Merrill Armaments

[Godogma]

This is where I intend to showcase the items created in the City State of Merrill, a high tech city nestled in the North GA Mountains which grew out of the Great Cataclysm. Technowizard items I post here are created with the system from the Rifter #2 and some common sense extrapolation from the Stone Master for gem stones used in the creation of the items. With that note, on with the show...

Equipment Available from Merrill Armaments:
Merrill Armaments Kinetic E-Clip Charging Device
This device was created after explorers from Merrill City brought back examples of the NA-LB1 Laser Bow. Soon after it's arrival the Psi-Techs reverse engineered the plunger capacitor device that charged and held a single laser shot for use with the bow. While not impressed with the technology used in the bow nor the manufacturing process used for the plunger (it wears out much too quickly, and was likely designed to do so). Drawing on the information gained from the plunger driven bow as well as previous kinetic charging devices such as those in Pre-Rifts flashlights and emergency radios Merrill Armaments set out to create a useful device for the modern era from them. To do this they utilized mega-damage gears with a baked on dry lubricant coating. The user simply holds this circular device in one palm with the strap in place around the hand then rotates the mechanism with the other. This is a laborious process, but is quite useful for adventurers and anyone who needs to charge e-clips without expending immense amounts of capital. These devices sell like hotcakes away from Merrill City and often bring two to five times the normal price and with unscrupulous traders sometimes charging 10 times normal.

Strength Required: 12+ (with any strength rating less than 12 it doubles the amount of time needed per each point below 12).
Time Required: 20 melee actions per e-clip, 35 melee actions per long e-clip.
Weight: 2lbs
Cost: 10,000 credits.

Merrill Armaments Survivor Solar E-Clip Charging Device
A retroengineered version of the "Colonial" HI-Laser Rifle's battery redesigned to charge standard e-clips instead of the battery of the original. This ironwood case unfolds to reveal solar cells and has a set of cable connectors with female ports that will accept most Rifts Earth style e-clips. One minute of bright sunlight (two minutes of normal sunlight, five minutes if lightly overcast, and nothing if heavily overcast or at night) will recharge one shot via the use of the solar receptors. Typically one hour of normal sunlight will recharge a normal e-clip. These devices weigh as much as the battery plus recharger created with Phase World technology due to the disparity in local technology. These are somewhat unreliable in the conditions of the Dinosaur Swamp; however they're very appreciated in the New West and often bring two to five times their normal price there.

Weight: 5lbs
Cost: 15,000 credits.

Merrill Armaments TW Aerosol Repair Device
(with thanks to flatline and Mack from the palladium-megaverse forums | viewtopic.php?f=8&t=130145&hilit=technowizard & viewtopic.php?f=8&t=114699&hilit=+mend+the+broken)
This device appears to be an innocuous spray can with the size and appearance of a small rectangular spray deodorant can with an art deco wood cover (ironwood in this case) with a cut oval emerald worth 1,000 credits as the depressor. When the case is opened, there is an array of celtic knotwork embossed on the interior in gold connecting a pattern of amber stones totaling 10 carats. Aside from being beautiful when opened and displayed the item is small enough to be easily carried and when activated with 2 PPE will repair 1 MDC/60 SDC. The nozzle is pointed at the damaged item and a swirling mist of sparkling particles whirl above the damage, leaving behind a bright white foam when activated. When the foam is wiped away and the item is revealed the damage is gone and the item is restored. The foam also acts as a polishing agent, leaving behind a shiny show room quality finish. A variety of slip covers are available for the can at a cost of a few credits each to allow the device to be concealed if passing through territory where magic isn't appreciated. The bottom has a sliding cap that can be opened so a PPE Magazine can be inserted for larger repairs if necessary. The device recovers 2 PPE per hour or 10/melee on a ley line – or someone can pour PPE into the device for the express purpose of recharging it.

Weight: 1lbs
Payload: 20 PPE
Cost: 10,000 credits. 5 credits each for slip on covers, most popular are shaving cream and insulation foam advertisements.

Merrill Armaments TW "Dolphin" Rebreather
(http://trendsupdates.com/wp-content/upl ... _mask1.jpg | http://trendsupdates.com/wp-content/upl ... _mask2.jpg)
A device designed for marine exploration, salvage and amphibious assaults which allows divers to skin dive up to 2 miles (3.2km) in depth and swim for an hour per activation with no chance of getting the bends or other difficulties associated with spending lots of time underwater. It provides the ability to swim at Speed 20 at a base skill percentage of 98% and grants a bonus of +2 to Parry and Dodge while in the water as per the spell Swim as a Fish (Superior). The device has a built in encrypted small communicator for radio communications between other divers and the surface as necessary with a 5 mile range, a tiny timer is also included which will go off audibly thirty seconds before the spell runs out and has a digital display much like an alarm watch so the diver knows when to renew the enchantment and how much dive time he or she has remaining. A silver dollar style PPE magazine slots into a compartment on either side of the mask.

Initial PPE Cost: 105
Spells Needed: Swim as a Fish (Superior) (12), Energy Bolt (5).
Physical Requirements: Respirator, aquamarine worth at least 1,000 credits, 2 Clear Quartz crystals worth at least 50 credits each. Merrill Armaments uses a MDC plastic respirator with 10 MD which can be worn with most open faced helmets.
Creation Time: 12 hours.
Duration: 1 hour per activation, (6th level caster).
Weight: 2lbs
Activation: 12 PPE / 24 ISP
Payload: 60 PPE per silver dollar PPE magazine x2 (a total of 10 hours of underwater dive time) or can be activated by the wearer for the listed cost.
Cost: 65,000 on the black market; each silver dollar PPE magazine costs 8,000 credits.

Merrill Armaments TW "Explorer" Armband
This is Merrill Armaments' premier device for explorers and other adventurers of all sorts. Especially those who don't necessarily have the capacity to carry enough water and food for their expected wanderings or expect to wander into an area with contaminated or no air. Ley Line Walkers and Shifters especially love this item and every member of the Explorer Corps is issued one before they begin traveling the dimensions looking for new resources for Merrill City. The band itself is a lockable ironwood construct that goes around the upper arm below the shoulder. A slot for a silver dollar PPE magazine is located underneath the arm with the seven tumbler alpha numeric lock beneath it. A timer will pulse causing the armband to vibrate when the duration for the spell is about to end and more PPE is needed. The wearer can go without air, food and water for six days per activation and only needs two hours of sleep per night of the duration and keeps the user's energy levels up as well.

Initial PPE Cost: 350
Spells Needed: Sustain (12), Energy Bolt (5).
Physical Requirements: Six emeralds worth at least 3,000 credits each and an ironwood band with a locking mechanism are utilized in Merrill Armament's version of this device.
Creation Time: 24 hours.
MDC of the Device: 20 MDC
Duration: 6 days per activation, (6th level caster).
Magical Effects: As per the spell invocation Sustain except that if the band should be removed the effect ends immediately.
Weight: 1lb
Activation: 12 PPE / 24 ISP
Payload: 60 PPE provided by a Silver Dollar PPE Magazine, (a total of 30 days per battery). The band can also be activated by the users own PPE/ISP.
Cost: 90,000 credits; demand exceeds supply a lot of the time however so prices are often 2-5 times that much especially far from Merrill City. 8,000 credits each for silver dollar PPE magazine.

Merrill Armaments PPE Magazines:
Merrill Armaments "Silver Dollar" PPE Magazine
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yK9xFkaovIY/T ... ttoo_2.jpg)
This is the smallest PPE battery crafted by Merrill Armaments and consists of a silver and bronze celtic triskele with a trio of cut emeralds worth 1,000 credits each embedded in it. An optional circular ironwood case is offered with braided silver wire around the outside which makes up the connector. The casing will allow it to float if dropped into water and has the 75th Regiment Ranger Emblem etched into one side and a triskele etched into the other.

Payload: 60 PPE
Cost: 8,000 credits

Merrill Armaments PPE Magazine
These PPE batteries are designed to power technowizard weaponry and devices. Merrill City crafts the outer casing of these items from a burnished ironwood with the US Army Infantry 75th Regiment Ranger Emblem etched into each side. At one end are contacts made of gold. When opened its inner workings consist of a circuit board with five emeralds embedded inside a pentagram made of gold, an intricate celtic knotwork pattern of the same metal leads to each contact. PPE is regenerated at a rate of 2 per hour or 10/melee on a ley line, or a person who can use their PPE can replenish it. These magazines are designed to be the size and shape of long e-clips and will float if dropped into water.

Payload: 100 PPE
Cost: 12,000 credits

Merrill Armaments Heavy PPE Magazine
This device is noticeably heavier than the original version, (though it is the same size) as it contains two of the circuit boards (10 total emeralds) inside with spacers between the two made of gold. It recharges at a similar rate and method to the original. Batteries this size are normally used in the power armor and ground vehicles fielded by Merrill City. Being cautious sorts raised on military idioms most designers in Merrill City include slots for at least two of these in each vehicle or power armor and spares are often carried in pouches or attached containers of the power armor or vehicle.

Payload: 200 PPE
Cost: 24,000 credits

Merrill Armaments "Max" PPE Magazine
The heaviest PPE magazine designed by Merrill City that will fit in long e-clip sized magazine wells, there are three circuit boards with 5 emeralds each inside (15 total emeralds) spaced by gold braces.

Payload: 300 PPE
Cost: 36,000 credits.

Weapons Available from Merrill City:
Merrill Armaments "Swamp Stalker"
The Swamp Stalker is Merill Armament's first venture into modern energy weaponry and is an amalgam of design elements from Wilk's 457 Laser Pulse Rifle and the NEMA LGR-360 "Terror Stopper" Laser Grenade Rifle. This rifle is built compactly with wooden furniture and is loaded through a dual e-clip port in the stock as well as another long e-clip in front of the trigger guard. Visually it appears almost identical to the .30 Caliber M1 Carbine and fires a blue green laser. The wooden furniture is M.D.C due to the Ironwood spell and the weapon will float if dropped into water. The weapon has a bayonet mount, as well as mil. spec. rails for a variety of telescopic sights.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Stalker"
Weight: 6lbs
Damage:
S.D.C Damage: 5d6 per single shot, 1d6x10+10 per 3 round pulse.
M.D.C Damage: 3d6+2 per single shot, 1d6x10 per 3 round pulse.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Effective Range: 2,000 feet
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from integral laser targeting. (Good to 4000 feet). Total of +4 to aimed shot. (Laser Targeting from page 265 RUE).
Payload: 30 single shots per long e-clip, or 10 pulse. The Swamp Stalker has a dual long e-clip system inside the stock. (20 times as many S.D.C shots can be fired instead of M.D.C shots). A third long e-clip can be inserted in front of the trigger guard.
Cost: 60,000 credits

Optional Attachments:
Any of the optical attachments from RUE can be attached using the integral mounting hardware.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 M.D.C, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weight of the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict M.D.C.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Raider"
A natural outgrowth of the Swamp Stalker laser rifle this weapon is very similar however it incorporates a micro-missile launcher underneath the blue-green laser barrel from the Swamp Stalker design. In place of the long e-clip housing in front of the trigger guard is a magazine of 5 micro-missiles. The reduction in laser capacity for micro-missile firepower was considered to be an equitable trade off by both the designers and the end users of the weapon. The weapon almost looks as if it was a M1 Carbine mated to a 22 gauge magazine fed shotgun in over and under configuration save for a missing magazine for the .30 caliber rounds.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Raider"
Weight: 8lbs, 5lbs per micro-missile magazine
Damage (Laser):
S.D.C Damage: 5d6 per single shot, 1d6x10+10 per 3 round pulse.
M.D.C Damage: 3d6+2 per single shot, 1d6x10 per 3 round pulse.
Damage (Micro-missile): As per 15mm micro-missile type.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Effective Range (Laser): 2,000 feet
Effective Range (Micro-missile): Varies as per micro-missile.
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from integral long range laser targeting. (Good to 1.5 miles). Total of +4 to aimed shot. Micro missiles can gain +3 to strike from laser targeting if they have a laser guidance chip.
Payload: 30 single shots per long e-clip, or 10 pulse shots. The Raider has a dual long e-clip system inside the stock. (20 times as many S.D.C shots can be fired instead of M.D.C shots). The forward micro-missile magazine contains 10 missiles.
Cost: 85,000 credits.

15mm Micro-Missiles:
-Data Follows-

Optional Attachments:
Any of the optical attachments from RUE can be attached using the integral mounting hardware.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 M.D.C, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weight of the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict M.D.C.

Merrill Armaments "Leatherneck"
A weapon designed to look like the M1 Garand and utilizing ion technology recently retro-engineered from the M-160 assault rifle and made using the automated factories located at the core of Merrill City. This look was changed to disguise the technology base as well as offer an option that provided slightly more firepower per long e-clip than the Swamp Stalker system. The body of the weapon is made of ironwood and will float if dropped in water. Additional prototyping is being done to improve the energy use ratio of the laser weapons which are much preferred by Merrill City as a whole over ion technology. The Leatherneck rifle utilizes a dual e-clip system inside the buttstock with no foreward magazine; this weapon is considered an experiment in ion technology and is purchased mainly by those who want a weapon with some recoil and noise from their weapons.

Weight: 9lbs
Damage: 3d6 MD per single shot, 1d6x10 per 3 round multiple ion burst.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Effective Range: 2,000 feet
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from integral long range laser targeting. (Good to 4,000 feet). Total of +4 to aimed shot.
Payload: 30 shots short e-clip, 55 shots per long e-clip. (The weapon will hold two e-clips of whichever type in the stock).
Cost: 45,000 credits.

Optional Attachments:
Any of the optical attachments from RUE can be attached using the integral mounting hardware.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 MD, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weight of the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if it's high enough to inflict MD damage.

Merrill Armaments "Rocketeer"
This is Merrill City's infantry anti-armor solution, utilizing direct fire micro-missiles. It appears to be a Barrett XM500 long range sniper rifle with wooden furniture and an extended inclosed barrel shroud and two ten round box magazines, one in the rear in a bullpup configuration and the other in front of the trigger guard. It has an integrated long range laser targeting device (1.5 mile effective range) above the barrel concealed within the shroud. Micro-missiles are cold launched from the magazine to ignite after exiting the barrel. Included is the Ranger Combat Scope which incorporates the Telescopic and long range Thermal Imaging. A folding bipod is also built into the barrel shroud. The weapon will float if dropped in water due to its ironwood construction. No provision is made for the use of a bayonet.

Weight: 12lbs, 10lbs per micro-missile magazine.
Damage: As per 15mm micro-missile type, typically issued are Pattern 1D or 1E missiles.
Pattern 1D – 6D6 MD to a 5 foot radius or 2D6 MD out to an 18 foot radius in fragmentation mode, 2d4x10+15 MD per 3 round burst. Double the radius and raise damage to 4d6 MD with a three round burst in fragmentation mode.
Pattern 1E – 1D4x10 MD to a 3 foot blast radius, a three round burst does 3d4x10 MD to a six foot radius.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Effective Range: Varies by micro-missile; Pattern 1D has a range of 7,000 feet and 1E is 7,500 feet.
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from laser targeting with micro-missiles with a laser guidance chip.
Payload: 10 micro-missiles per detachable box magazine, for a total of 21 micro-missiles if carried with one in the chamber.
Cost: 100,000 credits

Merrill Armaments Bolt Rifle
This is Merrill City's version of the Kirn Lan'yanay Bolt rifle, using an M.D.C wood casing and barrel and similar propulsion to the original. Unlike the original it feeds from a box magazine and laser targeting as well as an attachment point for a bayonet underneath the barrel. It still utilizes highly compressed gas to fire hardwood bolts and is favored by many people who don't have a need for military level firepower and those who have problems with vampires. This is a good seller in the New West, though its sales pale in comparison to the TW variant.

Weight: 6lbs, 4lbs per magazine of 20 bolts.
Damage: 4d6 M.D.C per shot, 8d6 HP to vampires (staking is possible with a heart shot).
Rate of Fire: Standard
Effective Range: 1,600 feet.
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from integral laser targeting (4,000 foot range). Total of +4 to aimed shot.
Payload: 20 single shots per/magazine.
Cost: 20,000 credits, 200 for each magazine of hardwood bolts.

Optional Attachments:
Any of the optical attachments from RUE can be attached using the integral mounting hardware.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 M.D.C, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict M.D.C.

Merrill Armaments TW Bolt Rifle
A technowizard conversion of the Merrill Armaments Bolt Rifle, with the bolt magazine replaced with a 100 PPE capacity magazine. Though the rifle can also be recharged manually by a wizard or psychic if the magazine isn't present.

Initial PPE Cost: 300
Spells Needed: Create Wood (20), Power Bolt (20), Ironwood (50), and Telekinesis (8).
Physical Requirements: Broken or case of a semiautomatic rifle (Merrill City uses custom fabricated cases) for magical conversion, large rose quartz crystal worth at least 1,000 credits for the firing mechanism, large green quartz crystal worth at least 1,500 for creation of the wooden hardwood bolts.
Creation Time: Roughly 50 hours.
Weight: 6lbs
Damage: 4d6 SDC or 4d6 MD per hardwood bolt (user selectable). 8d6 HP damage to vampires per bolt.
Rate of Fire: Single Fire
Effective Range: 3,000 feet.
Bonus: +1 to strike on aimed shot due to superior balance and ergonomics, +3 from integral laser targeting (Merrill City version). +4 total strike bonus on an aimed strike.
Payload: 20 shots
PPE cost to Charge/Recharge: 20 PPE or 40 ISP will load/reload the rifle with another 20 bolts.
PPE Magazine: 100 PPE (each magazine costs 12,000 credits), a 200 PPE Magazine costs 24,000 credits, a 300 PPE Magazine costs 36,000 credits.
Cost: 45,000 credits in Merrill City, 60-75 thousand in most other places, 100-200 thousand on the Black Market. The rifle can go for 3-5x that much in territories menaced by vampires such as the New West.

Optional Attachments:
Any of the optical attachments from RUE can be attached using the integral mounting hardware.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 M.D.C, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict M.D.C.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Ravager"
This shotgun is based on one made by Kel-tec from before the coming of the Cataclysm, which has a 18.5" cylinder bore barrel over two tubes containing seven rounds each and a pump mechanism. This weapon is however designed to be much more versatile than the original and is still only 26.1" long. However this weapon is set up like the "Swamp Viper" with a burnished ironwood case around the two tubes and the barrel in a pyramid shape and will float if dropped in water. Between the tubes and the barrel there is a laser targeting mechanism. It will fire standard 12 gauge shotgun shells, Triax Pump Rifle shells, Bandit Big Bore Shells and 18.5mm mini grenades. The user can switch between the two tubes with a thumb accessible lever. The weapon has a Horror Factor of 12 when leveled at someone who knows what it can do – especially as the target never knows what type of ammunition is being leveled at them. Unfortunately the weapon is too short for effective use with a bayonet.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Ravager"
Weight: 9lbs
Damage:
Shotgun Shell: 4d6 SDC to 4' radius. Solid Slug: 5d6 SDC MD Explosive Shell (Fragmentary): 2d6 MD to a 6' radius. MD Explosive Shell (Plasma): 3d6 MD to a 3' radius. Pump Rifle Round: 4d6 MDC
Big Bore Round: 2d4 MDC, a strength of 18 or better is required to fire the weapon using this round; those with less will lose one attack and be knocked on their butts. Humans and Human sized D-bees must roll vs the firer's attack roll on a 20 sided dice at -6 to remain standing. Even on a successful roll the target is staggered, knocked to their knees and lose initiative if they had it. A failed roll means the target is knocked off his feet and flies back 8-10' before hitting the ground. The victim loses initiative (if he had it), is momentarily dazed (reduce all combat bonuses by half for one melee round per each round he endures). Even characters in M.D.C body armor will suffer the above penalties. Those in power armor, full conversion cyborgs, robots, giants, supernatural beings (demons, metamorphed dragons, etc) aren't likely to be knocked off their feet (+6 to save vs knock down) but will lose initiative and are staggered each shot.
Rate of Fire: Single Fire
Effective Range: 300' for SDC shotgun shell or slug or Big Bore Shotgun round, 500' for MD explosive or plasma rounds, 1,600' for pump rifle rounds.
Bonus: +1 to strike on aimed shot due to superior balance and ergonomics, +3 from integral laser targeting. +4 total bonus on an aimed strike.
Payload: Two 7 round tubes, plus a single round in the chamber.
Cost: 45,000 credits for the gun, 120 credits per Big Bore Round (16,000 for a gross ((box of 144 rounds)), 200 credits per Pump Rifle Round.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Viper"
A redesigned PLP-20 Police Special Laser Pistol with an underbarrel single shot micromissile launcher. The pistol has burnished ironwood hardware and sheath around both barrels giving it a somewhat boxed in though classy and intimidating look. In keeping with Merrill Armaments' design decisions it has both an S.D.C and M.D.C laser setting and also included in the sheath is a laser sight. This pistol will float if dropped into water and fires a blue-green laser. An underbarrel mount is available and generally features an underbarrel flashlight or close combat blade.

Merrill Armaments "Swamp Viper"
Weight: 3lbs
Damage (Laser):
S.D.C Damage: 2d6 or 5d6 per triple pulse burst.
M.D.C Damage: 2d6 or 5d6 per triple pulse burst.
Damage (Micro-Missile): As per 15mm micro-missile type.
Effective Range (Laser): 1,000 feet
Effective Range (Micro-missile): Varies as per micro-missile.
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 to strike from long range laser targeting. (Good out to 1.5 miles). Total of +4 to aimed shots. Micro missiles can gain +3 to strike from laser targeting if they have a laser guidance chip.
Payload: 21 single shots or 7 bursts per standard e-clip, 42 single shots or 14 bursts per long e-clip. 1 micro-missile.
Cost: 30,000 credits.

15mm Micro-Missiles:
-Data Follows-

Optional Attachments:
Underbarrel Flash Light – the Merrill City underbarrel flashlight has an ironwood exterior and utilizes high intensity LEDs.

Steel Tree Slashing Blade: 1d6 M.D.C, costs an additional 300 credits and adds 1.5lbs to the weight of the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict M.D.C.

Merrill Armaments "Protector Palm Pistol"
Designed to mimic the appearance of the pre-1900s Chicago Protector palm pistol, this segment of the Sportsman line is marketed for personal protection for women and gamblers in the New West. It was designed to be easily palmed and concealed on one's person, unfortunately this effectively tailors the weapon to assassins and other members of the criminal element as well as being excellent for its intended purpose of self defense (+10% to the Concealment/Palming skills). The casing is made of ironwood and all the internals are designed to be virtually undetectable by most security systems similar to the Wilk's 101 Pocket Laser. It uses a retro-engineered and improved form of the silver dollar sized battery from the same device as well. The Protector Palm Pistol often goes for three to five times its MSRP due to supply not meeting demand.

Weight: 8oz
Damage:
SDC: 5d6
MDC: 2d6 or 5d6 per triple pulse burst.
Effective Range: 120 feet
Payload: 12 single shots or 4 triple pulse bursts, 20 times as many SDC shots.
Cost: 15,000 credits.

Merrill Armaments "Old World Sportsman"
This rifle is designed to fulfill the desires for an elegant hunting rifle for the local dinosaur hunters as well as the retro styling desired in the New West. This heavy bolt action rifle is designed with a full length mannlicher stock and buyers choice of either scout style mounts for optics or standard mounts. It's ironwood stock has a removable end cap for the mounting of a bayonet though it doesn't include a laser targeting device. It fires the pump rifle round from a five round removable box magazine. A case in the stock contains a cleaning kit for maintenance of the rifle or a small survival kit.

Merrill Armaments "Old World Sportsman"
Weight: 10lbs
Damage: 4d6 MDC
Effective Range: 1,600 feet
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot or +2 to aimed shot for a custom rifle.
Payload: 5 round removable box magazine.
Cost: 15,000 credits or 20,000 for a custom rifle tailored to the end user, 200 credits per pump rifle shell, 100 credits per empty magazine.

Optional Attachments:
All optical sights from RUE can be mounted on the rifle.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 MDC, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict MDC.

Merrill Armaments "Old World Auto-Pistol"
This weapon is designed to match the "Old World Sportsman" rifle, firing the same pump pistol/rifle round as many Triax weapons to boot. The weapon was manufactured to look like the Bergmann pistols from the early 1900s, and features a 5 or 10 round removable box magazine in front of the trigger guard. An integral laser targeting device is built into the pistol grip.

Merrill Armaments "Old World Auto-Pistol"
Weight: 5lbs
Damage: 4d6 MDC
Effective Range: 800 feet
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot, +3 from integrated laser sight for a total of +4 to aimed shot.
Payload: 5 or 10 round removable box magazine.
Cost: 12,500 credits, 200 credits per pump pistol shell, 100 credits per empty five round magazine, 200 credits for extended 10 round magazine.

Merrill Armaments "TW Sportsman"
This is a technowizard variant of the Old World Sportsman's rifle, though it fires bolts of TK force. The user works the bolt and focuses their PPE into the weapon to reload. A container in the stock can either contain a survival kit or an optional PPE Magazine allowing those who don't have a large amount of PPE to reload the weapon several times instead of once. Its ironwood stock is similar to the Old World Sportsman and has a removable end cap which allows mounting of the standard bayonet. The TW Sportsman's long range and excellent damage makes the weapon almost ideal for snipers and it is generally the weapon issued to Designated Marksmen at the squad level and Snipers. Removal of the magazine equipment and a smaller barrel cuts down on weight, a lighter stock is also used as recoil is not a factor.

Merrill Armaments "TW Sportsman"
Initial PPE Cost: 120
Spells Needed: Telekinesis (8) and Power Bolt (20)
Physical Requirements: Rose quartz crystal worth at least 3,000 credits. Broken or SDC etc rifle to convert. Merrill Armaments uses a Sportsman model SDC rifle.
Creation Time: 20 hours.
Weight: 6lbs
Damage: 6d6 MDC
Effective Range: 4,000 feet
Bonus: +1 to strike with an aimed shot or +2 to aimed shot for a custom rifle.
Payload: 40 shots
PPE Cost to Recharge: 40 PPE or 80 ISP will reload the weapon with 40 shots. Alternatively 20 PPE or 40 ISP will charge the magazine with 20 shots.
PPE Magazine: A 100 PPE Magazine costs an additional 12,000 credits, a 200 PPE Magazine costs an additional 24,000 credits.
Cost: 65,000 credits or 80,000 for a custom rifle tailored to the end user. 12,000 credits for a 100 PPE Magazine, 200 PPE Magazine is 24,000 credits, a 300 PPE Magazine is 36,000 credits.

Optional Attachments:
All optional sights from RUE can be mounted on the rifle.

Steel Tree Sword-Bayonet: 2d4 MDC, costs an additional 1,200 credits and adds 3lbs to the weapon. Characters with robotic or supernatural strength add their normal punch damage if high enough to inflict MDC.

Merrill City Vehicles:
Merrill City produces generic versions of most vehicles popular in Dinosaur Swamp, save for those extremely large vehicles that would adversely affect the environment. They also produce hovercycles and various forms of helicopters. Most vehicular frames and body panels made for their unique vehicles are created with a variant of the Create Wood Spell that makes sheets of readily shaped hardwood that easily meld together with the use of another spell. Ironwood is then used to turn the vehicles into megadamage structures. Inexpensive versions are sometimes offered without the ironwood conversion though these are quite rare. High tech components are crafted with the city's autofactories after raw materials are imported or sourced in other ways and then installed to make vehicles unique to the mountains of the Dinosaur Swamp.

Cosmos TW Tiltrotor
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YrdIcr-hhPI/U ... ccars4.JPG)
The Cosmos is a light four tilt rotor flying vehicle designed for quick movement through the tight environs of the Dinosaur Swamp. These flying vehicles don't have the clogging problems of hovercycles and their ironwood construction allows them to float if they're landed on water though the vehicle is designed to land on solid ground with a pair of reinforced skids (-10% to piloting if landing in or taking off from water). A pilot and one passenger can fit inside the cockpit along with their personal kit. The vehicle has become quite the rage in TW circles, as it appeals to their personal style and it has unmatched versatility. The vehicle can easily land on the roofs of 90% of the buildings in Merrill City which are all MD structures.

Type: Personal Helicopter Aircraft
Crew: 1 + 1 Passenger
MDC/Armor By Location:
Main Body: 150
Wings (4): 75 each
Skids (2): 100 each
Tail Assembly: 100
Tiltrotors* (4): 75 each

*The tiltrotors are small targets and difficult to hit. An attacker must make a called shot to hit and is at -4 to strike.
**Destroying one of the tiltrotors will unbalance the aircraft; reducing max speed by a third and causing it to wobble in flight for -3 to dodge, -3 to strike, and -25% on piloting checks. Destroying both on one side will knock the aircraft from the sky. If one is destroyed on each side penalties become -6 to dodge, -3 to strike and -50% to piloting checks! A smart pilot will land the vehicle as soon as possible in this event until repairs can be performed the vehicle is quite unlikely to fly.
*** Destroying the main body will send the aircraft plummeting from the sky and turn it into smouldering wreckage. Roll under piloting skill at -40% penalty for a successful crash landing (the helicopter is wrecked but crew and passengers take only 2d6 SDC damage from the impact.

Speed: 100 mph, double on a ley line.
Height: 10 feet
Width: 6 feet
Length: 15 feet
Weight: 1,000lbs
Cargo: 10 cubic feet in a locked case underneath the pilot's compartment accessible from outside the vehicle, a locker behind each seat with room for a long gun, a pistol and a survival kit.
Power Systems: A TW magazine with 300 PPE offers 24 hours of flight time; there are slots for two aboard the vehicle and they can be switched quickly from the pilot's position. The vehicle is also set up so the pilot or a passenger can activate it for two hours flight time for 25PPE or 50ISP.
Built in PPE Battery: A built in reserve holds 500 PPE, which is enough for 40 hours of flight time but is specifically intended for special TW features of the vehicle. The vehicle and features can also be powered directly by the operator's PPE or ISP. The battery recharges at a rate of 10/melee on a ley line, or 2 per hour otherwise.
Cost: 525,000 credits; additional 300 PPE magazines cost 36,000 credits each, 200 PPE Magazines which provide 16 hours of flight time are 24,000 credits each, 100 PPE Magazines provide 8 hours of flight time and are 12,000 credits each.

TW Lifesaver Parachute:
This device is perhaps the most ironically named and slowest technowizard flying machine ever created. Merrill City issues these to paratroopers, pilots and most everyone else who might need to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft and get down safely. It consists of an ironwood back board sheathed in dinosaur hide with dinosaur hide straps with ironwood clasps that is worn around the shoulders and buckles around the chest, waist and legs much like a climbing harness. The user pulls a ripcord located in the left shoulder strap to activate the device. Underneath the dinosaur hide cover is a hardwood board turned MDC with what looks like a simple line drawing of a sea gull worked out in gems with the diamond in the center of the elongated V shape and the other gems making up the wings. Max altitude is 1,000 feet, and max speed is 35mph (56kmh) and the device can hover. Merrill City subsidizes most of the cost for this particular item by having the technowizard students at the college make them in class.

Initial PPE Cost: 120
Spells Needed: Fly (15), Energy Bolt (5).
Physical Requirements: Small nicely cut diamond worth 2,000 credits, five small quartz crystals worth 100 credits each, three emeralds worth 1,000 credits each.
Creation Time: 15 hours.
MDC of the Device:
Backboard – 36 MDC
Straps (6)* – 12 MDC
Duration: 6 minutes per activation.
Weight: 5lbs
Activation: 15 PPE / 30 ISP
Payload: 60 PPE total in built in storage, or the user can activate the device from their own PPE.
Cost: 75,000 credits on the black market.

*Each strap is a small target, and requires a called shot at -6 to hit.

15mm Micro-Missiles
(with thanks to Taalismn of the palladium-megaverse forums, borrowed with permission from Paladin Steel | viewtopic.php?f=8&t=93286)
Range:
Pattern-1A 5,700 ft
Pattern-1B 6,000 ft
Pattern-1C 6,000 ft
Pattern-1D 7,000 ft
Pattern-1E 7,500 ft
Damage/Bonuses:
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
Pattern-1E---1d4x10 MD to 3 ft blast radius
Bonuses:
Pattern-1A (None) Spin-Stabilized
Pattern-1B (None) Gyro-Compass Chip
Pattern-1C (+1 to strike, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses. The Pattern-1C can also be set to be a ‘beam rider’, following a laser illuminator ‘painted’ on the target for an extra +3 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, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses. 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.
Pattern-1E(+4 to strike, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses, Same ‘beamrider’ capability as with Pattern-1D. ) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip, Infra-Red Sensing Chip.
Cost:
Pattern-1A: 25 credits per Micro-missile
Pattern-1B: 32 credits per Micro-missile
Pattern-1C: 60 credits per Micro-missile
Pattern-1D: 95 credits per Micro-missile
Pattern-1E: 220 credits per Micro-missile

[Godogma]

Admittedly some of it I borrowed with permission from taalismn (the 15mm micro missiles I used in several of my designs), and he sort of inspired me with his Paladin Steel stuff. Which I intend on using as another country in my campaign. This stuff is all stuff I made for my campaign over the course of a day or so.

As for the comment in your sig I completely banned cheetos while the other members of the group were actually touching my books a long time ago. I think it's actually part of our gaming culture at this point because Cheetos never seem to show up at the gaming table anymore and I know several of my buds like Cheetos... I like cheetos... but only the crunchy ones.

[Godogma]

Sorry if I was being silly earlier, I'd drank a few beers and was feeling kinda silly (read really buzzed) at that point but my general sentiment still stands. XD

[taalismn]

Proud supporter of this kingdom.

[Godogma]

Merrill Infrastructure

TW Tectonic Entity Turbine Generator
This device is based on a Pre-Rifts gas turbine power plant design unearthed in one of the college libraries rescued right after the Great Cataclysm. Inside the device which appears to be a simple gas turbine is a tectonic entity (several tectonic entities in extremely large ones). This is their standard method of generating power for technowizard vehicles that aren't equipped with PPE magazine systems. They also sell these to other communities for power generation and supply.

Every four months the spells of the generator require 150 PPE, and every two years the generator requires servicing, costing anywhere between a few thousand credits to 20 thousand credits depending on size and number of tectonic entities being kept happy and productive within the machine. Each generator has a slot or pair of slots for PPE Magazines, which can keep the spells maintained indefinitely.

Electricity Production:
Man Portable - 10 mWh power supply (suitable for powering base camps, small towns, power armor, and vehicles)
Truck Portable - 50 mWh power supply. (suitable for powering small towns and burgeoning communities or factories and the like)
Small Building Sized - 100 mWh power supply.
Bunker Sized - 200 mWh power supply.

Cost:
Man Portable - 2 million credits.
Truck Portable - 4 million credits.
Small Building - 6 million credits.
Bunker Sized - 8 million credits.

I'm unsure precisely whether these figures need reworking - some of it is guess work but a lot of it is based on the Glittermount and I've also looked at the figures available on power consumption per month in the USA and such to try and make the figures reasonable. Costs are based on data from sourcebook 1.

I welcome any input.

Power Storage
Merrill has developed power storage solutions based on the mechanics behind e-clip technology to store electricity so it doesn't need to be consumed almost as soon as it is produced. The simplest of these solutions are room sized e-clip banks, or even buildings full of these rooms which store energy "wastage" from whatever amount is not consumed from the power plant.

(I'm not sure how to price these or the mechanics I should use behind them, Merrill City imports e-clips from Phase World and quite likely has some manufacturing capability there... But taalismn is currently weathering a storm and he's the one I usually bounce ideas off of before I post them.)

[jaymz]

Nice work at first glance. I'll take a more in depth look later.

[Godogma]

The fact is Phase World weaponry isn't all that far in advance of the Rifts main line, it even outstrips Phase World in some aspects (that's a direct quote from the Phase World book). Merrill Armaments hasn't duplicated the HI-Lasers, they just duplicated the solar cell recharger (and considering I have a solar cell recharger that will keep a full sized boat battery charged and in working order or keep my car battery topped off that's as thin as your average Rifter and about 18" long by 6" wide that's not a stretch at all). Everything else is essentially NEMA technology or reverse engineered local stuff from other manufacturers. Taalismn and I were talking about how to best incorporate his stuff into my campaign and I borrowed micro-missiles from him with his permission.

The PPE Magazines are indeed patterned off the Magical Sheath. Merrill Armaments is based out of the Frank D. Merrill ranger camp, where in my campaign a small automated NEMA factory was located and its also where the Rangers were testing their new kit and all... In reality I should rework the "Leatherneck" and my other weapons to coincide energy use wise now that I've thought more on it - they'd have had the ion technology the marines used there since before the Cataclysm after all.

The Rangers and the small NEMA force rescued the survivors of the area and essentially looted the two nearby colleges of useful stuff when the Cataclysm began and then they built a community. I have pages of stuff I've worked up for the campaign that isn't Player/GM sensitive and is mostly background that I intend to post when it's not in notes form.

I'd rather players and GM's get the chance to enjoy my work on the net than it languish in the publishing hell that I understand Rifter submissions go through.

As for how I'd react to the rest of North America having their technology when it's bought and sold around? Well, they could have had it a long time ago by using Telemechanics on old weapons that have been kicking around since Chaos Earth and in lots of cases the Coalition has already crafted knock offs of it. I've always thought that the E-clip recharging stuff was massively overpriced, especially when I saw the figures in my copy of Rifts Black Market.

These items don't really interfere with the idea of making money by selling e-clip charging; they charge a single clip at the time and aren't really all that fast... I suppose the kinetic charger is actually better than the others but it's just a logical extrapolation of stuff that's already in the game and present on Rifts Earth... Just stuff to help the adventuring type or merc who may be somewhere away from a vehicle with a mounted e-clip charger or whatnot (an operator can rig one for around 1,200 credits of parts).

A really crappy laser bow can be extrapolated into a good method of charging e-clips for better weapons. So... I did, also it has a solid basis in fact just like the solar charger. I have flash lights and even a battery charger you can use by manually rotating a handle, so my thoughts were "why not e-clips?"

[Godogma]

I'm not interested in reworking the game to make it "realistic" if there's super science I'm not arguing with the super science of the various authors... I'm willing to ignore realism for cinematic fun. If I can accept the fact people have power armor, the Coalition can magically support its amazingly sized military with very little arable land and continue to make millions of weapons and eclips a year not to mention power armor, EBA and tons of new vehicles and such then I'm not going to argue with a solar charger being able to recharge an e-clip.

Also, there were solar powered robots in Sourcebook 1... if it can power a robot for 8 hours after dark and all day beforehand with Robotic strength and all their various parts what's to stop it from charging a single piddly e-clip?

In Rifts Black Market the solar powered e-clip charger can charge 1d4+1 eclips per 6 hours of sunlight and holds a max of 48 hours worth... But that takes several days to capture. And also only takes 30 minutes to charge them. So I think the version I posited is reasonable.

[Godogma]

Nuclear chargers and Gasoline chargers are right there with it as well. Actually in the operator class I believe it says he can make an e-clip charger in most vehicles for 1,200 credits. Not sure that it specified it had to be any particular type.

[Killer Cyborg]

I include home-brew stuff based off of the Laser Bow in my Putus Caseus Armaments thread... but that thread's not intended to be serious, but rather to highlight some of the absurdities hiding in canon.
The Laser Bow being one of the worst offenders, because it's a bow that has no PS requirement, but that generates 50 car batteries worth of energy every time you pull the string.
That means that it's generating one heck of a lot more energy than is being put into it, which means that it could be easily rigged as a perpetual-motion device (as I show with my Perpetual Motion Power Plant in that thread).

The issue isn't just a "how could that possibly work?", or even a "That could NOT possibly work!," but also a very strong "IF that could work, then the entire setting would be different."
Because IF the technology exists to make energy generation THAT powerful for only 8,000 credits, then there's no reason to buy a nuclear power source costing millions of credits for any suit of robot or power armor, no reason why it would take large resources to recharge E-Clips, and no reason why any and every town couldn't have it's own portable power plant for electrical generation.

It not only lacks realism, through it's inability to simulate real-world physics, but also lacks verisimilitude, because it doesn't' fit in with the rest of the setting.
It's akin to a zombie apocalypse setting where it's discovered that rapping a zombie on the shin with a wooden stick could cure them and restore them to their normal state... but for some unexplained reason, there are still hordes of zombies everywhere, and precious few humans.
Or like a Mad-Max type setting, where it's openly discovered that any car can be easily (and cheaply) modified to run on normal air, but for some reason people still fight over gasoline.
It just doesn't make sense.

OF COURSE, each individual has a different threshold of disbelief, and the fact that the Laser Bow (and its implications) exceeds my own personal threshold by thousands of time doesn't mean that you shouldn't have fun with it if you it doesn't exceed your own threshold.
I'm not telling you how to play your game, simply elaborating on why the item in question (and all relevant technologies) are so objectionable to so many of us.

[Godogma]

It does have a strength requirement actually - it's just not that high... Its a 12 if I recall correctly. I'd have to find my copy of spirit west to check for it and its somewhere "in the stack" at this point. (I checked, has a Strength requirement of 12).

As for it generating 50 car batteries worth of energy I don't believe it states anywhere how much energy is involved per shot of an energy weapon. Or how much in real world terms an E-Clip can hold. Rifts isn't GURPS, and doesn't strive for that level of realism - or much of any level of realism.

It SHOULDN'T take large amounts of resources to recharge e-clips, the cost for the nuclear E-Clip recharger in the Black Market book doesn't make any sense, especially since a nuclear reactor for a human sized robot with a 10 year life costs 8 million credits and the parts to add 12 E-Clip charging slots to it would cost another 14,400 credits plus however much the operator would charge you to fabricate the charging station... A 65 million credit price tag just makes no sense - essentially the Black Market is padding the price by roughly 7-800% because they can and people evidently don't have any choice but spend that much in some places.

Also it has a random lifespan... the write up doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense at all in Black Market.

There's another price for a nuclear recharger in one of the Mercenaries books but I don't have stats for it right offhand or even know its location - if anyone does I'd be very interested in that!

[taalismn]

And just imagine if you applied that same technology to peddle machines.
Rent bicycles and peddle rickshaw sedans to tourists to your community. Don't tell them they're basically paying you for the privilege of charging your milita's/weapons retailers' e-clips for you, courtesy of that little black box attached to the gearing.

[Godogma]

And just imagine if you applied that same technology to peddle machines.
Rent bicycles and peddle rickshaw sedans to tourists to your community. Don't tell them they're basically paying you for the privilege of charging your milita's/weapons retailers' e-clips for you, courtesy of that little black box attached to the gearing.

Thanks for the idea taalismn, I'm now working on a bike attachment that charges empty E-clips while you ride... Bike's are extremely popular in the dinosaur swamp and you've just given me a reason to make them more so.

[Killer Cyborg]

It does have a strength requirement actually - it's just not that high... Its a 12 if I recall correctly. I'd have to find my copy of spirit west to check for it and its somewhere "in the stack" at this point. (I checked, has a Strength requirement of 12).

As for it generating 50 car batteries worth of energy I don't believe it states anywhere how much energy is involved per shot of an energy weapon. Or how much in real world terms an E-Clip can hold.

CB1 states that an E-Clip is the equivalent of 1,000 car batteries.
The E-Clip on the Laser holds 20 shots, each of which inflicts 2d6 MD.
1,000 car batteries worth of total storage/20 shots = 50 car batteries per shot.

But, as I said, if you don't mind, then by all means play through!

It SHOULDN'T take large amounts of resources to recharge e-clips, the cost for the nuclear E-Clip recharger in the Black Market book doesn't make any sense, especially since a nuclear reactor for a human sized robot with a 10 year life costs 8 million credits and the parts to add 12 E-Clip charging slots to it would cost another 14,400 credits plus however much the operator would charge you to fabricate the charging station... A 65 million credit price tag just makes no sense - essentially the Black Market is padding the price by roughly 7-800% because they can and people evidently don't have any choice but spend that much in some places.

I agree that the nuclear recharger doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
There was a thread or two about recharging E-Clips recently, where we examined various recharging devices.

[Godogma]

I agree that the nuclear recharger doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
There was a thread or two about recharging E-Clips recently, where we examined various recharging devices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't see that thread, I'd be interested in it if you have a link. But the people who rant about operators not being able to tap into a vehicle's electrical system or power armor's electrical system just because it has a nuclear power source attached to one end of it would likely drive me ****... Honestly, electricity is electricity and as someone who has just spent the day helping install a 10 foot bar of electrical plug ins for a kitchen I'd just like to say - turn off the breaker you moron, then attach your newly fabricated e-clip charger into the power supply and turn it back on. EDIT: Or in the case of a vehicle or power armor generator you disconnect that section of the wiring before you attach the connectors for the e-clip charger. Or make sure the thing is powered down; same general principle.

Same advice I give you in real life, if you're tinkering with electricity turn the damn breaker off to the section you're working on. It's not a difficult concept.

[Killer Cyborg]

I agree that the nuclear recharger doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
There was a thread or two about recharging E-Clips recently, where we examined various recharging devices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't see that thread, I'd be interested in it if you have a link. But the people who rant about operators not being able to tap into a vehicle's electrical system or power armor's electrical system just because it has a nuclear power source attached to one end of it would likely drive me ****... Honestly, electricity is electricity and as someone who has just spent the day helping install a 10 foot bar of electrical plug ins for a kitchen I'd just like to say - turn off the breaker you moron, then attach your newly fabricated e-clip charger into the power supply and turn it back on. EDIT: Or in the case of a vehicle or power armor generator you disconnect that section of the wiring before you attach the connectors for the e-clip charger. Or make sure the thing is powered down; same general principle.

Same advice I give you in real life, if you're tinkering with electricity turn the damn breaker off to the section you're working on. It's not a difficult concept.

Here's one specifically about the Rifts Black Market recharge... although it meandered and got locked.
viewtopic.php?p=2573361#p2573361

Here's one about recharging in general:
viewtopic.php?p=2532707#p2532707

My general stance is this:
Using real-world science, we don't know of ANY way to store the power of 1,000 car batteries into something the size of an E-Clip.
We do know that Rifts E-Clips are expensive to charge, and that they can explode if overcharged (at least in some cases).
So what makes the most sense to me is to assume that E-Clips don't work exactly like normal batteries, and that there's more involved in charging them than we would expect.
This could be parts, it could be machinery, it could be skills, it could be scarcity, or a combination of all of the above... but there's some reason why the prices are what they are.

Opinions, naturally, vary.

[Godogma]

I agree that the nuclear recharger doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
There was a thread or two about recharging E-Clips recently, where we examined various recharging devices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't see that thread, I'd be interested in it if you have a link. But the people who rant about operators not being able to tap into a vehicle's electrical system or power armor's electrical system just because it has a nuclear power source attached to one end of it would likely drive me ****... Honestly, electricity is electricity and as someone who has just spent the day helping install a 10 foot bar of electrical plug ins for a kitchen I'd just like to say - turn off the breaker you moron, then attach your newly fabricated e-clip charger into the power supply and turn it back on. EDIT: Or in the case of a vehicle or power armor generator you disconnect that section of the wiring before you attach the connectors for the e-clip charger. Or make sure the thing is powered down; same general principle.

Same advice I give you in real life, if you're tinkering with electricity turn the damn breaker off to the section you're working on. It's not a difficult concept.

Here's one specifically about the Rifts Black Market recharge... although it meandered and got locked.
viewtopic.php?p=2573361#p2573361

Here's one about recharging in general:
viewtopic.php?p=2532707#p2532707

My general stance is this:
Using real-world science, we don't know of ANY way to store the power of 1,000 car batteries into something the size of an E-Clip.
We do know that Rifts E-Clips are expensive to charge, and that they can explode if overcharged (at least in some cases).
So what makes the most sense to me is to assume that E-Clips don't work exactly like normal batteries, and that there's more involved in charging them than we would expect.
This could be parts, it could be machinery, it could be skills, it could be scarcity, or a combination of all of the above... but there's some reason why the prices are what they are.

Opinions, naturally, vary.

Actually flatline posted a plausible theory of how e-clips could be manufactured - he also pointed out that we don't currently have the technology to do it. *shrug* In the first topic that meandered and got locked; which I had read. The second one I haven't read.

Seems if you have an hour you can charge 8 clips at a time with the 790,000 credit one in Merc Ops... and it has a guaranteed 12 year life span. The charger in Black Market has now been tossed or superseded by technology that was published years before it came out... I believe whoever wrote it was trying to be deliberately anti-power creep but as a net result created a book full of nerfed technology. It also only weighs 15lbs vs 100lbs. Seems we have a very clear winner there.

The only fragment of the Black Market that makes anything is Bandito Arms and they have the production capability of Area 51... Which means they can churn out SAMAS variants, they can obviously make decent weapons... yet they mysteriously just don't...

Pretty much I accept the fact that Big Bore weapons they sell ammo for (to the people who are dumb enough to buy them) and make their money that way... But there would be a lot of disinterest in the brand for most everything else they produce. I see a lot of rewriting in my future to make them competitive in the market.

My main theory of why Rifts e-clips are expensive to recharge is because the economy in the books is shot to hell and if you worry too much about it you'll never have fun playing the game. Also, people charge what the market will bear and everyone needs power to fuel their weapons and often their very survival. I added in methods of doing so that aren't atrociously expensive to address what I saw as a big problem in the game. Yes, in my games this will have a net effect of reducing the costs for recharging e-clips eventually and it has a side effect of making laser weapons more affordable which I like.

Not that they're massively expensive in canon Rifts anyway.

[Killer Cyborg]

Seems if you have an hour you can charge 8 clips at a time with the 790,000 credit one in Merc Ops... and it has a guaranteed 12 year life span. The charger in Black Market has now been tossed or superseded by technology that was published years before it came out... I believe whoever wrote it was trying to be deliberately anti-power creep but as a net result created a book full of nerfed technology. It also only weighs 15lbs vs 100lbs. Seems we have a very clear winner there.

Yup.

[taalismn]

And just imagine if you applied that same technology to peddle machines.
Rent bicycles and peddle rickshaw sedans to tourists to your community. Don't tell them they're basically paying you for the privilege of charging your milita's/weapons retailers' e-clips for you, courtesy of that little black box attached to the gearing.

Thanks for the idea taalismn, I'm now working on a bike attachment that charges empty E-clips while you ride... Bike's are extremely popular in the dinosaur swamp and you've just given me a reason to make them more so.

And you can have stationary rigs in place across the city...Wanna work off your bartab? Hop in the rig and do an Iron Man leg's worth of bicycling.
Wanna save power at the laundromat? Jump on the treadmill and get some work on your legs.
Since, on Rifts Earth, if you ain't physically fit, you're either bionic, robotic, mystical or dead, it's a good deal.

[Killer Cyborg]

And you can have stationary rigs in place across the city...Wanna work off your bartab? Hop in the rig and do an Iron Man leg's worth of bicycling.
Wanna save power at the laundromat? Jump on the treadmill and get some work on your legs.

I've had the same idea for the real world, but our electricity generation tech isn't quite there yet.

[taalismn]

Merrill Armaments PPE Magazine
These PPE batteries are designed to power technowizard weaponry and devices. Merrill City crafts the outer casing of these items from a burnished ironwood with the US Army Infantry 75th Regiment Ranger Emblem etched into each side. At one end are contacts made of gold. When opened its inner workings consist of a circuit board with five emeralds embedded inside a pentagram made of gold, an intricate celtic knotwork pattern of the same metal leads to each contact. PPE is regenerated at a rate of 2 per hour or 10/melee on a ley line, or a person who can use their PPE can replenish it. These magazines are designed to be the size and shape of long e-clips and will float if dropped into water.

Payload: 100 PPE
Cost: 12,000 credits

Is this a typo or an actual property of the PPE-clip(and the others in the series). Because if it's not a typo, the cost of my 'Regenerator' TW Small Arms just plunged by a factor of 200%)

[Godogma]

According to the TW Magical Sheath the emeralds regain 2 PPE per hour or 10 per melee on a leyline... I based mine off the sheath, which I assume you did as well? As for the Regenerator small arms how did you figure the prices?

[taalismn]

According to the TW Magical Sheath the emeralds regain 2 PPE per hour or 10 per melee on a leyline... I based mine off the sheath, which I assume you did as well? As for the Regenerator small arms how did you figure the prices?

I may be using cheaper quartz and pricier mechanisms...and I used the TW generators under the original Technowizardry rules(examples of TW devices and scaling accordingly). Well, PS -IS- fairly new at TW design.
Guess we're going emerald prospecting!

[Godogma]

I use Rifter #2, at least there's a lot fewer "GM needs to rule" with that system, and also the Gems somewhat line up with the Stone Master and other such things instead of being like the RUE. (That's a vastly overcomplicated system that I tossed).

[taalismn]

I use Rifter #2, at least there's a lot fewer "GM needs to rule" with that system, and also the Gems somewhat line up with the Stone Master and other such things instead of being like the RUE. (That's a vastly overcomplicated system that I tossed).

There may be a revolution in the works over at Paladin Steel TechnoMagical(Because using 'Industrial Light and Magic' brings out a legal haunting by the ghosts of corporate lawyers), then.

[Godogma]

Grrr, looks like I just lost a good portion of what I was about to post for Merrill Armaments, I've got to reconstruct from a corrupt file now... And some of those vehicles were an unmitigated pain in the arse to stat. Back to the drawing board.

Thankfully I was able to recover the stuff I had already posted from the board here.

[Slight001]

Google drive is your friend.

[Godogma]

Google drive is also not the best thing in the world, when you've already saved the items - which I had several times and yet the document is missing a lot of stuff that I'd already posted to the forum as well as stuff I hadn't yet... It would have uploaded the most recent save of the file or at least that's my understanding; and I'd still be out my time and effort working it up?

Or were you suggesting working on the stuff on Google Drive/Docs exclusively?

[Slight001]

I use google drive for all of my documents. I've had more then my fair share of issues with lost work. Google docs auto saves as you type which means less retyping.

[Aramanthus]

That stinks about your lost work. Hopefully you have recovered most or all of it at this time. I am hoping to see more material soon.

[Godogma]

Merrill Armaments "1216"
This is MA's newest shotgun offering for those who don't want to pay the hefty price for the "Swamp Ravager" or don't need the ability to swap between so many different types of ammunition from various manufacturers. Merrill Armaments expects it to sell like hotcakes to militias and towns as well as homesteaders who can't afford more expensive energy weapons. The design allows the user to quickly reload by swapping magazines when the weapon is dry instead of feeding loose ammo into a tube fed weapon which can be distracting and deadly in combat. The weapon is based on the SRM 1216 shotgun from the same time period as the KSG and was engineered with lightweight MDC materials. It utilizes a unique quad tubed rotary magazine which allows the user to change ammunition types with the flip of a switch and a quick manual rotation of the magazine to the desired ammunition. The weapon is designed to fire all 12 gauge ammunition, 18.5mm mini-grenades and NG-APRJ ammunition. A laser sight is built into the injection moulded frame of the weapon.

Merrill Armaments "1216"
Weight: 7.25lbs
Damage:
Shotgun Shell 4d6 SDC to 4' radius, Solid Slug 5d6 SDC, MDC Explosive Shell (Fragmentary) 2d6 MD to a 6' radius, MD Explosive Shell (Plasma) 3d6 MD to a 3' radius, NG-APRJ 2d6 MD.
Effective Ranage: 300' for Shotgun Shell or Solid Slug, 500' for MD Explosive or Plasma Rounds, 800' for NG-APRJ.
Rate of Fire: Single Shot.
Bonus: +1 to strike on aimed shot due to superior balance and ergonomics, +3 from integral laser targeting. +4 total bonus on an aimed strike.
Payload: 16 rounds in the quad tube rotary magazine.
Cost: 5,000 credits for the gun, 250 credits per magazine, 20 credits per Armor Piercing Ramjet round (960 credits for a 48 round box).

[Godogma]

Merrill Armaments "Hydra"
Never content to sit on their laurels Merrill Armaments decided to branch out into Particle Beam technology. They selected a high performing particle beam by Northern Gun to retroengineer (the model 45LP) and after learning what they could designed the Hydra. The Hydra is a three barreled carbine format weapon with a pyramid shaped ironwood tube protecting the barrels much like their redesign of the Kel-tec Shotgun. The stock however took inspiration from the 1216 shotgun magazine and where the four magazine tubes are located on the shotgun magazine are ports for four E-Clips to feed the intensely hungry particle beams. A fifth slot in the pistol grip is intended to allow the use of a self charging power pack or a nuclear power supply with the rifle but the end user can insert a fifth e-clip! The Hydra has a selector switch that allows for firing the barrels in one of three ways; 1 barrel, 2 barrels or all 3 barrels at once. When multiple barrels are fired at once they discharge a fraction of a second apart in a form of pulse fire. The rifle is compact and designed in bullpup fashion and is unfortunately too short to make a bayonet effective. Mounting points are included for laser sights, optics or any other accessories.

Merrill Armaments "Hydra"
Weight: 15lbs
Damage:
1 barrel 5d6 MD, 2 barrels 1d6x10 MD, 3 barrels 2d4x10 MD.
Effective Range: 1,500 feet.
Rate of Fire: Single Shot
Bonus: +1 to strike on an aimed shot due to superior balance and ergonomics.
Payload: 10 single barrel shots from each Short E-Clip, 15 single barrel shots from each Long E-Clip (with a full load out of standard e-clips 50 shots, with long e-clips 75 shots, a power pack provides 60 shots before tapping the e-clips.).
Cost: 75,000 credits.

[taalismn]

Oh yeah! Short range compared to long rifles, but anybody/thing dumb enough to stray inside range is going to seriously know it)or not...vaporization on the first go!
Particularly good for urban or jungle fighting, where wide unobstructed line of sight isn't commonly available.

[Godogma]

Amphib Bike Conversion Kit:
This 20lb ultralight MDC kit contains everything necessary to turn the vastly popular bicycles of the Dinosaur Swamp into a dual pontoon single rider aquatic craft similar to the Akwakat Waterbike produced in New Zealand and sold as an Eco-Tourism vehicle. The conversion kit (with practice) allows any mountain bike to be converted to a fast and versatile aquatic vehicle in under 10 minutes. Netting is included stretched between the pontoons to allow small amounts of cargo to be carried off the rider's back.

MDC:
Pontoons – 25 MDC each.
Connecting Rods – 10 MDC each (small targets, -4 to hit).
Netting – 5 MDC.
Cruising Speed: 10mph (roughly 8.68 knots).
Range: Effectively unlimited save by the rider's fatigue and need to stop.
Cargo: With the MDC net between the pontoons and bike in place the setup can carry a total of 450lbs (rider included).
Market Cost: 2,000 Credits

Electro Amphib Conversion Kit:
For the rider of electric bikes such as the Copperhead this conversion kit is manufactured. Included is a light MDC casing to make the electric motor waterproof as well as all the other necessary parts to complete the conversion of your bike to travel on the water. An optional upgrade includes solar sheathing built into the pontoons to charge the battery or e-clip from the Survivor Solar Charger also offered by Merrill Armaments. The additional parts increase the weight of the Amphib kit by 5lbs (25lbs total).

MDC:
Motor Casing – 10 MDC (small target within the main body of the bike -4 to hit).
Pontoons – 25 MDC each.
Connecting Rods – 10 MDC each (small targets, -4 to hit).
Netting – 5 MDC.
Cruising Speed: 10 mph (roughly 8.68 knots). Or 25mph (roughly 21.72 knots) with the electric motor.
Range: 160 miles before needing a complete recharge on the battery, 500 miles with an e-clip. With the Survivor Solar upgrade built into the pontoons the battery can be recharged in 20 minutes, any eclip plugged into the bike can be charged in an hour.
Cargo: With the MDC netting between the pontoons and bike in place the vehicle can carry a total of 450lbs (rider included).
Cost: 18,000 Credits with the Solar Survivor upgrade, 2,500 without.

[taalismn]

Amphib Bike Conversion Kit:

Unexpected and nifty. Because low-tech can be innovative and cool too.
(though, boy, do I expect some serious hard pedaling if you find yourself pursued down or up the river by alligators!)

[Godogma]

That's why we recommend the Hydra

[Aramanthus]

It looks like while life kept me a little busy and ill over the past month or so. You have released more cool things. PLease keep them coming.