Forums of the Megaverse®

What you need to understand about he map is that is dispayed not only terrain but a path to the location from your start point. And it changed from episode to episode. Which would mean it would need two way communication to either a satalite interface similar to a GPS or a wirelsee interface to a "google maps" database, perhaps stored in the talking backpack.

I have a magical artifact in a MERP game i run that does that, but only displays information about places it has actually been, so there is a % change if a previous owner has been where you want to go.

Of course you can't use GPS on Rifts Earth, so you either have to set up a similar system using regional radio beacons(which can be used by a tech-savvy enemy like the CS, or targeted by them), or use some other reference point(leylines? But that can be subject to change, and it's useless if you're traveling in terra incognita)....
Ideally, you've got inertial mapping...and a small fleet of RPV micro-scouts flitting around your position, mapping the landscape and giving you your 'relative to' position, but that's the work of a full-blown scout and geosurvey team...

That is a very cool new item. We in the Federated States would like to procure some of those devices. They'd be very useful for any group wearing them. I could see them being used across the whole spectrum from farm and factory work to special forces.

Wait I cannot do that because I did not ask what a expended line of TapZap based melee weapons, but i will not do that.

LMAO!! Watch out Abtex, that stuff can ....... Zap Never mind!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer

"An they thought the play grounds of the DinoSwamp South were tough places."
"Mall-Rats!!! Run!!"
"But they have a sale on....Mega-Flex Sheeting PunchOut Weapons and Tools..." not the best last words

Please do not come out with a line of Mall Rat equipment.
Unless it might be stuff to explore the lost Shop till you drop MegaMalls of the 21Sin super traps type.

Nice stuff.

Did a quick read the first time. Thought that PS had hockey puck style grenades filled with Slipspray to use against FreeQ GBoys.
"And there goes other one. You owe me another Five."
"I need to stop betting with you. On how dumb PA suiters can be. Will they even learn to look where stop to fire their BoomGuns."

Close enough. Thank you.

Nice set of weapons, just a couple of wonders.

Not FlexBarrel add-on?


Please do not arm it with Slipspray grenade.

Is there a smarter control or multi discharge means for the larger drums so they can be used several firings not just one?

Next to the Neostead shotgun (South Africa) the Pancor Jackhammer revolver shot-gun is a favorite of mine. But the Atchisson AA-12 is a fear causing combat toy as well. Being able to fire one-handed or a small person and also is drum feed. RC Helicopter with an AA-12 then someone donot like the idea of just one, they want to HAMMER away with several of them.

WOW

Sorry after a little sleep.
I get post happy and write up what I have been reading and thinking about.

Zombie plagues teach us some of the best places to hole up are MegaMalls...'Commercial Fortresses'...
hmmm...ideas...equipment for the whole Shifter family...

The Stoner is a low-tech attempt to create a modular weapon...the FlexGun is the ultra-tech, and expensive, answer...but if you want something you can FIX without a PHD in electromagnetic-forcefields and nanotechnology, the Stoner's the weapon for youse...

And yeah, I've seen the freakin' RC copters with autoshotguns...You'll see several different drone types from PS in days to come, and similar systems are in mind for them...being able to remotely hose rooms and areas with fletchette shells, armor-piercing slugs, and buckshot? You think I'd pass something like that over?

Great links Abtex! Thank you for providing them. I thought the Remote copter was the "Fire Scout." That was the vehicle they covered on "Future Weapons"

I did not mean to make you work so hard on something new
Maybe.

What properties do you have in mind for the slime?
Just obscuring gook? Stickiness? Something else?

Maybe something like...

No. Hanger 18-B's Elemental slime-Forms of Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Weapons and tools that use the stuff.


Hmmm...maybe VitraSlime...sprayed on open ground, it quickly spreads and hardens into instant pavement...flat and level...perfect for runways or roads....
Make sure to feed it some PPE every week or so, or the stuff quickly breaks down into a nutrient-rich mulch to renew the vegetation it choked off when it was laid down...
Lay it under a leyline, and you don't need to PPE-ping it(unless somebody uses an aggressive spell like Accelerate Growth or the like to uber-green it...)

What about Heart?

"Heart"?
Sorry...not too whippy today(lack of sleep, family emergencies)....may have to have my driver's license explained to me in current state...
"See? That's your NAME....these characters are LETTERS...They form WORDS...Words have MEANINGS...that is a PICTURE...of YOU...."

I like it, I would like it more if it included pants.

The pants should be forthcoming, providing support, espeically for lifting with the knees, but I'm leery of adding too much in the way of bonuses to speed or endurance, owing to the fact that such a system wouldn't increase your stride length, while jacked-up relfexes have to contend with the endurance and fragility of the body wearing them(try doing a computer-directed microsecond snapkick and you may kick the other guy's gun out of his hand before he knows it, but you'll also possibly dislocate your hip and pull some muscles...)

Its just I feet encumbrance is more realistically handled if you include leg supports.

My guess was something like Care Bears or my Little Pony.
Too many years working in toy store and haunting them for ideas.

Ziggurat the Eternal what do you mean? Please tell us.

Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Heart. Go Planet!By your Powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN PLANET. Captain Planet, he's our hero, gonna take Pollution down to Zero. He's our power magnified, and he's fighting on the planets side. Gonna help him put asunder, Bad Guys who like to Loot and Plunder.

Except he'd be captain slime planet.

Hmmm.....Slime of Fire(no, wait, that's napalm...if it's cooler, it's a medical rub)...Hydro-Slime? Forms static walls of what looks like jello, but if you try going through it, it lets go in a torrent of water?
Air-Slime---That's Aerogel....looks like mist, feels like mist, cushions like an airbag, and traps you like transparent concrete...

From "get smart" there could be the SHOE PHONE!
Maybe a nice anti-gravity belt as well?

Too silly...You wanna stop running long enough to shuck your boot and try to call in an airstrike on the Brodkil horde chasing you down with mustard sauce and forks?

As for a-g belts...PS isn't that technologically advanced yet, and the Kera-Tech units they currently produce under license are rather large and obvious...TW systems on the other hand, using FLY and LEVITATION spells, are entirely possible, but expect PPE-detectors to redline when you go flying...

If it were made via techno-wizardry & set for telepathy the shoe-phone could possibly work in rifts.
In a later episode of "get smart" Maxwell smart had levitating shoes(they used compressed air) & a hat that doubled as a gas mask.

Take your time Taalismn! We can be patient. You deal what you have to take care of and we can wait for the new PS gear!

I remember that.....drop-down hat brim....The gas jets could be replaced with Air Elemental magic...

there was also the remote-controled cue-ball with the lip-stick controller & for the kiddies,the rubber-duck gun!

PS doesn't have a Gag/Party Favors Division...though some of our customers regard the tanks and heavy artillery as Party-CRASHING Favors....

Don't worry Abtex. I'm sure we'll see a variety of those sort of toys from PS.

That's it rub it in.

What?! Micro-missiles with corner-shot capability ain't toy-llike enough for yah?
Besides, a lot of Action Figure Familiar bases are made from PS-manufactured toy kits...

So does this mean we can all get our own collectible CS and tolkien figures from PS? I'm sure you'll have orders from a lot of people for their kids alone. And then there is that one stupendous order that comes each year from the North Pole.

Paladin Steel ‘Rambo’ Heavy Truck/Land Cruiser

“Need to move a mountain? We got the truck to do it.”

Among the archival data that Paladin Steel was able to recover from its own pre-Rifts company archives, was several design studies between then-Paladin Steel Industrial and the esteemed firm of Caterpillar. Catepillar, long a builder of specialized construction equipment, was looking to modernise its stable of vehicles through the use of advanced composites and ceramics to lighten the weight of its more massive equipment. Other projects under consideration were ceramic multi-fuel engines, advanced lithium-electric batteries, nuclear-power, and corrosion-proof megadamage plastics. PSI hadn’t gotten far beyond simply supplying Caterpillar with the materials, but design schematics and simulations had been shared between the companies. Some of these designs proved too intriguing for modern post-Rifts PS engineers to ignore, when they found the files in the archives of the company.
The basic Rambo is a giant four-wheeled open cargo-bed chassis for SERIOUS heavy hauling. Although PS has managed to improve the efficiency of the engine somewhat, the giant truck still fairly creeps along, although once it gets going, it’s damn near impossible to stop. The entire structure is heavily reinforced; the Rambo has more MDC than many tanks, just because it’s expected to take a beating, while carrying huge loads on its back. The Rambo comes with a choice between a conventional liquid fuel or a nuclear powerplant, but most buyers choose the more expensive, but longer-lived, nuke-pack, since the giant eats fuel like a jet engine....
The Rambo is aimed at heavy industrial users, but inevitably the vehicle has spawned its share of military conversions, using it as the prime mover for heavy artillery, missile launchers, or as the basis of rolling fortresses dripping with guns.
Type: PS-T18 Rambo
Class: Super-Heavy Industrial Utility Vehicle
Crew: 1+1-4 passengers in the cabin
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 750
Reinforced Cabin 200
Wheels(4) 120 each
Height: 24 ft
Width: 32 ft
Length: 47 ft
Weight: 687.5 tons
Cargo: 380 tons
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(1,800 gal fuel capacity/ 600 mile range) or Nuclear w/20 year energy life
Speed: 45 MPH
(Underwater)The Rambo is NOT amphibious(doesn’t float), but there are few creeks and streams it can ford easily. Snorkel-equipped or nuclear-powered versions, buttoned up, can drive along the bottom of rivers and lakes at a leisurely 8 MPH, but maximum depth is 100 ft.
Market Cost: 48 million credits for liquid fuel, 59 million credits for nuclear
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus;
*Powered Winch---Able to haul up to 35 tons. 300 ft of high-strength molecular chain cabling on spool.
*Trailer Hitch---Can haul up to 400 tons without problem, 800 tons at 1/4 speed
*Power Take-Offs---The powerplant of a Rambo can power an encampment(or a small community in the case of nuclear-powered versions)
Weapons Systems:
None standard, but most buyers will mount 1-4 cabin-mount guns or mini-missile launchers for self-defense. Two sponson turrets are usually mounted on either side of the cabin.
The vehicle’s own mass is one of its greatest weapons, if the driver is good enough, the target slow enough, or stationary. The Rambo does 6d6 MD on a ramming strike( 2d6x10 MD if it gets up to top speed), and does 4d6 MD to anything it can roll over and crush. Note, however that the Rambo has 3 ft ground clearance (6 ft empty/unloaded), so hitting human-sized targets takes a little doing(a fast-thinking footpounder could lay flat and let the truck pass overhead).

Options:
*Engine Upgrade----A more powerful engine can be added, improving overall speed, but at greater expense; these souped-up vehicles are
Speed: Can improve top speed by up to 40%
Cost: 200,000 credits per 10% of improvement over base. 500,000 credits for nuclear upgrades. +120,000 per 10% for treadlayers, +180,000 per 10% for robotic walker legs, and +100,000 per 10% for hoverjet systems(actually simpler to upgrade GEV systems past the initial high cost by adding more/bigger jet thrusters).

*Light Turret(Base MDC of 100. Can be fitted with 1-2 infantry-scale weapons up to light rail guns, energy weapons, heavy machine guns, and light missile/rocket launchers)
Cost: 70,000 credits

*Medium Turret(Base MDC of 180. Can be fitted with 1-4 light weapons, or up to 2 heavy weapons such as short- to medium-range missile launchers, light to medium autocannon/railguns, or vehicular energy weapons)
Cost: 100,000 credits

*Tilting Flatbed---The entire rear portion of the Rambo is fitted with a tilting platform or dumper for carrying vehicles, giant robots, or ore/debris. Cost: 160,000 credits for the basic dumper/platform. More extensive ‘beds, such as service gantries for robots and missiles can cost 2-5x as much, depending on how they’re outfitted.

*Double-decker Barracks Module---This replaces any dumper module with a two floor(accessed by a stairway between the decks) passenger module w/ 300 MDC, and accommodations for up to 75 passengers. The roof can be used for a landing pad, or for another 25-30 passengers to ride along on top(protected only by siderails and a tarpuline sunshade roof). Cost: 240,000 credits.

*Dozer-Payloader---This adds a massive 50 ton payloader blade and associated hydraulics to the front end of the Rambo. The scoop has 44 cubic yards capacity(large enough to scoop up the average light truck), and 250 MDC for the shovel(75 MDC for each of the two hydraulic arms). Cost: 200,000 credits

Variants:
*Hover-Model--Nicknamed the ‘Howler’ because the brute force hoverjets scream lifting the bulk of the vehicle over the ground, the GEV version of the Rambo is hardly stealthy, but it’s still remarkably popular(Yes...obviously inspired by the cover of ‘Madhaven’).
Speed: 55 MPH, 1-20 ft off the ground
Cost: +12 million credits

*Tread-Model---Nicknamed the ‘Supercrawl’, this mounts four massive tread units in place of the wheels. The Supercrawl is slower than the wheeled model, but has rather better cross-country performance and is more stable.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Treads(4) 300 each
Width: 40 ft
Length: 52 ft
Speed: 30 MPH
Cost: + 8 million credits

*Robot Walker---The Behemoth Explorer has new competition for the title of Most Impressive Commercially Available EarthStomper in this variant of the Rambo. Only the PS Landmaster Heavy Transport/Exploration Robot can claim a more impressive legged performance when it comes to treading heavily over the ground.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Legs(4) 250 each
Height: Can stand up to 44 ft with a 25 ft ground clearance with legs at maximum extension
Speed: 35 MPH
Cost: +18 million credits

*Earthmover(TW Earth-Elemental-powered model)---Developed with the aide of Hangar-18B’s ‘Eleminal’ engineers, this variant binds an animal-level Earth Elemental to the vehicle.
Empowered as it is by Earth Magic, the Earthmover is unimpeded by mud and soft earth, suffering no diminishment in speed when traveling through even quicksand, riverbank silt, or tar pits. Furthermore, the Earth-Rambo erases its own tracks, making it ideal for smuggling runs...
This variant can be combined with Tread or Robotic chassis, but NOT with Hoverjets.
The vehicle also automatically gets the following:
*Mystic Fulcrum---Allows the vehicle to carry 10% more weight, and haul 30% more
*Earth Rumble---This vehicle really knows how to make an approach as it rumbles the earth with earthquake-like intensity. 500 ft range, and lasts 10 melees. Effectively has a Horror Factor of 14. Can cast this power 6 times per day, or costs 10 PPE to activate
*Dust Cloud---Sends up a massive cloud of obscuring dust that covers a 100 ft area, thick enough to limit the vision of anybody in it to 10 ft. Lasts 5 minutes, and can be cast up to 8 times a day(or with the application of 5 PPE).
*Stone Armor--In a pinch, the Rambo can coccoon itself inside a 2-3 foot thick shell of stone with 300 MDC; lasts up to 5 days per activation. Can cast this ability on itself 4 times per 24 hours or costs 45 PPE to activate. Many Earth-Rambo owners use this power to secure their vehicle when parking.

Cost: +12 million credits

Anybody do a version of the easy-bake oven for rifts?(yes,I know it is a toy but it could acturally bake food)

That is a very cool new vehicle! We here in the Federated States could use a score of those for certain projects that are under way at this time. When would be the fastest we could get that score. And if those work out we could always add scores more at a later date.

Toys of the past, Tools, Weapons and who knows what else of the Rifts' present.

Now that is a device I could see be Turned into TW. Got to admit that would be a cool little toy that could survive the coming of the Rift's.

That, and variants on the Solar Stove...

or the solar smoker!

Plasma-lighted, hickory smoked....How you like your Thunderbeetle Jerky?

Actually I'll stick with venison jerky!

Or a roll-up stove-top

Oh my! Bet they would be great for a picnic with a small generator and great for soldiers, they won't have to take a chance of their campfires giving away their location. In our game our Cyber Knight's robot horse has 4 fold down grills on the sides and a few refrigeration compartments.

Our operator built a mini-casino holographic projection system that sets to up 3 separate life size projections of Roulette table, Craps table, Big Six wheel, Sic bo table and Keno board with holographic dealers. built-in motion sensors can register on the hologram for placing chips and rolling dice. Great for around the campfire and a way to make money in outposts.

Gotta love those 'open projection' holographic projection systems...

And don't forget all the latest 'windup' products(LED flashlights, wind-up radioes, and combinations of both)...They're getting pretty darn efficient and good at storing a charge for awhile....

Now those two systems would be cool to see PS build them. I know they have a broad appeal to the masses.

...and the latest in Motion Reclamation Systems; the Human Hamster Wheel! A metal and synthetic-wheeled hoop with clear plastic mesh sides offering light MDC protection(50 MDC), but when you run(or go careening downhill), boy, are your charging up your portable electronics with that recaptured energy!

...or should that be Human Hamster Ball?