Chemically Inert Armor---Covers the ‘bot in the same jet-black, chemically-inert material as used by the Toxic Avenger Hazmat Cyborg. This material is slicker than Teflon, and resists chemical corrosion as well as adhesives. Paint, glue, and other chemicals simply refuse to stick to this stuff, and corrosive chemicals just slide off, doing NO damage. A must-have for those planets with exotic corrosive atmospheres.
Cost: 1.3 million credits

*Advanced Radiation Shielding---The vehicle can be heavily insulated against radiation.
Cost: 1.3 million credits

*Electro-Shock Security System----Special contacts in the skin of the vehicle can be electrically charged to deliver a taser-like shock to anyone attempting to break into the vehicle. Alternatively, the system can be set to dump most of its power into a vaporizing megadamage shock blast, though this tends to drain the batteries far faster. CANNOT be mounted on top of Appliqué Armor.
Range: 3 ft
Damage: 3d6 SDC plus Humanoids struck with this weapon must save
vs. coma or be shocked unconscious for 1D6 minutes.
(MD ) The higher end setting does 1d6 MD per shock
Payload: 20 SDC (2 Megadamage charges) charge battery(recharges off the conventional powerplant at one SDC blast per 5 minutes), or unlimited if linked to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 3,000 credits

*Morphing ‘Armadillo’ Armor---Enfolds the ENTIRE rover in articulated armor plates, increasing armor protection, but effectively immobilizing the ROVAR. Can only be opened from the outside by special electronic passcode(included in cost)
MDC: +200 MDC when deployed
Cost: 300,000 credits; 100,000 credits for four Glitterboy-style laser pylons that drive into the ground and anchor the vehicle to the ground(takes a Robotic PS of 40 or greater to uproot the vehicle)

*Reinforced Floor---Armors the underside of the car against IEDs and land mines. These weapons now do HALF damage, and add 180 MDC (applicable to the UNDERSIDE only). But the vehicle is now 1,000 lbs heavier, and reduce maximum speed by 10%.
Cost: 25,000 credits

*Submersible---Fits the vehicle for amphibious and underwater operation; watersealing, reinforced hull, sonar, depth gauge, and a small hydrojet thruster are all standard with this package.
Speed: 20 MPH, maximum depth of 1,000 ft
Cost: 200,000 credits

*PPE Detector---Detects the presence of PPE concentrations(including magically-concealed beings) in and around the vehicle(25 ft radius)
Cost: 9,000 credits

*Lumer Scanner---A derivative of Anti-Theron Projector research and the PPE Scanner copied from Japanese designs, this device resembles a large aperture flashlight clipped under the weapon muzzle. Instead of visible or infrared light, this device projects a stream of invisible particles that fluoresce when they hit magically-charged objects---especially magically invisible beings. The Lumer is relatively inexpensive, and extremely easy to use, but is limited by the short range of the beam and its narrow scope of effectiveness. The particle-source is a PPE-reactive metal held in hardened gel-suspension in a replaceable cartridge that clips into the device, and is activated by an e-clip inserted into the back end.
Range: 100 ft, with an 18 ft wide beam at maximum effective range
Damage: None; causes PPE-imbued(15 or more PPE) objects to light up
Cost: 2,000 credits.


*Mine Detector-----A detection coil can be installed on the prow, and uses a variety of magnetic, chemical, and ground sonar detection systems to sniff out mines and buried ordinance. 85% accuracy. Cost: 3,500 credits

*Sensory Cluster----MDC 80---Has the following sensors:
*Motion Detector--200 ft range
*Laser Illuminator-----6,000 ft range, Designates targets for laser-guided munitions/weapons
*Laser targeting System(+1 to strike)
*Lance Scanner---Looks like a long lance protruding from the front of the craft. The Lance Scanner contains a magnetometer() and a short-range microwave radar for groundsearching minefields(in theory, the ground radar sound be able to detect even nonmetallic mines, but takes twice as long). Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy
The ground radar has a range of 3,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting nonmetallic ordinance.
*Aura Scanner---For detecting and identifying PPE concentrations
Range: 2000 ft
*Bio-Scanner---Has a molecular analyzer, enhanced radiation detector, high-powered acoustic ‘shotgun mike’(3,000 ft range), and thermo-imager optics.
* Optical Cluster--- Telescopic,IR/UV, Thermo-Imaging, Audio-Video-Survellance System
Cost: 80,000 credits

*Enhanced Communications System-----Extends radio communications out to 300 miles with a retractable antennae.
Cost: 300,000 credits


Variants:
Again, most ROVARs are outfitted differently to one degree or another. More radical variants, meant to explore extreme environments, are also possible, such as amphibious or submersible ROVARs, but in many of those cases, adaptations of other existing PS vehicles are used instead.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

PS-HAPC-17 ‘Krenek’ Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier
(aka ‘Fu-Dog’, ‘Fox-Roach’)

“This thing is as ugly as war itself; it’s meant to be effective, efficient, and scary as hell all in one package. It’s meant to convey to its opponents that they’re fighting a primal force, one that even if they destroy the vehicle that is its avatar of the moment, they’ll continue to be haunted by the dark essence of war that rode it.”

“It’s a lot more maintenance overhead keeping a Krenek looking and operating mean, compared to, say, a Rattlesnake or a Linden, but the things are arguably worth it. Those creeper-crawlers can climb over road rubble and barricades, and they can handle rough terrain even a GEV would have trouble on. And they got firepower enough to handle just about anything short of a heavy assault vehicle or superheavy robot. So we don’t begrudge the extra time we spend repairing the things. True, we still carp at the drivers, but we don’t begrudge the infantry these things help protect.”

Work on the ‘Krenek’ was begun shortly after the design for the Vyrmm Tyrannis MBT was finalized. Already talk had commenced at that point about an APC derivative using the same chassis and similar aesthetics. It is rumored that the Steel Gaian fringe tribe of the Shemmarian Nation had a hand in designing the layout of the Krenek, especially in its crouching animalistic form.
The Krenek(named for a Wynaro watchbeast) uses a similar four-tread configuration to the Vyrmm Tyrannis MBT. The powerplant, however, is smaller, less powerful, and less massive, and the large turret has been replaced by a smaller head-like turret. The Krenek is no less modular than the Vyrmm Tyrannis, and the head especially can be modified easily both in design and weapons fit-out. The Krenek also retains the articulated wing-shields that can be deployed as standoff armor for the main body.
The savings in mass afforded by the smaller engine and redesigned main body allow for a large rear troop compartment that can carry a squad of soldiers. The weaponry configuration is downscaled to better suit the infantry support role, though the Krenek can still savage other armor units, especially in close quarters, when it can surprise other vehicles from behind cover.
The commonality of parts shared with the Vyrmm Tyrannis MBT means that the two vehicles are often deployed together in the field, and Alliance affiliates often purchase the two together to streamline their logistics. The Krenek has sometimes been compared in appearance to ancient Chinese guardian beasts or Egyptian sphinxes, and this plays into garrison deployments where the APCs make public appearances to assure(or intimidate) the local populace.

Type: PS-HAPC-17 ‘Krenek’
Class: Heavy Personnel Carrier
Crew: 3+10 passengers/troops.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 450
Main Turret 175
Secondary Rear Turret 90
Shield Wings(2) 200 each
Treads(4) 150 each
Height: 9 ft
Width: 12 ft
Length: 25 ft
Weight: 42,000 lbs
Cargo: Can carry up to 4 tons of cargo, if not carrying troops.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:(Land) 90 MPH
(Walking) 15 MPH, but can clamber over obstacles and climb a 60 degree grade.
(Water) Limited to fording and driving along the bottom; can seal itself up and drive underwater along the bottom of rivers and lakes. 7 MPH maximum, and can survive depths down to 100 ft.
Market Cost: 28 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard robot features, plus:
*Laser Targeting---+1 to strike with ranged weaponry
*Short Range Radar---50 mile range, w/ trajectory backtrack capability

*ECCM system--- Because of the Coalition’s(and other high-tech adversaries’) increasing use of jamming during assaults to divide defenders and cut them off from reinforcement, PS decided to install an ECCM system in its MBTs to insure that the slow moving tanks can receive and send in the thickest EW-jamming conditions. A semiautomatic system that uses electronic encryption and frequency jumping to (attempt to) negate jamming systems. The system has a 25% chance of negating radar or communications jamming(non-magical) on its own, or a +5% if the pilot has a Read Sensory Instruments or Radio: Scramblers skill and devotes a full melee to operating the system(no other attacks/actions are possible). Having an Electronic Warfare Skill gains a +15% bonus to operating this system.
Note that this only applies to received communications(the system filters them out from the jamming clutter) and sensory data received by that unit alone(other units cannot make use of it, unless they have an unaffected datalink/info-share with the ECCM equipped unit. Magic/psychic jamming is NOT affected by this system.

*Stabilization Jacks---The Krenek’s claw-paws can dig into a surface, anchoring the tank within 5 seconds, affixing it like a barnacle, and able to stay upright in even hurricane-force winds. System can disengage in 2 seconds, for that speedy getaway.

*Laser Designator--- (50,000 ft range) useful for ‘painting’ targets for laser-guided ordnance.

Weapons Systems:
1) Laser Headlights(2)---Regardless of the particular shape of the Krenek’s turret-head, the design will feature a pair of eyes that are really variable mode lasers.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per blast, 1d6x10 MD per simultaneous blast from both headlights.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Option: For an additional 20,000 credits, these can be replaced/upgraded with TW Sun Lasers that do DOUBLE damage to vampires.

2) Main Turret Weapon---Mounted in the ‘mouth’ of the sculpted head-turret is a heavy weapon, as follows:
a) Micro-Missile Launcher----125 rds(5x25 shot cassettes)

b) Mini-Missile Launcher----13 shot launcher

c) Copperhead Anti-Armor Missile Launcher
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
Payload: 4
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 50,000 credits for the launcher, 8, 000 credits per missile

d)PS-M-82D ‘Townshend’ 81mm Mortar Cannon
MDC: 100
Range:(Direct-fire) 6,000 ft
(Indirect Fire) 2.2 miles
Damage:(High Explosive) 1d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Single shot, EGCHH.
Payload: 6 rounds, ready to fire
Cost: 220,000 credits

e) 40mm Grenade Launcher
Range:7,000 ft
Damage: Fragmentation: 4d6 MD to 12 ft area, 2d6x10 MD to a 40 ft area for a 10 rd burst.
Armor-Piercing: 1d4x10 MD to 3 ft area, 3d6x10 MD to a 8 ft area for a 10 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 300 rd drum
Cost: 50,000 credits

f) Flamethrower---This multifuel-compatible flame projector has proven very versatile at clearing brush, razing structures, terrifying infantry, and incinerating vermin swarms. The jet of flame only adds to the Krenek’s perception as some supernatural beast breathing fire. The introduction of Eldrencher Napalm during the Minion War only adds to the fearsomeness of this weapon.
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 230 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
(Eldrencher Napalm)---A munition acquired from an alternate Palladium universe where the Elf-Dwarf War continued on to the Age of Steam, to defeat the new generations of magically-reinforced armor plate. PS learned its formula from Rifted Dwarven mariners. This napalm-like incendiary goo that actually does MORE damage to magically-enhanced armors(such as those used in Demon Ships, many technowizardry vessels, and even some Haunted Ships), feeding on a portion of the ensorcelled energies to enhance thermal effects. Does 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks) , plus the lava-napalm continues to burn for 1d4 minutes, doing 2d6 MD per melee. Supernatural BEINGS caught by Eldrencher Fire take 50% more damage, and supernaturally-enhanced structures take DOUBLE damage.
Note: The flame-thrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P and Eldrencher, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 50 blasts
(Napalm)150 blasts
(MD Fluid) 250 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 250 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 400 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
(Eldrencher Napalm) 400 blasts per tank.


g) Gatling Gun----PS-M136 7.62mm Minigun
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst, 8d6x10 SDC per 20 rd burst, 1d4 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1 MD single shot, 1d10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d10 MD per 20 rd burst, 1d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d6 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d6 MD per 40 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 6,000 rpm(or 1,500 rounds per melee)
Payload: 4,000-rd belt
Cost: 27,000 credits

h) 20mm Chain Cannon
Range:(20mm)4000 ft, 7,200 ft for the Model 2N
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PSX-1) 4d4 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 1000 rd drum
Cost: 40,000 credits. 50,000 credits for the Model 2N

i) Ion Cannon
Range: (Ion Bolt) 4,000 ft
(Spray Bolt)1,800 ft and affects an 18 ft wide area
Damage: (Ion Bolt) 1d6x10+10 MD per single bolt
(Spray Bolt) 4d6 MD to a 15 ft wide area
On a Natural 20(Critical Strike) the ion weapon does TRIPLE damage instead of the normal double damage
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 230,000 credits

j) PSHVIC-01 Tesla-Storm Cannon---Scale-up of the PSIC-01 Tesla Infantry Ion Cannon. What makes this weapon particularly deadly is its ability to project a ‘damage field’ that fries anything caught in it, as long as the projector is fed power.
Range:(Ion Bolt) 1,900 ft
(Lightning Blast) 2,500 ft
(Shock Zone) 200 ft, and affects a 55-ft wide area
Damage: (Ion Bolt) 5d6 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD five-shot burst
(Lightning Blast) 1d6x10 MD
(Shock Zone) 3d6 MD per melee caught in the zone of effect
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload:(Ion Bolt/Burst Shot/Lightning Blast) 200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
(Shock Zone) The shock zone uses up 1 shot per minute of operation
Special Features:
*Motion Detector---Activated in Shock Zone Mode, range of 200 ft
Cost: 28,000 credits


k) Arc Cannon---Modified PSIC-02 Infantry Ion Cannon
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per bolt to primary target.
Furthermore, a secondary bolt will jump to 1d6 targets in the vicinity of the main target, starting with the nearest target(or the nearest metallic target) as long as they are within 6 ft(10 ft for metal targets) of the initial target/point of impact, then jumping to the next one until the ball lightning dissipates. Secondary targets can attempt to dodge the energy ball as standard.
Secondary targets will take HALF damage(4d6 MD).
Does only 1/4 of the original damage if the secondary targets are nonmetallic or grounded
Organic targets roll for Stun; save at 16 or better or be -8 to strike, dodge, parry, roll, and initiative, reduce APMs and Spd by HALF, for 2d4 melee rds. A successful save means lose only initiative and 1 APM for 1 melee round.
50% chance of knocking out unshielded electronics(or 1d4 subsystems like radio, electronic image amplification, cybernetic sensory implant, or the like) for 1d4 melees.
Beings susceptible to electricity take DOUBLE damage.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Bonuses: +2 to strike metallic targets
Cost: 35,000 credits

l) Plasma Cannon----PSPPR-20
Range: (Plasma Shot)2,500 ft
(Plasma Scattershot) 900 ft
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) 3,200 ft
Damage:(Plasma Shot) 1d6x10 MD
(Plasma Scattershot) 6d6 MD to 20 ft wide area
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) 1d4x10 MD to 18 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire:(Plasma Shot) ECHH
(Plasma Scattershot) ECHH
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Special Features:
*“Hot Shotting”---This system augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the gun, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike).
Cost: A recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 800 credits(300 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 20 shots.

Cost: 92,000 credits

m) PSPPR05 ‘Lewiston’
Range: 3,300 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per shot, 2d4x10 MD for a four-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 33,000 credits

n) PPHvR-02 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridge plasma cannon---limited shots but great damage and range.
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 5 shot top-loading clip.
Special Features:
*Smart-ported for sensor pack- and cyberlink- hookup
Note: A P.S. of 25 or better is needed to fire this weapon with any sort of accuracy, or the operator will be -2 to strike.
Cost: 145,000 credits. 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 95 credits each.

o)Laser Cannon
M-BiLar AT-5000 (PSMBL-5000B)
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD double blast, 1d4x10+8 MD quad blast, 1d6x10 MD full 5-shot blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 270,000 credits

p) Particle Fan-Blaster
Range: 3,200 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD to an 8 ft wide swath
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 150,000 credits

q)Slayer Quad-Cannon(PS-RFL-40)
Range: 3,000 ft(30,000 ft in space)
Damage: 2d10 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD short burst (four shots, one from each barrel), 4d4x10 MD medium burst (eight shots, two from each barrel in sequence), 4d6x10 MD long burst (takes two attacks), or 6d6x10 MD full melee burst (takes four attacks).
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 340,000 credits

r) PS-DL-110 Razor-Frizzer( a copy of an imported Russian design). The PS version uses ceramic and light alloy discs that, either by accident or deliberate design, give off a very audible high-pitched shrieking or buzzing noise when fired.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 2,000 rd drum
Cost: 80,000 credits

s) Sonic Cannon(PS-UHFSC-02)
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast, plus 3d6 MD to a 10 ft diameter area around the blast area(double damage and range underwater)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 95,000 credits

t) *DPO-L9-165 Demolition Gun
This is a post-Rifts adaptation of the Royal Ordnance L9 165 mm demolitions gun, a weapon used by both the British and American armies(the latter mounting a similar weapon in the M728 engineering vehicle). The L9 throws a 165 mm 64-lb projectile, the HESH warhead packed with 40 lbs of plastique explosive being the type most commonly used.
Being smaller and lighter(but also shorter-ranged), the DPO-L9-165 is seen deployed on a larger range of ARV platforms, such as the Rattlesnake ARV, Sherman II ARV, and Kodiak ARV.
Kreneks carrying this weapon are typically designated as HAPC-17CEVs(Combat Engineering Vehicles), and carry a reduced troop complement in favor of additional reloads for the demolition gun.
Range: 7,800 ft
Damage:(HESH) HESH rounds are designed to ‘pancake’ against a target, then detonate, punching a plate-like scab or spald of material off the interior side of the wall or armor plate, doing shrapnel and shock damage to the interior of the structure.
5d6x10+10 MD to an 18 ft blast radius, plus 2d4x10 SDC to anyone inside the armor(or 1d6x10 SDC to anyone within 15 ft of the other side of the wall). HALF that if used against composite ‘meshed’ armors designed to flex, rather than spald(most power armors are constructed to have a certain amount of ‘warp’ to their structure, but cheaper armors, like Chipwell and early Northern Gun designs, lack this protection).
More advanced modern armors, such as those used by the Coalition, Triax, and other very high tech nations(the Kittani, for instance), for their EBA, power armors, robots, some vehicles, and special purpose fortifications(such as high echelon command bunkers) are designed NOT to spald, due to multiple composite layers of megadamage fabric and netting.....for these armors, spalding/bleed-through damage may be reduced to 1/4, or may not apply at all(GMs, use your discretion). Normal blast damage still applies, though, as the outer layers of armor are blown off/vaporized.
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Varies; generally 20-30 rds
Penalties: -1 to strike moving targets
Cost: 370,000 credits for the gun. HESH Projectiles cost 38,000 credits each

u) Heavy Mage Pod----The Krenek can be fitted with a six spellcard-slot Multiplexor, and either PPE batteries or generators. A favorite configuration of spells is to go heavy on defensive spells, like high-level Sheltering Force or Wall of Ice to protect the troops while disembarking.
Range: Varies by spell
Damage/Duration: Varies by spell
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
PPE Cost per Use: Varies by spell. However, the use of focusing elements and activator spells effectively reduces spell PPE cost by HALF.
Payload: Draws from the main PPE Battery, but can also draw upon the robot’s/vehicle’s other PPE reserves/batteries(if any have been fitted). In an emergency, the pilot, if they are a mage or psychic, can kick in their own PPE.
Bonuses: As per spell(if any)
Cost: 1.2 million credits
Spell Cards cost (as per Jason Richards’ guidelines in Rifter #2) 5,000 credits per PPE cost of main spell plus an additional cost (as per following modifiers)
*500 credits per level of the creating caster(Mages’ time and PPE are money, so expect to pay more for the longer duration/higher power spells)
*Warlock spells cost 20% more, in addition to above modifiers, owing to the difficulties of adapting Elemental Magic to ‘conventional” magic systems.
PPE Generators:
PPE Capacity:(Light)----200 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 20 PPE/hour at a leyline, 40 PPE/hour on a nexus
(Medium)-----300 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 40 PPE/hour at a leyline, 80 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Sorcerer’)--- 600 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus
Cost:(Light)----500,000 credits
(Medium)-----1 million credits
(‘Wizard’)----2 million credits
(‘Sorcerer’)---- 3 million credits


3) (Optional) Wing Missile Launchers(2)---Mounted under each wingshield is a hardpoint for a missile pod.
a) Micro-Missiles----36 shot pod

b) Mini-Missiles----6 shot pod

c) Copperhead Anti-Armor Missiles
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD,
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 4
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 60,000 credits per launcher , missiles cost 600 credits each

d) Short Range Missiles---3 per hardpoint

e)L-SAM ‘Black Talon’ Launchers
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 3 per launcher
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 75,000 credits per launcher, 10,000 credits per missile

f) Heavy ATGMs---a medium-range armor-piercing missile warhead on a foreshortened rocket booster, with command guidance, for making precise anti-armor kills.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: 3d6x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Payload: 3 per launcher
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 100,000 credits for the launcher, 20,000 credits per missile

g) ‘Slammer’ Concussion Missiles---Knockoff Triax Weapon, acquired through industrial espionage.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: (Missiles) 2d4x10 MD to 90 ft radius.
88% chance of knockdown(lose 1 APM and Initiative), 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees)
Payload: 3 per launcher

h)PS-RL-210 Fragmentation Rocket Launcher( a copy of an imported Russian design). Note that PS has also been experimenting with an incendiary variant using a magnesium mixture.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
at 3,500 ft, the rds go ‘grapeshot’, doing 3d6 MD(1 MD for a single shot) in a 12 ft wide area.
(Incendiary “Hot-Grape” Version)---Do an additional +2 MD per rd, and 1 MD of damage for 1d4 melees as the flare portion burns down.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 800 shots per launcher
Cost: 16,000 credits

i)PS-DL-110L Razor-Frizzer( a cut-down copy of an imported Russian design). The PS version uses ceramic and light alloy discs that, either by accident or deliberate design, give off a very audible high-pitched shrieking or buzzing noise when fired.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 shots per launcher
Cost: 18,000 credits

j) Smoke/Flare Launchers(2)---12-shot general purpose 30mm grenade launcher(see below for details)


4) Rear Secondary Turret---Mounted on the rear roof deck of the Krenek is a small secondary turret that protects the rear and serves mainly as an antipersonnel weapon, keeping enemy troops from encircling the APC and attacking from behind.
a) PS-100 Rail Gun
Range: 4.000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD 60 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 12,000 rd drum(200 bursts)

b)PS-RFL2-33 ‘Blazer’ Rapid-Fire Infantry Laser
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD short burst, 1d6x10 MD medium burst( 20 shots, 2 attacks), 2d6x10 MD long burst(40 shots, 2 attacks), 4d6x10 MD full magazine burst(80 shots, no bonuses to strike...does 3d6 MD to 4d4 targets if in a spray attack).
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 25 shots from the standard e-clip in the forward holder, 70 shots from a regenerating canister e-clip. Regenerates 5 shots per hour, and can self-renew four times before needing to be overhauled. E-clip adaptors allow the Blazer to use conventional e-clips and CS canisters in a pinch.
*Power-link Capability---This gives the Blazer the ability to be hooked up to a vehicle power supply or backpack battery(including Free Quebec models---in this case, the more efficient power systems actually give the Blazer 130 shots from the normally 120-shot FQ power units).
Cost: 78,000 credits

c) PSIC-03 “Scheffer’ Ion Cannon
Range: (Ion Bolt) 3,000 ft
(Spray Bolt)1,500 ft and affects a 15 ft wide area
Damage: (Ion Bolt) 1d6x10 MD per single bolt
(Spray Bolt) 4d6 MD to a 15 ft wide area
On a Natural 20(Critical Strike) the ion weapon does TRIPLE damage instead of the normal double damage
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 6 shots standard E-clip, 10 shot long e-clip, 50 shot e-canister. Effectively Unlimited linked to the tank’s powerplant.
Cost: 32,000 credits

d) Pulse Laser Turret: Paladin Steel also offers a lower-powered laser system, with unlimited payload and a longer range. The Pulse Laser is intended as an antiaircraft/antimissile system, and can be remote-linked to an air defense grid system, such as the Meles AAAV, Rattlesnake AAV, or the Vixen Fighter/Recon Pod, (Part of Paladin Steel's emerging BAMSP: Battlefield Asset Management System Package).
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 3D6 MD single blast, 6D6 MD double- barreled blast
Rate of Fire: Equal to the pilot's combined hand to hand attacks, or 4 attacks in auto-defense mode.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonuses: +2 to strike airborne targets like missiles and aircraft/flying opponents(must be traveling higher than 10 ft off the ground)
Cost: 45,000 credits

e) Light Plasma Cannon
Range: 1,800 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD single shot
Rate of Fire: Equal to the pilot's combined hand to hand attacks, or 4 attacks in auto-defense mode..
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 30,000 credits

f) Light Ion Blasters:
Range: 1,600 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10 MD pulse burst
Rate of Fire: Equal to the pilot's combined hand to hand attacks, or 4 attacks in auto-defense mode..
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 30,000 credits


5) Claw Hardpoints(2)---Similar to the hood-mounted weapons available to many Paladin Steel jeeps and trucks, the Tyrannis’s claw ‘backs’ can be fitted with forward-firing weaponry, typically obstacle-clearing ordnance launchers.

a) Light 20mm Autocannon
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage:(20 mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm TX-1)4d4 MD per shell
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
2d6x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(Wood rds) 6d6 SDC per shell(1d6x10 HP to vampires)
2d4x10 SDC per 5 rd burst(2d4x10 HP to vampires)
2d4 MD per 10 rd burst (3d6x10 HP to vampires)
(Crowd Control rds) humans and human-sized D-Bees must roll a D20 to maintain their footing (must
equal or surpass the attacker's roll to strike...Full rules in TNW p.174)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 400 rds
Cost: 20,000 credits

b) Machine Guns(2)---Twin-Mount cyborg-standard MGs
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 SDC per 10 rd burst, or 1 MD per explosive round, 2d4 MD per burst of 10 rds, per
single gun. Can also fire silver and wood rounds, and rubber riot bullets.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 600 round box magazine per gun
Cost: 16,000 credits

c) Flamethrower------400 ft range, does 3d6 MD per burst, plus does an Additional 2d6 MD per
melee for 1d6 melees, 10 shots, 30,000 credits

d)Grenade Launcher---Modified rifle-grenade launcher firing larger(and more destructive)
projectiles than those associated with underbarrel ‘shotgun’ or pump-action launchers...This is
basically a four-shot ‘spigot mortar’ assembly allowing up to four rifle-grenades to be mounted on
the forward hood and fired by an electronic switch attached to the dashboard. The launchers can
be angled up to a 45-degree angle. Can sometimes be mistaken for a mini-missile launcher.
Range: Typically 1,800 ft
Damage:
(Riot)---Combination flash-bang and rubber pellet charge---Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and
dodge, -1 to initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees. Rubber pellets do 1d4 SDC damage, but have
a 60% chance of knockdown for any human-sized, or smaller, beings, caught in a 10 ft blast
radius.....lose initiative and 1 APM for that melee(cost: 80 credits)
(Fragmentation-SDC) 2d4x10 SDC to 20 ft blast radius(cost: 100 credits)
(Fragmentation-MD) 3d6 MD to 25 ft blast radius(cost: 280 credits)
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 10 ft blast radius(cost: 360 credits)
(Anti-Armor HEAT) Very heavy projectile(range drops to 120 ft) Does 2d4x10 MD to a 1 ft diameter
area(shaped charge)(cost: 800 credits)
(Plasma/Micro-Fusion) 1d6x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius (cost: 800 credits)
(Incendiary) 2d6 MD flash damage to 12 ft blast radius, plus does 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4
melees(cost: 350 credits)
(Acid)---4d6 MD to a 5 ft radius, then diminishes in strength by 1d6 each melee(lasts about 4
melees)(cost: credits)
(Chemical) Effects vary, but contains enough chemical agent to cover a 15 ft radius
(Illumination) Can loft to an altitude of 600 ft, and illuminate a 500 ft radius for 4d4 melees. (cost:
15 credits)
Note: Additional grenade types, including TW munitions, are constantly in development.
Rate of Fire: Volley of 1-4
Payload: 4. Must be externally hand-reloaded. Typically takes 2 APMs to reload a single round
Cost: The firing assembly costs 8,000 credits. Rifle grenades cost extra.

e) Mini-Missile Launcher----Holds up to 4 mini-missiles(fires volleys of 1-4). Cost: The firing
assembly costs 9,500 credits. Mini-missiles cost extra.

f) Micro-Missile Launcher---The advent of PS micro-missiles has led to a variety of different new
mountings being tried. The JW has been tested with a large, wide, multi-tube ‘xylophone’ box
launcher that fires the earlier Pattern-1A and -1B missiles. Though damage per individual missile is
low, their range is quite good, and their small size means that many missiles can be carried, and
fired, to devastating effect, in a volley. The actual launcher consists of four launcher boxes arrayed
across the front of the vehicle. Bringing to mind the ‘Metalstorm’ guns of the past, each box-
cassette has 25 micro-mssiles(5 rows of 5) for a total of 100 projectiles, and can fire them in volleys
of 5 to all 100 at once. The entire set-up weighs in at 80 lbs,
Range:
Pattern-1A 5,700 ft
Pattern-1B 6,000 ft
Damage/Bonuses:
Pattern-1A---1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-1B---1d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
Bonuses:
Pattern-1A (None) Spin-Stabilized
Pattern-1B (None) Gyro-Compass Chip
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 5-100
Payload: 25 missiles per box, 100 total
Cost: 40,000 credits for the launcher
Pattern-1A 25 credits per McM
Pattern-1B 32 credits per McM


g)Copperhead Anti-Tank Missile Pod---Uses PS ‘smart’ armor killers for more accurate fire.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: Armor-piercing: 2d4x10 MD, no blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, 4, or 6
Payload: 3
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 200,000 credits


h) Smoke/Flare Launchers---12-shot general purpose 30mm grenade launcher(see below for details)

i) ‘Bangalore Tape’ Launcher---This is a modified version of the PLDK02 ‘Stringbang’ Personal Lane Demolition Kit---This consists simply of a tube launcher holding a micro-missile propulsion rocket attached to a coiled line of det-cord. The operator inside the tank aims(by positioning the tank) the rocket down a suspected trap-zone, and fires. The rocket will pull the det-cord the length of its flight path, laying it down, whereupon the cord is detonated, its shockwave hopefully removing any traps and explosive devices in a blast-cleared lane.
Range: 250 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD to an area roughly 200 ft long and 20 ft wide
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Payload: 200 ft of detcord(1 shot) per rocket. Three kits can be mounted on each tank forepaw.
Cost: 2,000 credits for the case/launcher. 48,000 credits per length of cord


6) Smoke/Flare Launchers(2)--- 30mm grenade/smoke/flare cluster mortars. Can also be fitted to fire Triax- or Northern Gun-style flare/chaff countermeasure bundles.
Range: (Smoke/Grenades) 1,200 ft
(Triax Style) 500 ft
(Northern Gun Style) 6,000 ft, creates a 30 ft cloud, +10 ft per each additional chaff/flare launched in the volley. Cloud lasts 2 melees before dissipating(or less in a very strong wind).
Damage:
(Smoke) Smoke in a 30 ft radius+15 ft per additional round launched in the volley.
(30 mm Grenade)(Incendiary) 2d4 MD to a 12 ft blast radius, plus an additional 1d6 MD per melee for 1d6 melees.
(HE) 2d6(12 ft blast radius)
(Chaff-Triax Style)
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
(Chaff-Northern Gun Style)
10% chance per chaff cloud deployed of decoying missiles, up to maximum of 60%
Aircraft, power armor, and beings flying through the chaff will be -6 on perception, -3 on initiative, -5 to strike, -2 to parry, -2 dodge, and lose 1 melee attack that round(or the next). Sensory and Piloting rolls are at -20% for as long as the characters are caught in the cloud, and the next as they recover.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, or 6
Payload: 24 total. 12 flares/smoke charges per launcher
Cost: 2,000 credits per launcher, Smoke grenades cost 60 credits each, standard 30mm HE grenades cost 400 credits each, armor-piercing cost 550 credits each. Triax flares/chaff cost 75 credits a bundle, NG-style flares/chaff cost 65 credits each.


7) Hand to Hand Combat
Forepaw Stomp 2d6 MD
Forepaw Slash 3d6 MD
Spinning Treads Paw Strike(2 attacks) 4d6 MD


Options:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor(Option)---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage.
Cost: 1.4 million credits

*Chemically Inert Armor---Covers the tank in the same jet-black, chemically-inert material as used by the Toxic Avenger Hazmat Cyborg. This material is slicker than Teflon, and resists chemical corrosion as well as adhesives. Paint, glue, and other chemicals simply refuse to stick to this stuff, and corrosive chemicals just slide off, doing NO damage.
Cost: 1.3 million credits

*Advanced Radiation Shielding---The vehicle can be heavily insulated against radiation.
Cost: 1.3 million credits

*Flechette Packs----Located around the hull are special ‘reactive armor’ panels that can be also be triggered as antipersonnel grenades. This is one of several similar systems currently in service/under development by PS.
Range: 100 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD to a cone swath roughly 50 ft long, by 10 ft wide.
Used as reactive armor against plasma and armor-piercing missiles, the computerized firing system acts as a PARRY, rolling to match or better the missile’s strike roll...a successful counter means that the missile damage is HALVED, while a failure means the tank takes full damage. Note: when dealing with volleys, one reactive armor pack can match TWO missiles in a volley, so in order to effectively counter a five missile volley, the tank must expend 3 reactive armor packs...two packs would roll twice to defeat their respective missiles, the third would only roll once. If the enemy missile launcher has a line of sight on the tank, they can target a spot on the hull which has no packs covering it (a called shot), in which case the remaining reactive armor is -4 to cover the gap.
Rate of Fire: One at a time or can be simultaneously fired in volleys of 1-10
Payload: Each side of the APC(sides, front, back) can be fitted with 18 flechette packs each(72 total)
Cost: 200 credits per flechette pack

*Mine Rollers/Plows---Mine rollers and plows are simply heavily reinforced(100-200 MDC) modifications of road and farm equipment designed to be pushed ahead of the vehicle into a suspected minefield. Rollers detonate pressure-contact mines by their greater ground pressure, ideally before the vehicle itself passes over them. Plows work to unearth explosives and push them to the side where they explode with less effectiveness, or else can be more safely detonated by other means. A Mine Roller or Plow assembly typically costs 10,000-30,000 credits, and reduces the vehicle’s speed by 25%

*Mine Flail---Inspired by the old WWII Scorpion “Flail Tanks”, this option mounts a long roller-supported assembly on the front of the tank, with a rapidly rotating drum on the end, to which are attached dozens of lengths of high-strength chain. The theory goes that by advancing behind the flailing chains, the tank can safely detonate mines at a standoff distance, triggering them prematurely with the ground-hammering chains. In practice, though, this worked only against the simplest of mines, and the device was easily defeated by time delay fuzes, greater blast radius explosives, and ‘smart’ mines like the Wellington SAW, which could attack targets from the side and from a distance. Most of the flail packages sold by PS ended up being used to clear brush or in riot control. It had some some success against infantry, but as the tank is made rather slow and cumbersome by pushing the flail assembly, it’s easily avoided.
The Krenek can mount two, one on each forepaw, angled so as to cover the gap in the center, and clearing an extra-wide lane for following vehicles and troops.
MDC of Assembly: 80
Size: The flail assembly adds ten feet to the length of the tank
Range: 8 ft range
Damage: 1d6 MD per chain strike(Roll 1d6 to determine number of chains hitting)
Penalties: Reduce speed of tank by 20%, and -10% to Pilot Tank skill
Cost: 20,000 credits

*Mine Detector-----A detection coil can be installed in the prow, and uses a variety of magnetic, chemical, and ground sonar detection systems to sniff out mines and buried ordinance. 85% accuracy. Cost: 3,500 credits

*Hedgerow Cutters---A classic and simple device inspired by accounts of the Second World War, this device simply consists of sharpened blades of megadamage armor mounted to the front of the AFV, and used for assisting in getting the vehicle through dense underbrush, though it can also aide in ramming doors and vehicles. Adds +1d4 MD to a ram attack. Cost: 1,000 credits
A vibroblade version is also available; it does 3d6 MD and costs 15,000 credits.

Variants:

*PS-HAPC-17H---Firefighting/Anti-Vampire variant, with a high pressure hydrocutter/water cannon in the head, and a large water reservoir replacing the troop compartment. The APC is plated in heat-resistant materials(normal/MDC fires do 1/4 normal damage).
Range: 500 ft
(Hydrocutter)200 ft(500 ft total range)
Damage:Varies by chemical carried; Some examples:
(Water)None, if carrying water, but human-sized beings struck with the stream but roll versus the ‘cannon’s To Strike roll, or be bowled off their feet(lose 1 APM and initaive that melee for getting back up). Does 2d6x10 HP to vampires per blast.
(Hydrocutter) 6d6 MD per burst, 1d6x10 MD for a full melee cutting burst. DOUBLE damage to Fire Elementals. Typically used for cutting into structures without setting off sparks.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 400 gallon internal tank(300 full melee bursts ), or can be attached to a trailer holding up to 500 gallons


*PS-HAPC-17MLS(PSMS40-MLS)
“Targeting coordinates Three-alpha-zulu-gamma...Set at forty-two degrees...Fuze for airburst, five foot altitude, Set for four-stroke six round burst fire...Fire when ready...Okay, folks, let’s ruin somebody’s day!”

This is a variant mounting a 36-tube ‘Chewer’ mortar system in place of a troop compartment. The ‘Chewer’ is a Paladin Steel experiment in adapting the pre-Rifts Australian ‘Metal Storm’ electronically-fired barrel-cassette gun system to its own format. The Metal Storm system, rather than mechanically load a belt or bin of ammunition into a single barrel, stores the rounds end to end inside the barrel, and fires the individual rounds electronically from a computerized firing mechanism that designates the firing bands in the barrel assigned to each shell, and fires them off. Preloaded barrel assemblies can be ‘stacked’ in box-launchers, allowing for mass-firing capability. Expended and emptied barrels can then be manually reloaded or entire barrel ‘stacks’ slid out and replaced with ready-loaded fresh assemblies. The system had seen some distribution worldwide prior to the Coming of the Rifts, and the Coalition had unearthed enough data on the system to apply it to their double-barreled, high-capacity, mini-missile rifles, which in turn were copied by Paladin Steel. Paladin Steel has now applied the technology to a 40mm mortar shell format using a 36(6x6)-tube stack-array. Too heavy for infantry carrying, the ‘Chewer’ is typically mounted in a vehicle on a trainable pivot, or in a static gun position(such as a field artillery revetment or fortification). The major advantages of the system are a high rate of fire and few moving parts to malfunction, but these are balanced by high vibration and the need for special training in maintaining the unorthodox artillery system.
The Chewer has thus far seen only limited deployment with GNE and PS-approved affiliates so far, as PS works to get ample logistical support (including pre-loaded barrel cassettes) set up. It has primarily been seen in border garrison artillery units and firebases, although several have been seen fitted to riverine monitors and patrol boats.
Weight: 2,200 lbs for the basic launcher; 2,900 lbs fully loaded
Range: 6 miles
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-18
Payload: Each barrel holds 5 40-mm projectiles for a total of 180 rds
Last edited by taalismn on Sun Sep 18, 2016 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
kronos
Hero
Posts: 1264
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:38 pm

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by kronos »

taalismn wrote: PS-HAPC-17 ‘Krenek’ Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier
(aka ‘Fu-Dog’, ‘Fox-Roach’)


2) Main Turret Weapon---Mounted in the ‘mouth’ of the sculpted head-turret is a heavy weapon, as follows:
a) Micro-Missile Launcher


Looking nice.
Micro-missiles missing info like how many it holds.

Wonder what the Steel Gaian version would look like, and I'd imagine the Wolf's Path might want some.
wildfire142
D-Bee
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:45 am
Location: Nortn East Scotland

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

Well the day has arrived I've caught up to the end of this thread :)

Current stats roughly 1030 designs, 223 images, 1118 files used to make up the master document.

The pdf is 1898 pages long in 8.5pt font and is 32.2 MB in size.

I will be updating this as more designs are posted though probably not on a weekly basis.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)
kronos
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by kronos »

wildfire142 wrote:Well the day has arrived I've caught up to the end of this thread :)

Current stats roughly 1030 designs, 223 images, 1118 files used to make up the master document.

The pdf is 1898 pages long in 8.5pt font and is 32.2 MB in size.

I will be updating this as more designs are posted though probably not on a weekly basis.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)


Awesome work!

Also.. what program do you use to write all that up and convert to pdf?
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

kronos wrote:
taalismn wrote: PS-HAPC-17 ‘Krenek’ Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier
(aka ‘Fu-Dog’, ‘Fox-Roach’)


2) Main Turret Weapon---Mounted in the ‘mouth’ of the sculpted head-turret is a heavy weapon, as follows:
a) Micro-Missile Launcher


Looking nice.
Micro-missiles missing info like how many it holds.

Wonder what the Steel Gaian version would look like, and I'd imagine the Wolf's Path might want some.



Micro-Missile capacity corrected-----125 rds(5x25 shot cassettes)

I currently have no plans for a Steel Gaian version, as I'm still inking the art for the Paladin Steel version, and chewing ion other fear for the Shemarrians(my productivity's taken a bit of a lurch since my car accident, real life work, and the start of fall book sale season(BBBOOOOOKKKKSSSS!!!).
*SiGH* Summer just went by so fast...Hel-bye!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

wildfire142 wrote:Well the day has arrived I've caught up to the end of this thread :)

Current stats roughly 1030 designs, 223 images, 1118 files used to make up the master document.

The pdf is 1898 pages long in 8.5pt font and is 32.2 MB in size.

I will be updating this as more designs are posted though probably not on a weekly basis.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)


You sir....You and Abtex..
We'll have to widen the podium stand for Unpaid, Insufficiently Thanked Fanon Achievement. :ok:
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
wildfire142
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Posts: 49
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Location: Nortn East Scotland

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

taalismn wrote:
wildfire142 wrote:Well the day has arrived I've caught up to the end of this thread :)

Current stats roughly 1030 designs, 223 images, 1118 files used to make up the master document.

The pdf is 1898 pages long in 8.5pt font and is 32.2 MB in size.

I will be updating this as more designs are posted though probably not on a weekly basis.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)


You sir....You and Abtex..
We'll have to widen the podium stand for Unpaid, Insufficiently Thanked Fanon Achievement. :ok:


No thanks needed like you I just hope people will find it useful :)

I've updated the Krenek in my master file so the correction will show up next time I generate the pdf.
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

I really should get to work on art for some of the stuff...but summer's ending n something of q whimper for me. (shrug)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
wildfire142
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Posts: 49
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Location: Nortn East Scotland

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

taalismn wrote:I really should get to work on art for some of the stuff...but summer's ending n something of q whimper for me. (shrug)



If you're looking for art requests a Paladin Steel logo would be very cool on the over of the pdf, just saying :)
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

wildfire142 wrote:
taalismn wrote:I really should get to work on art for some of the stuff...but summer's ending n something of q whimper for me. (shrug)



If you're looking for art requests a Paladin Steel logo would be very cool on the over of the pdf, just saying :)



Yah know, I never really came up with a PS or GNE logo I was entirely happy with...I have a post WIP discussing the flags of the GNE, and have some photoshopped art for the flag of a 'United Systems Alliance' that may grow out of the GNE, but the insignia most likely to be seen/used? Still trying to work out a real attention-grabber I'm satisfied(this may be why I haven't gone commercial in graphics....got nothing that really sings like say the Coca-Cola font or the Nike slash-swish). That's not to say I ain't trying. :-D
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel F-28 “Kingbird” V/STOL Fighter

“I really hate running the gauntlet of these ‘pop-up’ air forces...these little kingdoms and small outfits that nevertheless scrape up enough money to buy a few of those cheap VTOL fighters the GNE practically gives away. They can hide those little jumpjets just about anywhere...a barn, a grove, a garage, an old ruin...and when we come flying by on the way to some other target, they pop up out of nowhere to look us over or take a potshot at us. And those puddlejumpers can carry some pretty long range ordnance even if they don’t decide to close to direct fire engagement range! I’m talking AAMs, some with smart guidance! Even if all we’re doing is taking a peek at what the Splugorth are doing off the coast, we have to look out! Day used to be, we could fly over the East with impunity, but now we virtually have to get permission from the locals protecting ‘their’ airspace!”
---Captain Elizabeth Rossi, Free Quebec Special Air Operations

“I don’t know how many engine nacelles on the old Gyres I had to fix because the rotation gear stuck, or outright replace because of accumulated damage, but the Kingbird’s a different story. The lift fans are much better protected inside the main hull and are less susceptible to being targeted. Of course, if something DOES go screwbar with them, they’re inside the main fuselage where there’s a better chance of the damage affecting other systems, so there is that to take into account. All in all, though, I like the Kingbird better for its cleaner and more durable lines.”
---Adusuh Mendic, Technical Chief, Greater New England Air National Guard

The F-28 is a design for a relatively low-cost, high-reliability VTOL fighter for export sales, though it is also used by GNE security and affiliated Irregulars. VTOL performance was considered a must to compete with the popular Northern Gun combat aircraft lines dominating the North American market.
The F-28 is based on the design configuration for the Ryan XV-5 Vertifan prototype, and follows the general layout of a delta-winged, T-tailed aircraft with louvered vertical lift fans mounted in the nose and wing midsections, powered by a central engine. Modern technologies, however, have replaced the original turbojet engines with a modern nuclear fusion powerpack, and the large air intake just behind the cockpit has thus been replaced with a smaller intake for cooling, and a sensor mount. The two-man crew compartment has side-by-side seating, rather than in-line, which results in a somewhat broader aircraft(and bigger sensor signature), but that really isn’t considered much of a problem. Modular weapons installations and underwing ordnance hardpoints allow for quick repair, reconfiguration, and customization of the weapons loadout. Some veteran Gyrefalcon crews bemoan the loss of helicotper gunship-style undernose turreted weaponry in favor of a more ‘fighter-like’ armaments fitout, but others consider the improvements in speed and structural protection worth the loss of direct firepower.
Compared to PS’s earlier light VTOL fighter, the Gyrefalcon, the F-28 is heavier and less agile, but is also more robustly constructed, and able to reach supersonic speed. The lift engines are particularly less vulnerable to damage, as they are smaller and concealed within the wings, while the drive engines are buried in the main fuselage.
The F-28 is considered a good choice for a shipboard naval fighter/light strike aircraft, and thus it is seeing increasing service as a naval operations fighter, often operating from mercantile escort carriers and other merchant ship conversions.
The F-28 is often confused with another PS product, the PS-C-260 Starling, and indeed the two designs share much overlap in capabilities and equipment, but the Kingbird is slightly smaller, more durable, and faster, in keeping with its role as a fighter.
Though Northern Gun’s and GAW’s own corporate historians have been quick to spot the glaring similarities between the Kingbird and the similar Starling C260/261 to pre-Rifts conceptual designs, and NG has attempted to use negative ads to smear the PS offerings as ‘rejected and recycled unoriginals’, Paladin Steel has turned the same ads around, using the designs’ (tenuous) association with the Golden Age to promote sales.
The controversy has not harmed PS’s sales of the Kingbird at all, and orders are quickly rolling out to organizations and nation-states looking for some low-cost high-performance air assets, and especially those wanting to break free of dependence on Northern Gun(NG’s apparent coziness with the Coalition States being one reason cited for the desire to divorce).

Type: PS-F-28 Kingbird
Class: V/STOL Fighter
Crew: 2
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 280
Reinforced Cockpit 80
Wings(2) 130 each
Tail 120
Height: 15 ft
Width: 33 ft
Length: 46 ft
Weight: 12,500 lbs
Cargo: Enough space in the crew compartment for two survival packs, side arms, and a few small personal possessions.
An avionics bay behind the crew cabin can be used instead to hold addition cargo; up to 500 lbs worth, or it can be outfitted to hold two passengers.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion(w/ 10 year energy life)
Speed:(Flying) Hover to 820 MPH, maximum altitude of 35,000 ft
Bonuses: +1 to dodge in flight,
Market Cost: 9 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Aircraft Systems:
Radio---100 mile range
Radar---90 mile range, track/ID up to 50 targets simultaneously
Laser targeting system(+1 to strike w/ ranged weaponry) 6,000 ft range
Life Support System---Independant life support for up to 8 hours. Air filtration is standard.
Ejection Seats---Provides a quick escape if punching out is the only option
Dive Brakes---+5% piloting bonus to divebombing and braking manuevers.
Weapons Systems:
1) Wing-Mount Weapons Stations(2)--Mounted in the mid-wing landing gear pods are two stations for fixed-forward direct-fire weaponry:
a) 20mm Autocannon
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PS-1) 4d4 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
(20mm PSX-2)4d6 MD single rd
2d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(Flare/Chaff rounds)---The 20mm cannons can also be fitted to fire airburst flare/chaff rounds. Damage is reduced, but a burst of ten rounds effectively acts as a single Chaff/Flare bundle for purposes of missile deflection/distraction.
5d6 SDC per shell at ranges of 2,00o ft or less. None beyond that.
3d6x10 SDC per 5 rd burst
1d4 MD per 10 rd burst
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is nuetralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Rate of Fire: Standard.
Payload: 180 rds per gun
Cost: 40,000 credits

b) 30mm Autocannon
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage:4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst
Rate of Fire: Single shot or two-round burst
Payload: 100 rds
Cost: 40,000 credits

c) Pulse Laser
Range: 4,000 feet
Damage: 4d6+2 per single shot, 2d4x10 for a triple pulse.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 200 shot battery or Unlimited linked to nuclear power source
Cost: 60,000 credits each gun.

d) Ion Cannon
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10 MD per triple pulse burst
Rate of Fire:EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 30,000 credits each gun.

e)TW Cannon(2)----These nose-mounted cannon are TW attack systems throwing magical lightning
Range: 4,000 ft(double on ley lines)
Damage: 5d6 MD per single blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; system needs recharging with 150 PPE every 2 months.
Cost: 600,000 credits

2) Underfuselage Harpoints(3-4)--- The Kingbird can be fitted with a number of underbody hardpoints; one under each wing, and one or two under the main body. The outer wing hardpoints can handle up to 1,200 lbs each, while the centerline pylon(s) can handle two 1,200 lb modules, or a single 2,200 lb payload.
a) Bombs
*250-lb Bomb----2d4x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius
*500-lb Bomb----4d4x10 MD to 60 ft blast radius
*750-lb Bomb----4d6x10 MD to 65 ft blast radius
*1,000-lb Bomb----1d4x100 MD to 70 ft blast radius
*1,650 lb bomb(1d6x100 MD to 75 ft blast radius)
*2,000-lb Bomb----2d4x100 MD to 80 ft blast radius

b)Torpedoes---1 Short- or Medium-Range Torpedo on the outer hardpoints, or 1 Long Range Torpedo on the centerline pylons.

c) Micro-Missiles---50 shot pod

d) Mini-Missiles---19 shot pod

e) Short Range Missiles---2 per hardpoint
*’SkyFlash’ Advanced Short Range Air to Air Multiple Missiles(ASRAAMM). This is simply the PS copy/adaptation of the Coalition’s own AIM-180 missile(see Coalition Navy, pg. 88). The ‘Skyflash’ is an MRM that splits in flight to unleash a pack of four smaller SRMs....a surprise that at relatively short dogfighting ranges(10-30 miles) can be devastating, filling airspace with a swarm of corkscrewing projectiles.
Range: 15 miles
Damage: 6d6 MD per each SRM missile(3d4x10 MD per volley)
Bonuses:+3 to strike

f) Medium Range Missile---1 per hardpoint

g)Chaff/Flare Pod
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher
Cost: 3,000 credits per launcher; additional flare/chaff bundles cost 200 credits each


h)Light Gunpod---A copy of the Coalition’s own C-200 ‘Dead Man’ rail gun.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 4d6 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload:1,000 rds(100 bursts)

i)Light Autocannon----This is actually an attempt to adapt the 20mm ‘Taskin’ Infantry Cannon and ‘Waybur’ OICW’s twenty-millimeter proximity-fuzed ‘smart’ munition.
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 4d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD per 5 shot burst, 2d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst
Fragmentation burst does 4d4 MD to 5 ft blast radius.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 500 rds
Cost: 20,000 credits

j)IH-100 Rail Gun (PS-100)
Weight: 300 lbs
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD 60 rd burst
Rate of Fire:EPCHH
Payload:12,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 80,000 credits

k) .50 caliber Gunpod---Combines a fifty-caliber heavy machine gun and ramjet amunnition with a four-shot mini-missile launcher
Range:(Machine Gun) 19,000 ft, 38,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 380 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type(x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in space)
Damage:(Machine Gun)(SDC rd) 7d6 SDC per single rd, 2d6x10+20 SDC per 40 rd burst
(Ramjet rd) 1d4 MD per single rd, 5d6 MD per 40 rd burst
(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Machine Gun) ECHH
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1,2,3, or 4(all)
Payload:(Machine Gun)2,000 rds(50 bursts)
(Mini-Missiles) 4
Cost: 60,000 credits

l) Light Pulse Laser
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD pulse burst
Rate of Fire:EGCHH
Payload: 200 shot battery for conventionally powered models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models
Cost: 80,000 credits

m) Ion Blaster
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10 MD per triple pulse burst
Rate of Fire:EGCHH
Payload: 300 shot battery for conventionally powered models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models
Cost: 80,000 credits

n) Mine/Bomblet Dispenser---ONE can be carried per hardpoint
Light Weapons Dispenser(L-SAW)--This is essentially an oversized bomblet dispenser that can be used to bomb targets directly, ‘seed’ areas with minelets, or can launched to act as a stand-off ‘glide bomb’.
Range: SAW has an effective range of 10 miles in atmosphere Submunitions can be launched up to 300 ft out to either side of the SAW’s flight path.
Damage: (AP Grenade) 4d6 MD to 8 ft area
(Chemical Grenade) Varies by chemical type and atmospheric conditions. A chemical grenade will generally generate a cloud of aerosol 15 ft in radius.
(HE Shell) 5d6 MD to 20 ft area
(Fragmentation Mine) 4d6 MD to 12 ft area
(Incendiary Bomb) Does 4d6 MD to 40 ft area, does an additional 2d6 MD for 1d6 melees, and 1d6 MD per melee for an additional 2d4 melees
(Angel Hair)---Does NO damage, but against conventional power generators and uncovered power lines and distribution systems, it can short out power grids, clog generator air intakes(80% effectiveness against industrial generators and internal combustion engines), and be a general nuisance to clean up.
Rate of Fire: A SAW can volley its submunitions in any combination
Payload:(Typical loadouts)
200 AP/Chemical grenades
OR
50 HE/anti-vehicle grenades
OR
50 Fragmentation Mines
OR
25 Incendiary Bombs
OR
250 spools of wire, each spool holding up to 4,000 ft of aluminum-coated fiber


3) Internal Equipment Bay---A small internal equipment bay that has about 80 cubic feet of space. Typically used to hold additional avionics, but can also be used to hold various munitions dispensers.
a) Flare/Chaff Dispenser
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher
Cost: 3,000 credits per launcher; additional flare/chaff bundles cost 200 credits each

b) Bomblet/Minelet Dispenser---Has DOUBLE the capacity of the wing hardpoint SAWs.
Payload:(Typical loadouts)
400 AP/Chemical grenades
OR
100 HE/anti-vehicle grenades
OR
100 Fragmentation Mines
OR
50 Incendiary Bombs
OR
500 spools of wire, each spool holding up to 4,000 ft of aluminum-coated fiber

c) Sensor Pallet--Specialized sensor gear

d) EW Module---Electronic jamming system that gives radar-guided weaponry a -4 to strike the drone. Or it can be used offensively, to foil ALL radar-guided weaponry in a 15 mile radius(-2 to strike). Mounting additional pods does NOT increase bonuses or range, but only adds system redundancy.

f) Jammer-----A mini-radio jammer, that can pump out enough multi-wavelength white noise to jam civilian band communications with 90% effectiveness, and military comms with 70% effectiveness, over a 20 mile radius.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Farm Towers

“’Flak tower’? Hell, no, that’s West Street Heights Farm! Source of some of the sweetest strawberries and freshest produce in the whole state. Old Colonel Hofsteader...he saw action during the Seige of Koln, did you know?....He set the place up after he retired. He saw food riots during the seige, so that’s why that place sports gun turrets...Nah, I’ve never seen them manned, but a friend told me that they have the heavy iron ready to put in if they ever have to defend that place. Fresh food’s worth more than gold in bad times, and I have no doubt that place will remain in operation if even the Splugorth came calling here!”

Urban farming is one of the great innovations of the Golden Age, made possible through advances in power generation, recycling technologies, and biotech. Spurred by the awareness of the need for increased self-sufficiency in the face of meteoric population growth, urban farming developments inadvertently provided fortified resources for Golden Age cities with the Coming of the Rifts. Urban farming inarguably allowed cities like Chi-Town and Lone Star(and other great cities around the world) to feed and support their large populations without having to overextend themselves trying to hold cropland during the Dark Years. Golden Age civic pride at self-sufficiency translated into survival with the Coming of the Rifts, allowing those communities that had farm towers (and were able to defend them) to save on resources, and gradually build up surpluses to eventually venture forth from the fortified enclaves and take back the land from the monsters roaming it.
Paladin Steel and the nascent Vermont Free State, too, benefitted from small farm towers and urbanized agriculture, and have learned their lessons well. It’s no surprise then that Paladin Steel Agriculture(PSA) and PS Contract Engineering offer contracts to build urban farm setups for those communities willing to learn how to maintain them. Farm Towers are considered a basic part of every large-scale ‘designed’ community constructed by Paladin Steel.
Though reliant on high technology, from the fusion and super solar power systems powering them, to the water recycling systems and computerized management networks, to the bio-engineered crops grown in them, farm towers are a very useful asset. They concentrate agriculture close to communities, reducing transport costs due to easy access, they are more easily defended, they can harvest multiple crops in the course of a season or a year, they reduce waste, and they provide urbanites with jobs and a closer connection to their food sources. Farm towers are frequently tied into community waste management systems, allowing for more efficient recycling of water and organic wastes.
PSA and PSCE work together to provide farm towers as part of ‘smart’ infrastructure, providing construction and seed stock in affordable contact packages. A typical farm tower, as constructed by PSA/PSCE, is virtually identical to similar structures found in Chi-Town, Lone Star, Berlin, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Hiroshima. City-block-sized, with multiple interior floors containing vertical conveyor-belt hydroponic planting beds that slowly progress past solar concentrator light-guide windows and electric lights(powered typically by fusion power), and irrigated by interior sprinkler systems, farm towers can, at their most efficient, and depending on the crops grown, use only 10% of the water of conventional agriculture, and yield up to twenty-six crops a year, depending on what is grown. Construction costs generally range 9-50 million credits, depending on size and complexity, but PS offers affordable long-term payment plans for buyers wishing to invest in these compact agricultural modules.
A typical small three-story Farm Tower possesses 2d4x100 MDC, though many are more heavily fortified, especially in areas prone to attack or food shortages. Though most farm towers in civilized regions(and in the Golden Age) sport little more than locking security doors and maybe a half-dozen security guards, more violent times and environs have led to some of these urban agricultural structures sporting defenses more typical of fortress keeps, and staffed with combat personnel armed to the teeth.
Stockyard towers for raising animals are generally less common, given the controversy of ‘farmed’ animals, but nevertheless, many communities host ‘vertical barnyards’, raising a variety of small animals(fish, insects and rodents up to chickens and pigs), and sometimes in the same building as plants(the parts of one often nourishing the other). At the extreme end are ‘carniculture’ labs raising cloned animal tissue from stem cell stock, using 3D printing techniques to create artificial musculature, and toning the material through electrochemical stimulation, before flavoring and packing the end product for consumption. The Coalition States have the advantage of Lone Star’s genetic expertise to provide them with the advanced technology and gene stock to make this economically viable, but there have been enough technology exchanges and industrial espionage that other nations are beginning to catch up to the CS’s lead, making stockyard towers(or ‘meatscrappers’ as they are sometimes known) increasingly more common.
Of course, more conventional and low-tech forms of urban farming are also conducted in many communities; roof-top and dirt-lot truck farms, public greens, and porch-planter agriculture, chicken coops and rabbit hutches, while not providing total food self-sufficiency, still give town and city dwellers supplemental food supplies and even some small income from sales of surplus or specialty crops.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel Civil Engineer
(aka ‘Cever’, ‘City-Builder’, ‘Mountain-Chewer’)
(Modified CS Technical Officer)

“So...how you liking your new power station, transport terminal, and drawbridge? We just finished the last touches last night!”

“Preserve those pre-Rifts ruins? Sure thing, but I don’t think that protective wall is the best idea...how about we divert the river instead?”

“They start us out making gardens...if we can’t make a simple flowerbed and garden walk, there’s no way we’re going to handle tackling planning a community center or an industrial park.”

“The castle you’re asking for shouldn’t be a problem, but we’ve having some problems agreeing to a design for the barbecue pit we’re going to build with the excess material.”

‘Civil Engineer’ is something of a misnomer in this case, since PS Civil Engineers are trained in the basics of combat, and can, in a pinch, serve as combat engineers. The title is more of an allusion to the pre-Rifts profession of large civil projects. While the average Operator may be occasionally be involved in building an individual house, fixing up a base camp, or repairing a bunker, outside the larger nations of Rifts Earth one rarely sees engineers engaged in large-scale projects like building highways, waterworks, and entire community infrastructure. However, that is exactly what PS Contract Engineering does on a regular basis, as part of Greater New England’s territorial expansion and their humanitarian outreach programs. Accordingly, technical specialists who specialize in large scale construction projects have arisen in PS’s professional ranks.
The PS Civil Engineer has training in the basics of repair and design, and can fix individual vehicles and equipment with no small degree of proficiency, but their real area of expertise is large scale works, like landscaping, dams, roadways, and large building programs. They also have skill in trap and fortification construction, as well as demolition of same.
Civil Engineers can be found throughout the Paladin Steel organization and Greater New England territories, often in charge of large labor contingents or retinues of labor robots, building new structures, expanding transport systems and factories, and creating new infrastructure.

Prerequisites: I.Q. of 12, P.E. and P.S, of 10.
OCC Skills:
Radio: Basic(+5%)
Gardening(+5%)
Carpentry(+15%)
Masonry(+15%)
Art(Drafting)(+5%)
Math: Advanced(+5%)
Computer Operation(+10%)
Pilot: Tracked Vehicles(+10%)
Pilot: Truck (+10%)
Excavation(+15%)
Demolitions(+5%)
Physical Labor
W.P. Blunt
Hand to Hand: Basic(Can be upgraded to Expert at the cost of one ‘other’ skill selection.

Architecture(Technical)(+15%)
The art of structure design, from simple shacks to massive dams. Beyond simply being able to pencil out floor plans, Architecture covers a knowledge of various building materials and techniques, their strengths, weaknesses, and the logistics of construction in terms of amounts of materials needed. Masonry and Carpentry each add +5% to the Architecture skill. A failed roll means the design is flawed from a structural point of view(basement may be prone to leak, ceiling to collapsing, poor ventilation, fire hazard, etc...). As a bonus, architects will be able to discern the probable interior layout of a building and likely location of various parts and systems(use base efficiency -10% for ferreting out clues about a building the architect has never been in before).
Prerequisites: Math: Advanced, Art
Base Skill: 35 % + 5% per level of experience
Specialization: Taking Architecture TWICE allows for Professional quality work and can select a specialization(+5%) in a particular sort of structure, such as Residential(single-family to apartment buildings), High Rise(skyscrapers), Commercial(barns to shopping malls), Municipal(office buildings, hospitals, museums, schools, etc.,), Civil(airport terminals, train stations, parking garages,etc.), or Industrial(factories, powerplants, dams, etc.). Taking Architecture again after that allows for another specialization to be added.


Landscaping(Domestic/Technical)(+15%)
Landscaping is to the outdoors what Interior Design and Architecture are to the indoors. Landscaping focuses primarily on the aesthetically-pleasing arrangement of natural elements(plants, stonework, water, and ground contours) around buildings and outdoor facilities, but it also has applications in land conservation, ground usage, erosion and flood control, military fortification and camouflage(proper landscaping can create natural barriers to easy approach and deny invaders blind spots to hide in). Elements include laying stonework, discerning and implementing proper soil drainage, and placing of appropriate plants. Landscapers can work on scales as small as a suburban house lot to a sprawling golf course or mansion, with needed tools ranging from shovels to heavy earthmoving equipment. Landscapers may also be called upon to work on projects such as flood control dikes or beach repair efforts. A failed roll means that the landscaping effort is an aesthetic flop or a terrain disaster(swampy ground where it shouldn’t be, crumbling hillsides, collapsing stonework, more rapid shoreline erosion, etc.).
Prerequisites: Gardening
Base Skill: 45 % + 5% per level of experience. +5% if Botany and +3% if Geology are also taken.
+3% to Military Fortification and +5% to Camouflage skills if the landscaper has enough time and resources to spend on a thorough job.

Skills: Select 5 ‘other skills at Level One, plus an additional 2 at levels 3, 6 and an additional 1 skill at level 9.
Communications: Any
Domestic: Any
Electrical: Any(+5%) (+10% to Electricity Generation)
Espionage: None
Mechanical: Basic, Automotive and Mechanical Engineer only
Medical: First Aide and Paramedic(2 selections)
Military: Any
Physical: Any
Pilot: Any, except spacecraft
Pilot Related: Any
Rogue: Any
Science: Limited to Botany, Archaeology, Geology, Hydrology, and Petrology.
Technical: Any
Wilderness: Wilderness Survival, Dowsing and Spelunking only
Weapons Proficiencies(W.P.): Any
Secondary Skills: Select 4 skills from the Secondary Skills list, plus one additional at levels 4,8, and 12. These skills do not start with any bonuses.
Experience Tables: Use CS Technical Officer
Standard Equipment:
Overalls, hardhat, flashlight and headlamp, laser distancer, hand radio(5 mile range), notebooks and writing instruments, slide rule, pocket calculator, measuring line, level, shovel, pail, pickax, and crowbars. Has a set of basic metal working and woodworking tools, including pliers, utility knives, wrenches, heavy power tools such as a chain saw, nail gun, circular saw, laser utility wand and a vibroblade.
Vehicle: An all-terrain utility vehicle, mule, or robot horse capable of carrying the engineer’s tools.

Civil Engineers in PS/GNE employ will have access to heavy construction equipment, utility robots, and demolitions explosives. Also has access to labor pools and mass quantities of construction supplies(starring at 2d4x10 tons of ready-mix concrete or 500 plank-feet of lumber).

Starting Money: Starts with 2,000 credits in savings. Average wage is 2,000 credits per month.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Can start out with 1d4 minor implants. Civil Engineers are not averse to cybernetic/bionic modification, unless they opt to go the bio-mod route.
Bio-Modification:
The new field of biotech modification is seen as a major boon to PS’s field workers, especially their out-dimension operatives. Thus, it is not uncommon to find Class I-II modifications, especially muscle and environmental enhancement enhancements. A few of the larger bio-mod packages, such as LATE OMEGA, VITAL GAMMA, ARID ROSE, BRASS NITRO, and KNIFE BEACON, are much sought-after by, or granted to, Civil Engineers.
Last edited by taalismn on Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

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PS-FC-54 ‘Chromus’ Strike Full Conversion Cyborg
(aka ‘Dopplechromer’, ‘Silver-Sniper’)

“I don’t need to hide myself behind plates of armor. I -am- the armor.”

“Grandpa retired from wearing the ‘suit when his joints couldn’t keep up with the jostling any more and his ticker started failing, but he didn’t plan on quiting the business any. Maybe if Grandma hadn’t died those years ago, he’d have gone back to the farm and faded away with her, but with just the kids left, he’s decided to stick around some more. He handed off the GB to me and cashed in his remaining war loot, called in some favors, and got himself a full body conversion, a big doppelchromer body. I got bookended a year later when my little brother, who’d gone into the infantry until he could maybe afford a black market GB of his own, got slagged and quad-amputated outside New Lazlo fighting the demons. Fortunately Grandpa heard where he was and used the last of his favors and got Bennie a Chromus-body of his own. Once we serve and survive our respective contract hitches, all three of us are figuring maybe we’ll go into freelancing as a family together.”

“Yeah, I’m calling you out, Devnik! You and your lickspittle gang of cyberpsychos have terrorized this village long enough! I don’t care how fast you are on those cyberstreakers of yours, unless you plan on showing some brains for once and using them to hightail it out of here and back where you came from, because if you’re still hanging around by the next tick of the church tower clock, I’m chopping you into scrap metal! I’ve got a load of armor-piercing @@@@you with your name on every round, and enough terawattage to boil you in your own ####!” So come on out and get served or slink out the backdoor and never show your speckled ass in these parts ever again!!”

“I am a reflection of the world around me...if it is at peace, then I am at peace, but if the world is in fire, then I am at war!”

For some people, the Glitterboy Power Armor is the ultimate expression of power and nobility on the battlefield; the iconic US-GB has become etched in the pysches of many post-Rifts North Americans. For some, it is not enough to don a Glitterboy, they want to BECOME the Glitterboy. Bionic full conversion offers these obsessed persons one possible way of achieving that goal.
While Paladin Steel had managed to cash in on the popular icon early on with their PS-FC-A17 ‘Midas’ full conversion, input from the cyborg market showed that buyers wanted something even heavier than the Midas, even if it meant sacrificing the Midas’ considerable mobility. So PS has set out to build as close as they can to a Glitterboy, without doing a shameless duplication, and while preserving as many advantages of a cyborg as they can.
The Chromus uses an assault cyborg frame and armors it to the max, then lays a layer of laser-reflective permachrome on top. The thick legs incorporate laser pylons identical to the GB line, and the shoulders sport a heavy gunmount, but the forearms, head, and torso are sculpted to display more statuesque features.
The Chromus is not an EXACT knockoff of the Glitterboy, but it preserves, Paladin Steel feels, the ESSENCE of the Glitterboy; shining, heavily armed and armored, and standing tall. Part of the iconography is the Big Gun, and PS offers a variety of them, many of them actually FROM Glitterboys, and ranging from light, but insanely rapid-fire, models to huge encumbering cannons that can level mountains. If standing out in the open being shot at by just about everybody in line of sight is neither desireable nor possible, the Chromus, with its Big Gun, makes a more than passable heavy sniper, raining destruction on its enemies from long range.
The Chromus was among many designs rushed into the front lines during the Minion War incursion on Rifts Earth; though its laser-reflective armor didn’t do it much good against the magicks of the Infernals, its heavy firepower, heavy armor, and great presence availed it well on the battlefield, and many troops rallied to the presence of a Chromus(or squad of them) as readily as they did a Heritage Glitterboy. The cyborg has also proven surprisingly popular WITH Glitterboy pilots(or rather ex-pilots) and Heritage GB families, as a number of battlefield-salvaged pilots requiring body replacements have chosen the Chromus(or else the Midas).

Type: PS-FC-54 Chromus
Class: Full Conversion Borg - Shocktrooper
Crew: One volunteer
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 80 each
Arms(2) 250 each
Legs(2) 400 each
Feet (& Foot Pads)(2) each .
Heavy Gun Mount(1) 150
*Head 250.
**Main Body 600
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a
called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The Chromus CANNOT be fitted with any additional armor; it’s already maxed out.

Speed:
Running: 100 mph max . However the act of running does
not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained
indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable
of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to
distance/height.
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The Chromus CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock

Statistical Data:
Height: 9 ft
Width: 4 ft
Length: 4 ft
Weight: 1.1 tons
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 40, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, impervious to
bio-manipulation
+4 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 60% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg or Headhunter OCC.
Black Market Cost: 10 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and sound filtration systems.

Special Features:
*Hardened Circuits---A feature growing to be standard in Paladin Steel-made combat cyborgs. Shields the ‘borg’s systems against EMP and other electrical-disruption attacks.

*Laser-Reflective Armor---Lasers do HALF damage.

*Laser Stabilization Pylons---Each leg conceals a laser-drill pylon identical to the Glitterboy’s, for anchoring the cyborg in place against being knocked over.

Weapons Systems:
1) Main Shoulder Gun----The weapons configuration of the Chromus mirrors the Glitterboy in being based around the single heaviest gun PS can mount on the cyborg frame. While some combat analysts question the wisdom of relying on a single main heavy weapons system, the Main Shoulder Gun is part of the original Glitterboy image, and gives the Chromus a far-eaching presence on the battlefield.

a) KTH-65 32mm Assault Rail Gun (Raven)----Designed with the needs of a heavy infantry squad in mind, Kera-Tech Industries developed the KTH-65 for long range combat in both atmosphere and in space. Firing on full auto mode, the KTH-65 can penetrate virtually any known armour with ease. With the enhanced capability of variable rounds, numerous different combat roles can be filled by the KTH-65. The weapon is manufactured under license by Paladin Steel on the East Coast.
Weight: 150 lbs
Range: 1600m (1 mile) in atmosphere
Damage: Varies by shell type
Shell Types:
APFS-DU (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized, Depleted Uranium) - 5D6x10, no
blast radius
HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) - 5D6 MD plus 5D6 SDC to the person(s)
inside the object.
HE (High Explosive) 1D6x10 to a 5 (16ft) radius
HEG (High Explosive, Guided) - 2D6x10 to a 2m (7ft) radius
Rate of Fire: single shots
Payload: 40 rds per drum, 80 rds total
Cost: 200,000 credits


b) T-310 Micro-Missile Cannon---This is a railcannon adapted to firing 15mm micromissiles. Heavy, but impressive, when the cyborg fires off a burst of projectiles that suddenly light off into target-seeking missiles!
Weight: (T-310) 500 lbs
Range: (T-310)Gun launcher fires the micromissile out to about 8,000 ft, whereafter the rocket propulsion takes over.
(T-210/310)
Pattern-1A 5,700 ft
Pattern-1B 6,000 ft
Pattern-1C 6,000 ft
Pattern-1D 7,000 ft

Damage/Bonuses:
(T-210/310)
Pattern-1A---1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-1B---1d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
Pattern-1C---4d6 MD to 4 ft blast radius, or 1d4 MD to a 10 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-1D----6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode

Bonuses:
(T-210/310)
Pattern-1A (None) Spin-Stabilized
Pattern-1B (None) Gyro-Compass Chip
Pattern-1C (+1 to strike. The Pattern-1C can also be set to be a ‘beam rider’, following a laser illuminator ‘painted’ on the target for an extra +2 to strike. However, this requires expediture of an extra attack per melee on the part of the gunner to keep the laser illuminator on target) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip.
Pattern-1D (+2 to strike. Like the Pattern-1C, the Pattern-1D can ‘beam-ride’...again, this requires the gunner to maintain target-lock at the cost of an additional APM, but the -1D is better able to remain on target if the lock is broken. Furthermore, the missile can be keyed to lock on to the laser illuminator of other gunners...done with a pre-determined key-chip...allowing squadmates to ‘paint’ targets for fellow soldiers with micro-missile launchers). Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip.

Rate of Fire: Bursts of 3-40 rds per melee
Payload: 180 rd ammunition drum
Cost: 120,000 credits for the T-310 Gun System
(T-210/310)
Pattern-1A 65 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1B 72 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1C 100 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1D 135 credits per RG-enabled McM

c) PS-M-82D ‘Townshend’ 81mm Mortar Cannon---Modified version of a Free Quebec Glitterboy artillery weapon, fitted with an autoloader.
Range:(Direct-fire) 6,000 ft
(Indirect Fire) 2.2 miles
Damage:(High Explosive) 1d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Single shot, EGCHH.
Payload: Automatic breechloading system with 12 rds ready to fore
Cost: 250,000 credits

d) M-64 60mm ‘Snapdragon’ Gun-Mortar System
Range:(Direct Fire Mode): 6,000 ft
(Artillery Mode) 12,700 ft
Damage:
(Riot)---Combination flash-bang and rubber pellet charge---Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -1 to initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees. Rubber pellets do 1d4 SDC damage, but have a 60% chance of knockdown for any human-sized, or smaller, beings, caught in a 20 ft blast radius.....lose initiative and 1 APM for that melee(cost: 160 credits)
(Fragmentation-SDC) 2d4x10 SDC to 40 ft blast radius(cost: 200 credits)
(Fragmentation-MD) 3d6 MD to 50 ft blast radius(cost: 560 credits)
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius(cost: 720 credits)
(Anti-Armor HEAT) Very heavy projectile( Does 3d6x10 MD to a 2 ft diameter area(shaped charge)(cost: 900 credits)
(Plasma/Micro-Fusion) 1d6x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius (cost: 800 credits)
(Incendiary) 2d6 MD flash damage to 24 ft blast radius, plus does 1d4 MD per melee for 2d6 melees(cost: 710 credits)
(Acid)---4d6 MD to a 5 ft radius, then diminishes in strength by 1d6 each melee(lasts about 4 melees)(cost: credits)
(Chemical) Effects vary, but contains enough chemical agent to cover a 15 ft radius
(Illumination) Can loft to an altitude of 600 ft, and illuminate a 500 ft radius for 4d4 melees. (cost: 15 credits)
Note: Additional grenade types, including TW munitions, are constantly in development.

Rate of Fire: ECHH. Hand-loading and firing rounds takes 2 actions each shot.
Payload: 15 shots in a cylindrical magazine
Cost: 250,000 credits

e)PS-M136 Minigun---Rapid-fire multi-barrel machine gun that has been known to ‘chew’ through targets and available ammunition supplies.
Weight: 35 lbs+ ammo drum(a full 4,000 rd drum can weigh 160 lbs)
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst, 8d6x10 SDC per 20 rd burst, 1d4 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1 MD single shot, 1d10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d10 MD per 20 rd burst, 1d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d6 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d6 MD per 40 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 6,000 rpm(or 1,500 rounds per melee)
Payload: 4,000-rd belt
Cost: 27,000 credits

f) Micro-Missile Launcher---- PS McML-08 ‘BoomBox’; 5x25-shot cassettes, for a total of 125 rounds. Cost: 80,000 credits.

g)Mini-Missile Launcher----19 shot pod. Cost: 20,000 credits (mini-missiles cost extra)

h) Copperhead Anti-Tank Missile Pod---Uses PS ‘smart’ armor killers for more accurate fire.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: Armor-piercing:2d4x10 MD, no blast radius
Rate of Fire:Volleys of 1,2,3, 4, or 6
Payload: 6
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 400,000 credits

i) Heavy Ion Cannon
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 200,000 credits
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area. Cost: 10,000 credits
*Ion Booster Module---Another mod that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 1d4x10 MD, but boost range to 7,000 ft. Cost: 12,000 credits

j) PSMBL-5000B Pulse Laser---PS copy of the Japanese M-BiLar AT-5000 Glitterboy laser weapon.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD double blast, 1d4x10+8 MD quad blast, 1d6x10 MD full 5-shot blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 270,000 credits

k) Tri-Laser(PSMBL-3E)---Adapted from the Glitterboy No. 7 of South America
Range: 8,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 300,000 credits

l)*X-RLR-18 ‘Exel’ Heavy X-Ray Laser Rifle----The cyborg shoulder-mount weapon differs from the infantry version in having a nuclear powerplant attached to it, a larger and more efficient cooling system, and an armored shroud protecting it.
Weight: 75 lbs
MDC: 120
Range: 6,800 ft
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per single shot; laser resistant armor does NOT apply to stopping x-ray lasers.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonuses: +2 to strike on an Aimed Shot
Special Features:
*-Targeting Module Package:---This sophisticated, precision sensor package is one of the most compact scope mounts to be produced by PS.
Telescopic Optics
Passive Night Vision
Thermo-Imaging
Laser Targeting: +1 to strike
‘Fuzzy Logic’ Stabilization: +1 to strike
Optional Smart Gun Link---Can be fitted for a ‘Smart Gun’ link or any other targetting interfacing.
Cost: 115,000 credits
Note: Heat-Plume--Even with the superior coolant jacketing, the X-ray laser generates a hotspot that can be readily picked up on thermal sensors(even though the beam itself is silent and invisible); if more than 6 shots are fired consecutively, +5% to Read Sensory Instruments to pinpoint the firing point in the melee after firing.
Options:

*Laser Illuminator---A barrel attachment that adds a laser illuminator function to the weapon, allowing the sniper to ‘paint’ the target for other laser-homing weapons systems. Range: 9,000 ft. Cost: 9,000 credits

m) Plasma Cannon
Range: 6,500 ft
(Plasma Bolt) 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per single blast, 3d4x10 MD for a 3-shot rapid-fire burst(takes two attacks)
(Plasma Bolt) 1d4x10 MD to 15 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 290,000 credits
Options:
“Hot Shotting”---This systen augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the Serap, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike). HotShot modding costs 8,000 credits, and a recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 700 credits(500 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 30 shots.


n) PS-HPBC-20 Particle Beam Cannon------Based on the KLS Mrk IV Glitterboy PB-20 Rapid Acceleration Particle Beam Cannon, complete to pairing with a co-axial small laser
Weight: 660 lbs
Range: (PBC) 11,000 ft(double in space)
(Laser) 2,000 feet (double in space)
Damage: (PBC) 4d6x 10 MD single blast
(Laser) 4d6 MD single blast
Rate of Fire: (both) ECHH
Payload: (PBC) Conditionally unlimited(Unlimited linked to nuclear power source) though smaller vehicles(such as the ‘Vader) have a battery capacitor with a limited number of shots(20 typically) with a recharge rate of one blast per minute.
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 4.2 million credits

o)*PPHvR-02 ‘Sun Storm’ Heavy Plasma Rifle(CT Cartridge)
Weight: 150 lbs
MDC: 100
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 100 shot drum.
Cost: 145,000 credits. 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 95 credits each.


p)*PTICS-01(Plasma-initiated Tactical Infantry Cannon System)(CT Cartridge)
Weight: 200 lbs
MDC: 110
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10+10 MD per shot. The x-ray laser component ignores laser-reflective armors, including laser-resistant window tinting.
Rate of Fire: Single shot, ECHH
Payload: 100 shot drum
Cost: 150,000 credits. 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 95 credits each.

q) Multi-Mode Plasma Cannon ----Modified version of the PSPPR-25 ‘Flashburn’ Heavy Plasma Rifle, with a longer barrel and additional plasma accelerator elements.
Range: (Plasma Shot)2,800 ft
(Plasma Scattershot) 1,000 ft
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) 4,000 ft
Damage:(Plasma Shot) 1d6x10 MD
(Plasma Scattershot) 6d6 MD to 20 ft wide area
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) 1d4x10 MD to 18 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire:(Plasma Shot) ECHH
(Plasma Scattershot) ECHH
(Plasma Mini-Torpedo) Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Special Features:
*“Hot Shotting”---This system augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the gun, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike).
Cost: A recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 800 credits(300 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 20 shots.

Cost: 98,000 credits

r) 45mm PS-HRG05B 'Hellshot' Rail Cannon--- An attempt to equal the power of the infamous "Boom Gun" carried by the Glitterboy, these fearsome weapons fire a much larger heavy metal kinetic energy penetrator with a massive punch. Unfortunately, the engineers were unable to equal the Boom Gun's long range or build the projectiles any smaller, limiting the payload. On the positive side, the Chromus can carry TWO of these oversized weapons and extra ammo, giving the cyborg enormous punch for its size. The ‘B’ variant of this weapon, which was originally debuted on the PSPA-11 power armor, is slightly lighter, tougher, and has a larger payload per weapon.
The Minion War also saw a radioactive Uranium (U) round developed for this weapon and used in some cases. These rounds were developed independantly of Triax’s U-round work, and were the result of observations of the effects of radiation on supernatural beings. The PS-made U-rounds are issued just as sparingly as the Triax rounds, and appropriate clean-up conducted, when possible, after the battlefield has been secured.
MDC: 80
Range: 3,300 ft
Damage: 3D6x10 MD
U-rounds do 25% more damage, prevents supernatural healing as long as the round is still ldged in the wound, and supernatural healing repairs at the rate in weeks, what it would normally do in hours, and in hours what would normally take seconds.
Rate of Fire: Single shot only; ECHH
Payload: 25 shots per cannon. U-rounds come in specially rad-shielded ammunition drums.
Market Cost: 120,000 credits, 800 credits per penetrator round. U-rounds are NOT available to the general market.
Option:
*Silver Spiker Enhancement(TW)---A TW enhancement device that temporarily coats a round before firing with a layer of mystic silver; does DOUBLE damage to those vulnerable to silver. Requires a PPE battery or generator for best effect. CANNOT be applied to U-rounds. PPE Cost: 10 PPE/20 ISP per round, effect lasts 5 minutes. Cost: 12,000 credits.

s) Type 1C Anti-Theron Disruptor Cannon----A slightly lighter and more compact version of the first anti-theron magic-disruption projection weapon deployed by PS. This weapon is the size of a rapid-fire automatic cannon, but fires anti-theron bursts instead of shells.
Weight: 400 lbs
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: Does 6d6 HP/MDC damage(based on what the creature is)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Gallon-sized anti-theron cartridge that’s good for 200 shots before needing replacement.
Cost: EXCLUSIVE to PS, not available for sale

t) (TW) PS TWAEC-02 ‘Whistler’ Long Range Infantry Air Cannon----This is a technowizardry long-rifle of Wynaro design, and channels the Air Elemental spell Wind Blast. The long barrel contains ectomaterial focusing elements that improve the original spell’s range by 50%. Though first seen deployed as a heavy weapon on the Chromus, it has also been formatted as a heavy anti-material or sniper rifle for infantry use.
Weight: 55 lbs(most of the weight comes from the armored housing)
MDC: 100
Range:5,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10+30 MD, plus tragets have a chance of being knocked off their feet, similar to the spell Wind Rush.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 20 PPE per firing.
Chromus cyborgs taking this weapon typically spring for a ‘Regenerator’ PPE power matrix, giving them effectively unlimited shots.
Special Features:
*Hyper-Accurate: +6 to strike, on top of the bonuses for the targeting systems
Cost: 250,000 credits
Powerstone Options:
PPE Generators:
PPE Capacity:(Light)----200 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 20PPE/hour at a leyline, 40 PPE/hour on a nexus
(Medium)-----300 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 40 PPE/hour at a leyline, 80 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Sorcerer’)--- 600 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus
Cost:(Light)----500,000 credits
(Medium)-----1 million credits
(‘Wizard’)----2 million credits

u)*MAULER-Missile System--Arguably the heaviest weapon ever carried by a cyborg, the MAULER spigot-mortar missile launcher is a ‘tactical’ WMD that gives the Chromus ENORMOUS destructive power. The shortcomings are that even with robotic strength, the fully loaded weapon is awkward to carry, and the cyborg can only carry one shot. For this reason, a MAULER-equipped Chromus is typically part of a cyborg heavy weapons team, accompanying heavy or shocktrooper cyborgs carrying additional missiles. During the Minion War, MAULER-teams were deployed on several occasions to take out enemy troop or resource concentrations.
Weight: (MAULER-A) 90(booster)+ 500-1,000 lbs
(MAULER-B) 200(booster)+500-1,000 lbs
Single-shot launcher spigot-mortar weighs 275 lbs.
Range: (MAULER-A) 2.5 miles
(MAULER-B) 20 miles.
Damage:
Varies by Long Range Missile Warhead employed.

*High Explosive----1d4x100 MD to 70 ft blast radius

*TW Magma Weapon---Modified River of Lava spell, that creates a pool 450 ft in diameter instead, that lasts 15 minutes. If deployed in shallow water it lasts only 7 minutes and does HALF damage, but creates huge bubbles, kills local sea life, and produces a massive cloud of superheated steam that blinds anyone on the surface, fouls up thermographic imaging systems, and creates a belching sonar static that can screw up passive sonar systems in the area.

*TW Tsunami Weapon---Designed for attacking coastal targets,this weapon creates a tidal wave roughly 150 ft high, 3,000 ft long, lasts 15 melees, reach as far as 450 ft inland, and does 4d6x10 MD per melee. Also has a 75% chance of capsizing any ships it catches.
Note: This weapon is INEFFECTIVE unless aimed at a sizable body of water, such as an ocean, large lake, or deep river(at least 20 ft deep).

*TW Hurricane Weapon----Ocean-attack weapon, but can also be used against large lakes. Creates a massive sea storm that covers a 120 ft area, 100-150 mph winds, and 30 ft high waves. Does 3d6x10 MD per melee to large structures, and 1d6 MD to anyone caught out in the open. Effects last 15 minutes.

*TW Maelstrom Weapon---Another ocean-attack weapon, for attacking shipping and submarine warships/installations(though in the case of the tank-mounted weapon, it is typically used to attack coastal, lakeshore, or riverside targets), generating a sizeable whirlpool in any large body of water it is aimed at.
Whirlpools are 120 ft wide, lasts 15 minutes, and does 1d4x10 MD to anything caught in its center, 2d6x10 MD per melee to large ships, and 1d6x100 MD to them if they get submerged or if the whirlpool ‘breaks the ship’s back’.

*TW Earthquake Weapon---Warhead acts as a 15th level Elemental Earthquake spell; 3500 ft area of effect, doing 2d6x100 MD per melee, for fifteen melees. Generates a fissure 900 ft long, doing damage to everything within 600 ft on either side of it. A full spread of Earthquakers can destroy a county.

*TW Stormfront Weapon---Airburst warhead that unleashes a Tornado, and an accompanying Summon Storm, both equivalent to the 15th level Elemental Warlock Spells. The MAULER round actually launches 4 smaller warheads in the larger LRM casing.
Tornadoes are 100 ft in diameter, last 15 minutes, and do 3d6x10 MD per melee to anything caught by them, and an additional 2d6x10 MD to anything hurled out. Wood, clay, and stone structures take 4d6x10 points of damage(SDC or MDC), and trees are uprootted in one melee round. The tornado will also randomly wander about in a half-mile area before dispersing.
The storm element creates a drenching, obscuring downpour that drops 4 inches of rain per hour, does 1-6 points of structural S.D.C. per half hour, creates immobilizing floods, and reduces visibility to near zilch; storm covers a 14 mile area, and lasts 7 hours

*TW Sphere of Annihilation---The most expensive and devastating of the TW Warheads is the Sphere of Annihilation, that creates a minute quantity of anti-matter, that explodes with a force greater than any nuclear device of comparable size! The MAULER round actually launches 4 smaller warheads in the larger LRM casing.
The warhead does 2d4x100 MD to a point target, plus an additional 4d6x10 MD to a 10 ft radius, and have a +3 on top of targeting system bonuses, to strike their target. The submunitions can be ‘shotgunned’ to spread out over a 1,000 ft arc to spread the joy across a wider front, or can be targeted on one target. All four submunitions going off on one target do 8d4x100 MD, 4d6x10 MD to a 150 ft radius, and 2d4x10 MD out to 300 ft!

*Enhanced EMP Weapon---Developed with the assistance of Kera-Tech scientists, this weapon generates an intense Electro-Magnetic Pulse capable of frying unshielded electronics and disrupting even shielded military systems. Against technological societies, this weapon can cause absolute chaos!
The warhead does 1d4x100 EMP damage(no physical damage) to a 5,000 ft radius. The resulting percentage of the target location MDC is the chance of shutdown/disablement. All damage is cumulative. Damage in excess of 50% target MDC will require repair to make it functional; 75% or more damage will require replacement of the entire electrical system. Does double damage to non-shielded civilian systems. Bionics are -1 to dodge, roll, and strike for the affected limb/system, lasting 1d4 melees, non-cumulative, before the system resets itself.

*Fusion Cluster Weapon---Deploys 11 submunitions that orient in flight to fire a directed blast of plasma at a target---Does 1d4x100+10 MD to a 15 ft blast radius,6d6 MD concussion damage to a 55 ft blast radius.

*Nuclear Warhead---Details of the Paladin Steel nuclear armaments program remain classified, but speculation is that the most likely ‘nuke’ warhead deployed would be a dialable yield 2-10kt weapon. There had been discussion of using an enhanced radiation weapon(‘neutron bomb’) but PS and the GNE have shyed from developing radiological WMDs except for VERY specific purposes(destroying the Infernals is one likely purpose).

Rate of Fire: Single Shot
Payload: 1
Cost: The MAULER system, especially the more powerful warheads, is considered to be exclusive to GNE forces, and is NOT available for sale on the open market.


2) Forearm Weapons Slots(2)---Each forearm has a slot for a standard cyborg forearm blaster. Given the limited number of shots the main gun typically is limited by, the forearm weapons provide a backup for the cyborg if the main weapon runs dry or is disabled.

3) Forearm VibroBlades(2)---As a last resort, the Chromus can extend these forearm vibroblades for close combat.
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD
Option:*’Quicksilver’ Enhancement(TW)---A TW enhancement device that temporarily coats the blades with a layer of mystic silver; does DOUBLE damage to those vulnerable to silver. Requires a PPE battery or generator for best effect. . PPE Cost: 10 PPE/20 ISP per blade, effect lasts 5 minutes. Cost: 12,000 credits.

4) Use of Handheld Weapons---The Chromus can, of course, pick up and use any infantry- or ‘borg-scaled hand weapons. Chromus conversions tend to like adding a melee weapon or two, like heavy vibroswords or plasma axes, to further the image of the heroic warrior.

Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 2d6 MD
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 4d6 MD
Kick 2d4 MD
Pylon Skewer 1d6 MD.
Leap Kick(2 Attacks) 3d6 MD
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram: (2 attacks) 1d6 MD

Options:
The Chromus can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books. Favorite options include fitting the 'borg with Jet Nodes, Jump Rods, Nanite Repair Systems and TW Amulet Systems. Cyborg servo-mounted and handheld shields are also favorite accouterments.

*Laser Finger Hand----Sometimes called the ‘Hand of Glory’, this option fits all five fingers of one hand manipulator with laser finger blasters. It is often combined with a Palm Blaster for added firepower.
Range: 300 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD per finger-blast(so a five-fingered hand will do 5d4 MD per combined blast)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: +100,000 credits

*Fanshields----These arm attachments resemble folding fans and are laid closed across the back of each forearm. When readied for action, they open up into buckler-style shields, ideal for parrying. Each has 60 MDC, and provides a +1 to parry.
Cost: +50,000 credits

*Axe-bucklers---These are large vibro-ax blades attached to the undersides of the forearms. They can be used to deliver a cleaving forearm chop(+4d4 MD) and can be used to parry.
Cost: +13,000 credits
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel/Locke-Snye Industries GAAAR Contra-Gravity Heavy Bus
(aka ‘Tubulon’, ‘Dumbo’, ‘Omni-bus’, ‘Gark’)

“Big, rude, and durable.”

“Chill at the depths of the Stygian Methane Lakes, thrill at the prismatic Krystyl Lava Fields, trill at the wildes of the Crimson Jungle, know awe under the skies of Aura-Land, experience amazement in transiting a dimensional rift! All in the comfort of one vehicle! All in one day!”
---Advertisement for Gondana Dimensional Tours(featuring a GAAAR prominently)

“Don’t wanna shell out over ten million for one of PS’s environmental adaptive bio-mods just so you can experience the megaverse first hand? Buy a GAAAR instead; it’s cheaper, it’s just as good, and you don’t have to schlep your own luggage by hand.”

The GAAAR (“Go Almost Anywhere Armored Rover”) grew out of a PS move to upgrade their popular GAAB (“Go Almost Anywhere Bus”) to using commonly available contragravity technologies in the Three Galaxies, and it almost didn’t happen. To do it, they enlisted the aide of their Three Galaxies business partners Locke-Snye Industries. At first LSI was resistant to the idea, since their specialization was in ground traction vehicles, and their own past sales history with eccentric designs, they admitted to themselves, didn’t bode well for a foray into territory long held by other 3G manufacturers. However, PS persisted, and got LSI to collaborate in setting up new plant for the manufacture of the new design.
Rather than simply sticking CG units under a GAAB or stretched Megabago, PS/LSI engineers decided to go with a more heavily reinforced cylinderical body frame, more reminescent of an abbreviated widebody jet fuselage or tourist submarine hull. Its relation to the older GAAB remains, however, in a number of the optional systems that have been adapted for the CG-drive vehicle.
The GAAAR’s main selling points are its multi-environment capability and its military-grade durability. Rifts Earth Paladin Steel has made the GAAAR tough enough to stand up to extremes, as well as light combat. Weapons mounts, though not standard, are available as options, for those less-than-friendly environments or the extreme ‘battlezone tourism’ practiced in some cultures and regions.
Since its debut, the GAAAR has proven increasingly popular as a people transporter, featuring in Paladin Steel/Greater New England’s inter-Rift transport network. A number of transport and tour organizations in the Three Galaxies have also bought the GAAAR, citing its toughness and reliability. And, ironically enough, the vehicle is becoming a favorite of both the aforementioned ‘combat tourism’ groups and humanitarian groups looking for a mobile evacuation/crisis response vehicle. This has erased any remaining doubts on the part of Locke-Snye Industries executives as to the wisdom of entering the mass -transit CG-propulsion market, and LSI is reportedly expanding its production lines(something which hasn’t happened in decades since the company’s founding) to accommodate the increasing orders.

Type: PS/ASI/LSI-GAAARCG-01
Class: Multi-Environment ContraGravity UtilityTransport
Crew: 2+up to 64 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 400
Reinforced Interior Compartment 250
Hoverjets(8) 50 each
External Lights(6) 5 each
Height: 15 ft
Width: 13 ft
Length: 75 ft
Weight: 85 tons
Cargo: Besides what can carried aboard and stowed in overseat racks, the GAAAR has lower cargo bins for up to 2 tons of cargo.
If not configured for carrying passengers, the vehicle can be converted to carry up to 30 tons internally.
Powerplant: Battery-Electric(18 day energy life), Nuclear(5 year energy life), or TW(5 year energy life).
Speed: (Air) Hover to 120 MPH, typically 3-50 ft off the ground
(Water) Can skim above the waves at 80 MPH
(Underwater) Fully amphibious; the baseline model can survive depths down to 2,000 ft and move at 23 MPH underwater.
(Space) Can maneuver in space, albeit slowly at about 15 MPH.
Market Cost: 5 million credits for Battery-Electric, 7 million credits for Nuclear, 9 million credits for TW
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Vehicle Equivalents, plus:
*Internal Fire Extinguisher System
Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with light defensive armaments(see Options)

Options:
*Solar Roof(applicable to Electric-powered models)---The dorsal surface of the hoverbus is fitted with solar panels, and the powerplants supplanted/complemented with a Super-Solar Power System. Switching over wholly to the solar power system drops maximum speed to 95 MPH. Flying in broad daylight, mostly unobstructed sunlight gives the batteries an 8-hour charge; cloudy and overcast days cut available power to 4 hours.
Cost: 300,000 credits

*Engine Upgrade----A more powerful engine and more efficient power train can be added, improving overall speed, but at greater expense;
Speed: Can improve top speed by up to 50%
Cost: 8,000 credits per 10% of improvement over base.

*Deep-Dive Capability---Improves depth-resistance to 3 miles. Includes adjustments to life support to compensate for pressure. Also adds emergency floatation systems. Cost: 3 million credits

*Deep Space Capability---Improves space maneuverability to MPH. Cost: 5 million credits

*Mini-Radar----8 mile range
Cost: 2,000 credits

*Radar Detector----A dashboard ‘fuzzbuster’ for detecting other folk’s radar sensors.
Cost: 200 credits

*Motion Detector----In addition to alerting the driver of approaching objects, it can also tell them from what direction a projectile attack came from. 50 ft range
Cost: 500 credits

*Variable Opacity Windows---Tune the windows from crystal-clear to impenetrable mirror/black.
Cost: 2,000 credits

*Skylight---Look up and away in perfect safety, from under this armor-plas roof-panel.
Cost: 18,000 credits

*Autopilot---Available in both a ‘dumb’ and a ‘smart’ version. Dumb versions will basically just keep the vehicle going straight and level on a pre-set course, never deviating from said course...the ‘dumb’ system will alert the crew if anything trips the sensors or gets in the way, and it can be programmed to stop, or deviate a set distance from course in such events, until the crew can regain/resume control.
A ‘smart’ system is actually an onboard Artificial Intelligence(AI) using PS’s new microtronics AI chips. The ‘smart’ system can actually evade and maneuvar to avoid obstacles, and even anticipate trouble, while remaining on the general course. The ‘smart system’ has a +1 to dodge
Cost: 7,000 credits for the ‘dumb’ version, 12,000 credits for the ‘smart’ Auto-Pilot

*TV/Video System---Installs a 7-inch fold-out mini-television video flat-screen, that can display transmissions, or CD/tapes.
Cost: 200 credits per seat so fitted

*Holographic Entertainment System---Full 3-D display and entertainment center...comes with Surroundsound. Not advised for the front seat or easily distracted drivers(certainly no monster movies!).
Cost: 900 credits per seat so fitted

*Enhanced Communications System-----Extends radio communications out to 300 miles with a retractable antennae.
Cost: 36,000 credits

*Enhanced Life Support---This feature installs a robot-quality life support system that can recycle air for up to a week.
Cost: 500,000 credits

*Mine Detector-----A detection coil can be installed on the prow, and uses a variety of magnetic, chemical, and ground sonar detection systems to sniff out mines and buried ordinance. 85% accuracy. Cost: 3,500 credits

*Sensory Cluster----MDC 80---Has the following sensors:
*Motion Detector--200 ft range
*Laser Illuminator-----6,000 ft range, Designates targets for laser-guided munnitions/weapons
*Laser Targeting System(+1 to strike)
*Lance Scanner---Looks like a long lance protruding from the front of the craft. The Lance Scanner contains a magnetometer() and a short-range microwave radar for groundsearching minefields(in theory, the ground radar sound be able to detect even non-metallic mines, but takes twice as long). Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy
The ground radar has a range of 3,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting non-metallic ordinance.
*Aura Scanner---For detecting and identifying PPE concentrations
Range: 2000 ft
*Bio-Scanner---Has a molecular analyzer, enhanced radiation detector, high-powered accoustic ‘shotgun mike’(3,000 ft range), and thermo-imager optics.
* Optical Cluster--- Telescopic,IR/UV, Thermo-Imaging, Audio-Video-Survellance System
Cost: 80,000 credits


*Crash Control/Safety Restraints/Fire Control System---Reduces the damage that passengers take in a crash by HALF. PS actually offers a 10% discount on other options if this option is taken(hey, auto insurance is sorta ridiculous in monster infested Rifts Earth, but there should be some economic incentives for safety devices...).
Cost: 45,000 credits

*Security/Ambush Restraints---These are designed not to hold people in a crash, but to hold them, period. Specially reinforced shackle-mounts and lock-braces make sure that anyone locked into them ain’t going anywhere until you unlock them.
Ambush retraints deploy instantly from concealment, at a signal(secret control or verbal command)(+4 Entangle strike roll). Combined with an Auto-Doc, this system can be used to administer sedation drugs and keep prisoners from injuring themselves, or calling attention to themselves.
This system is available on the GAAB/GAAAR only for special purposes, such as prison transport buses.
Restraints hold with a PS of 30
Cost: 8,000 credits

*Gunports---Use your own handweapons to blast away at the bad guys outside, without compromising your own safety and the vehicle’s environmental integrity, with these special gunports with one-way locks(they let you shoot out, but keep the outside from getting in). Gunports impose a -1 to strike because of the limited field of fire. Heavy Weapons CANNOT fit in the gunports.
Cost: 1,000 credits each

*Chemical Sprayer System---For wiping vermin, mobs, or those equally obnoxious vampires off the car.
Range: 50 ft
Damage: Varies by the chemical agent used. If using water, does 4d6 HP to vampires
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 100 blasts of chemical/liquid
Cost: 200,000 credits

*Smoke Screen Generator---Generates a thick, obscuring cloud of dense smoke. Each blast covers a 60 ft area and anyone caught in the cloud of thick, obscuring smoke is. Has enough smoke-matrix for 12 clouds.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Applique Armor---Adds additional protection(and weight) to the main body. Up to 250 additional MDC can be added, at 7 lbs, and 150 credits, per 1 MDC point. Lighter armor can be substituted, at 1 lb per MDC point, but the stronger polycarbonate armor costs 400 credits per MDC point.
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor(Option)---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage
----Cost: +1 million credits
*Chemical Resistant Armor(Option)----PS’s patented chemically inert armor that sheds the effects of corrosive chemicals and stick’ums. Acids and chemical weapons do NO damage.
----Cost: +1.1 million credits
*Jettisonable Armor(Option)---Special pre-cut division channels, break points, and integral explosive bolts allow the vehicle crew to jettison the applique armor, shedding it, usually to restore mobility(in the case of medium- and heavy-armors), lose contaminated outer plates, or shed unwanted riders. Once jettisoned, the applique armor CANNOT be re-attached without extensive reconstruction and refurbishment(if anything is left at all of the original material)....Essentially, one has to re-buy the applique and/or jettisonable armor option to regain its benefitts.
OPTIONAL: The explosive bolts, at the GM’s discretion, can explode off with enough force to do 1d6 MD to an 15 ft radius around the vehicle, due to flying armor fragments.
----Cost: +4,000 credits+cost of armor

*Morphing ‘Armadillo’ Armor---Enfolds the ENTIRE bus in articulated armor plates, increasing armor protection, but effectively immobilizing the vehicle. Can only be openned from the outside by special electronic passcode(included in cost)
MDC: +300 MDC when deployed
Cost: 850,000 credits; 150,000 credits for six Glitterboy-style laser pylons that drive into the ground and anchor the vehicle to the ground(takes a Robotic PS of 40 or greater to uproot the vehicle)

*Shock Blaster Security System---This addition to the standard anti-theft locks and alarms BLASTS the miscreant with bullhorns and industrial-strength strobelights that override passersbys’ normal apathy about car alarms, and limelights the thieving bastards like jack-lit deer, as well as chiseling their eardrums and optical nerves. Imagine a flash-bang grenade going off in your face while you’re trying to coathangar the door-lock.....
Range: 10 ft radius
Effects: Targets without ear and eye protection are temporarily blinded and deafened; -5 to strike, -10 parry/dodge, and 40% chance of stumbling and falling per 10 ft of movement. Has a Horror Factor of 8 to anyone else standing nearby, who think the car just exploded. Effects last 1d4 melees
Cost: 700 credits

*Electro-Shock Security System----Special contacts in the skin of the vehicle can be electrically charged to deliver a taser-like shock to anyone attempting to break into the vehicle. Alternatively, the system can be set to dump most of its power into a vaporizing megadamage shock blast, though this tends to drain the batteries far faster. CANNOT be mounted on top of Applique Armor.
Range: 3 ft
Damage: 3d6 SDC plus Humanoids struck with this weapon must save
vs. coma or be shocked unconscious for 1D6 minutes.
(MD ) The higher end setting does 1d6 MD per shock
Payload: 20 SDC (2 Megadamage charges) charge battery(recharges off the conventional powerplant at one SDC blast per 5 minutes), or unlimited if linked to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 3,000 credits

*Onboard Toilet---A small single occupant enclosed bathroom can be added to the rear of the bus, for those long trips.
Cost: 4,000 credits


*Gun Turrets(1-2)---One or two rooftop turrets can be added. These turrets can be opaque alloy or megadamage perspex, and mount 1-2 heavy machine guns/weapons, or four lighter weapons(light machines guns, energy rifles, and the like), fed from their own e-clips/magazines, or magazines/capacitors in the vehicle itself.
MDC of Turret: 50
Cost: 80,000 credits each, plus cost of the weapons.

*PS-L-CIWS Vulcan Chain Gun(aka “Button Guns”)---This installation, introduced on the Type 9 Battlemover, then adapted as an air defense weapon option for the VW Camper Gunship, has been adapted for shipboard use as PS’s standard light maritime weapons system. The system is a very compact and neat installation that takes up little space, and has been compared to the pre-Rifts Russian ADMG-630 30mm Gatling CIWS that saw extensive service aboard Russian warships. The PS-L-CIWS is often called the “Button Gun” because of its squat, flattened dome-like turret.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst(can only fire bursts)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, as an automated defense system linked to a radar/sensor system, the “Button Gun” has a +2 to strike, and four attacks per melee.
Payload:8,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 30,000 credits

*Land-Train System---This allows up to four GAAARs to be linked by megadamage accordion-bellows-style tunnels, and control linkages, into one long serpentine vehicle. Passengers can freely move between interlinked buses, and the entire vehicle can be controlled from one cab.
For every vehicle linked up, however, reduce maximum speed by 10%, and control rolls by -8%, owing to the extra mass and diffculties of controlling the supersized tandem-rig.
Cost: 80,000 credits per vehicle linked.

Variants:
*GAAARCG-01XDTC---ExtraDimensional Transit Conveyer---A model rumored to exist, fitted with an extradimensional drive system(ala TMNT TransDimensional) allowing for relatively simple transit through the more readily permeable dimensional walls and facilitating commutes between some universes. PS employs a growing number as part of its inter-facility/interdimensional mass-transiit system.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

PS-AFV-M37 Akkorukami Crawler Tank
(aka ‘Tendril-Tank’, ‘Tendrilator’, ‘Squirminator’, ‘Killerpus’, ‘Slide-Winder’)

“Rumi? Your surfing plans are going to have to wait; I’m counting upwards of fifteen tendril-goblins active on that beach ahead.”
“Damn! I thought this area had been swept! Well, guess we’re going to have to sweep it ourselves! Squad A and B will assault the beach, Squad C will dismount on the bluff and give us cover fire!”

“I know those things are on our side, but just watching them -slither- across the landscape, it still upsets my stomach.”

The Akkorukami AFV is a robot vehicle that was devised as a result of studies of alien hardware on the protectorate world of New Vita. There, ancient ruins unearthed in the establishment of a resort colony unleashed hordes of tentacled combat robots that nearly destroyed the colony and massacred the colonists, but for an unexpectedly stiff resistance and the timely intervention of PS/GNE combat personnel. In gratitude for securing the safety of the colony, the New Vitans allowed PS/GNE first crack at studying the battlefield remains of the mechanical horde. PS/GNE further reinforced the growing working relationship with the New Vitans by making their growing planetary militia the first beneficiaries of their reverse-engineering program.
In many ways, the Akkorukami draws from previous PS designs such as the Scuttler, but uses tentacles instead of articulated legs. The Akkorukami fairly ungulates across the ground with smooth fluid movements that some observers admittedly find ‘disturbing’ to look at. The Akkorukami’s all-terrain performance makes it particularly useful; its many tentacles/treads can spread out to reduce its ground pressure ‘footprint’, allowing it to traverse snow and bog conditions, or can carry it up mountain slopes. The AFV is also extremely fast and maneuverable in and underwater.
Though the propulsion system is unique to the Akkorukami, the degree of modularity integrated into the design is pure Paladin Steel; a variety of weapons and system options can be applied to the vehicle, allowing it to be customized to a variety of purposes. Even the novel tentacled legs are modular, allowing for quick repairs for the unusual appendages.
The Akkorukami can also carry eight combat troops or passengers in a well-cushioned and gimbaled rear compartment. During climbing and jumping maneuvers, the ride can get quite rough, so an elaborate system of cushioning and webbing keeps passengers reasonably comfortable during sharp stops, starts, and severe orientations.
Akkorukami AFVs were first tested and deployed with the New Vitan Militia, and saw their first combat chasing down remnant warmachines in the wilds of New Vita. The New Vitans LOVE the design(despite some of the initial shivers experienced by the veterans who’d faced the warbots the design was influenced by) and the Akkorukami is quickly filling up vehicle assignments with the NVM, and even was deployed offworld when the New Vitans volunteered some of their units to cover PS/ASI/GNE military security details pulled from less pressing postings to meet the challenges of the Minion War. The design is expected eventually to be made available to other Alliance affiliates as well, but the disruption caused by the Minion War has currently cast any timetable for a wider production and distribution into doubt.

Type: PS-AFV-M37 Akkorukami
Class: Armored Fighting Vehicle
Crew: 2+ 8 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 600
Reinforced Crew Compartment 100
Head Turret 200
Sensor Eyes(4) 40 each
Tentacle Arms(4) 125 each
Tentacle Legs(10) 100 each
Height: 9 ft
Width: 12 ft
Length: 29 ft. The tentacle arms can extend forward another 12 ft, the leg tentacles 8 ft in any direction.
Weight: 16 tons
Cargo: Small space in the cabin for survival packs, sidearms, and a few small personal possessions.
If not carrying passengers, the rear troop compartment can hold up to a ton of cargo.
Physical Strength: Equiv. Robotic P.S. of 35
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:(Running) 65 MPH
(Climbing) Excellent climber; can climb up to a 60 degree slope at 35 MPH. Steeper and more rugged inclines are taken rather slower.
(Leaping) Can spring from a standing start 10 ft up/18 ft across. A running start in excess of 40 MPH increases height/distance by 50%.
(Flying) Not possible
(Underwater) Fully amphibious and can swim at 35 MPH. Maximum depth of 9,000 ft.
Market Cost: 17 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus:

*Chameleon Camouflage---Like the octopi it resembles, the Akkorukami can change its appearance colors to match its surroundings; Visually, the ‘bot is -20% for others to Detect Ambush/Detect Concealment, +5% to prowl, and has a 40% chance of remaining undetected if standing still(60% if standing in dim/indirect light). Has only a 20% chance of showing up on radar/motion detection systems, and is, combined with the existing thermal shielding, only 10% likely to show up on thermal sensors.

*Stealth----The tentacle propulsion is particularly quiet compared to conventional treads and hover systems; the Akkorukami actually gets a Prowl roll of 40% to go unheard when moving.


Weapons Systems:
1) Main Turret---The main turret has a modular main gun, allowing it to be fitted with a variety of MBT armaments already familiar to PS clientele:
a) Heavy Laser(PSMBL-5000B)
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single blast, 4d6 MD double blast, 1d4x10+8 MD quad blast, 1d6x10 MD full 5-shot blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 200,000 credits

b) Heavy Ion Projector-----M-Ion Cannon----A PS copy of the Triax TX-8841 Ion Cannon(sans MRM launchers). PS has also managed to adapt its ion-weapons modification technology to further augment the M-Ion weapon.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 200,000 credits
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area. Cost: 10,000 credits
*Ion Booster Module---Another mod that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 1d4x10 MD, but boost range to 7,000 ft. Cost: 12,000 credits

c) Heavy Plasma Cannon
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
*Can be increased by 50% with a ‘hot shot’ injection of deuterium gas
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited linked to nuclear power source
Deuterium Gas Reservoir has enough gas under pressure for 45 shots.
Cost: 3 million credits, plus 1,200 credits per deuterium ‘hotshot’ cartridge.

d)Tri-Laser(PSMBL-3E)---Adapted from the Glitterboy No. 7 of South America
Range: 8,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 300,000 credits

e)PS-HPBC-20 Particle Beam Cannon------Based on the KLS Mrk IV Glitterboy PB-20 Rapid Acceleration Particle Beam Cannon, complete to pairing with a coaxial small laser.
Range: (PBC) 11,000 ft(double in space)
(Laser) 2,000 feet (double in space)
Damage: (PBC) 4d6x 10 MD single blast
(Laser) 4d6 MD single blast
Rate of Fire: (both) ECHH
Payload: (both) Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 4.2 million credits

f) RFL-42 Slayer Quad-Laser Cannon---The powerful PS-RFL-40, a new PS laser weapons system with better range and a redesigned coolant jacket.
Range: 6,000 ft(60,000 ft in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD short burst (four shots, one from each barrel), 4d4x10 MD medium burst (eight shots, two from each barrel in sequence), 4d6x10 MD long burst (takes two attacks), or 6d6x10 MD full melee burst (takes three attacks).
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 4 million credits

g)Sonic Cannon(PS-UHFSC-02)
Range: 4,000 ft underwater, 2,000 ft in air
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast, plus 6d6 MD to a 20 ft diameter area around the blast area, underwater. HALF that in air.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 95,000 credits

h) Light ElectroMagnetic Bolt Cannon---A more compact and faster-firing version of the weapon mounted on the Wyrmm Tyrannis MBT, the ‘snub-nose’ LEMBC also does less damage and is shorter-ranged.
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD to 10 ft blast radius per bolt!
Does 50% more damage to metal hulls. Crews inside affected hulls also must dodge or take 1d6 MD from loose metal objects being thrown around by the electromagnetic vortex.
Also roll on the following for additional electromagnetic effects:
01-15: No damage
16-30 Instruments flicker out, before coming back online in 1d4 seconds. Target loses Initiative.
31-45 All weapons temporarily out, and minor electrical fires. One system comes back online in 1d4 melee rds.
46-60 All systems temporarily out, and minor electrical fires. -30% to piloting skills if target is a manned vehicle. Systems come back online after 1d4 melee rds.
61-75 Communications, radar, and targeting are disabled, but weapons systems are unaffected. -3 to strike and no initiative. Damage requires physical repair.
76-90 Instruments are completely totaled. If a manned vehicle, the following skill penalties apply; -25% at one-third of maximum speed, -50% at HALF maximum speed, and -75% at full speed. NO initiative roll, -3 to dodge(-5 if an AI), -3 to strike(-5 if an AI), and lose one action per melee round(2 if an AI)
91-00 Total knockout. Controls do not respond, and machine is out of control. Crash/collapse/total shutdown within 2d4 minutes.
Rate of Fire: Three shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 1.5 million credits

i)’Tech-Zapper’ Ion Cannon---A scale-up of PS’s ‘Rip-Zapper’ Ion Rifle
Range:(Ion Beam Mode) 1,700 ft
(SDC Beam) 2,000 ft
(Ion Bolt Mode) 3,000 ft
(Lightning Zapper Mode) 500 ft
(Shock-Zap Mode) 1-3 ft
Damage:(Ion Beam Mode) 4d6+2 MD per single shot
(SDC Beam)1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees, and a 75% chance of permanently frying nanotech devices(like Armor-dissolving nanites or RMK/IRMSS systems).
(Ion Bolt Mode) 2d4 MD to 5 ft radius, 55% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
(Lightning Zapper Mode) Does stun damage similar to SDC beam through metal armor and light power armor.
On an unmodified roll of 18-20, it causes unshielded BIONICS and robots to spasm for 1d4 melees(Cyborg is at HALF bonuses to strike, parry, dodge, roll, and is -3 to initiative. Reduce speed by HALF).
This weapon does 1d4x10 EMP damage(no physical damage) to a 10 ft radius. The resulting percentage of the target location MDC is the chance of shutdown/disablement. All damage is cumulative. Damage in excess of 50% target MDC will require repair to make it functional; 75% or more damage will require replacement of the entire electrical system. Does double damage to non-shielded civilian systems. Bionics are -1 to dodge, roll, and strike for the affected limb/system, lasting 1d4 melees, non-cumulative, before the system resets itself.

Rate of Fire:(Ion Beam Mode) ECHH
(SDC Beam) ECHH
(Ion Bolt Mode) ECHH
(Lightning Zapper Mode) Can fire only one Zap every melee(takes fifteen seconds to power up)
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 36,000 Credits


2) Bow Weapon---Mounted in a ball-mount in the forward glacis plate and operated by the driver is a light weapon, operated by the driver. Mount has a 45-degree arc of fire.
a) Forward Ion Pulse-Gun
Range: 800 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
1d4x10 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; 30 shots short e-clip, 60 shots long e-clip
Options: Like the handgun version, the vehicle-mounted version can be similarly modified for extra effect/power:
Note: It takes a person with the Weapons Engineer skill a successful roll and about 5 minutes to install and test one of the following modules, those with the Armorer/Field Armorer skill about 10 minutes, and someone following the printed instructions about 30-45 minutes to install/swap modules.

*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel clip-on that turns the PSIP-2 into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 400 ft, but does 4d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area. Cost: 5,000 credits

*Ion Booster Module---Another barrel attachment that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 3d6 MD, but boost range to 1,500 ft. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Ion Focal Booster Module---Aka ‘Puncher’---This barrel attachment improves the focus of the ion pulse density, improving damage at the cost of range. Reduce range to 400 ft, but up damage to 5d6 MD per shot. Cost: 5,000 credits.

*Laser Sight Module---Another underbarrel attachment, this consists of an improved laser sight that adds a bonus to strike, but the laser also creates a temporary ‘guidepath’ of disturbed/ionized air that slightly improves the striking power of the ion bolts. +2 to Strike, and +3 to damage per bolt. This can be used in conjunction with the other barrel attachments, but added damage is reduced to +2 MD. Cost: 1,000 credits

*Ion Step-Down Module---This barrel attachment, rather than increase range or power, actually ‘steps down’ the power of ion bolts into the SDC range, and modulates their effect, making the weapon in effect a ‘super-taser’(albeit it with flash-burns). An added power regulation chip allows the weapon to use less power in SDC mode. CAN be used in conjunction with the the Laser Sight Module. Switching between MD/SDC modes takes 2 actions. Popular with urban security and police units.
Range:(SDC shots) 600 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
Payload: One MD shot equals 10 SDC shots
Cost: 4,000 credits


3) Arm-Tentacle Weapons(4)---The four large forward tentacles can each be fitted with ONE of the following:
a) Retractable Vibroblade
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD
Cost: 11,000 credits
b) Mini-Laser
Range: 300 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 3,000 credits
c) Laser Cutter
Range: 10 ft
Damage: Variable; 1d4-4d6 MD
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 7,000 credits
d) Electro-Stunner
Range: Melee
Damage: 4d4 SDC, and victim must save at 16 or higher is -8 to strike, parry, and dodge, plus speed and actions/attacks per melee are reduced by half, for 2d4 melees, plus 2d4 melees per additional strike. After being struck four times, the victim may be stunned unconscious(42% chance) for 2d4 melees. Upon waking up, the victim continues to suffer the stun penalties for 1d4 minutes
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 8,000 credits
e) Zap-Stinger
Range: Melee
Damage: Varies; +2d6, 6d6, or 1d4x10 SDC, 1d4 or 1d6 MD to a tentacle strike
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 2,000 credits

4) Melee Combat
Arm Tentacle Lash 3d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 1d4x10 MD
Arm Tentacle Crush/Squeeze 6d6 MD
Leg Tentacle Lash 2d4 MD
Leg Tentacle Crush/Squeeze 4d6 MD

Options:
*Mini-Missile/Torpedo Racks(2)---Can be mounted on the turret like small wings.
a) Micro-Missiles----36 shot pod

b) Mini-Missiles----6 shot pod

c) Copperhead Anti-Armor Missiles
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD,
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 4
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 60,000 credits per launcher , missiles cost 600 credits each

d) Short Range Missiles---3 per hardpoint

e)L-SAM ‘Black Talon’ Launchers
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 3 per launcher
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 75,000 credits per launcher, 10,000 credits per missile

f) Heavy ATGMs---a medium-range armor-piercing missile warhead on a foreshortened rocket booster, with command guidance, for making precise anti-armor kills.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: 3d6x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Payload: 3 per launcher
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 100,000 credits for the launcher, 20,000 credits per missile

g) ‘Slammer’ Concussion Missiles---Knockoff Triax Weapon, acquired through industrial espionage.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: (Missiles) 2d4x10 MD to 90 ft radius.
88% chance of knockdown(lose 1 APM and Initiative), 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees)
Payload: 2 per launcher

h) PS-RL-210 Fragmentation Rocket Launcher( a copy of an imported Russian design). Note that PS has also been experimenting with an incendiary variant using a magnesium mixture.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
at 3,500 ft, the rds go ‘grapeshot’, doing 3d6 MD(1 MD for a single shot) in a 12 ft wide area.
(Incendiary “Hot-Grape” Version)---Do an additional +2 MD per rd, and 1 MD of damage for 1d4 melees as the flare portion burns down.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 800 shots per launcher
Cost: 16,000 credits

i) PS-DL-110L Razor-Frizzer( a cut-down copy of an imported Russian design). The PS version uses ceramic and light alloy discs that, either by accident or deliberate design, give off a very audible high-pitched shrieking or buzzing noise when fired.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 shots per launcher
Cost: 18,000 credits

*Smoke/Flare Launchers(2)--- 30mm grenade/smoke/flare cluster mortars. Can also be fitted to fire Triax- or Northern Gun-style flare/chaff countermeasure bundles.
Range: (Smoke/Grenades) 1,200 ft
(Triax Style) 500 ft
(Northern Gun Style) 6,000 ft, creates a 30 ft cloud, +10 ft per each additional chaff/flare launched in the volley. Cloud lasts 2 melees before dissipating(or less in a very strong wind).
Damage:
(Smoke) Smoke in a 30 ft radius+15 ft per additional round launched in the volley.
(30 mm Grenade)(Incendiary) 2d4 MD to a 12 ft blast radius, plus an additional 1d6 MD per melee for 1d6 melees.
(HE) 2d6(12 ft blast radius)
(Chaff-Triax Style)
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
(Chaff-Northern Gun Style)
10% chance per chaff cloud deployed of decoying missiles, up to maximum of 60%
Aircraft, power armor, and beings flying through the chaff will be -6 on perception, -3 on initiative, -5 to strike, -2 to parry, -2 dodge, and lose 1 melee attack that round(or the next). Sensory and Piloting rolls are at -20% for as long as the characters are caught in the cloud, and the next as they recover.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, or 6
Payload: 24 total. 12 flares/smoke charges per launcher
Cost: 2,000 credits per launcher, Smoke grenades cost 60 credits each, standard 30mm HE grenades cost 400 credits each, armor-piercing cost 550 credits each. Triax flares/chaff cost 75 credits a bundle, NG-style flares/chaff cost 65 credits each.

*Ink Cloud---Injects a water-absorbent powder that quickly gels into a thick suspension that blocks light, clogs gills, and fouls sonar. Though not as potent as the Kittani gill-clog material, it’s still fairly effective at choking off gill-breathing pursuit.
Range: Covers a 40 ft area. Depending on water conditions, the cloud can persist for 1d4 minutes.
Damage: Those caught in the cloud are effectively BLINDED; -5 to strike, parry, dodge, and entangle The particulate nature of the material makes sonar systems less effective as well; -60% to attempts to use sonar reading through the cloud. Gill-breathers must roll a 16 or better or be -6 on initiative, -6 to strike, parry, and dodge, and reduce Speed, melee attacks, and skill performance by -50%. Upon exiting the cloud, penalties are reduced by HALF, but persist for 1d6 minutes.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Enough material for 10 bursts
Cost: 6,000 credits. 190 credits a shot of the chemical.


Variants:
*PS-AFV-M37G----The base-model Akkorukami, despite its heavy armor, was discovered to be too lightly framed to mount heavier ballistic weaponry, limiting the design’s usefulness in providing indirect fire support. PS therefore developed a variant that could handle carrying heavier ballistic weaponry. The -M37G has a modified internal frame and redesigned turret, and sacrifices troop/passenger-carrying capacity for a large ammunition capacity. In an emergency, the entire ammunition pod can be jettisoned to avoid the dangers of a chain-fire and internal explosion. The calibers the -M37G can carry still aren’t on a par with similarly-sized conventional and contra-gravity AFVs, but the Akkorukami’s greater ground mobility and mimetic camouflage abilities arguably compensate for the lack of one-shot damage potential. The -M37G isn’t as common or popular with the New Vitan Militia(roughly one in every ten robots is of the -M37G model), though, due to its dependence on ammunition, the manufacture of which isn’t yet possible in the colony. Typically, if the NVM needs artillery to stomp out a problem on the planetary surface, they call on an air strike from the orbital platforms or warships.
The main turret can now mount one of the following:
a) PS-US-RG14PS Boom Gun---PS produces a high-powered rail gun akin to the Glitterboy’s RG-14, only with a different mounting, style, and lack of laser-reflective armor
Range: 11,000 ft
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per shot
Sonic shock effects remain unchanged.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 180 rd drum
Cost: 280,000 credits

b)Mass Driver Cannon---The old 60mm Snapfire artillery weapon.
Range:(Direct Fire Mode): 6,000 ft
(Artillery Mode) 12,700 ft
Damage:
(Riot)---Combination flash-bang and rubber pellet charge---Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -1 to initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees. Rubber pellets do 1d4 SDC damage, but have a 60% chance of knockdown for any human-sized, or smaller, beings, caught in a 20 ft blast radius.....lose initiative and 1 APM for that melee(cost: 160 credits)
(Fragmentation-SDC) 2d4x10 SDC to 40 ft blast radius(cost: 200 credits)
(Fragmentation-MD) 3d6 MD to 50 ft blast radius(cost: 560 credits)
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius(cost: 720 credits)
(Anti-Armor HEAT) Very heavy projectile( Does 3d6x10 MD to a 2 ft diameter area(shaped charge)(cost: 900 credits)
(Plasma/Micro-Fusion) 1d6x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius (cost: 800 credits)
(Incendiary) 2d6 MD flash damage to 24 ft blast radius, plus does 1d4 MD per melee for 2d6 melees(cost: 710 credits)
(Acid)---4d6 MD to a 5 ft radius, then diminishes in strength by 1d6 each melee(lasts about 4 melees)(cost: credits)
(Chemical) Effects vary, but contains enough chemical agent to cover a 15 ft radius
(Illumination) Can loft to an altitude of 600 ft, and illuminate a 500 ft radius for 4d4 melees. (cost: 15 credits)
Note: Additional grenade types, including TW munitions, are constantly in development.

Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 500 rds
Cost: 250,000 credits


c) 75mm Low Velocity Gun---Using low-pressure propellant techniques, this cannon heaves a beer-can sized projectile at opponents with considerable punch.
However, the 75mm can be used to fire a variety of rounds, from expanding
foam-plastic "punching glove" non-lethal people-stoppers, to megadamage plasma shells.
Primary Purpose: Anti-armor
Secondary Purpose: Antipersonnel
Range: 6,000 m(roughly 18,000 ft)
Damage:
"Bubblegum Round": Restraint Caster(AKA "Loogie"). This "safe" munition blasts out an expanding glop of adhesive resin and plastic fibers that entangle and immobilize targets.
The "Loogie" suffers from atrocious range; it can only reach 150 ft before flopping to the ground. Covers an area of 5 ft, and is
air permeable, so even if a perp is covered head to foot they can still breath.
Damage: 1d4 SDC bruising damage on impact, restrains with a PS of 30(characters without a robotic or supernatural PS of 30 or greater
are stuck until released. Even with r/s PS 30, takes 1d4 melees to bust out/be cut out).
Note: Police carry solvents that dissolve the "Loogie" within 1d4 melees.
(Black Market cost for the solvent is 500 credits per 3-use tube)

Riot Rd: This munition is an expanding ball of sponge plastic,swelling up to roughly the size of a basketball. The Riot Round has better
range than the Restraint Rd, and is designed to deliver a bruising kinetic slap.
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 4d6 SDC plus 80% chance of knockdown(60% chance of stunning for 1d4 melees, -10 to initiative, strike/parry/dodge/roll, and half apms. Reduce percentiles for stun and penalties by half if wearing MDC armor)

Smoke Rd: Smoke in a 30 ft area
Foam Rd: Designed for firefighting. Covers a 15 ft area in fire-retardant foam.
High Explosive Rd: 8d6 MD to 10 ft area
Armor Piercing Round: 1d6x10 MD to 3 ft area
Plasma Rd: Does 1d8x10 MD to a 6 ft blast radius.
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 360 rds
Cost: 150,000 credits.

d)PS-RG-60 Heavy Rail Gun( a copy of an imported Russian design)
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 3,000 rd drum
Cost: 100,000 credits

e)PS-XGECAL 50 “Ripkiller” ---An experimental weapon based on the pre-Rifts .50 caliber GECAL 50 Six Barrel Machine Gun. This weapon fires high explosive shells(based on the Wellington Industries Heavy Explosive shells) over three miles, to devastating effect. In theory, the XGECAL 50 can fire off 8,000 rounds per minute(or 2,000 rounds a melee), but PS has limited the weapon to a maximum of 100 rounds per burst , and even that can shoot the magazines dry in one melee! Only a special coolant jacket, shock-absorbing stabiilizer, and burst limiter prevent this weapon from tearing itself apart under maximum rate of fire, and keeps enough rounds on target to inflict maximum damage. The weapon also tears out its meter-long barrel linings faster than any other weapon in PS service(a cannon barrel is estimated to have a standard combat life of 4,000 shots). Some military analysts at PS are rather critical of this weapon, citing its reliance on specialized ammunition, and its potential, in the hands of an inexperienced gunner, to empty its ammunition reserve too quickly, leaving the gunner without their primary weapon at a critical time. The great range of the weapon, increasing supplies of explosive ammunition, as well as newer, more durable, space-manufactured gunbarrel materials, may save the PS-XGECAL 50 yet, in the eyes of VFS officials.
Note: The PS-XGECAL 50 is currently LIMITED to GNE service, though they figure it’s only a matter of time before someone else combines the Wellington munitions with the pre-Rifts weaponry and comes up with something similar...Already reports of a disturbingly similar weapon being tested at the Coalition’s proving grounds at Lone Star are circulating.
Range: 19,000 ft!
Damage: 1d4 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD per 10 shot burst(1 attack), 2d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst(2 attacks), 4d4x10 MD per 50 rd burst(3 attacks), 1d4x100 MD per 100 shot burst(takes ALL attacks that melee)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 1,000 round drum per cannon(10 full-melee bursts)
Note: The use of tracer ammunition gives a +1 to strike
Cost: 200,000 credits

f)*PS-862 AC Anti-Aircraft Flak Cannon(Paladin Steel knockoff of the Triax TX-862FC)
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD six-round burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 800 rds, 400 rds per cannon
Bonuses: Independent laser and radar tracking system(range: 11,000 ft). +1 strike set on automatic against aerial attack, +2 strike fired by gunner
Cost: 500,000 credits


**PS-AFV-M37M---This variant came quickly on the heels of the ‘-g’ version, but retains the energy weaponry in the main turret, and instead replaces the passenger cabin with a large missile launcher bay. Like the -M37G variant, the ammunition-dependent -M37M isn’t common or popular with the New Vitan Militia, despite its firepower and over-the-horizon fire support capabilities, as missiles are not yet manufactured on-planet, and crews must be careful not to burn through available stockpiles of reloads. Still, the ability to provide artillery support on demand, rather than wait for an airstrike or orbital bombardment, means the indirect fire models are tactically important to the ground forces.

a) Micro-Missiles----360 shot pod

b) Mini-Missiles----60 shot pod

c) Copperhead Anti-Armor Missiles
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD,
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 40
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 60,000 credits per launcher , missiles cost 600 credits each

d) Short Range Missiles---30

e)L-SAM ‘Black Talon’ Launchers
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 30
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 75,000 credits per launcher, 10,000 credits per missile

f) Heavy ATGMs---a medium-range armor-piercing missile warhead on a foreshortened rocket booster, with command guidance, for making precise anti-armor kills.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: 3d6x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Payload: 20
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 100,000 credits for the launcher, 20,000 credits per missile

g) ‘Slammer’ Concussion Missiles---Knockoff Triax Weapon, acquired through industrial espionage.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: (Missiles) 2d4x10 MD to 90 ft radius.
88% chance of knockdown(lose 1 APM and Initiative), 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees)
Payload: 10

h)40mm ‘Chewer’ Mortar-Launcher System (PSMS40-MLS)
Range: 6 miles
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-18
Payload: 36 tubes. Each barrel holds 5 40-mm projectiles for a total of 180 rds
Cost: 60,000 credits for the basic unit
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Expansion on a concept I intro’ed earlier, with some mental speculation as to the ethics of....
Besides, more fun with random codename generators.

CADMUS BLACK---- Covert Operations Pre-Emptive Operative Recruitment and Augmentation (aka “We Make Heroes: Extreme Edition”)

“Heh, funny this business from this side. Yeah, that lovely little thing’s the sort you want. Smell that sweet scent of imminent corruption and death over the bubbly bouquet of untapped young life energy? Back in the day, we’d call her a ‘nosh’....Pretty lithe virgin, just passed her coming of age, all by her lonesome, a nice screaming snack. I wouldn’t be surprised if a half dozen demons or devyls aren’t already sniffing in on her. Only we got here first.”
“You seem to speak from too much experience...”
“Hey! I’m long past that! But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate from a distance a nice little piece like that one! Besides, this whole ‘catch and release’ stuff is much more fun! Oh, hey, classic mistake there! She just took that shortcut! Now, I figure the next alley’s where we make our move. Dark and out of sight. Got your tranqer ready? I’ll cover the enterance with the chameleon cloak-”

“....ohhhh...”
“-have it on good authority the girl’s got ‘victim’ written all over her scry-lines. Better than an eighty percent chance of attracting supernatural attention. Same bad chances of a terminal mortality event assoc-”
“...what are you saying? I don’t understand!”
“Sure it’s not a self-fulfiller? -WE’RE- arguably supernatural and we just kidnapped her for purposes of subjecting her to an involuntary medical procedure and brainwashing that will turn her into a superhuman supersoldier primed for-”
“-what are you going to do to me?!”
“Well, you get to tell her that if we didn’t, the odds are that she’ll be monster-fodder in the near future. And be sure to mention that the side effects of our procedure are increased good health, crazy strength, skin that can turn a knife, energy blades shooting out of her hands, and, oh, a voice in her head that ‘s teaching her how to kill-”
“Please, don’t hurt me!”
“What’s the time dilation we’ve got here?”
“One eighty on our side.”
“So much? That gives us PLENTY of time to rework her, train her up, and still have her back home in time for her supper!”
“Please, please, let me go!”
“-But we best get started if we want to do a QUALITY mod here. You finish setting up the neural weave, and I’ll give her the prep talk until you’re ready to put her fully under. Hello, Anne, my name is Doctor-Major F*clr*k and I’m going to be supervising a few little improvements to your life- “
“EEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

“Maybe I better give the calm-talk. I don’t think she’s ever seen an A’rac before.”

“Nee-chan! That was awesome!”
Confuson. Shouting. Heavy breathing. Fatigue.
“-huh? What did I do?”
Sore muscles. Cuts and bruises. Clothes in tatters. Smell and sight of blood and ... other things.
“You tore that monster to PIECES!!!! It couldn’t lay a tentacle on you!!! You were just ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! And then you started glowing and shooting those CLAWS OF FIRE out of your hands and you took that sword and sliced that monster lady’s long tongue right off when she tried to cast a spell on you and then you tore her head off and you were just so fast and YOU WERE BADASS!!!!”
Pieces of ...something....strewn about. A rising noise. Cheering. From -many- people. Her name.
“...I did?” :shock:

The IRON NEWTON gene-mod programmes that produced RED KINE and RED XENOPS also had a larger affiliation in a series of operations that came to be known as CADMUS BLACK.
Associated with the TORRID QUENCH initiatives to develop anti-Infernal measures, CADMUS BLACK was carried out across several dimensions that PS/GNE had interests in, and was established to create a ‘reservoir’ or ‘skirmish picket’ of reserve anti-supernatural operatives in place. The concept being that while areas of operation such as Rifts Earth could be considered to be on a constant state of alert against paranormal threats, other universes weren’t, and having the living equivalent of a minefield already in place primed to counter supernatural incursions would allow the GNE/Alliance to protect regions of interest without deploying regular military forces needed elsewhere, or unduly alarming and disturbing the locals. At the very least, the CADMUS BLACK initiative would save a few lives and blunt supernatural incursions long enough for Alliance operations to scramble response forces better equiped to counter the threat. In most cases, solitary individuals in an area have been selected as candidates for conversion, but in some regions of particular security-sensitivity, or where the scryings havd indicated an especially high probability of multi-casualty tragedy, small groups of associated individuals have been inducted into the CADMUS BLACK roster of operatives.
When made public(or at least known to the general GNE rank and file), the CADMUS BLACK program only increased the controversy engendered by RED KINE in that a specific and well-funded Special Operations Group(SOG) had apparently been founded for the express purpose of singling out innocent individuals, kidnapping(’detaining’) them, and altering them into covert biogenetically-modified sleeper operatives for PS/GNE. The criteria for being selected for this programwas based heavily on psychic readings and magic scryings(and, it’s rumored, the assistance of a reformed demon or two), but all added up to a ‘loser’ or ‘monster chow’ profiling that many critics found dubious. From an economic standpoint, too, many critics and analysts thought that for the same cost as it took to stalk, modify, and monitor super-operatives that effectively lay dormant most of the time, the GNE could have trained, equipped and maintained conventional forces in the same areas that could prevent the same anticipated incidents in the first place. When told that CADMUS BLACK was NOT cutting into PS/GNE defense budgets, the question was then asked where the programmes were getting their funding and resources, with worries that CADMUS BLACK might have become a ‘rogue’ operation akin to the Odessa Brigades. The involvement of several personalities of suspect ethics from the Hedro research facility have also not endeared CADMUS BLACK operations to the more conservative elements in the GNE. However, the program continues, buoyed by dramatic accounts of positive outcomes, as well as the involvement and blessings of several Beings of Light, so thus far there have been no serious moves to shut down the CADMUS BLACK programs.
The GNE military regards CADMUS BLACK with mixed feelings; on one hand the operatives are undeniably powerful, welcome manpower force multipliers, and a means of saving lives in regions and circumstances where the GNEAS and corporate security forces just can’t be all the time. On the other hand, many military personnel regard them with a mixture of pity and apprehension; most CADMUS BLACK candidates are essentally helpless monster-bait that got advanced weaponry and combat AIs grafted into them, and they wind up learning about this typically under less than optimal circumstances. As auxiliary troops, many GNE officers fear, the awakened sleeper-agents are going to be running off their programming rather than conscious experience, essentially making them organic robots. And regular troops don’t have to be talked down after discovering they’re bioborgs after coming to in the middle of a battlezone. CADMUS BLACK operatives and operations have earned such sobriets from the Regular Army as ‘Cadmus Canaries’, ‘Kine-Canaries’, ‘Smoke Detectors’, ‘Vic-knappers’, ‘Sleeper-pimpers’, ‘Bambies’ and ‘Batows’(Babes in the Woods).
While RED KINE is the original and mostly commonly deployed bio-aug used by CADMUS BLACK, the SOG has been also known to use other bio-mods such as ZINC FAHRENHEIT, HOT EMERALD, SANGUINE CLOUD, RED XENOPS, OBLIQUE NARCISSUS, EBONY SHALE , CORAL SNOW and variants of those going under such additional codenames as VIRTUAL EAGLE, DUST TEMPLAR, HUMBLE STAR, BRIEF ANGEL and KIND WHIRLWIND. Most such CADMUS BLACK augments feature an anti-paranormal slant, embedded combat A.I. or post-hypnotic suggestion persona, and cover brainwashing to hide the work until needed. Not all CADMUS BLACK ‘inductees’ are involuntary, but may choose partial memory erasure as an alternative to consciously living with the knowledge of alien realms, superpowers, and hellish monsters unless absolutely necessary to be active. Others join the cause of the GNE/Alliance and become full-time members; these operatives are often the first on the scene to comfort and allay the fears of activated sleepers, and bring them around(and ideally into the fold), or ease them back into the comfort of their mundane lives.
When and where possible, the Office of Positive Outcomes will assign a regional watch office with ‘case workers’ to oversee areas ‘seeded’ with CADMUS BLACK sleepers, regularly checking up on the welfare of the aug-recipients and hopefully deflecting any negative repercussions from chance activation/discovery of the bio-aug. These ‘handlers’ also provide specialist medical support and will even set up special accounts for the sleepers, as a form of accumulating ‘backpay’ or ‘inheritances’ that are eventually accessible to the sleeper-operatives. Ironically, in one case it was the presence of just such a monitor that attracted the attention of supernatural evil; a CADMUS BLACK SOG agent who was doing a covert wellness check on sleeper-augs in his district was attacked by Infernals, and wound up being rescued by a passing sleeper who was activated by the presence of the paranormal evil.
It’s not known how many CADMUS BLACK operatives have been created in this fashion, or where they’re distributed, but some speculate that the program may have seeded thousands of sleepers across the Megaverse.

Campaign Note:
CADMUS BLACK is a nifty way to introduce ‘ordinary’ folks as superheroes in a variety of settings, like Heroes Unlimited, BTS or PFRPG settings. In a moment of crisis, these ordinary everyday people suddenly manifest superhuman powers, and later this should raise questions where the new powers came from; was it a dormant mutation? Spontaneous mutation? Blessing from the heavens? The work of alien abductors(indeed, some ‘sleepers’ may remember their missing time as a dreamlike alien abduction nightmare)? A supposedly altruistic and benevolent dimensionally-traveling megacorporation secretly handing out power-ups to involuntary candidates should be pretty far down the list, but if it does come up, it should raise even more questions. What is the mysterious benefactors’ real agenda? Are they still meddling in the characters’ lives? What ELSE did they do to the person? What price might they later ask for the powers they have given, and can they take them away if the price isn’t paid, or the person asks them to?
CADMUS BLACK ops can also be the seed of a hero/paranormal group, the heroes being brought together by the common thread of all being bio-auged by the SOG, and one or two Company operatives serving as mentors and providing some small logistical and intelligence support to the nascent hero organization. Under such cases, the support shouldn’t be overwhelming; the Company can offer a place to live like a basement dormitory, warehouse, or bunker, basic tranportation, specialized medical equipment(or magic/psionic healing), some weaponry and other gear, and basic intelligence, but the characters will have to do most of the hero’ing.


“We got confirmation to justify Condition Yellow; three Infernals, definitely Shedim, sighted, in front of over fifty witnesses. It’s already on Youtube. They’re not calling it a mass hallucination or publicity stunt this time.”
Infernals, In the open, not much more than a hundred miles from her Company waystation in this universe. Absolutely marvelous. A random Malignous or werebeast she could deal with, but footsoldiers of an Infernal faction practically on her doorstep suggested something more dire.
“Great, just ####ing great. Raise to Red Alert. What have we got in?”
“All branch shifts have reported in. That gives us twenty security, fifty-five staff with basic militia training, about twenty-five travelers-”
Those would be out-dimension traders who’d passported in and mingled with the locals to trade in approved goods. Freelance merchants were a mixed bag; they might have basically no military training and zip for gear, or they might be better armed than her own company security.
“Oh, and fifty kine-canaries reported in.”
“Fifty? I didn’t even know DARK NEWTON was THAT active in our region!”
She was of a mixed opinion about the cadmus-canaries. Kidnapping innocent people and making them involuntarily over into bio-genetic supersoldiers with deep programmed combat AIs that made them sleeper agents, all on the justification that mystic scrying said they were losers who were destined to be chowed down by monsters, seemed kind of hinky to her. Now when she needed the manpower to oppose a possible Minion incursion in her region, her biggest contngent was sleepwalking artificial magebane. The seeding of so many under her nose also suggested that somebody higher up in the government had determined that her alternity-sector was heading for trouble...but hadn’t informed her of it. That riled her; she’d have liked a little more warning to prepare. Now she was scrambling to pull together a plan. Just ####ing wonderful.
“Let them in. Let’s see what we got.”

The large underground room was listed as a garage on the blueprints given to the local authorities. What the plans DIDN’T show were the reinforcement panels and beams, NBC-grade life support in the ventilation, or the concealed side chambers that opened up into several suspciously well-stocked emergency supply caches, included a most interesting arsenal. All in all, a good start as a heavy duty bunker or ermergency command center.
It even came now with soldiers, though they wore no uniform the locals would be familiar with. Over a dozen Company troopers were checking out long arms and heavier weapons, and passing armor and small arms to the company staff. The latter were a lot more anxious and nervous than the former, but not terribly so; most were offworlders like herself, with some experience dealing with bad situations like monster attacks and supernatural threats...at least enough to appreciate the danger. Not a whole hell of a lot to work with if they were facing a wholesale invasion, but better than nothing, and they might be able to hold the line long enough to get the dependents and a few more innocents out if it came to a bug-out.
Several dozen people milled into the room after the combat personnel and bringing up the rear of the store staffers. Her megaversal-weary cynicism instantly began classifying them...losers, ignorables, naive innocents...the sort of people others hardly look at twice, the ones who wouldn’t be missed, the ones too blind to survive.....
Only these ones stood out for having a -look- in their eyes. A steely determination and a constantly flickering awareness that looked out of place on such people. Like somebody had given them a dose of backbone, like something harder and colder had awoken up and taken over under these peoples’ skins and was now looking out through their eyes. Some might call it possession, other would call it an awakening to arms. They waited patiently, almost robotically, in line for weapons’ issuance. When they did get their equipment, they checked through it with a rote, mechanical, order and precision, like something practiced in dreams, before they quietly sat down off to the sides and awaited the next development.
The Branch Manager didn’t have to be told these were the activated sleepers, come to be of service. She only hoped the Company had given them a real fighting chance of surviving what lay ahead, and not programmed them to walk to their deaths. “We Make Heroes” was a very nice and nifty motto, but faced with the reality of how far some parts of the organization of which she was a part would go to make that slogan come true, made her a little nervous. And now she had to deal with it.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
wildfire142
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by wildfire142 »

Well enough designs posted to make it worth updating the pdf and posting it :)

Current stats roughly 1035 designs.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)
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Veritas476
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by Veritas476 »

wildfire142 wrote:Well enough designs posted to make it worth updating the pdf and posting it :)

Current stats roughly 1035 designs.

Paladin Steel Netbook

Enjoy :)


Holy. Excellent work on corralling Taalismn's juggernaut. :)
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Good weekend if you like Paladin Steel cyborgs:

Paladin Steel FC-55 ‘Neutralizer’ Demolitions/Ordnance Full Conversion Cyborg
(aka ‘Bombborg’, ‘Squarehead’)

“You’d think that getting blown up would be a surefire sign that a) you’re no good at this bomb disposal business, and b) it’s time to get out of it and not look back. But there’s few enough people willing to go back to face the beast that almost killed them, and I learn from my mistakes. Still, I’m looking forward to when my hitch ends and I can cash in my hazard-pay dividends and get resleeved in a company-cloned flesh and blood body, so I can get some serious living in after all my hard work.”

“I’ve already lost my head about four times to booby-traps, but that’s better than losing my life.”

“Why can’t we just program a ‘bot to do this job? Why endanger somebody? Because more often than not these devices are made by organics, and having an organic mind on-site can often yield insights and come up with solutions a ‘bot couldn’t. Evolution has taught us organics how to be nasty imaginative bastards in ways programmed artificial intelligence still can’t beat.”

“Damn, but this is a nasty piece of work. I suspect there’s a bit of goblin design in it. If the victim moves, the bomb goes up, if we do nothing, it increases the chance that some timer or other will trip and the bomb goes up. Look, worst comes to worst, we wrap the trigger-victim in an Ithan curtain, wrap the bomb in an implosion spell, toss on a Globe of Silence and a Darkness spell if you got’em, and we trigger the bomb. It’s fairly low yield, so the spells should shield the hostage from the worst of it, including the flash and bang. We put out the fire, we hand the victim to the eemtees, and we start gathering forensic. But I’d like to try to dismantle this one first before we use the Armageddon option.”

The PS-FC-55 ‘Neutralizer’ is a specialized full conversion cyborg chassis optimized for handling explosives and demolition disposal.
The FC-55 is a ‘slip-body’, not meant as a convertee’s primary body. The chassis uses a bio-pod system that allows the cyborg to ‘slip into’ the FC-55 when needed, and return to another body frame when work is done. Thus the FC-55 makes few, if any, concessions to ‘socializing’ the appearance and features of the cyborg.
The FC-55 is heavily armored, with thick plating and padding along the front of the cyborg. The cyborg’s organic parts are fully situated inside the heavily protected main torso; the head is merely a specialized sensor mount and has a generic boxy design with no concessions to socializing(it’s designed to be expendable and easily replaced in event of an accident). The rather lanky and long arms, with extra jointing, end in modular sockets, allowing a variety of specialized tools to be quickly fitted, Additional limbs are also available, and the ‘borg can readily interface with a variety of utility ‘bots if necessary. The FC-55 trades raw strength for durability and agility, especially tactile adroitness for fine manipulation work.
FC-55s are specialized enough that they are only issued to trained professional ordnance disposal experts, rather than trained for the job as part of a post-conversion rehab program.
FC-55s often work hand in hand with Ut-FC-6 Hazard ‘borgs in dealing with dangerous environs. They are often called upon for dealing with industrial fires(where they suit up with refractory armor) to assist in preventing blowups and secure sensitive facilities. In the GNEAS, military FC-55s are often attached to large ammunition depots and munitions facilities as loaders, armorers, and emergency responders.

Type: PS--FC-55 ‘Neutralizer’
Class: Full conversion Borg, Light Machine, Demolitions Specialist
Crew: One volunteer
Minimal Requirements: Because of the strain placed on the recipient’s psyche, the conversion is available ONLY to those with a demonstrated M.E. rating of 16 or better

M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 25 each
Arms(2) 60 each
Legs(2) 85 each
*Head 80
Armored Cowl 45
**Main Body 170
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a
called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The ‘Neutralizer’ can be fitted with any additional armor up to HEAVY Cyborg Armor. Typically the FC-55 is fitted with special appliqué panels on its front that take HALF damage from concussive blasts. Such armor costs 50% more than conventional armor plating.

Speed:
Running: 100 mph max . However the act of running does not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained indefinitely. Interestingly enough, special jointing of the legs allows the cyborg to run as fast BACKWARDS as forwards; Neutralizers appreciate being able to retreat QUICKLY.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to distance/height.
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The ‘Neutralizer’ CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock.

Statistical Data:
Average Height: 6 ft
Width: 1.8 ft
Length: 1.5 ft
Weight: 500 lbs.
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Cyborg PS. 35, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, +5 vs possession, impervious to Bio-Manipulation, Telemechanics(all), See Aura, and any attacks that do damage directly to Hit Points.
+3 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 60% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg, Mining ‘Borg, Salvage Expert, or Nuke(see Rifts Manhunter). Demolitions and Demolitions Disposal are considered MANDATORY for making the most use of this cyborg frame.
Black Market Cost: 6 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and sound filtration systems.

Special Features:
*Hardened Circuits---A feature growing to be standard in Paladin Steel-made combat cyborgs. Shields the ‘borg’s systems against EMP and other electrical-disruption attacks, and has proven especially effective after some bomb-makers deliberately began devising EM munitions to neutralize disposal ‘bots and ‘borgs.

*Armored Cowl---An erectable armored integral blast-protection cowl that protects the cyborg’s head. 45 MDC

*Kinetic Insulation----The front of the FC-55 is paneled in special padded armor designed to handle concussive shock; takes HALF damage from impacts, including concussive shockwaves.

*EM Shielding---Most of an FC-55 is made of non-ferric composites and alloys in order to reduce EM signature and insulate its electromagnetic components, in order to avoid tripping magnetic detonators and EM-sensitive triggers. Regular and frequent degaussing is a part of an FC-55’s preparedness procedures.

*360-degree Neck Rotation---The head sensor mount can swivel completely around.

*Contact Microphone---This is an Ultra-Ear auditory sensor with an adhesive head. The Contact Microphone can be stuck on to a surface and used to listen for activity. The contact mike is particular useful for listening to the internal workings of machines, picking up telltale vibrations from incipient malfunctions, but the device is also useful for listening through walls, eavesdropping, and picking locks(hearing the action of bolts and tumblers----+10% to Pick Locks skill).

*Ultra-Sound Scanner---This system uses ultrahigh frequency sound to read the internal layout and composition of structures, such as concrete pipes, composite materials, and cement walls. 80 ft range

*Metal Detector------200 ft range. Fairly useless in metal-rich environs, like a city or ship.

*Radiation Detector/Geiger Counter

*X-Ray Scanner---6 ft range. Works best if a receiver sensor panel can be positioned on the other side of the ED from the radiation source.

*Circuit Reader/Electro-Magnetic Activity Sensors(EMAS)---A short-range(50 ft) sensing system that detects electromagnetic activity such as flowing electrical current , magnetic activity, and active machinery. This is particularly useful when examining circuitry and studying machinery, such as an electrically-fused bomb, for instance(+10% to Demolitions Disposal skill). It can even (40% level of accuracy) determine, at a distance, how much power is flowing. Note that high levels of local electromagnetic activity and/or heavy insulation can blur or even negate the accuracy of the system.

*Molecular Sniffer-----Molecular Analyzer programmed to sample air for traces of chemical compounds. Useful for picking up explosive compositions, such as ammonium-nitrate and fuel oil, plastique explosives, nitrocellulose and amitol, among others.


Weapons Systems:
The FC-55 doesn’t carry weapons as standard, but mounts a variety of tools(vibrocutters, laser torches, drills, molecular blades, etc.) that can be used as weapons at short range. Typically these devices range in damage potential from 1d4 SDC to 2d6 MD, and have ranges up to 50 ft.

1) Forearm Hardpoints--Each forearm has a hardpoint that can mount a mining borg tool arm attachment, or, in a rare case, a standard forearm blaster.


2)Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d6+9 SDC
Full Strength Punch 3d6+9 SDC
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 1d4 MD
Kick 3d6+9 SDC
Leap Kick(2 Attacks) 1d6 MD
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 2d6 SDC
Body Block/Ram: (2 attacks) 1d6 MD

Options:
The ‘Neutralizer’ can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books. Favorite options include fitting the 'borg with additional tools and sensors. Extra limbs may be added for mounting special instruments or for dealing with special cases.

*Marine Operations Kit----Demolitions disposal work often takes specialists into bodies of water, so this modification kit outfits the ‘borg for advanced underwater operations. This allows for dive operations down to depths of 1 mile, and includes deep water lights and emergency floatation bags.
Cost: 1 million credits

*TW-UXB Kit----A TW Multiplexor, configured with spells useful in demolitions disposal operations: Sense Traps & Mines(5 minutes, 94% proficiency in detection, 6 PPE), Blast Shield( 10 ft radius, 5 melee rounds, 9 PPE), Energy Disruption(60 ft range, 15 minute duration, 6 PPE), Implosion Neutralizer(150 ft, 6 PPE), Armor of Ithan(often applied to oneself or bystanders; 5 minutes, 50 MDC, 5 PPE), and Globe of Silence(90 ft range, 10 ft radius, 30 melees, 10 PPE).
PPE Battery: 100 PPE
Cost: 530,000 credits

*Hydro-Saw---An industrial tool, field-mounted. Rather than use a vibroblade or psuedo-diamond cutting edge, the Hydro-Saw uses high velocity water, pumped at near-supersonic velocity by a magnetic peristaltic pump, then laced with fine ceramic grit, to rapidly cut through materials, acting as both blade and coolant at the same time. The cut is remarkably clean and quick. This device is devastating if used as a weapon, especially against vampires, but its extremely short range limits its effectiveness as a combat weapon. It is a favorite for cutting into IEDs that might be triggered by metallic tools.
Range: 50 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per burst, 1d6x10 MD for a full melee cutting burst.
Does 2d6x10 hit point damage to vampires
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 30 full melee bursts
Cost: 30,000 credits

-Spray Cannon
Range: 300 ft
Damage: Varies by chemical carried; Some examples:
(Water)None, if carrying water, but human-sized beings struck with the stream but roll versus the ‘cannon’s To Strike roll, or be bowled off their feet. Does 2d6x10 HP to vampires per blast

(Gloop) PS’s sticky goop---This material is used in construction, as well as to firm up the walls of tunnels and damaged structures. It is also used to cocoon valuable and delicate objects for moving. Each half-gallon application of this quick-set plastic covers about 5 cubic feet, and to cover a human sized target completely, the attacker must roll a 12 or better on the Strike roll. Anyone caught in the goo must have a supernatural or robotic P.S. of 30 or better to escape; otherwise, the target is stuck until released by an outside agency. Gloop has 2d4 MDC per application, and breaks down after 1d4 days of exposure, unless treated with a special binder chemical, and allowed to cure for 1d4 hours, in which case it stabilizes and has an MDC of 2d6+1. Gloop costs 70 credits per half gallon(single application)
A variant of this gunk, ‘Boro-Slime’, is a quick-setting slurry of lead-powder and boro-silicate glass suspension, which is sprayed on leaking radiation sources, forming a thick crust to simultaneously trap radioactive materials and seal it inside a crusting shell for later safe removal. Best used to contain small (power armor and vehicle) reactor breaches and water leaks; larger reactor leaks will require more drastic measures. ‘Boro-Slime’ is otherwise identical to standard Gloop, and costs 120 credits per half gallon(single application)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 50 gallon external tank
Cost: 10,000 credits
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

PS-FC-56 ‘Rachnor’ Full Conversion Cyborg, Utility/Construction
(aka ‘Legger’, ‘CyboSchlob’)
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/rachnor%20borg_zpsyuk0tzgj.jpg

“Yeah, George elected to be permanently wired into his Rachnor body and he spends all his time in it. He’s not one to socialize, and we give him his space, as long as he shows up on time and does his work, but you’ll hear him referred to as the ‘Hermit Spider’. He’s got a spot of land on the other side of the work site that the foremen grant him, and when he’s not here on the job, or in the medbay getting maintenance, he’s out there doing his thing. Some of the old-timers know what it is, but don’t say much about it, and they knew George back from before he got converted, so we respect their silence. If George wants to talk to anybody about it, he will, but otherwise, best to respect him and not bug him about anything.”

“Wrecked cities are a hell of a place to work. Still-radioactive wrecked cities that haven’t settled yet are even more hellish. One moment you’re creeping along a wrecked street, or what you THINK is a wrecked street, and the next you’re falling into a deep void because, you find out, you were really walking on the side of a collapsed skyscrapper. Something like that happens, you’ll be glad for having an armored and shielded work-body. Even the rad-biomods would have a tough time bouncing back from a fall like that.”

Alternate primary ground locomotion modes are generally avoided by most full conversion cyborgs, with a bipedal configuration carrying the day with most humanoids. However, other modes occasionally prove useful, especially with the heavier frame cyborgs, and PS has produced its share of cyborgs sporting extra legs and even treads in place of the traditional paired legs. The FC-56 Rachnor is one such design, a heavy construction and utility cyborg frame that is carried by no less than EIGHT legs.
The Rachnor has a standard Heavy Machine upper torso, reinforced for the rigors of heavy construction work, while its lower torso sports eight heavily reinforced legs. This lower chassis design gives the cyborg a great deal of stability when dealing with moving heavy construction frames or removing debris. Each thick outer leg ends in a basic manipulator claw-paw, and can hold a deployable stabilizer pylon, tool(such as a drill or jackhammer), or weapon rod. Extra powerful robotic actuators give the ‘borg plenty of lifting power, and jacked-up reflexes give it the agility to avoid falling masses. Though not considered a combat cyborg(and outsiders laugh at this distinction), the Rachnor has both the armor and the possibility to mount enough firepower to fight a protracted combat, and often does, especially when clearing a salvage site of vermin and other scavengers.
Paladin Steel Contract Engineering employs a lot of Rachnor conversions(leading to such nicknames as ‘spider squads’ and ‘leggy legions’). Rachnors are often found working closely with Hazmat ‘borgs(from which it was developed) on dangerous work sites or offworld in environments too inhospitable for normal workers. While many Rachnors are modified for bio-pod operation, with the cyborg swapping bodies at the end of a work shift or term, some Rachnor converts choose the rugged frame as their primary body.

Type: PS-FC-56 Rachnor
Class: Full Conversion Borg - Heavy Construction/Demolition
Crew: One volunteer
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 30 each
Arms(2) 100 each
Legs(8) 120 each
Feet (& Foot Pads)(8) 45 each
*Head 100
Extendable Head Cowl 45
**Main Body/Upper Torso 220
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a
called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The Rachnor CAN be fitted with additional armor, up to HEAVY Cyborg Armor.

Speed:
Running: 60 mph max . However the act of running does
not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained
indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable
of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to
distance/height.
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The Rachnor CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock . It is, however, waterproofed for working underwater, and can survive depths down to 2 miles.

Statistical Data:
Average Height: 6.8 ft
Width: 3 ft at shoulders, but the legs can extend out 10 ft
Length: 2.3 ft front to back, but the legs can extend out 10 ft
Weight: 1,000 lbs.
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 35, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, impervious to
bio-manipulation
+4 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 60% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg or Mining ‘Borg OCC.
Black Market Cost: 7.9 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and sound filtration systems.

Special Features:
*Hardened Circuits---A feature growing to be standard in Paladin Steel-made combat cyborgs. Shields the ‘borg’s systems against EMP and other electrical-disruption attacks.

*Radiation Shielding---The Rachnor is heavily shielded against nuclear radiation.

*Extended Life Support---Because the cyborg is often working under less than healthy conditions, taking an occasional breath of the ambient atmosphere isn’t always a good idea. The Rachnor has a closed-cycle life support system that allows the ‘borg to go without life support recharge(oxygen) for 48 hours(Most ‘borgs will carry an extender tank or two).

*Recycler Implants---Can go without food or water for a week before needing nourishment.

*Armored Cowl---An erectable armored integral ‘hardhat’ cowl that protects the cyborg’s head from falling debris. 45 MDC

*360-degree Waist Rotation---The Rachnor can rotate its upper body completely around to supervise a construction site and see to its various leg-tools.

*Foot-Paws---Each leg ends in a basic manipulator claw-hand; this can hold objects but has an wretched touch equivalent of 20% of human normal and cannot be used to use ranged weapons or perform fine manipulation.

*Seismic Sensors----The cyborg’s feet are fitted with ground sensors that can use vibrations(natural or induced) to get an idea of what’s under the surface, and even big up the vibrations of surface movement. The many feet of the Rachnor mean a larger sampling and better triangulation. This system is particularly useful for finding voids under the surface and detecting strata and shifting debris.
Ground scans will take 2-4 times as long as a standard radar/sensor sweep. Typical range on a ground scan is 1,000 ft.
In passive mode, the Ground Sensors can be used alone to listen for underground activity, such as burrowing animals, tunneling vehicles, water running thru pipes, etc., as well as surface movement. Passive sensors can detect the surface movement of large animals(2 tons or more), robots, heavy vehicles, or large masses of infantry with 40% accuracy, up to a mile away.


Weapons Systems:
1) Leg Hardpoints(8)---Weaponry isn’t standard on the Rachnor, but it has multiple mounting points for powered tools that be used as weaponry, or the mounting points can accommodate weapons. The legs, especially, give the cyborg numerous options. The legs can be raised to act as forearm blasters, especially if the other legs are used to steady the cyborg during firing.

2) Forearm Hardpoints(2)---The cyborg’s forearms are modular and compatible with any of the standard cyborg forearm weapons or tool armatures.
A popular option is to fit one or both of the arms with the American version of the Russian Mekanikal Cutter Weapon/Utility Arm(See Rifts Bionic Sourcebook, pg 107, or Rifts Warlords of Russia, pgs 105-106 for details). This features three extendable tentacles, one with a vibroblade(1d6 MD) and the other two with lasers(1,200 ft range, 1d6-2d6 MD).
Hydraulic Hammer Hands, Tool Hands, and Schematic Sensor Hands are also popular.

Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 1d6 MD
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 3d4 MD
Kick 1d6 MD
Leap Kick(2 Attacks) 2d6 MD
Leap Attack(2 Attacks) 3d6 MD, plus has a 60% chance of pinning a larget of equal or lesser size and weight underneath the Rachnor’s eight legs.
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram: (2 attacks) 1d6 MD

Options:
The Rachnor can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books. Favorite options include fitting the 'borg with additional tools and sensors. Molecular Adhesion Pads are popular additions to the feet, allowing the cyborg to cling to surfaces with greater stability.

*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage
----Cost: +1 million credits

*Chemical Resistant Armor----PS’s patented chemically inert armor that sheds the effects of corrosive chemicals and stick’ums. Acids and chemical weapons do NO damage.
----Cost: +1.1 million credits


*Multiple Limbs---Some Rachnor like to add a third arm, especially to accommodate a heavy power tool like a Ram Fist/Piledriver Arm, or a heavy grapple launcher and power winch. Tails are not possible due to the lower torso already being maxed out on legs.

*Foot Vibroclaws---The paw-hands can be fitted with extendable blades or vibroclaws, especially if they add to climbing bonuses or kick damage.

*’Roarke Circuit’---If four or more of the legs are fitted with ranged weapons like Laser or Ion Rods, this option fits them with special equipment that allows them to be raised out of the leg and fired like a forearm blaster; no need to take it in hand and aim it, or for an individual leg to be raised. The leg weapons can even be fired in salvo(counts as one attack, regardless of number of legs and at what targets they’re fired), but have no bonus to strike; for this reason many Rachnors that take this option modify the leg weapons to fire in ‘scattershot’ mode(generally does the same damage at half the range, but to a 20-degree wide arc). Many Rachnors use this option to set up a protective fire cordon around themselves, easily when dealing with enemies/vermin trying to encircle them. Cost: 40,000 credits for four legs to be so fitted, + 6,000 credits for each additional leg added.
Last edited by taalismn on Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Kinda an oddball one here, but I figure a big multi-species, multi-disciplinary society like the GNE has to have some extraordinarily hardworking and skilled social case workers and employment facilitators:


Paladin Steel Human Resources Officer
(Modified Black Market Expediter)
(aka Lifepath Advocate)

“Hello, welcome to the GNE Resettlement Office. I’m Human Resources Officer Tkon Edwyrds, and I’ll be conducting a preliminary interview and assignment for you. Please take a seat and state your name, species, and profession.”
“Ah...I’m Carlo..I’m a human...and I used to be a carpenter...back before those things captured me...”
“Hmmm...we have multiple openings in building residences in the new colonial settlements. Lots of carpentry work, if you’re willing.”
“But I have ...claws...”
“So will many of the others there. They won’t look at you twice, and will help you settle in. Go to Office 33B; they’ll give you details. Good luck. ....Next!”
“Herrruuuuuuuu!!!!”
“Hello, welcome to the GNE Resettlement Office. I’m Human Resources Officer Tkon Edwyrds, and I’ll be conducting a preliminary interview and assignment for you. Please take a seat and state your name, species, and profession.”
“RRRReeerrrrroooyyyyy Rrreennkkkinnnns! EEaannndrruuuthhhhh!!!”
“And what do you do for a living?”
“I sssssiiiiinnnnnggggggg!!!!”
“Let me check. ...I know a guy who’s holding auditions for ethnic musicians in New Rochester. Take this chit down to Office 18C and they’ll arrange transport. Good luck. Next! Hello, welcome to the GNE Resettlement Office. I’m Human Resources Officer Tkon Edwyrds, and I’ll be conducting a preliminary interview and assignment for you. Please take a seat and state your name, species, and profession.”
(giggle) “Ena and Reth. Lacasii Pleasurebeings. We’re (heeh-hee) entertainers.”
“Musicians? Dancers? Physical therapy?”
(taa-hee) “Exotic dance, full contact.”
“Here, here’s a chit that will get you an interview with the Sensuli Guild. They’ll qualify you, or suggest other avenues you can pursue. Show this to the secretary at Office 9D on your way out. Next! Hello, welcome to the GNE Resettlement Office. I’m Human Resources Officer Tkon Edwyrds, and I’ll be conducting a preliminary interview and assignment for you. Please take a seat and state your name, species, and profession.”
“My name is unimportant. My species is superior. My vocation is eating the brains of lesser species and I am VERY hungry and you have such a nice PRIVATE cubicl-”
“SECURITY!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but your previous experience in your home universe as a real estate developer does NOT translate realistically as executive manager material in Paladin Steel. Nor does it qualify you for civil leadership. However, if you’re fond of fresh air and a more rustic environment, I have several openings in community waste management.”

“Yeah, we pronounce the acronym for ‘Human Resources Officer’ as ‘hero’. What about it? You don’t consider a desk jockey or a pencil pilot a hero? ANYBODY can pull a trigger and make something, like a slaver or stormtrooper, go ‘boom’. It’s picking up the pieces afterwards and getting people back up on their feet in the aftermath, for the long run, that REALLY takes courage and dedication. Go into the bombed-out ruins to get people meaningful jobs, persuade them to start working again, when they’re looking for somebody to blame? Like a paper-pusher or pencil-pilot coming down among them? That takes guts.”

“Your intent to repay Gentlebeing Cavaros for saving you is laudable, but please be aware that slavery, even self-initiated, is illegal in the GNE, and I cannot facilitate you in this pursuit. However, given your ...zeal...and dedication to your cause, I CAN point you towards an adjutant-work program for assigning service personnel to duty officers and officials. You’ll be expected to meet certain educational and skill standards, but they will train, and you will be paid for your assignment. That may give you ample opportunity to repay your lifedebt.”

<“Dina? Karlton here. I’ve got a subject in Room 12, and she’s looking to mentally melt down. Get a stretcher team on standby outside with tranqs just in case.”>
///”Got you covered. Hold on.”///

“Human Resources’ is something of a misnomer for this Greater New England profession; ‘labor placement’ might be a better term, since realistically, most of the clients these professionals deal with aren’t human by strict biological definition.
HROs emerged from Black Market Information Broker and Expediter labor recruiters originally employed to find workers for Paladin Steel’s expanding factories, back when the Alliance was just the Vermont Free State. These recruiters were enfolded into PS’s Human Resources division as full-time employees, but increasingly began being used by the communities growing up around the new factory enclaves to find suitable workers for other social services. When Greater New England began growing, and especially after the Shrivving of Atlantis and the Fall of Tolkeen, PS HROs found themselves having to screen and vet ever increasing numbers of ex-slaves and other refugees, seeking gainful employment, or requiring appropriate social services. With the emergence of Greater New England’s form of socialism and ‘full resource utilization’, Human Resources Officers have become an important part of the process of introducing new citizens and potential citizens to the workforce, and taking care of newcomers to GNE society.
Human Resources Officers are part career counselor, part psychologist, and part domestic intelligence expert. They are combination social workers and corporate recruiters. They interview refugees and immigrants for useful skills, and direct them to the appropriate divisions of GNE corporate or government society for further interviewing and testing. They test newcomers and work-entrants and suggest career alternatives or education programs. They also look out for infiltrators and spies attempting to enter the GNE and PS under the guise of refugees or immigrant labor. At their most idealistic, HROs are ADVOCATES for the disenfranchised, the homeless, the discarded, and the dispirited. At their most pragmatic, the HRO is a ruthless winnower of headcount, assigner of fates, and deflater of egos, often telling clients that they aren’t as smart as they think, or that their optimal path in society isn’t as high as they expect. The darker angle of HROs working for corporate or government service is that they may be scoping out recruits for covert operations, gray or black projects, or experimental programs like new bio-mods, psychic augmentations, or prototype testing.
While HROs are hardly combat personnel, they typically develop a sense of danger, especially when working with agitated or psychologically unstable interviewee. Many train in defensive martial arts or quick-draw weapons skills, and acquaint themselves with weapons, especially small, easily concealed, types that can drop a suddenly violent interviewee before they can lunge across a desk or table, or hurt themselves. In the field, HROs often follow the armed services into newly annexed territory, in order to sort out disoriented people, refugees, liberated slaves, and freed prisoners, and get them going where they can do the most good, recieve the best care, or be otherwise distracted and not causing trouble. HROs can also be superlative intelligence officers, with a comprehensive knowledge of economic trends, employment needs, and likely places to find the talents needed to fill existing and future job slots.
HROs often work hand in hand with Combat Psychiatrists in the field, profiling and vetting potential employment prospects and refugees. Rehabilitating ex-slaves and the victims of monster captivity(such as ex-prisoners of the Splugorth, Horune, Brodkil, or Infernals) is another job where the two professions’ duties overlap.
Human Resources Officer is often a second profession for retired GNE drill sergeants; while they continue to serve as recruiters for the GNE military, they will use their contacts from their military careers to scope out potential talent for the corporate divsions as well, though the job may require more empathy than many ex-DIs possess.

Prerequisites: I.Q. and M.A. of 12 or better.
OCC Skills:
Math Basic(+20%)
Literacy(+10%)
Languages: Three of choice(+5%)
Computer Operation (+10%)
Photography OR TV/Video(+10%)
Surveillance Systems(+5%)
Lore: D-Bee(+18%)
Psychology(+10%)
Streetwise(+15%)
Intelligence(+5%)
Interrogation(+10%)
W.P. Energy Pistol
W.P. Blunt
Hand to Hand: Basic(Can be upgraded to Expert at the cost of one ‘other’ skill selection, or Martial Arts, including styles such as Akkdo, or Jujutsu for TWO other skills).
Special Skills:
*Contacts----Networking is a vital part of an HRO’s job. HROs carry a list(mental or otherwise) of people they know are looking for new employees, are good to refugees, or owe the HRO favors. Base skill of 15%+5% per level of experience

Special Abilities:
Black Market Abilities----HROs have a number of abilities that are hold-overs from the HRO’s origins as Black Market agents. Many acquire a reputation from people they’ve helped in the past.
The HRO starts out with Read People.
Can select one of the following at levels 4, 8, and 12: Friends in High Places(2 selections), Friends in Low Places, Game Player, Home Turf Advantage, Influential, Sincerity, Steady Nerves, Street Rep: Hero/Trustworthy, Work the Law.

About 25% of HROs are Minor Psychics. Another 15% possess the Minor Superpower Living Anatomy. Another 50% spring for a bio-augment giving Minor psionic abilities, the Living Anatomy power, or cybernetic implants such as hearing enhancements, subdermal armor, headjacks, and sensory enhancements.

Skills: Select 7 ‘other skills at Level One, plus an additional 2 at levels 4,8 and an additional 1 at level 12.
Communications: Any
Domestic: Any(+10%; many HROs feel that little touches like home-baked cookies or a floral display can help put interviewees more at ease).
Electrical: Basic Electronics only
Espionage: None
Mechanical: Basic, Automotive(+5%) only
Medical: First Aide and Paramedic(2 selections)
Military: Military Etiquette and Find Contraband only(+5%)
Physical: Any, except Acrobatics and Gymnastics
Pilot: Any except Robots and Spacecraft
Pilot Related: Any(+10% to Read Sensory Instuments)
Rogue: Any(+5%)
Science: Basic Math only
Technical: Any(+5%)(+10% to languages and literacy)
Wilderness: None
Weapons Profficiencies(W.P.): Any, except Heavy Weapons
Secondary Skills:
Select 4 skills without benefit of any of the bonuses above, and subject to restrictions of same.
Experience Tables:
Use Rogue Scholar
Standard Equipment:
Uniform, several changes of civilian clothing(including at least one good suit). Set of Plainclothes MDC armor, and light or medium MDC body armor.
Handheld Computer w/ cellphone and recorder capabilities
Pencils, notebooks, clipboard(typically MDC alloy or plastic; 5-7 MDC).
Audio /Video Recorder w/ attached printer capability(for creating ID cards and tags)
Translator headset
Breather/Filter Mask, sterile gloves
First Aid kit
Briefcase
Thermos Bottle and Cups
Bag of Candy(many HROs find sweets handy for calming down interviewees, or for calming themselves down)
Concealable stun gun or derringer energy pistol with 4 extra energy cells.
A lead sap or nueral tazer.
Starting Money:Starts with 3,000 credits in savings. Average wage is 2,000 credits per month.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Unless they have an existing psionic or mystic power apptitude, most HROs have no objections to minor cybernetic enhancements, but will not get bionics unless necessary for medical reasons(unless they have them from a previous OCC). Translator and earing implants are the most common, as are implanted communications and headjack systems.
Bio-Modification:
The new science of bio-augmentation opens up new doors to GNE personnel, and HROs are no exception. Bio-augs that endow minor psionics, enhanced sensory abilities(like Read Anatomy), or add extra skills(especialy language skills) will be much sought after, but are not standard issuance to HROs. The larger bio-aug packages will not generally be unavailable, though SLATE FOUR, JOYOUS MARATHON, and CORAL SNOW would be the most attractive to HROs.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Some none-too-serious story fluff (can be considered Rifts/HU/BtS-xover stuff)


Paladin Steel, Greater New England, and ‘Magic Girls’

“Yeah, I’m the case officer for my sector’s locally-raised operatives. Yeah, I have several teams of young girls on my watch. Yes, some of them are magic, but we don’t consider them ‘magic girls’, the Company doesn’t ‘make magic girls’. Some of them play with the fixings and themes just for the fun of it, but we drill them that it’s serious business. Take them seriously, and most of the kids come around and treat it like serious business too. Team Tsunami’s one of mine that’s shaping up just fine on that score.
Osue’s the samurai weapons mistress. I have the full specs on her aug, and I STILL don’t know where she hides that sword of hers. She always has it, and it always seems to cut through just about anything it strikes. Cold iron, silver, vibrofield? I don’t know if it’s a family heirloom, or one of our R&D guys slipped her a high-end prototype or something. Anyways, she’s damned good with it. Brave and headstrong too, maybe a little too so; we’re working on that.
Okaki’s the sniper---her aug gives her ionic energy discharges; she throws lightning. Spiritual bent too; almost miko grade, but she leans more towards the practical. Don’t know if she’d be any good with actual magic, but we’re testing her with magic equipment just to see if she’s got any aptitude beyond just basic general use stuff, but we’ll see. She’s arguably the most wholesome normal of the trio. Sort of. She goes fangirl sometimes something fierce.
Nanami, she’s the youngest and the nervous one, but she’s actually the heavy artillery; she can call up a force tornado that can level a building or clear a battlefield. She’s the team prankster and go-getter, but the first to scream when something happens. We’re working on that.
Sound frivolous? Perhaps, but like I said, they’re shaping up well. They keep their cool...well, except for Nanami, but she’s slowly getting the hang of it. They were at a hot springs recently when the place got taken over by hardcore cultists, the Path of Sacred Ascension...press called them ‘urban terrorists’, remember? But they had at least one half-assed Summoner among them, and they figured timing, location, and a ready pool of sacrifices to call up some sort of elemental monster to wreck all of Honshu. Only our girls were in the way. They busted out of the confinement where the cultists had rounded up the onsen patrons prior to the big summonimg, wearing nothing but their birthday suits and took down half the cultists...I’m -not- kidding, apparently hot springs highjinx DOES happen. By the time they managed to grab some spare clothes out of their car, they’d apparently sent the Pathers into utter confusion. Guys couldn’t believe they were getting their asses whipped by a bunch of young girls. And they’d SEEN bullets bounce off bare-ass skin and lightning bolts and storms thrown back at them. By the time some of the other released onsen patrons had escaped and contacted the police, our heroic trio had pretty much mopped the floor with the cultists. Really, all Mackel and me had to do when we arrived on scene was take down the Summoner and the Big Boss before they could get away....yeah, the press blames the helicopter crash as ‘business magnate gets killed by terrorist action’, but the guy wasn’t the target, he was the one in charge, and it was battle lasers, not a black market rocket launcher, that brought the copter down. Then we hustled the girls out, and swore a few witnesses to silence about government anti-terrorist ninjas.
But the kids did good...real good...kept their cool in a surprise situation, didn’t panic for the most part, and didn’t flinch when it came to taking down some bad folks. I feel good about having them in the field. Maybe not as good if I had a full rapid-response company within field radio range, but we both know the Army’s resources are stretched thin. For what we got around here, though, Team Tsunami’s coming along pretty well.”

“-and that is how you field-recalibrate the sights on a sevent-point-six-two aperature pulse laser rifle. Now you all try it.”
‘We didn’t need laser rifles back in the Starry Kingdom when we were fighting Neg-o Ghosts.”
“We didn’t have deranged corporate magnates siccing mutant devil-sloths on us back in the Starry Kingdom either. Hand me that sensor module, would you?”
“But our old advisor never said anything about having GUNS!”
“Our previous advisor was an animated beanbag who went to ground every time we got in a fight. I frankly LIKE having an advisor who’s a three hundred pound old marine with combat experience who can teach us how NOT to get hit and how to fight dirty. Now pass me that mounting rail.“

“Hey, somebody saw the ‘Sunshine Warriors’ talking to a bunch of dudes in dark green armor and riding a TANK!”
“I knew it! It’s all a conspiracy! The government’s using ‘demon attacks’ and ‘pretty magic warriors’ as a cover-up for a military build-up and mind-control experiments!”
“....you’re psychotic, you know that?”

“’Child soldiers’? You’re accusing us of drafting child soldiers? Ma’am, I was all of ten years old when my town marshal started training my school class in basic rifle work, and we were practicing with laser spots and long arms drill even younger. Then again, you all here don’t have Brodkil...I’ll tell you about them later, but I’d advise you to eat before I do, you may not want to afterwards...stalking around your town..Well, maybe you do, or might, but that’s what we’re trying to prevent...us and your ‘child’. She’s all of seventeen now and she’s already got the sort of aim and drive my old drill master would weep happy tears to see. That sort of skill may be the only thing standing between your happy civilization and the forces of darkness.”

“You’re wearing pants, armored pants. With steelflex stockings underneath. And lose those ribbons. Somebody grabs ahold of those, they’re worse than a noose!”
“But, but, but they’re TRADITIONAL!”

“They’re not ‘magic girls’! They’re not ‘pets’! They’re not ‘youth auxiliary groups’...really, whoever came up with ‘YAGgies’?! They’re proactive paranormal -sensitive special talent organizations! That’s all they are! Now quit bugging me!!!”

The Megaversal genre-phenomena known as ‘Magic Girls’ (typically young humanoid females empowered by emotion-based, and occasionally holy, magic to fight evil) that occasionally crops up does not exist as such on Rifts Earth. Though some cults and even some Alien Intelligences have toyed with the trappings for various reasons, the sad fact is the harsh environment on Rifts Earth tends to stomp traditional magic girls flat, if not worse, according to several scholarly studies by the University of Lazlo. Magic girls as such tend to be imports; deliberate or accidental travelers from other universes who wind up on Rifts Earth. The lucky ones quickly find a way to return to safer realms; the rest....both UoL and the GNE Avatar Registration Bureau have collected anecdotal accounts of the Coalition executing ‘d-bees’ matching MaGirl descriptions, and of the Splugorth auctioning off slaves with certain special traits. Many d-bee ‘magic girls’ simply fall victim to various local supernatural predators and threats unless they wise up fast. Takamatsu seems to be a common gathering area on Rifts Earth for those who cannot immediately return to their points of origin, but still lucky enough to survive an extended stay on the dimensional nexus-world.
As a Megaversal-traveling power, PS/GNE has a much greater opportunity to encounter ‘magic girls’ in their native environments. These encounters have ranged from simple observation of the local ‘heroines’ to outright clashes as the magic girls have detected the intruders on the turf and attacked the dimensional travelers. Many times, PS/GNE exploration and mercantile groups have discretely aided these heroines, especially if they are facing enemies the dimensional travelers are more familiar with and better equipped to deal with.
Ironically, with their advanced biotechnology and technowizardry, the PS/GNE ‘Hero Builder’ initiatives have occasionally been accused of actually making their own magic girl groups, treated as sponsored-Irregular units in the GNEAS organization. In most cases, these have been the result of awakened CADMUS BLACK operatives banding together for mutual support, with the assistance of PS/GNE patronage as compensation for the disruption to their normal lives. In a few cases, the groups have been formed to support, or compete with, existing magic girl groups found to exist in the vicinity of a PS/GNE outpost or dimensional transit-head. These groups may be formed to deal with a local threat to a promising new market area, or to defend an existing PS/GNE interest. However, several times a new group was formed simply to drive an existing self-righteous gang of local MGs out of business, in retaliation for annoying the sector operatives in the region.
Unlike self-taught, prophecy-informed magic girls, the PS/GNE-formed groups have the benefit of being trained by professional d-bee soldiers. Instructors from such organizations as the Azimuth Point Academy(if the girls aren’t actually sent to the campus to train) and trainers from units like the all-female, former-Splugorth slave-legion Erinyes mercenary company train their young charges in proper combat commonsense and unconventional warfare. PS logistics provide the groups with appropriate gear, and where possible, a support staff formed and kept ready in the wings. The most common arrangement is a combination of locally-recruited and offworld-trained talent, mixed with relocated dimensional refugees and retirement-bound military veterans. Backup in the form of regular PS/GNE combat personnel may also be available if a situation REALLY goes south, but local operating conditions may limit the amount of heavy firepower available. Typically the ‘magic girls’ are the visible element of the group, paired with a less-obvious covert operations element that provides them with tactical backup. Some of the more skilled groups rotate these duties, often giving observers the impression of several magic groups when they are actually one large group, taking turns between ‘genki’ and ‘ninja’ roles.
PS/GNE-sponsored hero groups often also have the advantage of REAL magic or more advanced ‘alien’ technologies brought in to fortify them. This works especially well if the traditional enemies of the local magic girl groups have become acclimated to the usual countermeasures, and thus are caught off guard by a barrage of particle beams or applied elemental magic. Antagonists more accustomed to set-piece posture-heavy stand-and-deliver battles may be unpleasantly surprised when subjected to SWAT-style tactics and guerilla warfare that follows them back to their headquarters.
PS/GNE sponsorship also carries the possibility of exit clauses; college scholarships, internships, and retirement plans if and when the group members decide to leave the business.
Overall, these psuedo-MG groups have the advantage of knowing their neighborhoods and presenting a familiar and positive face to the locals, especially when dealing with frightening unknowns. This makes for better public relations if the established ‘magic girls’ can endorse the appearance of strange new ‘allies’, such as heavily-armed Regular Army units or corporate security Special Operations Groups, in a crisis situation, and help smooth over possible conflicts with the local authorities.
Still, though, PS/GNE authorities tend to flinch when these special groups are referred to as ‘magic girls’. They may be one of PS/GNE’s more eccentric investments of resources, but they take them seriously.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel PS-K-37 Battle Robot
(aka ‘Hekky’, ‘Hekker’, ‘Muscles’)
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img436_zpsia0taisc.jpg

“I don’t buy into this whole ‘we’re using Shemarrian tech’ stuff. The Hekker’s a piece of hardware like anything else we produce and use. It just happens to look like something somebody else is using because of common principles in engineering. The way I understand it, back pre-Rifts, every time the ‘Sovs’ came out with something that looked like stuff other people were using, there were claims that they copied it off everybody else, and using deep spies to grab technological secrets. Thing was, while they were reading the same magazines and engineering journals, a lot of their stuff was just home-brewed junk that looked externally similar but was internally a lot different. That’s what we’ve got here.
About the only good thing I can say about this whole ‘shared Shemarrian tech’ business is that if people are reluctant to face off against us because they think we’ve got some sort of super-powered Shemarrian mojo working for us, I say good; that’s less trouble we have to deal with.”

“Just because it looks like an ape doesn’t mean it can climb like an ape: I dunno how many repair jobs I’ve had to pull on these things because some newbie robojock tried swinging from an overpass, a tree, or a ruin, only to have their hang-grip give way and send them tumbling! The Hekker weighs forty tons for grue’s sake!”

The PS-K-37 was born of secret collaboration with the EShemmarians and the reformed Shemarrian Nation, with development taking place at an offworld site. The project ultimately resulted in the evolution of the Shemarrian ‘Hekatonheries’ Warmount, a semi-sentient multi-role humanoid warsteed used by all the Tribes. The PS-K-37 is the PS-made variant, with substantial cosmetic alterations and a cockpit for a crew member, rather than an Artificial Intelligence. It is regarded as a good match for the CS’s Hellraiser robot. Its shoulder hardpoints are plumbed to accommodate PS-made weapons packs, and in place of the saddle-rig on the back, a third hardpoint has been added, that can accommodate additional weapons pods or a cargo module. The more advanced systems that appear in the Shemarrian version, such as the AI and nano-repair capability, have been excluded from this model.
The PS-K-37 is beginning to filter into service with the GNE as an infantry robot, particularly as a robot hunter and artillery support machine. The PS-K-37 often serves as a faster escort unit to the larger, but slower, ‘Mandril’ robot. The Minion War has accelerated deployment of the PS-K-37, as any and all assembly lines for the machine have ramped up production to arm both defensive forces and offensive formations opposing the Infernals.

Type: PS-K-37 Hekatonheires
Class: Infantry Robot
Crew: 1 pilot + 1 passenger/gunner
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 500
Reinforced Crew Compartment 120
Head 150
Upper Arms(2) 280 each
Forearms(2) 330 each
Legs(2) 280 each
Height: 24 ft
Width: 18 ft
Length: 9 ft
Weight: 37 tons
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 50
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH
(Leaping) 20 ft up/ft across from a standing start; increase distance by 50% with a running start.
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Limited to running along the bottom at 10 MPH. Maximum depth of 900 ft.
Market Cost: 36 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems
Weapons Systems:
1) Shoulder Weapons Mounts(2)---The shoulders sport modular gyro-stabilized weapons mounts.
Shoulder Hardpoint Options:
a) Micro-Missile Launcher
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25(all)
Payload: 25
Cost: 80,000 credits

b)Mini-Missile Launcher
Range: Varies by Missile Type
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 5, or 10
Payload: 10
Cost: 80,000 credits

c) Bunker-Buster Missile---Modified from the original laser-guided AT ‘Heavy Hitter’ Missile, but with a larger warhead and slightly more powerful sustainer rocket motor for longer range.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 4d6x10 MD
Rate of Fire: 1-4
Payload: 4
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 50,000 credits for the launcher, 20,000 credits per missile

d)Rapid Fire 40mm Grenade Launcher
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: Fragmentation: 4d6 MD to 12 ft area, 2d6x10 MD to a 40 ft area for a 10 rd burst.
Armor-Piercing: 1d4x10 MD to 3 ft area, 3d6x10 MD to a 8 ft area for a 10 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 300 rd drum each AGL
Special Features: None
Cost: 50,000 credits for the launcher

e)Pepper Gun----A multipurpose chemical sprayer
Range: 300 ft
Damage: Varies by chemical carried; Some examples:
(Water)None, if carrying water, but human-sized beings struck with the stream but roll versus the ‘cannon’s To Strike roll, or be bowled off their feet. Does 2d6x10 HP to vampires per blast

(Gloop) PS’s sticky goop---This material is used in construction, as well as to firm up the walls of tunnels and damaged structures. It is also used to cocoon valuable and delicate objects for moving. Each half-gallon application of this quick-set plastic covers about 5 cubic feet, and to cover a human sized target completely, the attacker must roll a 12 or better on the Strike roll. Anyone caught in the goo must have a supernatural or robotic P.S. of 30 or better to escape; otherwise, the target is stuck until released by an outside agency. Gloop has 2d4 MDC per application, and breaks down after 1d4 days of exposure, unless treated with a special binder chemical, and allowed to cure for 1d4 hours, in which case it stabilizes and has an MDC of 2d6+1. Gloop costs 70 credits per half gallon(single application)
A variant of this gunk, ‘Boro-Slime’, is a quick-setting slurry of lead-powder and boro-silicate glass suspension, which is sprayed on leaking radiation sources, forming a thick crust to simultaneously trap radioactive materials and seal it inside a crusting shell for later safe removal. Best used to contain small (power armor and vehicle) reactor breaches and water leaks; larger reactor leaks will require more drastic measures. ‘Boro-Slime’ is otherwise identical to standard Gloop, and costs 120 credits per half gallon(single application)

(Kera-Tech Riot Foam) Alternatively, the cannon can be filled with Kera-Tech’s patented KTX-17 Riot Foam, which is stronger, but more expensive, than the Gloop. This stuff takes a robotic or supernatural PS of 40 or greater to break free. Creatures with a greater strength can break free in 1d4 melees. The foam hardens in less than 2 seconds, and can take 30 MDC per cubic meter(a humanoid typically needs at least two meters to be totally enveloped). A special enzyme spray will dissolve the foam in 1d4 melees. This stuff costs about 800 credits per pound of the stuff, which is enough to fill a 4m( roughly 12 square ft) area to a height of 1.8 m(6 ft)

(Slip Spray)---rather than trap, this makes it impossible for people and many vehicles to gain purchase. A single application(a tablespoon) will cover nearly four square feet. Slipspray is very nearly water-resistant----it takes ALOT of water, roughly 6-10 gallons, to wash away an ounce of slipspray---or regular industrial solvents will do the trick. Slipspray breaks down after 1d4 hours of exposure to air.
Effects: Anyone trying to move across slipspray must make a roll under their Physical Prowess at -8 or go out of control at full speed. Vehicles, power armors, and light robot vehicles traveling in ground contact across sufficiently large patches of slipspray will be at -15% to their piloting rolls..failure means the vehicle goes out of control and takes on the characteristics of a giant hockey puck. Depending on the hardness of the surface(must be a hard surface, not a permeable surface like dirt or gravel), certain heavy vehicles and robots(like the MAC II) will be unaffected, as they simply stomp the effected surface into the subterranean. Hovercraft are NOT affected either. Cost: 40 credits per ounce(covers 8 square ft...so a gallon’s worth will cover 1,024 ft! Instant ice rink anyone?)

Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 200 gallon internal tank, or can be attached to a trailer holding up to 400 gallons
Cost: 10,000 credits

f)Flame Thrower
Range: 250 ft for napalm gels
Damage:
(Wellington plasma napalm) 3d6 MD burst
(MD Gel)4D6 MD Upon contact, burning for 1D6 rounds doing 2D6 MD per round. Anything that the character touches also starts on fire. Any combustible materials within touching distance, clothes, brush, etc. also ignite.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Enough fuel for 30 blasts
Special Features: *Multi-Fuel Capacity
Cost: 9,000 credits

g)12.7mm PS-MRG03 Snub-nose Short Gatling Gun : This high-powered four-barreled gatling rail cannon features enormous damage potential, and fair range in a small package. The MRG-03 trades range for blistering short-range fire power, and is frequently used as a ‘streetsweeper’ in built-up areas.
MDC: 30
Weight: 50 lbs
Range: 2000 ft
Damage: 1D6 MD single round, 1D6x10 MD per 10 round burst,
2D6x10 +60 per Full Melee Burst of 40 rounds
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 800 rounds
Market Cost: 12,000 credits

h)PS-DL-110 Razor-Frizzer( a copy of an imported Russian design). The PS version uses ceramic and light alloy discs that, either by accident or deliberate design, give off a very audible high-pitched shrieking or buzzing noise when fired.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 2,000 rd drum
Cost: 80,000 credits

i) 45mm PS-HRG05 'Hellshot' Rail Cannons: An early attempt to equal the power of the infamous "Boom Gun" carried by the Glitterboy, these fearsome handheld weapons fire a much larger heavy metal kinetic energy penetrator with a massive punch. Unfortunately, the engineers were unable to equal the Boom Gun's long range or build the projectiles any smaller, limiting the payload.
Range: 3,300 ft
Damage: 3D6x10 MD
Rate of Fire: Single shot only; EGCHH
Payload: 12 shots. A special rotary magazine can be fitted with 18 rounds, or, if the backpack hardpoint is dedicated to a magazine pod, a belt feed can be installed, with capacity for 140 rounds(HALF that per gun if TWO identical weapons are installed on each shoulder and feeding from the same magazine).
Market Cost: 120,000 credits per cannon, 800 credits per penetrator round

j)M-64 60mm ‘Snapdragon’ Gun-Mortar System
MDC: 100
Range:(Direct Fire Mode): 6,000 ft
(Artillery Mode) 12,700 ft
Damage:
(Riot)---Combination flash-bang and rubber pellet charge---Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -1 to initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees. Rubber pellets do 1d4 SDC damage, but have a 60% chance of knockdown for any human-sized, or smaller, beings, caught in a 20 ft blast radius.....lose initiative and 1 APM for that melee(cost: 160 credits)
(Fragmentation-SDC) 2d4x10 SDC to 40 ft blast radius(cost: 200 credits)
(Fragmentation-MD) 3d6 MD to 50 ft blast radius(cost: 560 credits)
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius(cost: 720 credits)
(Anti-Armor HEAT) Very heavy projectile( Does 3d6x10 MD to a 2 ft diameter area(shaped charge)(cost: 900 credits)
(Plasma/Micro-Fusion) 1d6x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius (cost: 800 credits)
(Incendiary) 2d6 MD flash damage to 24 ft blast radius, plus does 1d4 MD per melee for 2d6 melees(cost: 710 credits)
(Acid)---4d6 MD to a 5 ft radius, then diminishes in strength by 1d6 each melee(lasts about 4 melees)(cost: credits)
(Chemical) Effects vary, but contains enough chemical agent to cover a 15 ft radius
(Illumination) Can loft to an altitude of 600 ft, and illuminate a 500 ft radius for 4d4 melees. (cost: 15 credits)
Note: Additional grenade types, including TW munitions, are constantly in development.
Rate of Fire: ECHH. Hand-loading and firing rounds takes 2 actions each shot.
Payload: As a rifle/pod-style weapon, it has a clip-on magazine with 5 shots. A special rotary magazine can be fitted with 18 rounds, or, if the backpack hardpoint is dedicated to a magazine pod, a belt feed can be installed, with capacity for 100 rounds(HALF that per gun if TWO identical weapons are installed on each shoulder and feeding from the same magazine).
Cost: 250,000 credits

k) PS-M-82D ‘Townshend’ 81mm Mortar Cannon---Paladin Steel’s copy of Free Quebec’s GBM-7-70M1 High Power Mortar
MDC: 100
Range:(Direct-fire) 6,000 ft
(Indirect Fire) 2.2 miles
Damage:(High Explosive) 1d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Single shot, EGCHH.
Payload: 6 rounds, ready to fire. A special rotary magazine can be fitted with 12 rounds, or, if the backpack hardpoint is dedicated to a magazine pod, a belt feed can be installed, with capacity for 80 rounds(HALF that per gun if TWO identical weapons are installed on each shoulder and feeding from the same magazine).
Cost: 220,000 credits

l) PS-MMLR-14 Mini-Missile Launcher ---One of Paladin Steel’s minor triumphs of reverse-engineering has been the knockoff of the Coalition’s CCT-M20 Missile Rifle,complete down to the light laser, but modified to take advantage of PS’s advancements in lighter weight composites and ceramics. Has the advantage of having a light laser for additional firepower.
Range:(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type(usually about 1 mile)
(Laser) 2,000 ft
Damage:(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
(Laser) 2d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire:(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
(Laser) ECHH
Payload:(Mini-Missiles)20 per launcher(10 per launch tube)
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited attached to an external generator, or 20 shots per standard E-clip/30 per long E-clip as backup.
Cost: 36,000 credits per launcher

m) PS-100 Rail Gun
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD 60 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 12,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 100,000 credits

n) PS-RG-44 Rail Gun(a copy of an imported Russian design)
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 3,000 rd drum
Cost: 75,000 credits

o)Pulse Laser
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10+10 MD triple pulse blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 65,000 credits

p) Plasma Cannon---Adapted from PS’s PPR-3 Serap Heavy Plasma Projector. The weapon also has the option of firing ‘hot shots’ of deuterium-enriched plasma feeding from a pressure cylinder
Range:(Plasma Stream) 2000 ft
(Plasma Bolt) 1500 ft
Damage:(Plasma Stream) 1d6x10 MD per blast*
*Can be increased by 50% with a ‘hot shot’ injection of deuterium gas
(Plasma Bolt) 1d4x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Single shot, ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Deuterium Gas Reservoir has enough gas under pressure for 20 shots.
Cost: 100,000 credits, plus 800 credits per deuterium ‘hotshot’ cartridge.

q)L-Ion Cannon--A lightweight weapon derived from the ‘Beach Stormer’ power armor rifle.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10+10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 230,000 credits

r) PS-RL-210 Fragmentation Rocket Launcher( a copy of an imported Russian design). Note that PS has also been experimenting with an incendiary variant using a magnesium mixture.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 single projectile, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst/volley
at 3,500 ft, the rds go ‘grapeshot’, doing 3d6 MD(1 MD for a single shot) in a 12 ft wide area.
(Incendiary “Hot-Grape” Version)---Do an additional +2 MD per rd, and 1 MD of damage for 1d4 melees as the flare portion burns down.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 1,000 rd drum
Cost: 100,000 credits

s)Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 120,000 credits

t)Dual Packs---These are double-mounts of the Cyborg Forearm Weapons (described below), firing in synch with each other.

) Secondary Arms---Fully articulated extra arms can be attached to the shoulders. Each arm has 200 MDC each, a Robotic P.S. of , and the pair of extra arms adds a +1 APM and +1 to parry.
) Buzzsaw Arms---Similar to the above, only instead of ending in a hand-claw, the arm ends in a powered rotary saw or chainsaw, doing 1d6x10 MD.


2) Forearm Weapons(1-4 each hand)---The oversized forearms sport four armored housings on their backs, each of which can hold a standard cyborg forearm weapon. Individually, on a machine this size, that wouldn’t be very powerful, but firing in batteries of three or four weapons, they can be devastating. Point and shoot.
a) Light Laser Blaster(2,000 ft range, 2d6 MD per blast)--25,000 credits
b) Medium Laser Blaster(2,000 ft range, 3d6 MD per blast)--32,000 credits
c) Heavy Laser Blaster(1,600 ft range, 4d6 MD per blast)--40,000 credits
d) Pulse Laser(1,600 ft range, 6d6 MD per blast)--50,000 credits
e) Ion Blaster(1,200 ft range, 3d6 MD per blast)--20,000 credits
f) Heavy Ion Blaster(1,000 ft range, 4d6 MD per blast)--40,000 credits
g) Plasma Ejector(1,000 ft range, 4d6 MD per blast)--40,000 credits
h) Particle Beam(1,000 ft range, 6d6+6 MD per blast)--60,000 credits
i) Mini-Machine Gun(2,000 ft range, 1d6x10 SDC/HP per 10 rd burst, 1 MD per single round with MD rounds, or 2d4 MD per 10 round burst, 300 round drum per gun)--20,000 credits
j) Grenade Launcher(600 ft range, 2d6 MD or 6d6 MD to a 12 ft blast radius per grenade, 10 grenades per launcher)--30,000 credits
k) Flame Thrower
Range: 280 ft
Damage:(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flame-thrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload:(Gasoline/Alcohol) 10 blasts
(Napalm) 30 blasts
(MD Fluid) 50 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 60 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 100 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Cost: 80,000 credits
(Gasoline/Alcohol) Typically 5-30 credits(depending on availability)
(Napalm) 25 credits per tank
(MD Fluid) 400 credits per tank
(Incendi-Gel) 500 credits per tank
(WI Napalm-P) 1000 credits per tank


3) Robotic Jaws
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD bite

4) Backpack Weapons Pod
a)Mrk 1 Mini-missile ‘Calliope’ Launcher---This turret-mounted multi-tube “pipe organ” missile launcher turns the light tank into a light bombard platform. This particular option equipment is a holdover from the LBT-01 line, quantities still being in stock and available.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6,
Payload: 20
Cost: 15,000 credits

b)Mrk 2 Mini-missile ‘Calliope’ Launcher---A larger version of the above, with sixty single-shot tubes.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 30, or 60
Payload: 60 tubes, 1 missile each tube
Cost: 65,000 credits

c)Mrk 3 Mini-missile ‘Calliope’ Launcher---A larger version of the Mrk 1, with sixty tubes as the the Mrk 2, but with ‘metalstorm-stacked’ mini-missiles similar to the PS Missile Rifle.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 30, or 60
Payload: 60 tubes, 4 missiles each tube, 240 mini-missiles total
Cost: 220,000 credits

d)Mrk 1 Short Range Missile Launcher---A heavier box-launcher, providing heavier firepower. This particular option equipment is a holdover from the LBT-01 line, quantities still being in stock and available.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Short Range Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type (Short Range Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, (all)
Payload: 6
Cost: 20,000 credits

e)Mrk 2 Short Range Missile Launcher---A heavier box-launcher, providing heavier firepower.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Short Range Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type (Short Range Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, 12, or 24(all)
Payload: 24
Cost: 85,000 credits

f) Medium Range Missiles----8 shot box launcher. Cost: 225,000 credits

g) ‘Black Talon’ LAAM Pods---These are light ‘smart’ antiaircraft missiles with enhanced warheads, similar in concept to the pre-Rifts ‘Stinger’ SAMs.
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-8
Payload: 16
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 60 ,000 credits per launcher, 10,000 credits per missile

h) PSMS40-MLS 40mm ‘Chewer’ Mortar-Launcher System
Weight: 2,200 lbs for the basic launcher; 2,900 lbs fully loaded
Range: 6 miles
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-18
Payload: Each barrel holds 5 40-mm projectiles for a total of 180 rds
Cost: 60,000 credits for the basic unit

i)100mm MB Massdriver Cannon(PS-MDJ100M)
Weight: 9,000 lbs(4.5 tons)
Range:(Direct Fire APFSDSDU) 27,000 ft (5.4 miles)
(Indirect Fire) 67,500 ft( 13.7 miles)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)---- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 2d6 x10 MD to 10 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 2d6x10 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma-----3d6x10 MD to 35 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 4d6x10 MD out to 11,000 ft, 2d6x10 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: Four per melee
Payload: 100 mm AP shell weighs 25 lbs( 80 shots per ton)
Cost: 700,000 credits

j) Heavy Rail Gun
Range: 11,000 ft
Damage: 3d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst; can only fire bursts.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 8,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 250,000 credits

k) Gatling Cannon---PS-XGECAL 50 “Ripkiller”---Based on the pre-Rifts .50 caliber GECAL 50 Six Barrel Machine Gun, this weapon fires high explosive shells(based on the Wellington Industries Heavy Explosive shells) over three miles, to devastating effect. It has excellent range and hitting power, and can be used in both the ground suppression and antiaircraft roles.
Range: 19,000 ft!
Damage: 1d4 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD per 12 shot burst(1 attack), 2d4x10 MD per 24 rd burst(2 attacks), 4d4x10 MD per 60 rd burst(3 attacks), 1d4x100 MD per 120 shot burst(takes ALL attacks that melee)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 2,400 round drum (20 full-melee bursts)
Cost: 250,000 credits

l)TW Lightning Cannon----This weapon requires that the ‘bot be fitted with PPE generators(see Options) to power it. Launches a horizontal blast of mystic lightning.
Range: 9,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 15 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.9 million credits

m) TW Meteor Gun----Magically conjures a rock from above to utterly smite a target.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10+20 MD to a 40 ft radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 38 PPE per shot
Cost: 600,000 credits

n) TW Ice Cannon----This weapon actually has two modes, familiar to anybody who’s handled one of PS’s Crysus’ TW Ice Rifles. The Ice Cannon can cause an area to be bombarded by a minutes-long hailstorm, or can generate a giant ball of ice that slams into targets, then bursts into a storm of superhard ice shards and freezing vapor(this combines aspects of several different ice spells).
Range: (Hail)4,000 ft, and affects a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)7,000 ft
Damage: (Hail)8d4 MD for 8 minutes(32 melees) to a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)2d6 MD on impact, then explodes, 60 ft blast radius, shedding hundreds of icy shards. Human-sized objects caught in its way will get hit with 1d6 shards, each doing 2d6 MD. Fighter- and Robot-sized targets (16 ft or larger) will get hit by 1d4x10 shards. Ships and targets 50 ft and larger will get hit by 2d4x10 shards. Victims must save versus magic or suffer debilitating numbness; -1 APM, -2 initiative, -1 strike/parry/dodge, and speed is reduced by 10%. Effects last 1d4 minutes, and are NOT cumulative. The Ice Ball has 70 MDC.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: (Hail)10 PPE per shot
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)25 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.8 million credits

o) TW Barrage Storm Cannon---Unleashes a storm of mini-bolts of magic force that shotgun into a target.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 13 PPE per shot
Cost: 750,000 credits

p) TW Power Bolt Cannon---Fires a large bolt of mystic force that hits hard and deep.
Range: 8,400 ft
Damage: 5d6+20 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 10 PPE per shot
Cost: 450,000 credits

q) TW Windblast Cannon---Fires long range bolts of super-dense air. Incredible range, thanks to the barrel boosting elements.
Range: 15,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10+30 MD per blast, plus knock-back, similar to Wind Rush.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 20 PPE per shot
Cost: 650,000 credits

r) TW Magma Cannon---- This TW weapon projects a stream of incandescent magma conjured from magical energy, that hits like napalm and can be panned to form a river or lane of red hot lava. Short range, but scary as hell.
Range: 1,500 ft, 10 ft wide area; pools on the ground in a 150 ft long, 25 ft wide, and 25 ft deep area.
Damage: Does 1d6x10 MD if used as an impact weapon/in air.
Most effective if used against ground targets, where the molten material can burn for minutes, doing 2d6x10 MD per melee to anything trapped in/on it. The material remains liquid and super-hot for 5 minutes
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 25 PPE per shot
Cost: 500,000 credits

s) TW Sonic Cannon---PS TechnoWizards got the idea for this after studying examples of the Immaterial Hand’s Ironmage TW Glitterboy Armor and its ‘shrieker’ cannon(see Rifts Black Market, pg. 187-189) . Using their booster barrel technowizardry, PS TWs were able to increase the range
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per shot, 1d6x10 MD on a ley line and against supernatural creatures and beings of magic.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 12 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.2 million credits

t) Anti-Theron MagnaBlaster ----This superheavy anti-magic weapon has been ONLY seen with special PS/GNE monster-hunter units. MagnaBlaster-equiped PS-MBT-28s made their debut during the Minion War incursion on Rifts Earth.
Range: 12,000 ft
Damage: Does 1d4x100 HP/MDC damage per shot(based on what the creature is)
Can also do a ‘spread shot’ doing 4d6x10 HP/MDC to a 60 ft wide swath
Varies according to the weapon type, but ALL anti-Theron weapons use the following guidelines
Depending on how much PPE is present and how essential it is to an organism’s survival, damage varies:
Techno-Wizardry Devices(including TW generators), enchanted objects, rune weapons, and other magically-infused(but INANIMATE) objects are NOT affected and take no damage.
Non-magical beings, psychics, and ‘mundanes’ are unaffected and experience nothing aside from a slight tingling sensation, mild sunburn-like symptoms, and a passing feeling of nausea from a Disruptor strike.
Magic Users and other beings who have ‘learned’ or artificially acquired magical abilities(including tattoos and bioborg implants), but who can otherwise survive without magic present are affected, but the effects aren’t as dramatic. They do NOT get a save versus the disruption because all of their effort has gone into OPENING themselves to the supernatural and embracing their magical potential. They take normal damage as for the weapon’s damage rating.
Supernatural Creatures who possess some small measure of magical ability will suffer a greater degree of damage/injury. ...normal damage x1.5. Gargoyles, Brodkil, Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters(including Nightspawn), Possessees, Shifters, and Witches, are all examples of beings in this category. Note that if these beings were to possess bionics or other conditions that NEGATE their magical abilities(like Brodkil bionics) they lose this vulnerability, and are NOT affected, taking damage only as normal. These beings do NOT get a saving roll versus the PPE disruption.
‘High’ Supernatural Beings with a high level of, and reliance on, PPE will suffer greatly, taking DOUBLE damage. This includes Dragons, Angels, Demons, Splugorth, Faerie Folk, Demi-Gods. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save HALVES the damage done to them.
Creatures of Pure Magic that cannot survive without magic are the most seriously affected, and take TRIPLE damage. This covers ghosts, possessing entities, Undead, Elemental Beings, Alien Intelligences, and god-beings. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save NEGATES the damage done to them.
Golems, Iron Juggernauts, and other magically-powered automatons/automations will be effectively STUNNED, being paralyzed for 1d4 melees per shot, and will be unable to move or defend themselves, as magical energy shorts out and storms over them.

Other Effects:
*Magic Disruption----Each blast NEUTRALIZES HALF the number of PPE points that it does damage...these points are temporarily lost to the magic user/creature until it can regain them normally(by rest or drawing on other sources).
*Magical Forcefields take 1.5 normal damage.
*Invisible beings will be revealed by an anti-theron burst and will remain visible for 2d4 melees(gradually fading) as a result of residual anti-therons causing them to fluoresce and become visible to the naked eye.
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: 25 shot canister of genetically modified bacteria providing the anti-therons
Cost: EXCLUSIVE to PS, not available for sale


Hand to Hand Combat:
Bite 2d6 MD
Restrained Punch 2d6 MD
Full Strength Punch 6d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 2d6x10 MD
Tear/Pry 4d6 MD
Crush/Squeeze 4d6 MD
Kick 4d8 MD
Swing Kick(the Warmount plants both forearms on the ground, and swings the legs forward in a power kick)(2 attacks) 2d6x10 MD
Body Block/Tackle 4d6 MD
Head Butt 1d6 MD

Options:
*PPE Battery and Generator--- PPE Powerstone generator systems for powering onboard TW enhancements and weapons systems.
Note: All PS-manufactured TW Generators are shielded by special Ley Line Protection devices, analogous to Faraday Cages, in order to prevent being disabled during ley line storms. During such events, all magical systems are turned off and secured, until the storm passes. Invariably, though, some damage is inflicted to peripheral systems that could not be shut down or drained in time, but at least the main generators will not be damaged.
PPE Capacity:(Light)----200 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 20 PPE/hour at a leyline, 40 PPE/hour on a nexus
(Medium)-----300 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 40 PPE/hour at a leyline, 80 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Sorcerer’)--- 600 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus
Cost:(Light)----500,000 credits
(Medium)-----1 million credits
(‘Wizard’)----2 million credits
(‘Sorcerer’)---- 3 million credits


Variants:
*PS-K-37F---Firefighting variant, carrying a backpack reservoir tank feeding two shoulder-mounted spray cannons(or one spray cannon and a cryolaser). The entire ‘bot is plated in thermal-resistant(heat does 1/4 normal damage) heat-shield armor. The paws typically aren’t fitted with weaponry, but with Mining Borg-style tools for excavation and extraction work. PS-K-37Fs have begun showing up at many PS/GNE industrial sites as a heavy firefighting unit.

*PS-K-37M---Paladin Steel’s answer to the black market’s Mole Prospecting Robot. The K-37M features more paw-like vibroblade-edged scoop-claws for easier excavation. The shoulder-mounts are typically fitted with a plasma cannon/cutter and a cryolaser---the temperature differential between the two fracturing rock. A smaller pair of robot arms(100 MDC each, robotic PS of 18 each) is fitted under the ‘chin’, and each can be fitted with mining cyborg modular tools for precision work. The back mount carries a heavy drill with with either a 3 ft diameter drill head, or a shield-like cutting head(20 ft in diameter and 200 MDC) that can be swung around and in front of the ‘bot(the ‘bot can crouch down low enough to advance behind the shield).

*PS-K-37XR---Rumored variant piloted wholly by a robot AI. The PS-K-37XR would thus be deployable in environs too inhospitable even for robot crews, such as irradiated nuke zones or the surface of hellworlds. However, word is that many PS senior executives are balking(perhaps remembering the Mechanoid Incident) at the prospect of such a large robotic weapon being run by an AI.
The PS-K-37XR would reportedly have the following programming and performance, based on the Spartoi robot:
Actions/Attacks per Melee: 6
Strike +6
+4 Strike w/ Energy Weapons
+2 Strike w/ Projectile Cannon
+3 Strike w/ Aimed Shot
Parry +5
Dodge+5
+3 Dodge attacks from behind
Roll +4
Pull +4
Initiative +4
Critical Strike on a natural 19 or 20
Programming:
Land Navigation 90%
Radio: Basic 96%
Surveillance Systems 80%
Climbing 85%/75%(Climb x2 faster than average person)
Math: Basic 96%
Language/Literacy(all at 96%)
American-English
French
Spanish
TechnoCan
Dragonese
(Prisons often secretly program other linguistics into the robots, the better to eavesdrop on prisoners)

Hand to Hand: Expert(8th Level)
W.P. Energy(all)
W.P. Heavy Weapons
W.P. Paired Weapons
W.P. Blunt
W.P. Sword
W.P. Chain

*EcoS-K-37Sg ----This variant is seen primarily with the Shemarrian Fringe Tribe known as the Steel Gaians, who live in and near the environs of the GNE. Depending on who one asks, the EcoS-K-37Sg is proof that either the Steel Gaians leaked information information about the original ‘Hekatonheries’ , or that it was via the Steel Gaians that the K-37 was copied by the Shemarrians(despite reports of natural-looking ‘ferals’). The K-37s in the service of the Steel Gaians look little different from those standard issue to the GNE AS, but are reported to be fitted with robot drone intelligences. Like so many other Steel Gaian mechanical lash-ups of other peoples’ equipment, the utilitarian drones can be observed shambling around Steel Gaian businesses and work sites, obedient to their masters and mechanics.
In reality, the modifications go far deeper, making the EcoS-K-37Sg a proper Warmount.
Changes/Modifications:
-*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Hekatonheires have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 120 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

Weapons Systems:
(Optional) Head Cap Guns---This adds an armored ‘cap’ to the head that mounts four rapid-fire projectile guns(modified Shemarrian Assault Rifles). Adds +240 MDC to the head MDC, but reduce radar range to 1/3 normal.
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 MD single round, 4d6 MD six round short burst per gun, while a heavy burst(12 rounds) does 1d6x10 MD, so all four guns going simultaneously and spending 48 rounds in a serious burst, does 4d6x10 MD!
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 240 rd clip per gun

Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the following, in addition to the baseline Monstrex programming:
Wrestling
Art: Sculpture: 25%(+3% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Hekatonheires intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding), Excavation and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Military: Camouflage, Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits), and Ancient Weapons(non-ranged types, like clubs, swords, battle-axes, and the like).

Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 6
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +6
Strike +2 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +5
Parry +6
Pull Punch +5
Pin/Incapacitate on 18-20

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Hekatonheires an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Befitting its appearance, the Hekatonheires have personalities akin to those of the great apes; generally passive and curious, but vicious when threatened or roused to combat. One of their eccentricities is an almost childlike liking of piling and mashing together wreckage and debris on the battlefield into artistic ‘sandcastles’ or sculpture.

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Eldrencher Fire
(aka ‘Geek Fire’)

“That’s one more haunted house ...or rather a predatory alien entity posing as one....off our demolition list. Man, but those entity wood fibers catch fire nicely!”

Eldrencher is an incendiary substance derived from d-bee dwarven alchemy, that was adapted by Paladin Steel as an alternatve or back-up to the genetically-engineered bacteria-based anti-theron weaponry. Originally meant to be packed into naval artillery shells and used against warships, Eldrencher wasa meant to defeat magically-reinforced armor plate. This napalm-like incendiary shell spreads a viscous, flaming goo that actually does MORE damage to magically-enhanced armors(such as those used in Demon Ships, many technowizardry vessels, and even some Haunted Ships), feeding on a portion of the ensorcelled energies to enhance thermal effects. PS engineers became VERY interested in applying this alchemy to other munitions as well, and were convinced they could improve on the formula for the sake of faster mass production, given the greater ambient PPE fields on Rifts Earth and the generally more advanced state of technowizardry. Research on eldrencher production was given greater emphasis as PS’s TORRID QUENCH programs unknowingly armed for the Minion War.
Eldrencher research was well along when a powerful Infernal raiding party hit the alchemitic works where it was being produced. The Infernals, intent on plundering and depriving the local defenders of Earth of magical weaponry, scored a phyrric victory, destroying the production works, but losing most of their number in the out of control blaze that consumed the stockpiled products of the factory. Fortunately, the rigorous redundancy in both research data and production practiced by Paladin Steel since the Mechanoid Incident meant that both the formulae and equipment necessary to produce eldrencher survived elsewhere, but the attack was still a setback, and eldrencher munitions were delayed in reaching the field by several months.
Eldrencher first saw deployment in naval shells and bombs as it was originally developed for, but Paladin Steel has also begun using it in flamethrowers and incendiary grenades.
Compared to anti-theron weaponry, eldrencher is simpler to produce and deploy(it can be filled into existing incendiary weaponry quite readily), and less expensive, but isn’t as precise; while anti-theron weaponry affects only magic, eldrencher burns material, making it a much less discriminating weapon. For this reason it is used more carefully than anti-theron weaponry, and is generally not used when friendly assets might be damaged by the spreading flames.
An eldrencher incendiary grenade does 3d6 MD to a 6 ft blast radius, and continues to burn for 1d8 melees, doing 1d4 MD per melee. Cost: 380 credits
Eldrencher 60mm mortar shells----2d6 MD flash damage to 24 ft blast radius, plus does 1d6 MD per melee for 2d6 melees. Cost: 900 credits
Eldrencher flamethrower fuel does 3d6 MD per blast and continues to burn for 1d4 minutes, doing 2d6 MD per melee, and costs 4,000 credits for a 100-shot tankload.

Eldrencher 18-inch Naval Shell----Does 3d6x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius, plus the lava-napalm continues to burn for 1d6 minutes, doing 6d6 MD per melee.

ALL Eldrencher weapons do the following:
- Supernatural BEINGS caught by Eldrencher Fire take 50% more damage
- Supernaturally-enhanced structures take DOUBLE damage.
-Objects and beings enchanted to be resistant or immune to fire take 25% more damage.

In general, Eldrencher incendiaries cost 50% more than the standard MD versions.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

HUMBLE STAR ---Living Anti-Vampire Sunlamp Mod
(aka 'HUMBLE ROSE')
(PU2 budget of 9.4 million per operative, but PS’s CADMUS BLACK program has been almost handing out this augment to suitable recruits in vampire-infested territories)

“Nice work with bio-modding that Ilaiyan ex-priestess, odd-jobs. Quite a letdown for the locals when the Stelthi barbarians marched all over their church-lands and either killed or enslaved all their holy people. Then we come in with our cold ugly technology and kick the barbarians back out. Bigger letdown for all those people looking for a miracle from their traditional sources. Then we give one of their ex-priestesses that we liberated the power of healing light and holy-glowy. Now suddenly we’re all being regarded as the upper echelons of their religion reborn. Our diplomatic corps is throwing fits between trying to contain the damage and smacking their heads for not thinking of that first.”

“Hi, bloodsuckers! My name is Ami Burnsun, because I burn you like the sun!”

“Let me get on my Water Silks and I’ll show you my Anti-Vampire Dance!”

“Don’t think that just because you can burn vampires with a look that you’re invincible. Even that toughened skin of yours can’t stop an anti-armor laser for long, ESPECIALLY what with most of you glowbugs stripping down to almost nothing to show off your sun-tanning abilities. The vampires are SMART predators, and we’re seeing ex-servicemen who know how to use ranged weapons both as mercenaries working for the fangs and AS fangs, so cover up and play it smart when you don’t absolutely have to flash everybody. Getting a ROSE-aug doesn’t make you Van Helsing or Doc Reid, so pay attention to the veteran vampire hunters; they get to be veterans for a REASON, and it’s not pure luck or stupidity.”
---Sergeant Antony Callo, Alliance Expeditionary Force, Operation SAND FLEA.

HUMBLE STAR is a bio-mod born of the CADMUS BLACK programs, and combines aspects of RED XENOPS and SPECTRUM ROSE.
HUMBLE STAR differs from SPECTRUM ROSE in that the advanced bioluminescence cells in the skin are spliced with the same specialized bacteria that give RED XENOPS its anti-magic abilities. HUMBLE ROSE recipients can actually radiate light in spectrums that burn supernatural creatures, such as vampires, that are susceptible to sunlight. HUMBLE STARs can be distinguished by fairly light skin, and they tend to wear light or scanty clothing that allows them maximum radiation surface exposure for their skin to glow.
The same bacteria have also migrated to other parts of the host’s body, such as the blood. PS bioengineers were quite pleased to discover that both the bacteria and the hosts have adapted so well to each other, with the added bonus that HUMBLE STARs are now more resistant to vampire bites and mind control.
HUMBLE STAR bio-mods are sometimes confused in the field with the more radical(and arguably more powerful) LUCIN WAVE bio-mod, and that often led to HUMBLE STARs attracting undue enemy attention, especially during the Minion War. HUMBLE STARs see service more often in anti-vampire campaigns as support elements, and more than one vampire has attempted to ambush a tempting-looking victim, only to be sunblasted into ashes by a suddenly glowing vampire hunter.
As noted above, HUMBLE STAR was originally one of the CADMUS BLACK augments implanted in involuntary ‘recruits’ profiled by the program’s OUTSTEP operatives as potential monster-chow, and subsequently auged as ‘sleepers’, disrupting the predicted monster attacks. It also became a common augmentation to gift to low-tech worlds facing paranormal incursions, especially vampire and werebeing infestations, as its lack of ‘hard’ offensive capabilities meant it was less likely to be used against GNE/Alliance forces. The need to contain the vampire kingdoms, especially during the chaos of the Minion War, means that the augmentation will be pressed into service with forces protecting North America’s lands bordering vampire territory.

Powers/Abilities:
-Radiate (Para)Light----HUMBLE STAR recipients can radiate light in wavelengths that can affect beings adversely affected by sunlight(but not artificial light). Vampires will take 1d4x10 Hit Point damage per melee of exposure to a HUMBLE ROSE’s glow, and their melee actions and speed are reduced by HALF. Effective radius range of the para-glow is equal to the augment’s P.E.+60 ft.
By using a handheld lens(often worked as part of a bracelet or amulet), HUMBLE STARs can direct a narrower flashlight-like beam that reaches farther and more precisely than the body-glow. Regular lenses (like a commercially available magnifying glass or camera lens) will only extend the beam an additional 20 ft, but specially-made ectoplasm-impregnated prisms and monocles (available from PS for 500 credits), can extend the beam up to 200 ft. The beam can also be ‘spread’ to cover a 10 ft wide area.

-Glowbug-----Advanced bioluminescence cells in the skin can ramp up to arc-light intensity, making it difficult for those without eye protection to look directly at the person. Attackers are -3 to strike in hand to hand combat, and -5 t strike using long range weapons using a scope. Called shots are impossible. Opponents are also -2 to parry the incredibly BRIGHT character’s melee attacks.

- Thermal Stealth/Shielding----The enhanced skin effectively acts as improved insulation; heat- and cold-based attacks do HALF damage, and the recipient is effectively immune to normal extremes of hot and cold. The bio-mod can also ‘go dark’, altering their thermal signature(has only a 25% chance of showing up on thermal sensors), though only for a limited amount of time(DOUBLE their PE in minutes) before they need to drop the thermal cloak and radiate accumulated body heat.

-Healing Light---Though not as powerful as other superpower healing abilities, HUMBLE STARs can radiate warm light that acts as phototherapy, and can, with frequency adjustment, produce light that helps sterilize equipment, surfaces, wounds, and even help some skin infections. At the very least, the bio-mod can apply a warm, soothing, touch that helps relieve stress, aches, and pains. Heals 1d4 SDC per 10 minutes of exposure, and reduces rehabilitation/recovery time for muscle injuries by 25%. It also gives victims of a vampire’s Enslaving and Slow Kill Bites a fighting chance by breaking the sequence...30 minutes of exposure to the Healing Light will break the chain of three bites, and the vampire must start over again if they are intent on enslaving/killing the victim.

-Para-Poisonous Blood---HUMBLE STARs’ blood carries live anti-theron bacteria, making their blood potentially poisonous to vampires and other supernatural bloodsuckers.
Vampires sucking blood from a HUMBLE STAR will take 1d6 Hit Point damage per pint of blood drawn, and they will be -1 to initiative, -1 to strike, dodge, and parry, and temporarily lose their supernatural regeneration abilities for 4d6 minutes after drinking the blood.
Even smearing a blade(or stake) with fresh blood from a HUMBLE STAR aug adds +1 point of Hit Point damage to the weapon, but only for 1d6 minutes after being drawn(then the blood dries and the bacteria die). Wounds inflicted with the poisoned weapon will also heal supernaturally 25% slower than normal, due to a temporary infection.

-Extraordinary Physical Endurance(Minor)---The HUMBLE STAR mod qualifies as Class IV by making the recipient a minor megadamage being, via an intermesh through the person’s body, supporting them, reinforcing joints and muscles, and creating a damage-resistant energy armor. The enhanced P.E. also protects the recipient against magic and poisons.
*Fatigues at 1/10th normal rate
*+1d6+5 P.E.
*Effectively becomes a megadamage being with 4d4x10 MD +2d4 per level of experience.

-Physical Transformation---The recipient of a HUMBLE STAR aug is physically optimized; increased charisma and glowing good health adding to the image of heroism. +1d4 P.E., +1d6 P.B., +1d6 SPD, +2d6 Hit Points, +4d6 SDC, and +1d6 to P.S., plus it is considered to be Extraordinary.

-Mind/Body Attunement---The recipient’s nervous system is amped to be more in tune with themselves; +1 APM, +2 on initiative, +4 save versus Horror Factor, +1 save versus poison and disease, and +2 save versus possession.

-Increased Physical Agility and Dexterity---Paladin Steel’s biotechs seem to believe that the easiest way to survive damage is to not be hit; that, and lay down hurt on the OTHER guy faster than he can lay down hurt on YOU. Thus, physical agility and responses have been stepped up. Increase P.P. to 22, +1 APM, +2 on initiative, automatic dodge, paired weapons, and +5% to physical skills requiring physical dexterity. The character is also ambidextrous.

-Mental Conditioning---Because of the potential threats faced by HUMBLE STAR augments, the bio-mods get special conditioning against mind control and supernatural torture. +5 save versus mind control, +4 save versus illusions and horror factor, +2 save versus psionic attack, and is impervious to possession(including a vampire’s enslaving bite).

Total bonuses:
+2 APM
+4 on initiative
+1d6+1d4+5 P.E.
Fatigues at 1/10th normal rate
*Effectively becomes a megadamage being with 4d4x10 MD +2d4 per level of experience.
+1d6 P.B.
+1d6 SPD
+2d6 Hit Points
+4d6 SDC
+1d6 to P.S., plus it is considered to be Extraordinary
Minimum P.P. 22
Automatic Dodge
+5 save versus mind control
+4 save versus illusions
+2 save versus psionic attack
+8 save versus Horror Factor
+1 save versus poison and disease
Impervious to possession(including a vampire’s enslaving bite)
Paired Weapons
+5% to physical skills requiring physical dexterity.
Ambidextrous
Last edited by taalismn on Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
kronos
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by kronos »

taalismn wrote:HUMBLE STAR ---Living Anti-Vampire Sunlamp Mod


Nice. Although you alternate between Humble Star and Humble Rose throughout...
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

kronos wrote:
taalismn wrote:HUMBLE STAR ---Living Anti-Vampire Sunlamp Mod


Nice. Although you alternate between Humble Star and Humble Rose throughout...


Thanks...I've corrected it, but added HUMBLE ROSE as an alternate name, so I don't have to hardcopy it twice. ;)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

*SHRS-40 SuperHeavy Rifle System(40mm)

“It was kinda inevitable; PS already had a twenty-millimeter and a thirty-millimeter sniper rifle, forty millimeter cannons and grenade launchers, and an eighty-millimeter shotgun. So it’s not so surprising they’d come up with a forty-millimeter rifle for cyborgs. The only question is; what took them so long?”

“The problem with sniping dinosaur at extreme range is that if you manage to headshot-kill the big bugger, by the time you manage to hike over to the carcass, odds are the local scavengers have already beat you to it. So if you REALLY want a trophy, or meat, bring a shorter-ranged multi-shot weapon along to play.”

The SHRS-40 is simply a single-shot breech-loading forty-millimeter heavy rifle based on the 40mm ‘pom-pom’ cannon. As such, the SHRS-40 is too heavy for normal beings to handle and operate, and thus only superhumanly strong beings, such as cyborgs, can use the thing. The SHRS-40’s main problem is that at extreme range, its accuracy diminishes due to windage and trajectory drift; its single shot operation means that the burst fire normally associated with its origin anti-aircraft weaponry isn’t possible. The SHRS-40 is a niche-market weapon, meant for truly BIG game hunters, rather than military units, and as such sees only limited production and distribution.

Weight: 200 lbs
MDC: 90
Range:(High Velocity Round)5,000 yards(15,000 ft)
Maximum AA altitude w/ HV shells: 13,300 ft
(Low Velocity Round) 3,800 yards(11,400 ft)
Damage: (Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) (HV) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
(LV)1d4x10 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Single shot. It takes 2 actions to reload a single round
Payload: Single shot. It takes 2 actions to reload a single round.
Special Features:
*Sniper Scope Rail---Mounts a variety of different sighting packages
*Bipod

Cost: 100,000 credits
High Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 200 credits apiece, 245 credits for HE
Low Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 180 credits apiece, 200 credits for HE

Options:
*Recoil Control---An active stabilization and cushioning system can be added, adding 30 lbs of additional weight, and costing + 10,000 credits, but adds a +1 to strike.

PS-CSMG-17 ‘Mofi’ Submachine Gun(.45)
(aka ‘Fuzi’)

“Why bother with a Mofi when a good ol’ repligun Thompson can do the same thing? The Mofi’s shorter and more compact, but has the same range, and the weapon’s even more reliable.”

“This thing’s built insane tough; you run out of ammo in a close firefight, you could probably bludgeon somebody to death with it without fear of breaking its action.”

The CSMG-17 is proof that good engineering ideas cross dimensions. At first glance, the CSMG-17 would appear to be an Uzi SMG scaled up to accept .45 cartridges. In reality, it’s an independentally-developed d-bee ChaiChuk weapon, designed to use the .45 cartridge introduced to their homeworld by dimensionally stranded American G.I.s. Rather than copy the M1928 Thompsons that accompanied them, the ChaiChuks developed a weapon better suited to their world’s heavier gravity, and came up with a wraparound bolt system identical to Uziel Gal’s design. When it was introduced to Paladin Steel by their ChaiChuk allies, PS engineers suggested a few tweaks, including integral lubricant coatings on the moving parts, and megadamage materials in the construction, resulting in an improved version that has entered production with both organizations.
The CSMG-17 has already acquired a reputation for being damned near unjammable(some claim that this is because, besides having to cope with an operating environment with twice Earth’s gravity, the ‘Fuzzy/Furry Uzi’ is designed to deal with accidental introduction of shed hair to its action). On the downside, the weapon is already in competition with a number of existing designs, including SMG conversions of the original Colt .45.

Weight: 8.5 lbs
MDC: 18
Range: 450 ft
Damage: ( Standard .45 ACP) 4d6 SD
(Express Round) 5d6 SD(increase range to 550 ft)
(Ramjet) 1 MD per rd, a 10-round burst 1d10 MD.
(Wellington/PS Exploders) 12d6 SD per rd
(PSX-2) 1d6 MD per rd, a three round burst does 3d6 MD, a 10-round burst 1d6x10 MD.
Can chamber a variety of other ammunition types, including silver, wood, Glaser, and TW bullets.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 25 shot standard clip. Can also be fitted with extended 32-shot long clip, or 50- and 100-shot drums. .
Special Features:
*Corrosion-proof Construction
*Top Sight Rail---Can be fitted with a scope or other sight
*Barrel Threading---The barrel is fully threaded for the attachment of silencers, flash hiders, barrel extensions, and pistol/rifle grenade launchers.
*Integral Folding Metal Stock
Cost: 1,000 credits
Options:
Can be fitted with laser sights(+1 to strike), silencers, muzzle waterseals(for firing supercavitating ammunition underwater), and smart-fire links.
The ChaiChuks are also experimenting with a variant that can use caseless ammunition, increasing reliability and ammunition capacity.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

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Paladin Steel PS-CCP02R ‘Chill Gun’ Cryogenic Chemical Projector
(aka ‘Froster’, ‘Snow Gun’, ‘Freezer’)

“I hate cleaning up after mad scientists and their transformative experiments, especially where there’s innocent victims involved. The ones that are too gone, you can put out of their misery with a clean conscience, but the ones that are halfway there, you have to do a soul-search decision whether or not to try to save, but you usually don’t have a lot of time to spend contemplating before having to take action. With the chillers, it’s a little easier; we can subdue the hysterical ones and put them in stasis for our own mad scientists to try to save. If nothing else, then, it allows us to pass the buck on to somebody else in authority.”

This special-purpose weapon resembles a large backpack fire extinguisher with a thickly insulated hose and pistol grip-equipped large-nozzled business end, though later versions adopt a more rifle-like configuration. The weapon fires a thick super-cold vapor which is stored as a pressurized gel in the feed tank, categorizing this weapon as a projectile weapon with a material magazine and ammunition dependency. The weapon can be adjusted to spray a cold vapor over a wide area, or a more concentrated blast that can encase a smaller target in ice. The exothermic chemical gel is a special concoction believed to have been derived from alien alchemy and is exclusive to PS’s weapons line, though it’s rumored that similar chemicals are used in newer PS-made cooling and refrigeration systems.
The CCP02R is regarded as a ‘reduced lethality’ weapon because the weapon tends to put most mammalian/reptilean beings into a cold-induced stupor or state of shock, allowing them to be subdued fairly easily.
CCP02s are frequently issued to field science teams for taking biological samples, and to Horror Hunter teams for use against beings susceptible to cold.

Weight: 25 lbs fully loaded
Range: 200 ft and can cover a 10 ft wide area, or can cover three cubic feet/specific body parts in encasing ice.
Damage:(Special) The cold vapor does 1d4x10 SDC/HP damage per blast.
Victims caught in the cold vapor must make a save versus non-lethal poison; on a fail, a limb(or limbs) go numb and unresponsive, incurring a reduction in bonuses appropriate to the affected part.
Does HALF damage through thick clothing and insulated armor.
Once SDCand HP is reduced to zero, the victim lapses into a hypothermic coma that lasts 1d4x10 minutes, after which treat as normal traumatic injury.
If heat is applied within the first 3d4 minutes after exposure, the victim can be safely revived with minimal damage. Otherwise, special equipment(such as a well-equipped emergency room or suspended animation lab) will be needed.

Against biological MDC opponents, the gel does 1d4 MD direct contact damage(double damage to those susceptible to cold).

Against zombies and other animated(but dead) organic beings, the cold will freeze them solid upon reaching 0 SDC/HP/MDC, but will not permanently ‘kill’ them(thawing them out will simply release them).

Against MDC armor and bionics/robotics, the Chill Gun is much less effective, but can still encase joints in ice, freeze lubricants, and cover sensors and optical windows in thick ice. Reduce actions/attacks, bonuses, and speed for a targeted limb by HALF on a successful strike.

(Encasement) Encasement covers a smaller area in a heavy encrustation of ice formed from both the gel and any ambient atmospheric moisture freezing in contact with the gel. A single blast can encase a human’s limb, and has an AR of 10 and 60 SDC, and does 1d4 SDC per minute to exposed, unprotected flesh; encased hands are -25% to perform skills, -88% for BOTH hands, while if one foot is frozen, -10% to speed, prowl, climbing, and swimming. BOTH feet or one entire leg being encased, reduce the previous by 40%.
Encasing an entire person takes 3-4 actions, and encases them in 200 lbs of ice with an AR of 10 and 100 SDC. Victims take 4d6 points of damage(MD only if they’re susceptible to cold) per melee if unprotected.
Encasing a target’s head causes the victim to be -2 to strike, parry, and dodge until the ice is removed.

Cryogel can also be sprayed on flat surfaces, giving them a slick covering of ice(reduce speed by 2/3, APMs and all HtH bonuses by HALF, and roll under P.P. to avoid falling down if trying to run across the stuff)

Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 25 shot tank
Special Features:
*Insulated Grips
Cost: 42,000 credits for the projector, 1,000 credits per tank refill


Paladin Steel PS-CCP03P ‘Icer’ Cryogenic Chemical Projection Pistol
(aka ‘SnowJob’, ‘Cuber’)

“Gotta hand it to you; nobody makes deep-frozen killer assassin gnome snow-cones like you...So, you gonna thaw them out now, or wait until spring?”

The CCP03P is a pistol version of the larger CCP02R, and uses the same cryogenic gels, albeit at shorter range and with a smaller magazine.
Weight: 4 lbs
Range: 100 ft and can cover an 8 ft wide area, or can cover a cubic yard in encasing ice.
Damage:(Special) Same as for the CCP02R.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 7 shot cartridge, loaded in the top of the pistol.
Special Features:
*Insulated handle and trigger
Cost: 29,000 credits for the pistol, 200 credits per cartridge.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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89er
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by 89er »

"What killed these possessed dinosaurs?"

"Frozen organic tissue damage and shattering by gunfire."

"I would have accepted the ice age as an answer"

Good work and would a clotting agent work on demonic items that need blood to function? Something I've been tossing around.
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Tavaza---Colonial Protectorate

The group-leader looked up the slope of the ridge to where the summons-to-parley banners flew. There too flew the mighty warmachines of the newcomers who had brought them all to this place in time. Stronger and more numerous than the legended war panoply of the Vanderii, they almost seemed to form a dark cloud over the appointed negotiation ground. Similar clouds of warmachines had broken the Mujihans’ strength up and down the Great River, and could have exterminated them outright, instead of then announcing peace talks at this place.
An aide rode up. “Scouts say they have heard drum-sign nearby...Ojihan drums, but they have also seen the -igol’ banner with their standard a hand of fra-lengths away.”
“As suspected. They too have been apparently chosen to listen to the call of -igol-. “
“Signs of several other tribes as well. The Vetal, the Degeri-”
“Only the Ojihan matter. The others are merelings, scurrying to gain some small favor for themselves. if the Ojihan are here, then they too take the geners seriously. It affirms our decision to come here/”
The chieftain checked the sun’s position. It was time. She turned to the ranks of warriors and adjutants arrived beside her.
“Inkanu-”
“I know, and I am honored to be chosen for this role.”
A strong young warrior, one of their fastest and most agile, distinguished in many combats with the despised Ojihan. Sacrificing one such as her in -igol- would be proof to the geners that the Mujihan took both their honor and the negotiations seriously. She would be first up the hill to announce the Mujihans’ intentions by offering herself in submission-sacrifice. If the negotiations did not take, the Mujihan would be out a powerful fighter.
The young warrior stepped forward, shedding her armor and weapons, and accepted the medallion of -igol- gild hung around her neck. She then started alone up the slope to the appointed place of meeting.

The GNE Regular Army Colonel responsible for the security of the negotiation assembly area peered down the slope. He knew where the local tribal delegations were encamped, courtesy of long range sensors and aerial watchers, and he could have easily engaged the sensors in his helmet, but he still itched in anticipation. “They coming or not?”
The great-coated young Shuvari translator next to him smiled pleasantly; “They will come; they have much face to lose by not. You must be ready to take them seriously, and meet them on the terms of their honor, or -you- will lose much face.”
“I just don’t get this whole ‘take the first arrivals prisoner and parade them around for the others to see’ nonsense. Looks too much like we’re taking slaves or scalps.”
“They will send chosen elite warriors to show they are deliberately handicapping their own positions...like cutting off the fingers of their sword hand to show they mean to embrace peace. By displaying your treatment of them, you will be demonstrating that you do not show contempt for their sacrifice by slaying or abusing them, or that you overly favor one tribe, or see them as soft, by cozening them. By showing ALL that arrive first, you will be showing them that you do not favor one tribe over the others, as well as showing them what others have come to seek parley. Only once they have gauged that you regard their petitions to be serious will the elders come forward to negotiate with words. See! There come the petitioners!”
There, from the foliage around the cleared zone, emerged several figures from different points of the approach up the slope. Each bore the native symbols for parley, and little else. ‘Unarmed’ around here also seemed to mean ‘unclothed’, but the colonel knew from reports that some of the local combat styles could use even wadded clothing or leather drawstrings as most effective weapons. His people weren’t going to take any chances, though the locals were apparently willing to meet them more than halfway.
“Showtime.” The colonel gestured forward several military policebeings to greet the scout-delegates, and then, with their consent, handcuff and take them into custody. Then, once the formalities were over, they could get down to the real business of making peace on this planet.


Tavaza would be a plum world to settle and develop, but for the fact that it’s been settled before...by the Atlanteans. Millennia ago, Tavaza was settled by at least two small Atlantean tribes, the Ohara and the Mujara, affiliated with Clan Skellien, and they brought their own contingents of Amazon warriors with them as they fled the disaster on Earth. Tavaza was to be their refuge, a place that they could develop and grow a new Atlantis in peace. Though not perfect, particularly with regards to ambient magic levels, Tavaza was still a welcoming place, and the refugees counted themselves fortunate to have found the planet so quickly after the crisis that claimed their original homes. In time, they would begin to develop technology to compensate, and even learned to accumulate enough PPE for periodic forays offworld via opened rifts, though the specter of what happened back on Earth still haunted them.
Unfortunately, both clans ended up victims of Sunaj maneuvering and scheming. Some centuries after the establishment of their refuge, the Atlantean clans of Tavaza were discovered by the Sunaj, who followed the back from one of their extradimensional trading expeditions. Because they were still small and fairly weak, without the support of a major clan(they’d lost contact with Clan Skellien at the same time they came to Tavaza), the Ohara and the Mujara were considered perfect candidates for a Sunaj exercise in worldwrecking. Both clans were turned against each other by Sunaj infiltrators who played upon tribal differences to incite a civil war, and, when they had weakened themselves fighting, essentially bombing themselves virtually into the stone age, Sunaj raiders wiped out the survivors, who all the time were unaware that they were being played and destroyed by a THIRD surviving Atlantean clan they had never known existed. The aftermath of the war left the remains of the clans’ Amazon armies and a population of mundane human peasants as Amazon base breeding stock. The Sunaj then inexplicably left Tavaza alone rather than immediately move on what remained. Possibly something else distracted them, or they felt that they could come back later and leisurely round up what was left.
The problem is that the Amazon tribes have continued to fight each other, initially in the name of their respective patron clans, but later out of sheer bloodiminded cyclical vengeance. With time, generational genetic drift and lack of Atlantean reinforcement has caused the Tavazan Amazons to break up into numerous factions and various diluted levels of inherited abilities. The two largest factions claim inheritance of the original Atlantean clans, and fight to avenge the supposed treachery perpetuated by the other clan. The resulting war has continued for centuries, with varying degrees of honor and treachery. Several smaller groups have split off, some seeking peace, others taking a more hardline approach, and these groups have in turn either attacked the other factions, or been attacked by them. The ‘mundane’ human population of agrarians has been claimed and attacked by the factions in turn, as material and genetic assets(source of breeding males). Though marked by a high degree of ritualization, the Tavazan Amazon Wars have still been viciously fought, with the balance of power shifting back and forth.
When GNE dimensional explorers finally (re)discovered Tavaza, the few still-independent agrarian communities pleaded for assistance from the newcomers in either defending themselves or stopping the Amazon civil war altogether. The GNE has been forced into the position of peacekeepers on Tavaza, deploying over a division’s worth of troops drawn from the GNE’s various colonies, as well as an even larger mixed contingent of allied soldiery. While individually, Tavazan amazon warriors may be better than the average GNE colonial soldier, high technology, more advanced communications and coordination, and an overall strategy have allowed the GNE force to carry the day more often than not in combat with the Tavazan factions. The introduction of augmented troops also turned the tables in favor of the peacekeeper forces, as a cyborged or bio-modded soldier could engage the Tavazan amazons in individual combat with a much better chance of emerging victorious. And the loss of much original Atlantean magic and technology, as well as a generally heavy metal-poor planet, meant that the Tavazan amazons were on the wrong side of the weapons technology gap.
Both major factions of the Tavazan Amazons have both fought the GNE peacekeepers and sent delegations to negotiate with the newcomers. Some of the smaller factions have negotiated peace with, or surrendered to, the GNE peacekeepers in return for a cessation of hostilities. Depending on the terms of the peace negotiated with each tribe-clan, the Amazon clans have allowed trade or mining access on their lands, or sent laborers and warriors to assist their new allies.
Recently, after a series of decidedly one-sided battles that were in their favor, the GNE forces were able to force the major amazon tribes to negotiate a ceasefire at Calistan(Half-Moon) Ridge, where an open semi-permanent ‘peace pavilion’ has been set up to facilitate ongoing talks. Major hostilities have ceased across the planet as word of the truce spreads through the clans, but some areas still see fighting as diehards and opportunists continue to skirmish, or resist the imposed peace.
Overall, Tavaza is deficient in many heavy metals, but it plays host to rich deposits of several exotic and valuable minerals, making it attractive to the industrialized GNE and its allies. The local ecology is another attraction in its biological compatibility, genetic diversity, temperate climate, and breathable atmosphere. To treasure hunters of a more cultural sort, though, Tavaza’s real draw is the prospect of ancient Atlantean ruins; despite the massive destruction wrought by the war(several regions of the planet are still uninhabitable waste zones), rumors abound of technological, magical, and cultural treasures waiting to be rediscovered. Tavaza’s large oceans also remain largely unexplored, and there are tales of giant floating Atlantean cities that sank at sea, carrying with them great treasure, now guarded by the oceanic depths and the many large predators dwelling there.
The GNE has access to Tavaza through a dimensional rift that was opened up on one of the small moons in orbit. Local legend tells of the True Atlanteans(and presumably their enemies) arriving and traveling via ‘gates’ on the planet, and the GNE is currently scouting the local leylines for the sites, with an eye towards attempting to rediscovering and reopening them to locations in GNE territory.

Tavaza and the Shemarrians
The GNE has contemplated the problem of the Tavazan Amazons and possibly inviting the Shemarrian Nation to have a hand in policing them. So far, only a handful of Steel Gaians have shown any interest in the world.....them, and the Lollipopper fringe tribe. Nobody knows how they arrived on Tavaza, but a large enclave (about 300 of them) of Lollipoppers have shown up on Tavaza and laid claim to an ancient Atlantean palace, which they have renovated into their ‘playhouse’. The GNE , and increasingly the local Tavazans, have given the permanently juvenile EShemar a wide berth. Those attempting to make trouble have been humiliated in SPECTACULAR fashion. Consistant Loli bashing has, in fact, forced several Tavazan tribes to the GNE Alliance negotiation tables at Calistan, rather than risk being further belittled trying to argue with the EShemarrians.

Solar System(Tazan)
Number of Stars: 2
Types of Stars:(Primary) Yellow Dwarf-----Tazan Prime
(Secondary) Red Dwarf----Tazan Secundus describes a wide arc around the system. Though some fear that its close approaches to the system’s Ort Cloud make it a possible candidate as a ‘death star’, disturbing and unleashing clouds of comets into the inner system, the outer gas giants seem to do a good job of sweeping up most such errant iceballs from falling further in-system towards Tavaza.
Number of Planets: 8; Tavaza is the only terrestrial world in a system dominated by gas giants. Though astronomical surveys are still in their initial stages, some GNE astronomers have surmised that the outer system giants have kept Tavaza from being hit more frequently with stray stellar debris.
-Terrestrial(Tavaza)--Lifeworld
-Gas Giant----Kavaa; visible from Tavaza with the naked eye. Its eighteen moons are currently being explored by GNE astrosurvey with an eye towards establishing bases there.
-Gas Giant----Odhuv; discovered by Atlantean astronomers of the Ohara clan. Though unseen from Tavaza except with the aide of telescopes, Odhuv has entered the iconography of Clan Ojihan as a sacred place/spirit-goddess, and they will aggressively attempt to correct anybody claiming that it’s really a celestial gas ball.
-Gas Giant---Mujain; discovered by Atlantean astronomers of the Mujara clan. It has attained a similar near-legendary status to the amazons of Clan Mujihan.
-Gas Giant----Ajadu; claimed to have been discovered by astronomers of both clans at virtually the same time. As differences were starting to emerge between the two clans at that time, the controversy would be blown way out of proportion in later arguments.
-Gas Giant---Ta-V. Discovered by GNE astronauts; early probes show a world with a large ring system and multiple moons; most likely comets captured by the gas giant.
-Gas Giant---Ta-VI. Discovered by GNE astronauts; Ta-VI shows a similar large ring system to Ta-V, and likely plays a similar role as ‘system janitor’.
-Gas Giant---Ta-VII. Discovered by GNE astronauts; Ta-VII is believed to occasionally swap orbit paths, orbiting Tazan Secundus for a million-year cycle, then swapping back to orbit Tazan Prime again.

Planet(Tavaza)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 10,000 km
Gravity: 1.02 g
Temperature: Temperate; Tavaza is on the tropical side, with small ice caps, but large oceans, regulating the temperature.
Unusual/Special Features:
Moons--Tavaza has 11 small moons; the largest three of which are being developed as spacestation facilities for traffic coming through the dimensional rift.

Atmosphere: Nitrogen-Oxygen, Earth-like and breathable without any special measures.

Terrain: Four+ terrains. Most of Tavaza’s surface landmass is concentrated in one large continent and two minor subcontinents, as well as several large island chains. Several large areas of coastal land have been rendered into slagged wastelands by the Atlantean civil war, but several large fertile plains and rich mountain valleys have survived to become the main battlegrounds of the feuding amazon tribes.

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
-Zinc
-Colombite
-Aluminum
-Gold/Silver
-Quartz
-Platinum
-Talc
-Nickle
Tavaza is also notably rich in feshite(see Rifter #0-1), ederium, kardinium, and aegorite. Feshite can be used to make ‘flexible’ metals, and is used by the local Amazons to make body armor. Both ederium and kardinium were of value to the ancient Atlanteans, the former for its supernaturally poisonous properties(weapons made of ederium-laced alloy do DOUBLE damage to ghouls, ghasts, and Worms of Taut) and the latter in creating megadamage alloys , but the secrets of their uses were lost when the Atlanteans were wiped out. The GNE has discovered uses for both minerals, and has made mining the large deposits on Tavaza a goal. Aegorite was apparently NOT used by the Atlanteans and is useless to the amazons, but PS has learned that processed aegorite accelerates and stabilizes various industrial chemical processes, making it useful as a catalyst component.

Hydrosphere:
Wet; roughly 72% of Tavaza is covered in open water.

Biosphere: Verdant
Tavaza’s ecology is dominated by reptiles and sauropods, with larger mammals being introduced by the True Atlanteans. The Atlanteans also introduced a number of other other-dimensional beasts acquired during their travels, many of which have since run feral on Tavaza, and some of which now pose dangers to the residents.

Magic Levels:
Moderate; Tavaza’s ambient magic levels are roughly equal to the Palladium Fantasy World’s; just enough to maintain megadamage physiologies(although the Amazons’ have been slowly declining) but not high-energy magics. The Amazons have lost much of their patron True Atlanteans’ magic skills, including the ability to make magic tattoos.

Civilization:
The general level of civilization on Tavaza can be considered to be Medieval.

Population:
There are perhaps 37 million Tavazans, and roughly 600,000 GNE-sponsored settlers.

Technology:
Middle Ages, with some experimentation with steam power and early forms of gunpowder and explosive/incendiary alchemy(’Greek Fire’ projectors are a current fad with the more bloodyminded Amazon tribes). Some of the more adventrous amazon clans have tried to emulate the legends of the Atlantean age and its flying wonders with crude hot-air airships.

Economy:
Agrarian for the most part. The Amazon nations live off trading and raiding for the most part, and the production of metal items(the strongest alloys are war material, and the secrets of their production are closely-guarded amazon secrets).

Wealth:
Can be considered Poor; most of the usable wealth is concentrated in the amazon clans’ hands. Regions under GNE protection are seeing a slow rise to Average.

Government:
Most societies on Tavaza are dominated by tribal councils, especially matriarchies.

Law Level:
Lawless in the warlands, Authoritarian in the amazon-administered satrapies, rising(or upgrading) to Overbearing, as the GNE imposes their -pax yankee- on the planet’s combatants.

Popularity:
Unpopular(General)---The warring Amazon tribes are regarded with varying degrees of loyalty, swinging to distrust and even open hatred by the various lesser tribes and smaller communities.
Similarly, the GNE presence is seen as either a welcome ender of the current troubles, or as simply another invading tribe, larger and more powerful than the others.

Stability:
Considered to have been Unstable; with a constant shifting of balance of power between the warring tribes.
Those regions under GNE mandate can be considered to be Stable, with some lawlessness from dissidents and holdouts. The GNE colonies can be considered to be Solid.

Colony(ies):
The GNE presence on Tavaza is based around three major communities; Sinoatoton, New Gripen, and Vanzelegskand.
-Sinoatoton----This colony is actually built adjacent to the major independent farming community of Sinosasa. It is the main trading center with the locals. About 300,000 colonists are helping the locals develop more efficient agriculture. There is some tension with the locals, who are coping with the sudden influx of foreigners, both colonists from offworld, and refugees seeking sanctuary under the aegis of the GNE and Sinosans.
-New Gripen---This is a wholly new city that serves as the main ‘gateway’ to Tavaza, via the spaceborne dimensional rift in orbit. About 200,000 residents live within its boundaries. It is hoped that new land developments around New Gripen will attract settlers from Sinoatoton, easing some of the anxieties of the Sinosans.
-Vanzelegskand---This is a major mining center jointly developed between the GNE and colonists from Jorgmundson in the Human Alliance. About 100,000 colonists call it home.

-Tavaza Station Orbital Annex consists of a Plymouth-class space station(5,000 residents) and an asteroid colony(9,000 residents) built into one of the moons.

Sponsoring Organization:
Government of Greater New England
Colony Size:
600,000 GNE-sponsored settlers.
General Alignment:
Scrupulous

Trade Policy:
By the Book. The GNE does allow some outsider trade with the Amazons, but not in war materials, such as MDC armor or weaponry.

Environment Around Colony:
-Sinoatoton-Low mountains and a large, well-irrigated valley
-New Gripen-Light forest, coastal
-Vanzelegskand-Towering mountains and alpine valleys

Notable/Special Natural Resources:
-Sinoatoton-Farmland; some of the richest on Tavaza.
-New Gripen- Fishing, ore fields
-Vanzelegskand-Ore fields

Medical Facilities:
The medical facilities established in the colonies are the equal of any city hospital back in the GNE.

Primary Energy Source:
Fusion

Primary Source of Transportation:
ContraGravity and Hovervehicles

Security/Fighting Force:
Three divisions of United Systems Alliance troops have been deployed to Tavaza, one division of GNE colonials, and two divisions’ worth of various member companies and brigades.
The Orbital Annex forces include several automated Battle Ring weapons platforms, two destroyers, and a light cruiser.

Outside Threats:
The Sunaj may yet prove a threat, as they still know where Tavaza is, and may return one day to check if it is worth conquering more fully. If and when they do, the GNE may find itself facing a major Atlantean clan with a perchance for serious cunning and dirty tricks.

Indigenous Peoples:
Human-derived, via True Atlantean origins.
Overall, the Tavazan human population shows a gender ratio skewed in favor of females; 72% overall females.
Genetic drift has caused a substantial amount of the original Amazon bloodlines to fall from their original strength. Both the Ojihan and Mujihan clans have engaged in rigorous(some say harsh) eugenics programs to maintain their strength, but some of their actions have contributed to the splintering of factions from them. About 25% show the ‘true’ Amazon RCC phenotype, another 45% show amazon traits to one degree or other, and 30% are standard human.
Size of Population: 37 million Tavazans
Hostility Index:
Varied; the native human settlements range from indifferent to friendly, while the Amazon clans range from Friendly to Warlike. After the imposed -pax yankee- at Calistan Ridge, most of the tribes can be considered to Agitated, but abiding by the terms of the ceasefire.
Tech Level:
Middle Ages, with some experimentation with steam power and early forms of gunpowder. The locals have also figured out how to chemically generate electrical currents for use in electroplating and refining aluminum.

Origin of People:
Former Atlantean refuge-colony
Sacred Technology:
Tavaza is peppered with surviving caches and examples of True Atlantean technology, some of it still functional and very dangerous. The Tavazan Amazons search for them, either to use, or destroy as being profane, or simply to deny their use to their enemies.
The most common and prized technological treasures are vibroblades and plasma bolt-projecting spear- and bow-like weapons. MDC armor is also highly prized.

Notable Tavazan Amazon Clans:
*Ojihan
---One of the two largest factions on Tevaza; the Ojihan claim descent from the retainers of the Atlantean clan of Ohara. They have been at war with the Mujihan for centuries. The Ojihan are generally characterized by light skin and blonde hair. They have a reputation for cunning and elaborate ploys, but are as fond of straightforward melee combat as any other amazon.

*Mujihan---One of the two largest factions on Tevaza, the Mujihan lay claim to the heritage of Clan Mujara. They are sworn enemies of the Ojihan. The Mujihan are darker-skinned and dark-haired in general, and claim past intermarriage with the True Atlantean bloodline giving them extra vitality, strength, and legitimacy. They are accomplished melee combatants who favor skill of arms, but can be as cunning as the Ojihan that they despise for their ‘trickery’.

*Degeri---A lesser amazon clan, and the third largest on Tavaza, that has been allied with both the Ojihan and the Mujihan off and on over the centuries. Degeri are scoffed at as being ‘wishy-washy’, ‘flighty’, and unreliable allies at best, though they tend to regard themselves as more pragmatic than anything else, and point to their continued survival as proof. The Degeri were initially allied loosely with the two other large clans in opposing the newcomer GNE, but soon found an excuse in several defeats to quickly surrender to the GNErs. The Degeri elders have expressed a particular interest in the GNE’s bio-modification sciences, seeing it as a possible route to restoring the genetic vigor of their amazon bloodlines, and if not, then more conventional means(i.e. crossbreeding) with outsider bloodlines will do as well.

*Hari---Desert amazons, who survived the wars mainly by being in one of the most inhospitable regions of Tavaza, the arid Scorch. That, and they charged heavily for anybody wanting to cross the deserts and use their water. Several attempts to stake out traffic corridors across the Scorch by force have been defeated by the Hari, and eventually the other tribes just gave up and decided to pay the desert dwellers when they need something from the desert. The Hari remain aloof from the recent excitement with the GNE, and have not negotiated with them in anything but the most passing of circumstances.

*Vetal--Another lesser clan that split from the Mujihan over matters of local regional sovereignty. The Mujihan let them go, but occasionally beat on them just to remind them that they could just as easily have taken them back. Like the Degeri, the Vetal see allying themselves to the GNE as a way of assuring their survival.

*Jeta---An oceanic tribe of amazons, similar in culture to the Phoenicians. The Jeta have dared Tavaza’s storm-ridden and monster-stocked oceans, and possess rare knowledge of the waters. Their main community is the half-sunken ruins of a True Atlantean settlement that has proven safe from attack by any of the other clans. Like the Hari, they have remained largely aloof from the civil war consuming the other clans.

*Vanderii---The Vanderii are a small clan that was once much larger and more powerful in the past, thanks to them seizing a quantity of extradimensional technology acquired by the True Atlanteans and cached away. Using this technology, especially giant war machines, the Vanderii briefly overturned the balance of power and threatened to seize control of a large chunk of Tavaza, but the rest of the tribes temporarily put their differences aside and used force of numbers to overwhelm the Vanderii. The Vandarii were broken and scattered, their technology either claimed by the other tribes, or destroyed as ‘profane’. A single smallish nation of Vandarii exist in the planet’s largest mountain chain, where they carefully husband their remaining technology, while also attempting to acquire or create more. Though generally physically weaker than the other amazon clans, the Vanderii are more technologically inclined and have a propensity for acquiring and tinkering with ‘hard’ technologies such as electricity, explosives, and internal combustion engines. They still have enough firepower that their giant warmachines were an unpleasant surprise to GNE explorers and outposts. Though fiercely independent and aggressive, the Vandarii have recently been brought to the negotiation table by a series of crushing and humiliating defeats handed to them by the Lollipoppers squatting in one of the Vandariis’ ‘claimed’ territories.

*Shuvari---A lesser clan born mainly of rejects of the vigorous eugenics programs instituted by the Ojihan/Mujihan, Shuvari are typified by generally weaker builds and a higher level of other physiological abnormalities than the amazon ‘prime’. An overall lack of bloodthirstiness led to them being rejected as allies by most of the other tribes, but the Shuvari make their livings as itinerant merchants and scholars, preserving the less martial aspects of the ancient Atlantean culture. The Shuvari were the first major Tavazan tribe to ally with the GNE, providing the GNE with much information on how to deal with the other clans, and they have been quick to assume many aspects of GNE culture, a move that has earned them derision from the conservative hard-liners of the other clans, even to the point of declaring the Shivaru as ‘traitors’. However, the Shuvari still retain many Tavazan traditions, and have managed to subvert the GNE’s own laws to allow them to continue doing several things that might otherwise have been prohibited.

#Vadagar---A male-dominated tribe, noted for their viciousness. They were founded by escaped male slaves from the amazon tribes, and became known for banditry, especially against the amazons. They oppose the GNE newcomers and any efforts to impose a peaceful resolution to the amazon wars. They are generally regarded as terrorists, though they have some actual popular support from some of the smaller human communities.

#Sinosa---A male-dominated community, mainly concerned with agriculture. They have fended off forced absorption by the amazon clans, and managed to gather a number of other small communities into a loose coalition under a mutual defense pact. The Sinosa were among the first to approach the GNE about intervening in the war between the amazon clans. The resulting influx of colonists and refugees, though, has had some Sinosans expressing misgivings about being overwhelmed and marginalized in the new world order.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

89er wrote:"

Good work and would a clotting agent work on demonic items that need blood to function? Something I've been tossing around.


I figure in the Minion War just about ANYTHING that would kill Infernals would be pursued....Wild sex? Let's bio-engineer a superbeing who could do it! Talk 'em to death? Let's research a discipline of demon-harranging!!! Poisons? Do we have to dig the stuff up or synthesize the stuff? And how do we deliver it?
I can imagine a nasty Blood Druid curse;'solidify blood' that would cause the blood in a person's body to turn to a solid....ouch...Like bismuth rapid-cooling(some Soviet nuclear submrines experimented with liquid bismuth-cooled reactors. One of teh problems was that if the stuff cooled down, it solidified...clots in your reactor coolant are NOT a good thing....
If the stuff is naturally occurring (plant or mineral), then defending its source, and, if possible, transplanting the organisms or finding other deposits, if the stuff can't be artificially synthesized, if paramount, because if the demons and devyls get wind of a poison that fatally clots their blood-ichor, then they'll go all out to destroy it or take it for themselves to use on their enemies.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

PS-FC-52 Hayate Aerial Operations Full Conversion Cyborg

“Having a tail gets a little getting used to. Likewise having wings as an extension of my body...they’re not just THERE, they’re actually a PART of me. I used to question what good that sort of control was, and figured it would just be a dangerous distraction if I got in a tight situation, and that all the drilling my rehab coaches put me through was a major waste of time, but when I DID get in a tight spot...well, it seriously proved worth it.”

“I’ve only spent six months as a Hayate conversion and I’m already understanding why dragons act so high and mighty...damn, but this is seriously headtripping, soaring above the world like this!”

“Ran into a Tsunami ‘borg once. The guy looked me over and muttered something about ‘damned Americans just HAVING to go bigger and badder’. I pretended not to hear that as I lifted off, though I mighta increased my backwash a bit just to leave him in the dust.”

The Hayate is another new FC chassis specialized for aerial combat. As it is no secret that PS has copied Japanese cyborg designs in the past(such as the PS-FC-23 SeaCobra ) it was at first assumed that the FC-52 was simply a knockoff of a Japanese ‘dragon’-series cyborg. However, the FC-52 is an entirely new design, with only superficial similarities to the Asian developments.
One of the more interesting, if less obvious, aspects of the Hayate is its unique wing design that uses manipulated slipstream to both improve lift and improve the cooling of its thrusters, allowing for longer high speed runs between cool-down periods. This, combined with an onboard ‘autopilot’, allows the Hayate to make long range, long endurance, flights without having to make frequent stops. This makes it useful as a long distance scout and courier.
Hayates saw their baptism by fire during the Minion War incursion on Rifts Earth, when there was a sudden need for every combat unit the GNEAS could field, especially aerial assets. Hayates tangled with flying Infernals in aerial combat on numerous occasions.
Hayates are among the favorite ‘heavy modes’ for PHASEBorgs, especially those with a humaniform ‘soft mode’ who use the ability to apparently ‘morph to the draconic chassis to convince the gullible that the cyborg really IS a dragon. The vast array of accessory systems makes it that much easier for a Hayate conversion to ‘individualize’ its appearance, and even imitate specific dragon species with regards to their attacks.

Type: PS-FC-52 Hayate
Class: Full Conversion Borg - Aerial Operations
Crew: One volunteer
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 50 each
Arms(2) 110 each
Legs(2) 120 each
Feet (& Foot Pads)(2) 75 each
Wings(2) 190 each
Tail 100
*Head 160
**Main Body 360
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The Hayate CAN be fitted with additional armor, but is limited to LIGHT Cyborg Armor.

Speed:
Running: 100 mph max . However the act of running does not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to distance/height.
Flying: Hover to 670 MPH, maximum altitude of 12,000 ft. The jetpack systems have a special cooling system and cruise mode that allow the cyborg to fly nonstop without needing to cool down for up to 72 hours.
Underwater: The Hayate can thrust through the water, at about 25 MPH. Maximum effective depth tolerance 2,000 ft.

Statistical Data:
Average Height: 12 ft; it typically walks crouched at about 7 ft
Width: 3 ft at shoulders, 4 ft at folded wings, 16 ft wingspan
Length: 6 ft chest to back +9 ft tail
Weight: 1.4 tons
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 35, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, impervious to
bio-manipulation
+4 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge, +8 in flight
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 60% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg or Headhunter OCC.
Black Market Cost: 9.6 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and sound filtration systems.

Special Features:

*Hardened Circuits---A feature growing to be standard in Paladin Steel-made combat cyborgs. Shields the ‘borg’s systems against EMP and other electrical-disruption attacks.

*Radar---8 mile range

*Autopilot---This is an onboard AI system that can be engaged when the Hayate is flying long distance; -Navigation: 85%. Bonuses: The UAV doesn’t have any combat programming per say, but does have some basic evasion programming: Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 4, Dodge: +2

* Ambidexterity Boost---If the character doesn’t already possess the Ambidexterity advantage, a combination of neural interface boosting and gene-therapy gives the cyborg the ability to use all their hands with equal proficiency. +1 APM, +1 parry, and automatically gets W.P. Paired Weapons.

Weapons Systems:
1) Eye Lasers(2)---The Hayate has a ‘gaze of death’.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single blast, 4d6 MD dual blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Forearm Hardpoints(2)---These are compatible with standard cyborg forearm blasters.

3) Tail Blaster ---The articulated tail can mount a weapon in the end:

a) Heavy Vibroblade ---4d6 MD. Cost: 15,000 credits

b) Machine Gun----7.62mm GPMG M44-MAG General Purpose Machine Gun
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1 MD single shot, 1d10 MD per 10 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 600 rpm
Payload: 250-rd belt or 75-rd saddle drum
Cost: 8,000 credits

c) 20mm Cannon
Range:(20mm)3,000 ft (1,500 ft for wood rounds)
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PS-1) 4d4 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
(Wood Rounds) 6d6 SDC per round (1d6x10 HP to vampires)
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airbursts are not possible with wooden rounds
(20mm PSX-2)4d6 MD single rd
2d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius(single shot)
Rate of Fire: (20mm) Standard.
Payload: 200 rds,
Cost: 20,000 credits
A box of 100 20 mm ‘smart’ rds costs 800 credits
A box of 100 20 mm ‘smart’ PSX-1 rds costs 3000 credits(after 110 PA, this drops to 2,000 credits)
A box of 100 20 mm ‘smart’ PSX-2 rds costs 3200 credits

d) Pulse Laser---Modified PSLR-7 ‘Rattler’ Rapid-Fire Light Laser Rifle
Range: 900 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single shot, or 1d6x10 MD per 5 shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 11,000 credits
Options:
Note: It takes a person with the Weapons Engineer skill a successful roll and about 5 minutes to install and test one of the following modules, those with the Armorer/Field Armorer skill about 10 minutes, and someone following the printed instructions about 30-45 minutes to install/swap modules.

*Blue-Green Frequency Kit---This modifies the ‘Luzi’ to fire more effectively underwater, down to 1,000 ft. Cost: 6,000 credits

*Flash-Blinder---This adds a special power-stepdown chip to the weapon’s power regulation/draw system, and a scattering optic to the barrel. allowing the weapon to produce blinding flashes of light that can temporarily blind those with unprotected optics/eyes. Effects are roughly equal to a Blinding Flash spell. One MD shot equals 200 ‘flash’ shots.
Cost: 4,000 credits

*Scatter-Laser Kit---This conversion adds what looks like a round-tipped air-cooled muzzle or perforated silencer to the end of the muzzle. In reality, it is a beamsplitter that converts the PSLR-7 into a short ranged ‘laser shotgun’, doing 2d4 MD to an 9 ft-wide area, at about 400 ft range, with a single shot, and 4d6 MD to a 10 ft area with a burst shot. Cost: 7,000 credits

e) PSPBW-9 ‘FlareHammer’ Particle Beam
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 29,000 credits

f) Ion Blaster
Range: 800 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
1d4x10 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 12,000 credits

g) Plasma Blaster
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast
2d4x10 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 17,000 credits
Options:
*Scatter-Fire---This modifies the muzzle plasma ejector mechanism to fire a dozen or so smaller plasma bolts at shorter range and with less individual damage, but with a scatter effect like a shotgun---ideal for clearing out rooms and compartments.
Reduce range by 1/3, and mini-plasma bolts do 2d4 MD each, but now covers a 30-degree arc(or roughly 15 ft wide area)
Cost: +4,000 credits

h) Plasma Blade/Blaster
Range:(Heavy Bolt) 1,000 ft
(Light Bolt) 2,000 ft
(Plasma Saber) 3 ft
(Plasma Lance) 18 ft
Damage:(Heavy Bolt) 5d6 MD
(Light Bolt) 2d6 MD
(Plasma Saber) 2d4 MD
(Plasma Lance) 6d6 MD
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 20,000 credits

i) EMVR-08 ‘MagHammer’ ElectroMagnetic Projector
Range: (EM Bolt) 3,000 ft
(Vortice) 2,000 ft
Damage: (EM Bolt) (Variable) 4d6 SD, 1d4x10 SD, or 3d6 MD per shot
(Vortice) Same as for the bolt at the point of impact, plus HALF damage in a 7 ft radius, and an 88% chance of knock-down(lose 1 APM and Initiative) for beings of 350 lbs or less, 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees).
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: EM bolts are -6 to dodge, on top of that!
Cost: 29,000 credits

j) Shock Mace---Modified blast-stud weapon.
Range: Melee
Damage: 4d6 MD
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 90,000 credits

k) Spike Launcher---Imitating the manticore monster, this feature is a morning star mace with the ability to fire its spikes.
Range: Melee as a mace. Spikes have an effective range of 200 ft when launched.
Damage: 4d6 MD when used as a melee weapon. Launched spikes do 1d6 MD each.
Rate of Fire: Can be fired in volleys of 1-6 spikes.
Payload: Mace Launcher has 12 spikes
Cost: 7,000 credits for the mace housing. Ejectable vibroblades cost 200 credits each.

l) ATR-01 Anti-Theron Rifle-Projector---Useless against normal targets, but deadly against magic users and magic creatures.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: Does 4d6 HP/MDC damage(modified effects based on what the creature is)
Depending on how much PPE is present and how essential it is to an organism’s survival, damage varies:
Techno-Wizardry Devices(including TW generators), enchanted objects, rune weapons, and other magically-infused(but INANIMATE) objects are NOT affected and take no damage.
Non-magical beings. psychics, and ‘mundanes’ are unaffected and experience nothing aside from a slight tingling sensation, mild sunburn-like symptoms, and a passing feeling of nausea from a Disruptor strike.
Magic Users and other beings who have ‘learned’ or artificially acquired magical abilities(including tattoos and bioborg implants), but who can otherwise survive without magic present are affected, but the effects aren’t as dramatic. They do NOT get a save versus the disruption because all of their effort has gone into OPENING themselves to the supernatural and embracing their magical potential. They take normal damage as for the weapon’s damage rating.
Supernatural Creatures who possess some small measure of magical ability will suffer a greater degree of damage/injury. ...normal damage x1.5. Gargoyles, Brodkil, Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters(including Nightspawn), Possessees, Shifters, and Witches, are all examples of beings in this category. Note that if these beings were to possess bionics or other conditions that NEGATE their magical abilities(like Brodkil bionics) they lose this vulnerability, and are NOT affected, taking damage only as normal. These beings do NOT get a saving roll versus the PPE disruption.
‘High’ Supernatural Beings with a high level of, and reliance on, PPE will suffer greatly, taking DOUBLE damage. This includes Dragons, Angels, Demons, Splugorth, Faerie Folk, Demi-Gods. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save HALVES the damage done to them.
Creatures of Pure Magic that cannot survive without magic are the most seriously affected, and take TRIPLE damage. This covers ghosts, possessing entities, Undead, Elemental Beings, Alien Intelligences, and god-beings. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save NEGATES the damage done to them.
Golems, Iron Juggernauts, and other magically-powered automatons/automations will be effectively STUNNED, being paralyzed for 1d4 melees per shot, and will be unable to move or defend themselves, as magical energy shorts out and storms over them.

Other Effects:
*Magic Disruption----Each blast NEUTRALIZES HALF the number of PPE points that it does damage...these points are temporarily lost to the magic user/creature until it can regain them normally(by rest or drawing on other sources).
*Magical Forcefields take 1.5 normal damage.
*Invisible beings will be revealed by an anti-theron burst and will remain visible for 2d4 melees(gradually fading) as a result of residual anti-therons causing them to fluoresce and become visible to the naked eye.

Rate of Fire: Standard, ECHH
Payload: 25 shots per EE-Canister(up to four EE-Canisters can be mounted along the tail/spine)
Bonuses: +1 to strike from laser/scanner targeting system
Special Features:
*Integral mini-SNARLS PPE Sensor System fitted with the head and tied in to the cyborg’s vision optics. Thanks to PS’s micro-chip engineering expertise, PS has managed to get the size of the system down to compact enough to fit into the scope module. The sensor has a 200 ft range(out to 400 ft with 50% error in determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible entities. Other penalties similar to the Japanese SNARLS system(on which it is based.....see Rifts: Japan, pg. 116).
*Rugged Construction: Rifle has 50 MDC
*Integral Snap-Out Tri-Vibroblades
Cost: Currently available only to GNE military units

m) Blast Mace---Based on reverse-engineered Gargoyle Empire weaponry
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD. Target loses initiative and is -2 to roll with the shock/impact.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 90,000 credits

n) Heavy Drug Injector----This uses either a small needle injector or the main vibroblade to get through the skin of a target and inject liquid into it.
Range: Melee
Damage: 1 SDC or 1 MD, plus chemical effects(Typically acids or poisons)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Ten doses of up to five different chemicals, 50 doses total.
Cost: 5,000 credits

p) Multimode ‘Rip-Zapper’ Ion Projector----The electromagnetic prongs of the tail split to fire bolts of ion energy, or the tail can be used to stab and zap for effect.
Range:(Ion Beam Mode) 1,700 ft
(SDC Beam) 2,000 ft
(Ion Bolt Mode) 3,000 ft
(Lightning Zapper Mode) 500 ft
(Shock-Zap Mode) 1-3 ft
Damage:(Ion Beam Mode) 4d6+2 MD per single shot
(SDC Beam)1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees, and a 75% chance of permanently frying nanotech devices(like Armor-dissolving nanites or RMK/IRMSS systems).
(Ion Bolt Mode) 2d4 MD to 5 ft radius, 55% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
(Lightning Zapper Mode) Does stun damage similar to SDC beam through metal armor and light power armor.
On an unmodified roll of 18-20, it causes unshielded BIONICS and robots to spasm for 1d4 melees(Cyborg is at HALF bonuses to strike, parry, dodge, roll, and is -3 to initiative. Reduce speed by HALF).
This weapon does 1d4x10 EMP damage(no physical damage) to a 10 ft radius. The resulting percentage of the target location MDC is the chance of shutdown/disablement. All damage is cumulative. Damage in excess of 50% target MDC will require repair to make it functional; 75% or more damage will require replacement of the entire electrical system. Does double damage to non-shielded civilian systems. Bionics are -1 to dodge, roll, and strike for the affected limb/system, lasting 1d4 melees, non-cumulative, before the system resets itself.
(Shock-Zap Mode) Similar to a Shock Rod; 5d6 SDC, plus 55% chance of stunning humans, d-bees, and small animals for 1d4 melees, 15% against large or inhumanly powerful beings. Cumulative effects same as for Electro-Stunner(see pg 50 of Coalition: Lone Star).
Rate of Fire:(Ion Beam Mode)(SDC Beam) ECHH
(Ion Bolt Mode) Four times per melee
(Lightning Zapper Mode) Can fire only one Zap every melee(takes fifteen seconds to power up)
(Shock-Zap Mode) ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 36,000 Credits

q) Buzzsaw
Range: Melee
(Projectile) 300 ft
MDC per Blade: 45
Damage: 6d6 MD per slash, 1d6x10+10 MD per full melee cut
(Projectile) 5d6 MD
Cost: 29,000 credits

r) Flame Thrower
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 230 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flame-thrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 20 blasts
(Napalm) 60 blasts
(MD Fluid) 100 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 120 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 200 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Cost: 30,000 credits.

s) Stun Gun---An electrical zap-arc that works similar to a taser, but based on a design acquired from Japan, via PS’s limited trade with that island-nation. (Stats from Rifts: Japan, pg. 124)
Range: 800 ft
Damage: Setting One: (Weak Stun--Children, elderly, pregnant women, disabled)1d6 SDC
Setting Two: (Light Stun--elderly, teenagers, weak adults, small to medium animals)2d5 SDC
Setting Three: (Moderate Stun---Adults)3d6 SDC
Setting Four: (Heavy Stun---Adults in superior condition, drug-addicts, PR-Borgs, augmented humans, large animals)6d6 SDC
Setting Five:(Super-Shock---superhumans, augments, partial conversion Borgs, monsters) 1d6 MD
Stun Damage: On _correct_ setting, adults must save at 14 or higher(children and animals save at 18 or higher) or be -9 on initiative, -7 to strike/parry/dodge/roll, reduce speed/melee actions/and skill performance by HALF for 2d4 melee rounds. Additional strikes are cumulative. A successful save means the target takes damage, and loses 1 APM, but is otherwise fine.
Cumulative 15% chance per subsequent stun blast that the target will be knocked unconscious for 1d4 minutes.
Penalties: If setting is too low, the target can more easily shrug off the effects. Targets are +4 to save per each level that the blast is too low.
If setting is too high, target is +15% to lose consciousness .
Ineffective against EBA, robots, full conversion Borgs, vampires, androids, and the more powerful creatures of magic.
PR Borgs, Juicers , and Crazies are only really susceptible to Settings 4 and 5, and are +1 to save
FC Borgs are only affected by Setting 5, and are +4 to save, penalties and duration are HALF.
Young supernatural beings and lesser demons can be affected by Setting 5, but are +3 to save.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited w/ Nuclear Powerplant
Cost: 29,000 credits


4) Wing Lasers(2)---These are knockoffs of those mounted on the Flying Titan Power Armor.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single blast, 4d6 MD dual blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) Wing Hardpoints
a) Micro-Missiles---2x25 shot cassette pods (50 shots) per wing
b) Mini-Missiles---6 per wing
c) Short Range Missiles---3 per wing
d)‘Black Talon’ LSAM/LAAM Light Surface/Air-to-Air Missile---3 per wing
e) Medium Range Missiles---1 per hardpoint/wing

6) Back Hardpoint(1)
a) Micro-Missiles---25 shot pod

b) Mini-Missiles---- 6 per hardpoint

c)‘Black Talon’ LSAM/LAAM Light Surface/Air-to-Air Missile
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 3 per hardpoint
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 10,000 credits per missile

d) Short Range Missiles---1 per hardpoint

e) Medium Range Missiles---1 per hardpoint

f) Mini-Gun Pod---Standard mini-machinegun in its own pod with independent ammunition supply
Range: 1,200 ft
Damage: (SDC) 1d6x10 SDC per 10 shot burst, single gun
(MDC-standard) 2d4 MD per 10 rd burst per single gun
4d6 MD per 30 rd burst from one gun cluster
(PSX-1)1d4 MD per single rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst
*Can be loaded with specialized ammunition types
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 400 round drum/magazine per gun
Cost: 10,000 credits

g) Jet Thruster----Essentially a booster jet that engages at speeds of over 400 MPH, and punches the cyborg up to 750 MPH. Can sustain this thrust for 45 minutes before needing an hour to cool down. Cost: 255,000 credits.

h) ECM/Radar Jammer Pod---5 mile range. Jams radars and radar targeting systems with 60% effectiveness. Radar-guided weapons are -6 to strike. Note that this affects friendly systems as well unless they are set to specific, per-arranged, non-jammed frequencies(that it may be possible for the enemy to discover). Carrying extra jammer pods does NOT increase the range or effective bonuses of the system, but may provide redundancy and multi-wavelength coverage.
Cost: 50,000 credits

i) Mk 24 Illumination Flare Launcher---These are large parachute flares, dropped from altitude. They can drift down for 1d4 minutes, and can illuminate a roughly quarter-mile radius nearly bright as day. 6 are carried per pod, ready to drop. Globe of Daylight flares can be substituted for anti-vampire actions.
Cost: Basic Launcher Unit costs 2,000 credits. Flares cost 120 credits each

j) Flare/Chaff Pod
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 6 per launcher


7) Hand, Feet, Tail, and Mouth Vibroblades----The Hayate is amply equipped with megadamadge-inflicting cutlery for melee attacks.
Range: Melee
Damage: Vibroblades do 3d6 MD stabbing damage.

Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 1d6 MD
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 3d4 MD
Kick 1d6 MD
Leap/Flying Kick(2 Attacks) 2d6 MD
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram: (2 attacks) 3d6 MD
Tail Slash 1d8 MD
Wing Punch/Swipe 1d6 MD
Bite 2d4 MD

Options:
The Hayate can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books. Favorite options include fitting the 'borg with additional sensors, TW amulet systems, and specialized armor. Additional limbs are rarely added, due to the already crowded frame of the cyborg.

*Breath Weapon----A popular accessory weapon, with a variety to choose from, for those who want to customize themselves to resemble particular dragon species.
a) Flamethrower
Range: 400 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per burst, plus does an additional 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 melees
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 15 shots
Cost: 30,000 credits

b) Chemical Sprayer
Range: 80 ft and can cover a 10 ft area
Damage: By chemical. Does 6d6 HP to vampires if filled with water
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 60 blasts. Up to 10 shots of 5 different chemical agents can be carried.
Cost: 42,000 credits

c) Plasma Blaster
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 18,000 credits

d) Sonic Blaster
Range: 1,200 ft in water, 200 ft in air
Damage: (Variable power settings) 4d6 SDC, or 4d6 MD per blast
Area of effect ‘shotgun’ blast: Half damage to a 10 ft wide area.
Sonic weapons do HALF damage through light ‘soft’ armors like MDC barding and padded armor.
The sonic vibrations can also be used to set up a resonance in hard armor that can stun or disorient living beings. Humans(and those most like them) will find these subsonic vibrations particularly irritating, the barely audible buzzing setting up painful discordance in their eardrums and auditory apparatus. Beings with enhanced hearing are particularly vulnerable to this attack(DOUBLE penalties and duration of effects). Cyborgs and those with baffled hearing implants will NOT be affected by this.
Save versus psionic attack(12 or better) or be -1d4 to initiative, HALF all bonuses to strike/parry/dodge, and -1d4 to Maintain Balance for 1d6 melees. Roll under P.E. or fall unconscious for 1d6 melees.
Power Armor and EBA-wearers will be more susceptible to the effects of resonance, owing to their close proximity to the materials being affected. The effects are greatly diminished to occupants on a vehicle owing to the many interior structures that serve to dissipate and insulate the sound waves.

Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 90,0000 credits

Some go even further, and add a TW PPE powerstone-powered TW breath weapon:
a) Ballistic Fire---1,070 ft range, 1d6 MD per missile(7 missiles), targets are -10 to dodge. PPE Cost: 13 PPE per shot . Cost: 78,500 credits
b) Barrage---400 ft, 2 MMD per bolt unleashed, 13 blasts per melee. PPE Cost: 7 PPE per blast . Cost: 80,000 credits
c) Cloud of Steam----This is a very effective antipersonnel spell. 90 ft range, those caught in it take 2d6 SDC per melee, 1 minute duration, 2 PPE per shot, Cost: 22,000 credits
d) Cloud of Slumber----90 ft range, 20 ft x 20 ft x 20 ft area, those failing to save versus magic fall asleep for 3 minutes, 2 PPE per shot, Cost: 22,800 credits
e) Power Bolt---2,400 ft range, 5d6+16 MD per bolt, PPE Cost: 10 PPE per blast . Cost: 104,000 credits
f) Fire Bolt---PPE Cost: 10 PPE per blast . Cost: 103,500 credits
g) Fire Gout---210 ft range, 6d6+7 MD per blast, targets are -3 to dodge. PPE Cost: 10 PPE per blast . Cost: 103,500 credits
h) Starburst---Throws a much brighter and more energetic flare of energy at targets. 210 ft range, 3d6 MD + temporary blindness; unless eyes are shielded, victims are temporarily blinded(-10 to strike, parry, dodge, and other combat moves) for 1 melee round, + 7 seconds per additional Starburst fired at them in the same melee round. Targets are -2 to dodge. Vampires suffer an additional 1d6 damage and are blinded twice as long. PPE Cost: 6 PPE per shot. Cost: 63,500 credits
i) Miasma---100 ft range, 20 ft wide area, 5 minute duration, victims take 1d4b SDC/Hit Points per melee of exposure/inhalation and are -3 to dodge, strike, and parry. PPE Cost: 10 PPE per blast . Cost: 40,500 credits
j) Wind Blast---4,200 ft, 2d4x10+30 MD per blast, plus knockdown. PPE Cost: 20 PPE per blast . Cost: 224,000 credits
k) Laser Blast----3 PPE per blast, 1d6+12 MD, 1,200 ft range, 28,000 cr.

l)Hellfire---Modifies the Fire barrel to project a fireball that does 2d6 MD to mundane beings and Elementals, but does 1d6x10 MD to demons, Deevils, Mummies, Immortals, and Scarecrows. Even Infernals normally resistant/impervious to Fire will take HALF damage from this attack. 480 ft range, 33 PPE for 8 melee rounds(2 minutes) of attacks. Cost: 325,000 credits.

m) Hail spell(8th level)---2,000 ft range, 8d4 MD per melee, for 32 melees(8 minutes) to a 40 ft target radius. 10 PPE per activation. Cost: 114,000 credits

n) *(Spell)Mystic Water Blast---Modifies the Water barrel to project a stream of meltwater. 360 ft range, does 2d6+6 damage to vampires, Fire Elementals, and other water-sensitive beings, -1 to dodge. 5 PPE per blast. Cost: 14,000 credits.

*Laser-Reflective Armor---It’s expensive, but some Hayates go the extra half-million to get some if not all of themselves chromed in laser-reflective armor(laser do HALF damage).
Cost: 700,000 credits

*TW Amulet-Base System.
Cost: 50,000 credits for the amulet system(comes standard with a 100 PPE capacity battery), spell cards cost separately(see following for some of the more popular).

*Extra Head(s)---It’s difficult, but not impossible, to mount additional head and neck assemblies on the Hayate frame in imitation of hydras(or, for the Japanophile cyborg otakus, King Ghidra). Up to four additional heads can be mounted on the Hayate, each head and neck assembly having 160 MDC. Each head is essentially brainless, but mounts a full complement of sensors and articulation servos(including working jaws), and can mount additional weaponry. Some cyborgs like the fact that the identical heads make getting shot in the head brain-case that much more difficult(though some cyborgs go all the way and get their brain cases mounted in their torsos, the better to defeat ‘headhunters’.
Bonuses: +1 APM(regardless of the number of heads), cannot be surprised while awake, +2 on initiative, +3 dodge, +1 disarm, +5% Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment, Detect Traps, and Intelligence, +10% to Cardsharp, and can choose one Trick Shooting skill.
Prerequisites: Additional heads count the same as Panoramic Cluster Lenses with regards to the burden they place on a person’s psyche; an M.E. of 17 or better is required, or else the cyborg will be twitchy and irritable, have trouble sleeping, and rolls for a random phobia at levels 3, 7, and 12.
Cost: 550,000 credits per additional head
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

What of PS/GNE founded a star-nation?

United Systems Alliance(USA)


“The USA is just big enough to have some substance, sophisticated enough to have some idealistic ambitions, small enough to lack the wasteful overspending habits of larger star nations, and the wisdom to realize that they’re not the biggest dog in the neighborhood. Which one of those four attributes will break down first is a matter of conjecture and no small amount of betting in the circles of society-watchers.”

“The USA apparently believes in getting involved in a number of low-tech skirmishes and interventions....probably going on the idea that if they help the locals deal with a particular problem, they can leverage it into **** of recruits and access to resources from the grateful locals later. That might work, but it might backfire bad on them if they get tangled in too many little brush wars, or if the other side in a trench fight gets support from somebody bigger than the USA...like the TGE or worse looking to fight a proxy war. They’re going to have to be REAL careful to avoid getting trapped in something like that.”

“Consider us an economic alternative to the stuffy bureaucracy of the you-know-who. No established cartels, no protectionist trade policies, no rigged bidding...just straight service and quality for your money.”

“They irresponsibly give high technology and immigration capability to peoples who couldn’t manage their own homeworlds! They’re another T’zee crisis in the making! Or Chor’ii for that matter!!!”
“They’re accepting a lot of refugees that the Consortium isn’t dealing with. And their extradimensional capbilities, although not as extensive as Phaseworld’s, still gives them some serious access to territory we don’t. The Alliance is quietly building up some good clout with humanitarian groups, and a loyal following in numbers we’re not able to see. That’s what I’d be more concerned about.”
---Overheard at a CCW diplomatic event

“So you’re ‘Speece Americuh!’. Dull, drab, loud, bossy and armed to the teeth?”
“So you’re from another Earth analogue world, huh? Have another cheeseburger and free wifi, and stay where you aren’t scaring the small animals.”


The United Systems Alliance is a misnomer in many respects; it’s actually more of a confederation or loose military-economic union of planetary nations and only a few wholly unified solar systems. The USA is an outgrowth of the trade- and mutual-defense pact Alliance founded by Rifts-Earth Greater New England, and it is that latter nation-state which provides much of the texture and attitude to the USA. Many of the planetary members are in fact fairly lightly settled worlds that were colonized by refugees assisted off Rifts Earth by the GNE, corporate colonies set up to exploit local resources, or are national ‘redoubts’ settled by other city/nation-states in the Alliance as insurance against their homelands on Rifts Earth ever falling to the Coalition States or some other threat. Others are colonies that tried to ‘go it alone’ from the CCW or othere star nations, but have found themselves needing an extra hand surviving. A few nominal or notional members of the USA are star-nations in their own right, and provide economic stiffening and even some military assistance to the Alliance.
As one might suspect, the USA has a strong North American flavor to its culture. GNE soldiers provide the most visible aspect of their military. The USA’s insignia is the American flag-based ‘storm banner’ with thirteen red and white stripes, and a galactic whorl in the corner.
The USA has strong relations with the CTRL(Corianus-Typhen-Rosette League) and WZTechyards(who provides many of the USA’s heavier starships), as well as the Independent Rim Alliance. They have good relations with the Shemarrian Star Nation, and have reached out to a number of other star nations(such as the nascent World League of Ser-Chai, the Celsian Primarchy, Kamasauni Stellar Coalition, Cisen-Adeta Republic, Botwani Union and the Trevis Collective ) who have signed, at the least, trade treaties.
For their part, Three Galaxies nations like the CCW and TGE regard the USA as a paper tiger, even with their cross-dimensional aspects factored in. The USA simply lacks the necessary manpower and massive logistics necessary to challenge the Great Powers on either offense or defense, though they might, it is acknowledged, bloody a few noses in local fighting. The CCW tolerates USA overlap in their territory in part because the USA espouses many similar policies, and their mutual defense treaties and convoy escorts mean that the CAF doesn’t have to stretch its resources in the same sectors that the USA operates. In CCW space, the USA operates much like a more species-inclusive and tech-liberal version of the Human Alliance, moving, trading, and recruiting freely as long as it obeys the CCW laws, doesn’t disrupt the galactic economy, and doesn’t involve the CCW in any wars. Some within the CCW and UWW are, in fact, cultivating contacts in the USA for their knowledge of other powers with interdimensional links, such as the Splugorth, so for now the USA is allowed to recruit new members along the borders of CCW space.
Occasionally, with regards to its activities in the Thundercloud Galaxy, the USA has been accused of ‘claim-jumping’, grabbing prospective new colony worlds with an eye towards later selling access to later arrivals. It has also been accused of ‘poaching’ worlds, as in USA-associated actions around New Vita Colony and Vivisanda, the former being a world that was ‘snatched’ from a colonial development group, and the latter being a slowboat colony being armed against Golgan takeover. So far, however, while complaints have been made, no real legal action has been moved against the Alliance.

A. Size
Large; claims about 110 associated worlds, but many of these worlds are barely above self-sufficiency levels, many are nominally affiliated with other organizations as well, and some exist outside the Three Galaxies/universe altogether. Has also laid claim to several dozen fallow worlds in the Thundercloud Galaxy.
B. History
Newcomers; effectively an outgrowth of corporate networking and trade dealing.
C. Level of Technological Sophistication
Galactic Age; about one or two generations behind the CCW, and Golgan top-line units. WZTechyards and Aegis Stellar Industries are the two largest common spacecraft manufacturers currently linking the USA worlds and helping members upgrade.
D. General Attitude/Culture
Enlightened Expansionists eager to increase their influence through trade and mutual security.
E. Racial Composition
70% human, but even that is checkered with gene-augs, offshoot septs, and mutants. The USA is an equal opportunity recruiter.
F. Government
Loose confederation of multiple member states and corporate organizations.
G. Administrative Control
Loose---Members run their own affairs and conduct their own diplomatic business, but subscribe to a common commonsense Bill of Rights and contribute to shared defense, be it active troops and aerospace assets, or basing privileges.
H. External Trade
*Raw Materials----While general trade is the blood of the USA, most of the commerce is in raw materials to feed the industrialized members to produce goods for the less well-off members, or to buy from outside concerns.
H1. Commodities
Exports: Raw Materials----The USA mainly taps into the potential resources of its members to sell to the more populous and industrialized star nations.
Imports: High Tech----Most of what the USA buys is what it can’t produce for itself; cutting edge technologies to improve their own position and quality of life.
I. Status
Ascendant; especially in the rim territories and the Thundercloud where a great number of struggling colonies are potential members. Also known to recruit heavily from ‘hellworlds’ where overpopulation and ecological collapse has led to desperation. The USA then uses its advanced(by member state standards) to help uplift them or develop offworld habitats.


*Harrisar----Human-populated Earth-analogue world that is facing imminent ecological collapse, overpopulation, and resource depletion. Lack of ability to economically travel offworld meant that global extinction was likely. Harrisar was beginning to institute what was effectively cannibalism to keep feeding the population when GNE explorers found it. The USA has cautiously begun working with the Harrisar government to drain off excess population to settle other worlds, institute austerity measures at home, and work to rebuild the planet’s ecosystem. Because many of the immigrants from Harrisar are unskilled and under-educated, many critics of the USA agreements with Harrisar argue that the immigrants are being used as ‘cannon fodder’, pointing out that many will likely die within months of resettlement, or end up as conscripts in the USA’s colonial military. Harrisar ‘hardknocks’ would tend to disagree, feeling that they’ve been afforded a chance that didn’t exist before.

*Ferendao---Ferendao is a human-populated world apparently settled during the ancient Unknown Disaporas(wherein multiple worlds were settled by Rift-gated populations ). Ferendao was at a late 21st century(pre Rifts, pre-Golden Age) stage of development when several despotic regimes used bioweaponry to annihilate the one working democracy on the planet opposing them, then enslaved the survivors. The USA has taken the incident to break any ‘non-interference in local civil affairs’ to invade Ferendao, declare the former democracy’s territory a protectorate and resettle it with offworld volunteers from the more heavily populated of the Alliance‘s other worlds.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
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Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel M650 ‘Chelydra’ Light Tank
(aka ‘Snapper’)

“We had a dozen M650s in our regiment; fast and agile little buggers, and we ended up using them as adhoc river monitors in the wetlands. They lived up to their names there; managed to get around the flanks of the mercs we were facing and distracted them with snaps at their rear, while we busted in from the forest in the front.”

“Looks like the Vulgarian decided to take action against the ‘rebel provinces’; we have reports of federal military units moving towards our state borders. State-gov’s still hoping for a diplomatic solution, but we all know the Vulgarian wants a quick little civil war and some public examples to give him war-mojo and give him an excuse to clean out his detractors, and he’s got followers willing to oblige him so be prepared for combat. Good news is the Air Force opted out, but we still have Army and Army Aviation to contend with. Looks like they managed to scrape up enough fanatics and salvage enough hardware for two companies of heavy tanks in our section, and they’re coming our way. They got tonnage on their side, but they don’t know about our new friends supplying us with new gear; all they see is us moving around with obsolete light armor against their heavies. We should be able to make mincemeat of them if we actually get within range of each other, but they still have long guns that outrange us and ariel surveillance, so we’re going to have to be really careful to deploy right. We got a couple of triple-a squads making sure to blind their drones and catch any air support, but I want us laying under camou until we definitely know where their armor’s going to move. We play this right and don’t screw up, and maybe we can minimize casualties while sending the Vulgarian the message that we won’t be bullied into following his madness.”

The PS M650 ‘Chelydra’ (named for the genus of snapping turtles) has a strong resemblance to the pre-Rifts M551 Sheriden Light Tank. However, it seems that Paladin Steel engineers, apparently as an exercise, attempted to undo everything wrong with that disasterously underarmored, ill-equipped effort. The M650’s hull is better armored in advanced composites, the lower hull shaped to resist land mines, the upper hull better shaped to deflect penetrating shot, side-skirt armor protecting the road and bogie wheels, and the armament based more on proven weapons systems and types. About all the M650 shares with the M551 is general size, air-transportability, and hull-shape, PS feeling that the low-profile hull having good characteristics in tactical combat.
The ultimate goal has been to create a ‘speeder tank’ similar to the Tarnow T-322 Stinger, but with a more powerful ‘sting’ to it, and better amphibious performance.
Though initially intended to use as many off-the shelf components as possible to speed the redesign, hasten assembly, and streamline logistics, PS engineers still found enough time to include some first time innovations in the M650, as well as some new variant weaponry, thus deflecting criticism that the Chelydra is a ‘bitzer’(a vehicle assembled from odds and ends of other vehicle lines). As with many PS vehicles, the M650 has a high degree of modularity, allowing for rapid customization of weapons systems and sensors, and quick field repairs. A dedicated pallet in the turret for advanced sensors gives the M650 capability to be a good scout unit.
The M650 is regarded as a good ‘low-tech’(by Rifts Earth standards) ground tank, but some market analysts fear that the M650 will be overlooked by prospective customers who see the already vast existing range of PS-make light vehicles and more advanced combat craft. A few GNE National Guard units and affiliates use it, but the M650 is proving more popular with offworld United Systems Alliance ground forces, especially those of member nations(such as the Chai-Chuks) who have received license-permission to manufacture it on their homeworlds.

Type: PS -M650 ‘Chelydra’
Class: Light Tank
Crew: 3+1 passenger/additional crewmember.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 380
Reinforced Crew Compartment 100
Main Turret 210
Reinforced Turret Compartment 90
Treads(2) 100 each
Height: 9 ft
Width: 9.8 ft
Length: 20 ft
Weight: 34,000 lbs
Cargo: Small space in the cabin for survival packs, sidearms, and a few small personal possessions
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(350 mile range), Electric Fuel Cell(400 mile range), or Fusion-Nuclear(10 year energy life).
Speed:(Land) 70 MPH
(Water) Fully amphibious; can make 8 MPH on the water.
Market Cost:1.3 million credits for liquid fuel models, 1.7 million for electric, 6.2 million for nuclear
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus:

*Passive Stealth ----The M650 has a reduced accoustic/thermal signature, with sound and heat emanations cut by as much as 75%(has an effective Prowl roll with regards to these two sensor factors of 35%)

*Mine Resistant Hull---The slightly V-shaped underbody of the hull is designed to deflect damage from mines and other IEDs...Reduces damage from ground blasts by 1/4.

*Advanced Armor----The M650 is sheathed in a combination of composite layered armor and foam insulation that help keep it light enough to float, but also insulate and protect the tank from concussive and thermal damage.
*Kinetic Protection---Reduces damage from punches, kicks, falls, impact damage, and concussive explosions by 1/2(-75% with the MRH factored in). Reduce damage from crashes by HALF.
*Chemical Protection----Reduces damage from acids and corrosives by 1/4.
*Thermal Protection---Reduces damage from fire and heat by 1/4.

*Sensor Deck---The turret is fitted with several hardpoint bins for advanced sensors
*Sensory Cluster----MDC 80---Has the following sensors:
*Motion Detector--200 ft range
*Laser Illuminator-----4 mile range. Designates targets for laser-guided munnitions/weapons
*Laser targeting System(+1 to strike)
*Lance Scanner---Looks like a long lance protruding from the front of the craft. The Lance Scanner contains a magnetometer() and a short-range microwave radar for groundsearching minefields(in theory, the ground radar sound be able to detect even non-metallic mines, but takes twice as long). Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy
The ground radar has a range of 3,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting non-metallic ordinance.
*Aura Scanner---For detecting and identifying PPE concentrations
Range: 2000 ft
*Bio-Scanner---Has a molecular analyzer, enhanced radiation detector, high-powered accoustic ‘shotgun mike’(3,000 ft range), and thermo-imager optics.
* Optical Cluster--- Telescopic,IR/UV, Thermo-Imaging, Audio-Video-Survellance System

*NBC Sensor System Cluster---Small compact mini-lab pod that has the following:
---Geiger Counter---Detects radiation, type, and levels.
---Molecular Analyzer---A flow-through air sampler that tests for various common airborne contaminants and toxins, and determines air quality.
---Pathogen Screener---Another air sampler that looks for dust particles and spores, and the enyzme/molecular interactions of organic pathogens


Weapons Systems:
1) Main Gun---The first thing PS did in revising the old M551 was to do away with the horrid Shillelagh missile-howitzer, in favor of a variety of more capable and proven gun systems.
a) PS-M-82D ‘Townshend’ 81mm Mortar Cannon
Range:(Direct-fire) 6,000 ft
(Indirect Fire) 2.2 miles
Damage:(High Explosive) 1d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Single shot, EGCHH.
Payload: 40 rounds
Cost: 220,000 credits

b)80mm Gun-Mortar
Range:(Direct Fire) 3,200 ft
(Indirect Fire) 26,000 ft (5 miles!)
Damage:(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: 40 rds
Cost: 190,000 credits

c) 80mm SB Massdriver Cannon(PS-MDJ80S)
Range: (Direct Fire) 19,000 ft (3.8 miles)
(Indirect Fire) 47,500 ft (9.3 miles)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)----1d4x10 MD to 15 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 3d4x10 MD to 5 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 5d6 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma----- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 3d6x10 MD out to 6,600 ft, 2d4x10 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: 5 shots per melee
Payload: 40 rds
Cost: 400,000 credits

e) 75mm Gun---An older, but still effective, weapon. PS is constantly developing new munitions for its projectile weapons. The version mounted in the M650 has an autoloader and improved cooling and venting systems for faster rate of fire.
Range: 6,000 m(roughly 18,000 ft)
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 18 ft blast radius
(High Explosive-Armor-Piercing)2d4x10 MD to 7 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: 5 times per melee
Payload: 50 rds
Cost: 150,000 credits

f) T-410 20mm Missile Gun System---- This is the closest that the M650 comes to mounting anything like the dual gun/missile system that so crippled the original M551. Instead of one big missile, the T-410 ejects bursts of twenty-millimeter micro-missiles that light off and home in on their targets. This is simply a scale up to the 20mm projectiles used in the McMAALR-18 ‘Fire Orchid’ 20mm Anti-Aircraft Micro-Missile Launcher. It uses the electromagnetic massdriver system of the previous T-310 System. With a slightly heavier missile and slightly larger stator-ring system, the T-410 has improved range, punch, and accuracy.
Range: (T-410)Gun launcher fires the micromissile out to about 8,200 ft, whereafter the rocket propulsion takes over.
(Micromissiles)8,000 ft for all types
Damage/Bonuses:
(T-410)
Pattern-2a---4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-2b----6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-2c----(Incendiary)2d4 MD to 5 ft blast radius, does an additional 1d4 burn damage for 2d4 melees
Bonuses:
(T-410)
(All Patterns)(+3 to strike airborne targets, +1 to strike ground targets) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip, Infra-Red Sensing Chip.
Rate of Fire: Bursts of 3-40 rds per melee
Payload: 800 rd bin.
Cost: 150,000 credits for the T-410 Gun System
(T-410)
(Pattern-2a) 90 credits each
(Pattern-2b)130 credits each
(Pattern-2c)150 credits each

g) PPHvR-02 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridge plasma cannon---limited shots but great damage and range.
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 400 rds
Cost: 145,000 credits. 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 95 credits each.

h) Light X-Ray Laser Cannon---This is a vehicle mounting of the PTICS-01(Plasma-initiated Tactical Infantry Cannon System)(CT Cartridge)
MDC: 110
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10+10 MD per shot. The x-ray laser component ignores laser-reflective armors, including laser-resistant window tinting.
Rate of Fire: Single shot, ECHH
Payload: 400 rd bin
Cost: 150,000 credits. 40mm cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 95 credits each.

i) EMVC-07 ‘MagStorm’ ElectroMagnetic Vortex Cannon---The light artillery scale-up of the EMV cannon, meant to be vehicle-mounted. It fires a larger ‘bolt’ of EM force that expands out into a shockwave that can bowl over massed infantry or light vehicles.
Range: 6,000 ft in air and underwater
Damage: 1d4x10 MD at point of impact
Within a 60 ft radius, people, animals, and objects weighing less than 500 lbs are 90% likely to be knocked off their feet and hurled 3d4 yards/meters(lose 1 APM and Initiative), 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees).
Characters/objects of 500-1,000 lbs weight are 50% likely to be knocked aside 1d4 yards/meters.
Objects of a ton or more are only 25% likely to be knocked over.
Flying characters/objects get knocked away twice the normal distance.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited linked to a suitable powerplant.
Bonus: Laser targeting add +1 to strike. EM bolts are -6 to dodge.
Cost: 120,000 credits

j)PS-AWD-DBPBC-2D------Based on the Mechanoid Exterminator Double-Barreled Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x 10 MD single blast
2d4x10 MD double blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 120 shot battery. Unlimited linked to nuclear power source
Cost: 3 million credits

k) PS-AWD-MTL-1 Tri-Laser-----Based on the Mechanoid Brute
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single blast
1d4x10 +6 MD double blast
1d6x10 +10 MD triple blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 200 shot battery. Unlimited linked to nuclear power source
Cost: 3.2 million credits

l) TW Ice Cannon----This weapon actually has two modes, familiar to anybody who’s handled one of PS’s Crysus’ TW Ice Rifles. The Ice Cannon can cause an area to be bombarded by a minutes-long hailstorm, or can generate a giant ball of ice that slams into targets, then bursts into a storm of superhard ice shards and freezing vapor(this combines aspects of several different ice spells).
Range: (Hail)4,000 ft, and affects a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)7,000 ft
Damage: (Hail)8d4 MD for 8 minutes(32 melees) to a 50 ft radius
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)2d6 MD on impact, then explodes, 60 ft blast radius, shedding hundreds of icy shards. Human-sized objects caught in its way will get hit with 1d6 shards, each doing 2d6 MD. Fighter- and Robot-sized targets (16 ft or larger) will get hit by 1d4x10 shards. Ships and targets 50 ft and larger will get hit by 2d4x10 shards. Victims must save versus magic or suffer debilitating numbness; -1 APM, -2 initiative, -1 strike/parry/dodge, and speed is reduced by 10%. Effects last 1d4 minutes, and are NOT cumulative. The Ice Ball has 70 MDC.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: (Hail)10 PPE per shot
(Ten Foot Ball of Ice)25 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.8 million credits

m)TW Power Bolt Cannon---Fires a large bolt of mystic force that hits hard and deep.
Range: 8,400 ft
Damage: 5d6+20 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 10 PPE per shot
Cost: 450,000 credits

n) TW Sonic Cannon---PS TechnoWizards got the idea for this after studying examples of the Immaterial Hand’s Ironmage TW Glitterboy Armor and its ‘shrieker’ cannon(see Rifts Black Market, pg. 187-189) . Using their booster barrel technowizardry, PS TWs were able to increase the range.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per shot, 1d6x10 MD on a ley line and against supernatural creatures and beings of magic.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 12 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.2 million credits

o) TW Lightning Cannon----This weapon requires that the tank be fitted with PPE generators to power it. Launches a vertical blast of mystic lightning.
Range: 9,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 15 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.9 million credits

2) Co-axial Weapon---Mounted next to the main gun and generally used for antipersonnel and target spotting.
a) 7.62mm Machine Gun
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1 MD single shot, 1d10 MD per 10 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 800 rpm
Payload: 5,000-rd belt
Cost: 8,000 credits

b) Light Rail Gun(PS-RFG202)
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1 MD single rd, 3d6 MD per 15 rd burst, 6d6 MD per 30 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 9,000 rd drum per cannon
Cost: 75,000 credits

c) Pulse Laser---An adapted JA-12-style laser rifle is mounted to fire alongside the main gun.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10+10 MD triple burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; 30 shots short e-clip, 60 shots long e-clip
Cost: 45,000 credits

e) Pulse Ion Projector---Variant of the popular PSIP-2 ‘Smasher’ series.
Range: 800 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
1d4x10 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; 30 shots short e-clip, 60 shots long e-clip
Options: Like the handgun version, the vehicle-mounted version can be similarly modified for extra effect/power:
Note: It takes a person with the Weapons Engineer skill a successful roll and about 5 minutes to install and test one of the following modules, those with the Armorer/Field Armorer skill about 10 minutes, and someone following the printed instructions about 30-45 minutes to install/swap modules.

*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel clip-on that turns the PSIP-2 into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 400 ft, but does 4d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area. Cost: 5,000 credits

*Ion Booster Module---Another barrel attachment that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 3d6 MD, but boost range to 1,500 ft. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Ion Focal Booster Module---Aka ‘Puncher’---This barrel attachment improves the focus of the ion pulse density, improving damage at the cost of range. Reduce range to 400 ft, but up damage to 5d6 MD per shot. Cost: 5,000 credits.

*Laser Sight Module---Another underbarrel attachment, this consists of an improved laser sight that adds a bonus to strike, but the laser also creates a temporary ‘guidepath’ of disturbed/ionized air that slightly improves the striking power of the ion bolts. +2 to Strike, and +3 to damage per bolt. This can be used in conjunction with the other barrel attachments, but added damage is reduced to +2 MD. Cost: 1,000 credits

*Ion Step-Down Module---This barrel attachment, rather than increase range or power, actually ‘steps down’ the power of ion bolts into the SDC range, and modulates their effect, making the weapon in effect a ‘super-taser’(albeit it with flash-burns). An added power regulation chip allows the weapon to use less power in SDC mode. CAN be used in conjunction with the the Laser Sight Module. Switching between MD/SDC modes takes 2 actions. Popular with urban security and police units.
Range:(SDC shots) 600 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
Payload: One MD shot equals 10 SDC shots
Cost: 4,000 credits

f) Heavy Ion Pulse Projector---Variant of the PSIR-14 ‘Vandergrif’ Ion Rifle; more expensive, but with better range and damage.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single shot, 1d6x10 MD per triple shot burst.
On a Natural 20(Critical Strike) the ion weapon does TRIPLE damage instead of the normal double damage.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models.Can also use a back-up e-clip system;
35 shots short e-clip, 55 shots long e-clip, shots drum e-canister
Regenerating E-clip Power Pack provides 42 shots, and regenerates 4 shots per hour.
Cost: 42,000 credits
Options:

*Barrel Modules:
Note: It takes a person with the Weapons Engineer skill a successful roll and about 8 minutes to install and test one of the following modules, those with the Armorer/Field Armorer skill about 20 minutes, and someone following the printed instructions about 40-50 to install/swap modules.

*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel clip-on that turns the PSIR-14 into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 500 ft, but does 4d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area. Critical damage is unaffected. Cost: 5,000 credits

*Ion Booster Module---Another barrel attachment that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 3d6 MD, but boost range to 2,800 ft. Critical damage is unaffected. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Ion Focal Booster Module---Aka ‘Puncher’---This barrel attachment improves the focus of the ion pulse density, improving damage at the cost of range. Reduce range to 700 ft, but up damage to 5d6 MD per shot. Critical damage is unaffected. Cost: 5,000 credits.

*Laser Sight Module---Another under/sidebarrel attachment, this consists of an improved laser sight that adds a bonus to strike, but the laser also creates a temporary ‘guidepath’ of disturbed/ionized air that slightly improves the striking power of the ion bolts. +2 to Strike, and +3 to damage per bolt. This can be used in conjunction with the other barrel attachments, but added damage is reduced to +2 MD. Critical damage is unaffected. Cost: 1,000 credits

*Ion Step-Down Module---This barrel attachment, rather than increase range or power, actually ‘steps down’ the power of ion bolts into the SDC range, and modulates their effect, making the weapon in effect a ‘super-taser’(albeit it with flash-burns). An added power regulation chip allows the weapon to use less power in SDC mode. CAN be used in conjunction with the the Laser Sight Module. Switching between MD/SDC modes takes 2 actions. Popular with urban security and police units. Critical damage does NOT apply, as the aim is to deliberately downscale damage.
Range:(SDC shots) 900 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
Payload: One MD shot equals 10 SDC shots
Cost: 4,000 credits

g) Plasma Projector---Modified PPR-3 Serap
Range:(Plasma Stream) 2000 ft
(Plasma Bolt) 1500 ft
Damage:(Plasma Stream) 1d6x10 MD per blast
(Plasma Bolt) 1d4x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Single shot, EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; 7 shots standard E-clip, 14 shots long E-clip, or 50 shots with a backpack
Cost: 80,000 credits.

Options:
“Hot Shotting”---This systen augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the Serap, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike). HotShot modding costs 8,000 credits, and a recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 700 credits(500 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 30 shots.

h) Plasma Projector---Modified PPR-4 ‘Comet Rifle” Plasma Bazooka
Weight: 15 lbs
Range: (Plasma)3,500 ft
(Plasma Bolt) 2,000 ft
(Magnetic Vortices) 2,000 ft
Damage: (Plasma)1d4x10 MD per plasma blast, 3d4x10 MD for a 3-shot rapid-fire burst(takes two attacks)
(Plasma Bolt) 1d4x10 MD to 15 ft blast radius
(Magnetic Vortice-SDC) 2d8 SDC per vortice, plus 60% chance of knocking down human-sized targets, and affects a 10 ft radius
(MDC) 2d8 MD per vortice, 3 ft radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; Short E-clip proivides enough energy for 8 plasma blasts, or 8 plasma bolts, or 16 MD magnetic vortices, or 160 SDC blasts(10 SDC vortices equal 1 MD blast)
Long E-clip provides enough energy for 16 plasma blasts/bolts, 32/320 magnetic vortices
Remember: TWO clips can be carried; a push of a button above the trigger switches the clips.
Bonuses: +1 to strike from laser targeting
Note: Magnetic force vortices, being invisible, are -8 to dodge
Special Features:
*Sensor Package---To make this weapon more valuable to space forces, PS installed a ‘smart’ sensor package, taken directly off the ‘Maximus’ Laser Rifle.
Telecopic Optics
Pasive Nightvision
Thermo-Imaging
Laser Tageting---+1 to strike
PPE-Sensor----200 ft range(out to 400 ft w/ 50% error in aura determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible enemies(See Rifts: Japan, pg 116 for details on the SNARLS system on which this weapon is ultimately based)
IR/Normal Light Spotlight---300 ft range
Optional Smart-Gun link--Can be fitted for a ‘smart-gun’ link or any other targeting interface
Cost: 90,000 credits

Options:
“Hot Shotting”---This systen augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the Serap, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike). HotShot modding on the Comet costs 10,000 credits, and a recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 700 credits(500 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 30 shots.

i) Plasma Projector---Modified PSPPR-5 ‘Lewiston’ Light Plasma Cannon
Weight: 22 lbs
Range: 3,300 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per shot, 2d4x10 MD for a four-shot burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery for fuel cell models, effectively unlimited for nuclear-powered models. Can also use a back-up e-clip system; 6 shots standard e-clip, 18 shots long e-clip, 48 shots with an e-canister
Cost: 33,000 credits


3) Pintle-Mounted Weapon---This can be remotely operated from within the tank, or directly manned by somebody standing in the hatch. High-elevation mounting allows tis weapon to engage aerial targets. Usually a heavy machine gun or infantry railgun is mounted
a) .50 caliber Heavy Machine Gun
Range: 9,900 ft
Damage: (Standard Ammunition)1d6x10 SDC per single shot, 1d6x100(1d6 MD) per 10 round burst; 6d6 MD for all six MGs going simultaneously.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 600 rounds per machine gun

b)PS-100 Rail Gun
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD 60 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:12,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 80,000 credits

c) PSPPR-9 TriBarrel ‘HeatWave’ Gatling Plasma Cannon(CT Cartridge)
Weight: 120 lbs
Range: 3,000 ft...Maximum range for a six-shot burst drops to 2,500 ft with a 6-ft wide ‘spread’, and for a twelve-shot burst to 2,000 ft with an eight-foot spread.
Damage: 5d6 MD per single blast, 2d4x10+10 MD per three-shot burst, 3d6x10 MD per six-shot burst(2d6x10 MD beyond 2,500 ft out to its maximum range), and a whopping 6d6x10 MD for a twelve-shot burst(4d6x10 MD beyond 2,000 ft out to its maximum range)
Rate of Fire: Single shot, three, six, or twelve shot bursts
Payload: 60 round box standard
Cost: 45,000 credits. Cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 45 credits each(but the price is expected to come down as production ramps up to meet demand)


4)(Optional) Missile Pod---A light missile pod system can be mounted on the turret.
a) Micro-Missiles---2x25 shot cassette launchers
b) Mini-Missiles---6 shot pod
c) Copperhead Anti-Tank Missile Pod---Uses PS ‘smart’ armor killers for more accurate fire.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: Armor-piercing:2d4x10 MD, no blast radius
Rate of Fire:Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 3
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 100,000 credits

Options:

*Smoke/Grenade Launcher Clusters--- These mini-multi-tube grenade/smoke launcher clusters can be added to the turrets. Up to 4 per turret can be added.
Range: 1,200 ft
Damage: Varies by Grenade Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: Each launcher has 12 30mm grenades or smoke shells
Cost: 2,000 credits per launcher

*Hedgerow Cutters---A classic and simple device inspired by accounts of the Second World War, this device simply consists of sharpened blades of megadamage armor mounted to the front of the AFV, and used for assisting in getting the vehicle through dense underbrush, though it can also aide in ramming doors and vehicles. Adds +1d4 MD to a ram attack. Cost: 1,000 credits
A vibroblade version is also available; it does 3d6 MD and costs 15,000 credits.

*Bulldozer Blade---A bulldozer blade can be mounted on the front, with enough hydraulics to raise and lower the blade. Dozer blade has 80 MDC.
Cost: 15,000 credits

*Chaff/Flare Launchers---For those of you afraid of eating a missile from your friendly Coalition Highway Patrol....
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is nuetralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher
Cost: 3,500 credits for the launchers

*Smoke Screen Generator---Generates a thick, obscuring cloud of dense smoke. Each blast covers a 60 ft area and anyone caught in the cloud of thick, obscuring smoke is. Has enough smoke-matrix for 12 clouds.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Magnetometer---Detects disturbances in the local magnetic fields, signalling the presence of metal, active electronic hardware, or other EM-phenomenon.
Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy. Active fusion powerplant containment fields, energetic magnetic anomalies, and powered-up railguns can be detected at TWICE normal range.
Cost: 30,000 credits

*Advanced Molecular Analyzer---A more advanced chemical sampler and sniffer that includes a chemo-spectrograph...Useful for testing for the presence of trace radioactives(and what type), petrochemicals, explosives, and toxics. Includes a deployable ground probe for testing soil. It is typically hooked up to the security system to sound environmental alerts and auto-seal the vehicle in event that it detects an environmental hazard situation.
Cost: 30,000 credits

*Ground Radar---Useful for locating underground pipes, cables, hidden bunkers, basements, and for testing the stability of the ground(can determine if the underlying soil is sandy and soft, or hardpacked and firm). The ground radar has a range of 3,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting non-metallic ordinance.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Mine Detector-----A detection coil can be installed on the prow, and uses a variety of magnetic, chemical, and ground sonar detection systems to sniff out mines and buried ordinance. 85% accuracy.
Cost: 3,500 credits

*Flamer Defense System--- Based on an experiment in efforts to deter the tankerman’s worst nightmare, demolition-charge-armed infantry swarming up close, the system consists of six short-range flame projectors set up to surround the tank with a six-fan ring of flame.
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 100 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flamethrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 20 blasts
(Napalm) 60 blasts
(MD Fluid) 100 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 120 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 200 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Cost: 27,000 credits.

*Fletchette Packs----Located around the hull are special ‘reactive armor’ panels that can be also be triggered as anti-personnel grenades.This is one of several similar systems currently in service/under development by PS.
Range: 100 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD to a cone swath roughly 50 ft long, by 10 ft wide.
Used as reactive armor against plasma and armor-piercing missiles, the computerized firing system acts as a PARRY, rolling to match or better the missile’s strike roll...a successful counter means that the missile damage is HALVED, while a failure means the tank takes full damage. Note: when dealing with volleys, one reactive armor pack can match TWO missiles in a volley, so in order to effectively counter a five missile volley, the tank must expend 3 reactive armor packs...two packs would roll twice to defeat their respective missiles, the third would only roll once. If the enemy missile launcher has a line of sight on the tank, they can target a spot on the hull which has no packs covering it (a called shot), in which case the remaining reactive armor is -4 to cover the gap.
Rate of Fire: One at a time or can be simultaneously fired in volleys of 1-10
Payload: Each side of the LBT(sides, front, back) can be fitted with 6 fletchette packs each(24 total)
Cost: 200 credits per fletchette pack


*Camou-Shroud---A variant of PS’s portable ‘scrambler’ shelter, only larger to cover the tank. This is a portable folding shelter that can be erected in minutes, providing protection from the elements, limited megadamage protection, as well as concealment from electronic and infra-red/thermographic detection.
The ‘Shelter’ consists of a yard-long ‘can’ that looks like a large drum. When activated, about a dozen articulated ‘spider leg’ structural members of carbon composite branch out, anchor themselves in the ground, and form the skeleton of a dome-shaped igloo roughly 7 ft tall by 20 ft in diameter. The pod then deploys a cover sheet of special plastics, with a camouflage print, and integral sensor-baffling elements.
The Camouflage pattern sheet can be chemo-switched to any one of seven different configurations. The support elements create a degaussing ‘bubble’ that scrambles radar signals(incoming and outgoing), as well as disrupting magnetic resonances(fouling Magnetic Anomaly Detectors), while the fabric itself insulates and disipates the infra-red and thermal emissions and signatures of the occupants, rendering those means of detection less effective.
Care must be taken in setting up the Shelter---The igloo is not invisible to naked eyeball optical searches, so ‘blending’ the shelter into the natural landscape contours is essential for best results. For maximum comfort, a ground sheet or surfacing can be put down first.
The entire shelter can deploy/retract for stowage in 1 melee
MDC: The tent provides about 60 MDC of protection, however, against explosions, it is less effective(being non-rigid, shockwaves pass through its fabric), so explosives will do HALF damage to the occupants, regardless of how much MDC is left in the tent.
Special Features:
*Water-proofing
*Fire Proofing---Can handle temperatures up to 300 degrees centigrade. Normal fires do NO damage
*Minimal Radiation Shielding--The fabric shell provides some protection against radiation(such as that from expended U-rounds laying nearby, or fallout), but is not recommended for protection in ‘hot’ zones (good for maybe 5-6 minutes of exposure).
*Chameleon-cloth Fabric---Can assume one of seven pre-set color configurations.
*Thermal Insulation-Infrared and Thermographic sensors are -20% to detect the shelter.
*Electronic Insulation- Radar, MAD, and EM sensors are -15% to detect the shelter
*Extendable Fiber-optic Periscope
Cost: 90,000 credits; currently unavailable outside GNE military forces and approved affiliates.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries ‘Trireme’ Medium Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Toadstar’, ‘Loadstool’,’SpinnieSpools’)

“See that?”
“That? Looks like an oversized deep space probe, old-style.”
“That, partner of mine, is plunder waiting to become ours. That is some newbie culture’s idea of a merchant transport coming through our territory. Those external cargo modules? Just waiting to be plucked. Of course, we’ll have to carve open the ship proper; they’ll keep the precious stuff inside under lock and seal, but this should be an easy job.”
“I’ll set in a course to shadow. You warm up the turrets and the birds, and double-check the fire control. Let’s not make any mistakes on this one.”
******
“They still hanging back there?”
“Yep. Been sniffing our turbulence trail, thinking we can’t spot them back there. Good thing about these sensor pylons; they give us a wider area of reading, and they clear our drive gravity lensing. So, I make it as a Merchanter-class with additions and not a free trader lost and hoping to follow us in-system. You got point defense and your ‘special’ in Pod Three ready?”
“I’m glad you talked me into sacrificing some of our cargo capacity for that thing. Yeah, if they decide to get too close, they’ll be making friends with some excited atoms.”

PS/ASI has been quick to build up a growing fleet of light, but versatile, interstellar transports, allowing it to move its own products and resources independently of contract-shippers. The variety of transports allows allows them to cement alliances with less advanced trade partners, by either gifting them with their own inexpensive stellar transport, or by giving them jobs constructing them. And where possible, PS/ASI has made use of what it has in-house and off-the-shelf. The MC-04 ‘Trireme’ is a civilian adaptation of the older PSS/ASI-DDGS-04 Falx Light Space Missile Destroyer, modified as a medium cargo transport. Though PS/ASI had only begun conversion of older warships of the class, either as shipyards were upgraded in capability or fatigued older ships needed to be shifted from the inventory, resulting in the PSS/ASI-C-04C variant, there was a growing demand for factory-new, rather than pre-stressed, vessels. PS/ASI therefore worked up a civilian model of the Flax/Masakari-series that could be produced on the older existing construction jigs, using demilitarized technologies. The resulting ‘Trireme’(so-called for its three engines and three long pylon-wings reminiscent of great oars) resembles its military ancestors in having tail-sitting configuration, a stack of engines topped by a heavily armored ‘mushroom cap’ holding the main habitation section and forward sensors. The Falx/Masakaris’ four large engines are reduced to three, but the three engines are tuned-up PS/ASI Supraflite40 contra-gravity drive units, giving the vessels a good turn of speed and reliable performance. The civilian ship retains the original warship-grade armor, point defense, and sensor arrays, giving the ship a better than average chance of spotting and survivig trouble than other civilian transports of equivalent tonnage. The downgrading of other systems has opened up additional internal space, making crew accommodations aboard Triremes slightly less spartan than aboard the Falx/Masakaris(the cramped quarters being a constant peeve of crews assigned to the destroyers).
Triremes lack substantial internal cargo bays, but rely on externally-mounted cargo modules attached to the central core. This makes loading and unloading a fairly simple matter, especially if the customers are getting the entire shipping pod as well, though it doesn’t always sit well with shippers who prefer to have a ship wrapped around their precious cargoes. The external pods also lend to quick customizations; sensor pods, accommodation modules, and weapons mounts are popular choices for a variety of survey, ferry, yacht, and security conversions of the Trireme frame.
Despite its limitations, the Trireme’s low cost, ease of maintenance, and durability are making it popular with short-haul mercantile interests, especially in the developing colonial zones of the Thundercloud Galaxy expansion.

Type: PSS/ASI-MC-04 Trireme
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 16, but can be run with as few as five.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 10,000
Bridge 2,000
Main Engines(3) 1,000 each
Wing Pylons/Stabilizer Legs(3) 800 each
Point Defense Lasers(8) 100 each
Forcefield(Mark I) 4,000
Height: 150 ft
Width: 150 ft; fin-pylons stretch out an additional 150 ft, for an effective width of 450 ft
Length: 350 ft
Weight: 3,780 tons
Cargo: 400 tons internally,
3 external cargo racks, each capable of accommodating 500 tons of cargo poddage
Powerplant:Nuclear Fusion, w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Space)(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) (Mrk II) 4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 400 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Full Sensor Suite---Specialized sensor pallets include radiation detectors and counters, spectrographic analysis devices, gravitic sensors, electromagnetic activity readers, and optics packages.
*Long Range Radar---Phased Array Search and Early Warning Radars
Maximum target Resolution: 1 million miles
*Laser Targeting-------100,000 miles
*Communications Suite:---Long Range Radio and Video
*Laser Communications ---Tactical (i.e. ship-to fighter/shuttle)Range: 50,000 miles
*Optical Tracking Clusters----These are transparent blisters fitted with gimbal-mounted high-resolution visible-light/IR/UV optical telescopes that continually scan the arc of sky before them. Linked to the navigational arrays and other tracking sensors, and to a series of highly-sophisticated near-AI search and discrimination software systems, these sensors attempt to detect objects that have low radar returns/sensor signatures, such as stealthed vehicles, iceballs, or asteroids. The high-tech equivalent of the man in the crow’s nest with a pair of binoculars.

Weapons Systems:
1)Point Defense Lasers(8)----Arranged around the hull are eight standard laser PDS turrets.
Range: 1 mile(4 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

Auxiliary Craft:
One Light Shuttle

Options:
Most major option upgrades to the Trireme usually involve fitting different configurations of cargo pods to the vessels, including external missile launchers and gun pods.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
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Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: Paladin Steel Storefront

Unread post by taalismn »

PS-FC-53 Darkhammer Stealth Strike Full Conversion Cyborg

The crosshairs tracked across the berserking bioborg, briefly settled on the head of the screaming civilian who was its core. Head-shot or heart-shot, and it would be all over for the beast currently raging through the street.
And too easy, the Darkhammer thought.
Kill the puppet and the puppeteers would still be in action.
Instead the crosshairs moved away, swept up and across...and finally settled on the cold features of the demoness standing on a nearby rooftop, overseeing the chaos below. The up-until-now largely IGNORED demoness.
Better to let the cops now arriving on the scene handle the slave. His expertise was going after command and control. Take out the true head of the monster.
Time to let the boss-monster know she wasn’t being ignored. As the Darkhammer silently issued a mental command to his rifle to load a demonbane round, and downloaded targeting instructions to the micromissiles, he amended that to ‘not much time’. He always liked springing surprises.


“Sometimes a dagger between the verterbrae isn’t enough to do the job; sometimes it takes a hammer to the back of the skull to put an enemy down.
I am that hammer.”

Although Paladin Steel had already developed stealth cyborgs in the PS-FC-21 ‘Stalker’ and PS-FC-39 Argus, both of those designs were perforce light in both weight and firepower, and dedicated to recon or headhunter-style operations. The physical constraints of stealth meant that firepower was sacrificed for mobility and a smaller sensor signature. GNE soldiers wanted a chassis that was heavier, had more hitting power, and still had a good stealth profile to allow it to close to best advantage with a target.
Though considered a scale-up of the Stalker, the Darkhammer is not as stealthy as either the FC-21 or -39, but it is much quieter and less obvious than other cyborgs of its weight class. Its armament configurations are designed for a balance of weight, range and damage. In this, it is considered a bit of an engineering compromise; the GNEAS wanted a heavier stealth unit rushed into field deployment as quickly as safely possible, but couldn’t wait for Paladin Steel to develop(or acquire) some new technology that would make the heavier cyborg chassis as undetectable as the lighter frames. Recognizing the urgency of the situation with the Minion War breaking on the horizon, and other threats emerging, PS decided to use what they had to field a new cyborg NOW, while continuing to pursue more promising technologies for later cyborg frames.
The Darkhammer has a hunchbacked(due to the twin weapons pods on its back), almost organic(thanks to its stealth-skinning), look that makes it look less like something of terrestrial design. Its multi-sensor-studded head looks almost insectile. These features help make the Darkhammer a particularly visually-frightening opponent if and when it is seen, and helped mask its origins in the first months of its operational deployment with the Greater New England Armed Services.
Darkhammers came on the scene just in time in a number of circumstances; as GNEAS forces were drawn away to deal with the Minion War, Darkhammer operatives often slipped into their positions to help put down more mundane or smaller order threats that became emboldened to take advantage of the situation. Several bandit groups and opposition organizations, thinking they were overtaking abandoned or undefended GNE-affiliated territories, suddenly found themselves being cut down and HARD by stealthed forces of unknown strength and number. Unwilling to advance further into what might be the teeth of a returning GNEAS force, or reinforced resistance, many of those opposition forces relented and retreated, unaware that they were facing only a handful of stealth-cloaked operatves. Darkhammers also served to cover a number of ‘regime change’ operations for the Office of Positive Outcomes, and headhunter ops for the Department of Justice.

Type: PS-FC-53 Darkhammer
Class: Full Conversion Borg - Heavy Machine, Stealth Operations
Crew: One volunteer
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 30 each
Arms(2) 90 each
Legs(2) 120 each
Feet (& Foot Pads)(2) 45 each
Weapons Pods(2) 100 each
*Head 100.
**Main Body 260
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a
called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The Darkhammer CAN be fitted with additional armor, but is limited to LIGHT Cyborg Armor, and any external armor effectively negates the cyborg’s stealth features.

Speed:
Running: 100 mph max . However the act of running does
not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained
indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable
of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to
distance/height.
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The Darkhammer CAN swim, at roughly 7 MPH. Maximum depth tolerance of 1,000 ft.

Statistical Data:
Average Height: 7.6 feet
Width: 3 feet at shoulders
Length: 2.7 feet
Weight: 900 lbs.
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 35, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, impervious to
bio-manipulation
+4 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 60% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg or Headhunter OCC. Second-career converts typically are Juicer Scouts, Special Forces, Rangers, and commando classes.
Black Market Cost: 9 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and
sound filtration systems.

Special Features:

*Hardened Circuits---A feature growing to be standard in Paladin Steel-made combat cyborgs. Shields the ‘borg’s systems against EMP and other electrical-disruption attacks.

a)Wide-Angle Eyes----One of the original schemes called for a panoramic optic system, but this has been downgraded to a wide-angle ‘wraparound’ visor-optic system that grants the cyborg superior peripheral vision; +1 on initiative and +1 to dodge.

b)Molecular Adhesion Pads---The hands, elbows, knees, and feet of the cyborg are fitted with molecular adhesion pads allowing it to attach itself to structures and climb up even sheer verticals.

c)Advanced Molecular Analyzer---This ”Super Sniffer” actually gives the ‘borg the ability to track by smell (80%), as well as recognize people by scent(85%) provided they have smelled them before.

d)ECM/ECCM Systems---The Darkhammer has a limited ECM system that can jam radio and radar with 80% proficiency to a radius of 150 ft. The same system can attempt to defeat radio and radar jamming by frequency jumping and signal boosting; 60% success rate.

e) Sound Suppression System---The same noise control technology that would be used in Japanese cyborgs, was also being co-developed on the West Coast. Consisting of a combination of special white noise generators, cushioning foot pads, and muffled joints, this system allows the cyborg to prowl quietly, without penalty! However, the cyborg cannot be moving faster than SPD 5(the Darkhammer has to be slower and more deliberate); any sudden movements will bring back the full -40% Prowl penalty!

f) Stealth Skin----The Darkhammer is skinned in one of several optional stealth coverings, only ONE of which can be selected:
*a)(Optional) Thermal-Optical Camouflage--- Paladin Steel worked hard to reverse-engineer several different flavors of Naruni stealth technology, and it’s paid off with this iteration of TOC.
Visually, the cyborg is -15% for others to Detect Ambush/Detect Concealment, +3% to prowl, and has a 40% chance of remaining undetected if standing still(60% if standing in dim/indirect light). Has only a 20% chance of showing up on radar/motion detection systems, and is, combined with the existing thermal shielding, only 10% likely to show up on thermal sensors.

*b) (Optional) Blurr Camou
MDC: 10 before being rendered inoperable
Bonuses: The faster the wearer moves, the greater the distortion; at speeds of 3 or less, no bonus, 4-10; -1 to strike the wearer, 10-16; -2 to strike, 16-22; -3 to strike, 23 or greater, -4 to strike

*c)(Optional) HardLight Projection Field---This is a copy of an alien system acquired through cross-dimensional trade and espionage. The HardLight projection field produces a light electromagnetic forcefield around the wearer, that acts as a holo-’canvas’ for a powerful holographic system. The holographic field can be pre-programmed to emulate up to six different humanoid-sized holographic ‘disguises’ in full three-dimensional glory. The forcefield also gives the illusion some physical substance, at least as far as casual brushing contact is concerned, The holofield provides about 5 MDC, but is easily distorted/disrupted by strong magnetic fields, and is also energy-expensive; the generator can only maintain the holo-disguise for 45 minutes at a time, before needing 5 minutes to recharge before re-initialization.

*Thermal Stealth---The Darkhammer is shielded and insulated against detection with thermal imaging; 22% chance of showing up on thermal sensors.

*Laser Illuminator---The Darkhammer is fitted with an integral target illumination laser in the head(a backup can be mounted in an arm) for ‘painting’ targets for laser-guided weaponry. Range: 10,000 ft.

* Psionic Electro-Magnetic Dampener Implants---Standard issue for specfors; +1 to save versus all psionic attacks, +2 save versus possession, and +1 to save versus magic illusions and mind control.

* Periscope Flange---An extendable mini-boom with a cyberoptic can be extended from the head to peer around corners or from under cover. Has 3 MDC.


Weapons Systems:
1) Forearm Weapons Slots----Each forearm sports a standard slot for a cyborg forearm weapon.

2) Forearm Vibroblades/Claws
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD

3) Backpack Weaponry(1-2 weapons)---The Darkhammer’s real reason for being is its ability to carry and deploy heavy weaponry. Integral to the design is a stealth-armored ‘hunchback’ that can conceal two fairly heavy weapons(or one, with an extra large supply of ammunition), and fixed to fire over the cyborg’s shoulders.
In general, in the rush to get the Darkhammer into field deployment, PS used stock infantry weapons to fill these modules, the weapons modified in their mountings for the purpose, but in a few cases, Paladin Steel engineers managed to modify the weapons’ performance from the stock infantry weaponry, although most of these modifications were trade-offs of one aspect for another.
Most Darkhammers favor projectile weapons with indirect fire capability, or weapons like lasers and microwave beamers, which have no readily visible firestream to give away the ‘borg’s position to an observant enemy. Plasma weapons are not featured, as their clearly visible thermal-luminescent path to the target readily ponted back to the stealth cyborg.
a) PS-M136 Minigun (1)
Weight: 35 lbs+ ammo drum(a full 4,000 rd drum can weigh 160 lbs)
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 6d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst, 8d6x10 SDC per 20 rd burst, 1d4 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1 MD single shot, 1d10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d10 MD per 20 rd burst, 1d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d6 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d6 MD per 40 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 6,000 rpm(or 1,500 rounds per melee)
Payload: 1,000 rd belt . 4,000-rd drum if one is carried, and the other pod set aside for ammunition storage.
Cost: 27,000 credits

b) .50-caliber Heavy Machine Gun(1-2)
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage:(SDC) 7d6 SDC single shot, 4d6 x10 SDC(1d4 MD) per 10 rd burst, 8d6x10 SDC per 20 rd burst, 1d4 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Ramjets) 1d4 MD single shot, 5d6 MD per 40 rd burst.
(High Explosive)2d6x10 SDC single shot, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d6 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d6 MD per 40 rd burst.
(PSX-2) 1d6 MD per rd, 1d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst, 2d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst, 4d6x10 MD per 40 rd burst.
(Tracer) Every 11th round is a tracer, which gives a +1 to strike with bursts. However, the tracer stream also makes it that much easier for enemies to backtrace and locate the machine gunner.
Rate of Fire: Standard; rated at 6,000 rpm(or 1,500 rounds per melee)
Payload: 2,000-rd belt per gun
Cost: 8,000 credits per gun

c) 20 mm Rapid-fire Cannon(1-2)---A long-barreled “Taskin” Rifle
Range:(20mm)4000 ft
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PSX-1) 4d4 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 1000 rd drum
Cost: 40,000 credits.

d) PSAGL-30D 30mm Grenade Launcher(1-2)
Range:1,200 ft
Damage:
(SDC)* (Fragmentation) 2d6x10 SDC to 16 ft radius
(High Explosive) 6d6x10 SDC to 4 ft radius
(Armor Piercing) 1d4x100 SDC, no blast radius
(Crowd Control rds)---Essentially an expanding plastic ‘flyswatter’ that delivers a bruising knockdown punch. Cut effective range to 200 ft. Does 2d4 SDC per rd, humans and human-sized D-Bees must roll a D20-5 to maintain their footing (must equal or surpass the attacker's roll to strike...Full rules in TNW p.174). Human-sized light power armors(500-800 lbs) also roll on a D20, but are +2 to save versus knockdown
(Wood Rounds) 7d6 SDC single shot (1d4x10+5 HP to vampires), no blast radius

*(Yes, I know, why include SDC when it just as quickly becomes MDC? You’re still being hit with a pretty hefty shell)

(MD)(HE) 2d6(12 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d4x10 MD to an 20 ft area
(Armor-Piercing) 4d6(3 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d4x10 MD to an 9 ft area
(light micro-fusion) 6d6 MD (12 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d6x10 MD to an 25 ft area
(HESH (High Explosive Squash Head)) - Designed to ‘spald’ off armor on the interior of power armors and vehicles. Composite ‘chobham’(layered armor and nylon mesh) armor reduces this internal damage by HALF, by holding the armor together.
HESH rounds do NOT have a blast radius.
3D6 MD plus 4D6 SDC to the person(s) inside the object.
(Incendiary) 2d4 MD to a 12 ft blast radius, plus an additional 1d6 MD per melee for 1d6 melees.

The GL can also be used to fire radio beacon adhesion heads, flare rounds, paint shells, EMP grenades, flash-bangs, and, it’s rumored, TW grenades like the feared ‘Snuffers’ and Aura of Doom curse grenades.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 72 rounds; 3x24 shot drums
Note: The Drum magazines are fully compatible with the PS ‘Drum Mine’ system that allows large-caliber ammunition drums to be converted into boobytraps/mines.
Cost: 19,000 credits; SDC rounds cost 40-60 credits each, Crowd Control rounds cost 20 credits each, standard 30mm HE grenades cost 400 credits each, armor-piercing cost 550 credits each, micro-fusion(rarely available on the open market) cost 1,500 credits each, Incendiary cost 600 credits each.


e) PSAGL-40B 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher(1)
Range:7,000 ft
Damage: Identical to the WI-GL20;
Frag rounds do 4d6 MD to a 12-foot radius.
AP rounds do 1d4x10 to a 3-foot blast radius,
and Plasma rounds do 1d4x10+10 to a 5-foot radius.
A 3 round burst of frag shells does 1d4x10 to a 15 foot radius,
a burst of 3 AP shells does 2d4x10 to a 5 foot radius,
and a burst of 3 plasma shells does 3d4x10 to an 8 foot blast radius
A 5 round burst of frag shells does 1d6x10 to a 20 foot radius,
a burst of 5 AP shells does 2d6x10 to a 6 foot area,
and a burst of 5 plasma shells does 3d6x10 to a 10 foot radius.
A 10 round burst of frag shells does 2d6x10 to a 40-foot radius.
A 10 round AP burst does 3d6x10 to an 8-foot area,
and a 10 round plasma burst does 4d6x10+10 to a 15-foot radius!!
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 50 round belt
Special Features: None
Cost: Black Market examples cost 180,000 credits, but PS would/will ideally market the weapon for 50,000 credits for the launcher; the cost is in the larger projectiles


f) Micromissiles(1-2)---2x25 shot cassettes, 50 total.

g) Mini-Missiles(1-2)---3 per pod

h)MMS-4 ‘Switchblade’65mm Mini-Missile RPV---3 per pod

i) PSIR-17 ‘Zonn’ Ion Rifle(1-2)
Range: 4,500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per shot,
1d4x10 MD double pulse shot,
1d6x10 MD triple pulse shot
On a Natural 20(Critical Strike) the ion weapon does TRIPLE damage instead of the normal double damage.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 58,000 credits

j) GrHR-01 ‘Corbett’ Heavy Gravitonic Rifle(1)---This g-gun can use both standard rail gun ammo(powered by the cyborg’s own powerplant) or use standard Three Galaxies g-clips, which provide their own power. The universal ammo feed is simply a matter of convenience.
Range: 1,200 ft using G-clips. 2,000 ft using an external power source
Damage: 3d4 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD for a three-shot burst, and a 10-shot burst does 2d4x10 MD.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 30 shot standard G-clip is standard for g-clip mode. 300 round belts are standard for regular ammunition.
Special Features:
*NO Recoil---Negate the HALF bonus penalty for firing bursts due to the weapon generating a counter-gravitonic pulse to damp out recoil.
Cost: 26,000 credits, 2,000 credits for a standard 30-shot G-clip


k) X-RLR-18 ‘Exel’ Heavy X-Ray Laser Rifle(1)
Range: 6,800 ft
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per single shot; laser resistant armor does NOT apply to stopping x-ray lasers.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Conditionally unlimited; 15 shot capacity, then needs 1 hour to recharge.
Bonuses: +2 to strike on an Aimed Shot
Special Features:
*-Targeting Module Package:---This sophisticated, precision sensor package is one of the most compact scope mounts to be produced by PS.
Telescopic Optics
Passive Night Vision
Thermo-Imaging
Laser Targeting: +1 to strike
‘Fuzzy Logic’ Stabilization: +1 to strike
Optional Smart Gun Link---Can be fitted for a ‘Smart Gun’ link or any other targeting interfacing.
Cost: 100,000 credits
Note: Heat-Plume--Unless shielded or screened, the X-ray laser generates a hotspot that can be readily picked up on thermal sensors(even though the beam itself is silent and invisible); +15% to Read Sensory Instruments to pinpoint the firing point in the melee after firing.
Options:
*Heat Sink System---A portable coolant pack about the size of a football, and connected to the weapon heat jacket by a coolant hose. It reduces the heat signature of the weapon, removing the heat-sig detection penalty. Firing more than ten shots consecutively, without cool-down(1d4 minutes) overloads the cooling capacity of the pack(penalties are re-instated, unless one swaps in a new HSS). Cost: 9,000 credits.

*Laser Illuminator---A barrel attachment that adds a laser illuminator function to the weapon, allowing the sniper to ‘paint’ the target for other laser-homing weapons systems. Range: 9,000 ft. Cost: 9,000 credits


l) PS-RFL2-33D Rapid-Fire Laser(1)---Variant model of the ‘Blazer’ Rapid-Fire Infantry Laser, with a givernor on full-melee burst mode in order to reduce the burden on the cyborg’s powerplant, and reduce the thermal bloom associated with full-out pulse mode.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD short burst, 1d6x10 MD medium burst, 2d6x10 MD long burst( 2 attacks), , no bonuses to strike...does 3d6 MD to 4d4 targets if in a spray attack).
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 78,000 credits

m) Magbolt Cannons(1-2)
Range: (EM Bolt) 3,000 ft
(Scattershot Bolt) 1,000 ft, covers 15 ft area
(Vortice) 2,000 ft
Damage: (EM Bolt) (Variable) 4d6 SD, 1d4x10 SD, or 3d6 MD per shot
(Scattershot Bolt) 2d4 MD to everything in 15 ft area
(Vortice) Same as for the bolt at the point of impact, plus HALF damage in a 7 ft radius, and an 88% chance of knock-down(lose 1 APM and Initiative) for beings of 350 lbs or less, 65% chance of being stunned(-10 to strike, dodge, parry, and roll, NO Initiative, HALF speed and APMs for 1d4 melees).
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: Laser targeting add +1 to strike. EM bolts are -6 to dodge, on top of that!
Cost: 29,000 credits

n)Magbolt Long-guns(1-2)----A longer-ranged sniper version that trades multimodal capability and damage for longer range.
Range: (EM Bolt) 5,000 ft
Damage: (EM Bolt) (Variable) 4d6 SD, 1d4x10 SD, or 2d6 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: Laser targeting add +1 to strike. EM bolts are -6 to dodge, on top of that!
Cost: 29,000 credits

o)PSPBW-10 ‘Fanblaster’ Particle Beam(1-2)
Range: 3,200 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD to an 8 ft wide swath
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 150,000 credits

p) Light Particle Beam(1-2)
Range: 2,600 ft
Damage: Two fire modes; 6d6 MD low power and 1d4x10 MD high power mode
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 32,000 credits

q) PS-IMD03 ‘Blunderbus’ Massdriver Rifle(1-2)---This weapon is favored by deep-penetration rangers, because the variable-caliber massdriver allows the troops to ‘live off the land’; scrouging ammunition off the local territory(and enemy troops). Darkhammers who carry an IMD-03 as part of their backpack weaponry will frequently carry an S-8 or S-11 ‘flexrifle’ as a handheld compliment to the massdriver.
Range:(IMD03 Grenade) 3,500 ft
(Solid Slug) 4,000 ft
(Hand-Grenade) 300 ft
(Mortar Shell) 1,000 ft
(Scrap) 200 ft
Damage:(IMD03 Grenade)(Fragmentation)4d6 MD to 16 ft blast area
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 8 ft blast area
(Solid Slug) 1d4x10 MD to 2 ft blast area
(Hand-Grenade) By munition type
(Mortar Shell)By munition type
(SDC Scrap) 1d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area
(MDC Scrap) 3d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Payload: Single shot, hand-loaded. Standard E-clip has enough power for 15 shots, long e-clip for 21 shots
Cost: 28,000 credits

r) PS-RGC-16D Long Range Rail Gun(1)---The PS-RGC-16D is a development of the PS-RGC-15, itself an attempt to combine the phenomenal long range of the PS ‘Ripkiller’ Gatling Cannon with the damage potential of the infamous ‘Boom Gun’. The PS-RGC-15 was originally introduced on the PS-UB-FC-02 Ganton Cyborg frame, and PS engineers thought that a lighter version of the same weapon could be developed for the Darkhammer, giving it a powerful long range sniping weapon. Mounted in a large dome-like backpack pod, this powerful long range gauss rifle is normally stowed folded in two. When raised for firing, the dome-pack rises up behind and above the head, and the rifle accelerator levels open to stretch over one shoulder(the barrel unfolds out to eight feet long). On the other side of the dome is an optical laser targeting package, insuring that the hypersonic round is delivered accurately on target. Though considered to be 30% less powerful and possessing slightly less range than the PS-RGC-15 it is based on, the PS-RGC-16D is still a formidable weapon, esepcially if firing specialized ammunition types.
Range: 14,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot out to 11,000 ft
1d4x10 MD out to 15,000 ft
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: 50 rd drum
Bonuses: +2 to strike from laser targeting cluster
Cost: 600,000 credits

s) Neural Disrupter Blaster(1-2)---A knockoff of a Northern Gun weapon(industrial espionage being alive and well), but tweaked for greater efficiency and range. Nicknamed the ‘nerve blaster’ and the ‘brain sandblaster’ for its brute force approach to taking people down. NOT recommended for gentle persuasion or use on children, elders, or other innocent bystanders.
Mounting two Neural Disrupters simply allows the cyborg to saturate an area, allowing it to stun more than one target at a time.
Range: 1,400 ft
Mounting TWO Neural Disrupters allows for covering a 10 ft wide area with a spread-shot.
Damage: (Setting One) 2d6 SDC and victim must roll versus non-lethal poison(16 or better). On a successful save the target is -3 to strike, parry, dodge, and loses initiative and 1 APM for 1d4 melee rounds. A FAILED save means the target is -7 to all actions, loses initiative, reduce APMs to ONE, skill performance is -60%, -90% to Speed, and suffers convulsions that do 1d6 SDC per round for 2d4 melee rounds.
(Setting Two) Does 2d6x10 SDC(or 1 MD), and victim must roll versus non-lethal poison(16 or better). On a successful save an augmented human(oid) is -5 to strike, parry, dodge, and loses initiative and 1 APM for 1d4 melee rounds. A successful save by UNaugmented human(oid)s results in -10 to strike, parry, dodge, lose initiative and is reduced to 1 APM, skill performance is -80%, speed reduced 95%, and suffer painful convulsions doing 1d6 SDC per melee for 2d4 MINUTES.
A FAILED save by augmented human(oid)s means the target is -7 to all actions, loses initiative, reduce APMs to TWO, skill performance is -60%, -80% to Speed, and suffers convulsions that do 4d6 SDC per round for 2d4 melee rounds.
Note: Works through most body armor up to 50 MDC. Those in armor protection of 51-80 MDC are +6 to save. Those in heavier armor, power armor, full conversion cyborgs, vehicles, robots, or who are MegaJuicers or Dragons are impervious.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited hitched up to a nuclear power plant.
Cost: 55,000 credits


4) Hand-Held Weapons---Of course, the Darkhammer can use any infantry-scale weaponry, typically special-purpose mission-specific weapons(such as anti-vampire weapons for raids on the undead, or incendiary missile launchers for anti-material strikes). When operating deep within enemy territory, Darkhammers often use the enemy’s own weapons or commonly available types to mask their true allegiance.


Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 1d6 MD
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 3d4 MD
Kick 1d6 MD
Leap Kick(2 Attacks) 2d6 MD
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram(2 attacks) 1d6 MD

Options:
The Darkhammer can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books. Favorite options include fitting the 'borg with Jump Boosters, extra sensor systems, TW stealth, and new weapons systems. Additional limbs are rarely fitted unless the convertee is non-human; added limbs generally cost 50-200% extra to be fitted with the stealth sheathing and incorporated into the overall stealth profile of the cyborg(which needs to fine-tuned for the extra appendages).
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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