Rifts SourceBook ISBN 0-916211-51-7 wrote:
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Example number one:
A jack rabbit leaps out from hiding and the character blasts it with his energy pistol inflicting a mere one(1) point of mega-damage. All that remains of the rabbit is a smear of blood. Suddenly, a deer, startled by the noise, makes a dash through open ground! The character whirls around and blasts it with his mega-damage handgun, inflicting two(2) M.D.! The animal is torn in half by the blast and the medium sized tree behind it is also split in half and falls over toward the character(it barely misses him). Behind the tree is a volleyball sized swath cut through the bushes, some 50 yards long. At least the character has enough of the deer to provide food for several days. However, he has made so much noise that ever creature within a mile (1.6 km) radius knows he's there. The deer's skin/fur is useless unless unless he wants to make a scarf or cap, and he narrowly averted being pinned or killed by a falling tree. Furthermore, what if the underbrush had been dry? He could have started a forest fire.
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Deer: One variety or another of deer are found throughout the USA and Canada. White tailed deer are among the most common throughout North America.
Rifts SourceBook ISBN 0-916211-51-7 wrote:
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Example number two:
You return fire with a mega-damage assault rifle and strike, inflicting 8 M.D.! The suspect's entire upper torso is vaporized.
A headhunter dives behind the bar and fires his mega-damage rifle wildly at the attackers. Each shot misses, but punches basketball size holes through through the walls and into the street where a fleeing patron is blasted in half. If our heros(?) return fire they will only inflict more damage and possibly kill innocent people. Even the headhunter behind the bar (who they can kill by blasting through the S.D.C. bar)may be a good guy!
The robed character is a metamorphed dragon. The dragon does not want to kill this guy, so he tries to slap him and knock him out. Unfortunately, in the excitement he strikes him too hard (first roll to strike and then roll to pull the punch; a failed pull punch means he strikes with full force). He hits him in the head inflicting four (4) M.D. points or the equivalent of 400 S.D.C. points! The man's head is torn from the shoulder and bounces off the wall across the room or is splattered like a melon.
Note: I know these descriptions are fairly graphic and quite disgusting, but this is what would happen when military weapons designed to destroy heavily armored tanks and giant robots are used against ordinary people and S.D.C. structures.
Rifts SourceBook ISBN 0-916211-51-7 wrote: Page 7
Remember, the average character in simple M.D.C. body armor is the equivalent to a 20th Century tank! Powered armor or a robot vehicle may be equivalent to a division of 20th Century tanks. And, as good as a tank is, it is not always the weapon for the job.
Rifts Ultimate Edition ISBN-10: 157457-150-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-57457-150-9 wrote:
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Glitter boy Powered Armor Statistical Data:
Height: 10 feet, 5 inches (3.1 m)
Width: 4 feet, 4 inches (1.3 m)
Length: 4 feet (1.2 m)
Weight: 1.2 tons fully loaded.
Weapons Systems:
1. RG-14 Rapid Acceleration Electromagnetic Rail Gun(1): The famous "Boom Gun" is a unique rail gun that can accelerate its flechette style rounds to a speed of Mach 5 and actually creates a sonic boom when fired. The gun is the most powerful personal weapon to survive the Great Cataclysm. The weapon is attached to the back and right shoulder of the powered armor(it may be reversed for those who are left-handed). When not in use, the gun is flipped back and stored in an upward position. When needed for combat, the Glitter Boy's operator simply reaches back, grasps the handle and pulls forward.
The blast is so powerful that without the automatic stabilization system, the Glitter Boy would be thrown to the ground and knocked back 30 feet (9.1 m). The automatic stabilization system of jet thrusters in the back and retractable reinforcement pylon in the lower legs that hold the armor steady and in place. The pylons and the jets fly into action the moment the Boom Gun is fired.
Primary Purpose: Assault, anti-armor and anti-aircraft
Weight: Rail Gun: 867 lbs (390)
Mega-Damage: One Boom Gun flechette round holds 200 slugs that inflict a massive 3D6x10 M.D. to it's target.
Effects of the Sonic Boom: The power armor suit is specially insulated from the shock waves of its own Boom Gun, however, everyone within 200 feet (61 m) will be temporarily deafened (triple that range under-water). Characters without any type of sound/ear protection will be temporarily deafened for 2D4 minutes and are -8 on initiative and -3 to parry and dodge. Characters who are inside environmental body armor, a light M.D. vehicle or power armor will have some protection, but are still temporarily deafened for 1D4 minutes; same penalties apply but for a shorter duration. Each sonic boom adds to the duration of the deafness. Heavy robot vehicles, tanks and most CS military vehicles are sufficiently protected so that the crew and passengers inside hear (and feel) the boom, but do not suffer any penalties. Likewise, Greater Demons, Demon Lords, Elementals and gods are impervious to the deafening blast; their ears ring but they are not deafened. Dragons and similarly powerful beings are effected the same the same as those inside a light M.D. vehicle (penalties last for 1D4 minutes). Remember, one must be within 200 feet (61 m) to be deafened by the sonic boom.
The sonic boom also affects the physical surroundings by shaking buildings and shattering S.D.C. windows within a 300 foot radius (91 m) of the boom.
Rate of Fire: Each booming blast counts as one melee attack/action. Bursts and sprays are not possible!
Maximum Effective Range: 11,000 feet (about 2 miles/3.2 km)
Payload: 1000 round (shots) auto-feed ammo canister. The Boom Gun can be reloaded by hand, one round at a time by the pilot as necessary, but it takes 15 minutes to reload 40 rounds. A small, extra ammo-drum of 400 rounds may be attached to the hip of the Glitter Boy (it has 30 M.D.C. and requires a Called Shot to be targeted; the attacked is -4 to hit it). The full size ammo-drum can be replaced by a team of Operators with the proper equipment in 1D6+2 minutes. Free Quebec has special equipment and trained Reload Teams who can reload an ammo-drum in 45 seconds (or six minutes by hand with a 2-3 man team).
Rifts Ultimate Edition ISBN-10: 157457-150-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-57457-150-9 wrote: Page 288-289
Mega-Damage Capacity (M.D.C.) works the same as S.D.C., only it represents a level of technology so advanced the M.D.C. materials are better then the heavy armor of a 21st Century tank. Nano-technology has even allowed for the creation of M.D.C. material light enough to be used as body armor by ordinary humans. Such "super" armor with M.D.C. was created before the Great Cataclysm, during the Golden Age of Man, as a countermeasure to new weapons that inflict Mega-Damage.
One Mega-Damage (M.D.) point inflicts the equivalent of 100 S.D.C., so a Mega-Damage weapon that does 1D6 M.D. inflicts the equivalent of 100-600 S.D.C./Hit Point damage! This incredible advancement in technology turned an M.D. pistol or rifle into the equivalent of a man-portable, heavy artillery weapon.
Mega-Damage Capacity (M.D.C.) armor is impervious to S.D.C./Hit Point damage! S.D.C. attacks that inflict 1-99 points of damage bounce off the armor like bullets bouncing off Superman. The attack might leave scratches, scuffs, little ding marks, and pit the paint job, but that's it. The character inside the M.D.C. armor is say and sound. Only S.D.C. weapons that inflict 100 or more S.D.C. points of damage can hurt M.D.C. armor. Always round down S.D.C. damage, so a missle that inflicts 450 or 496 points of S.D.C. damage equals 4 M.D.
Does anyone have any idea how to figure out how many joules a Mega-Damage point is worth from the fluff provided?Rifts Ultimate Edition ISBN-10: 157457-150-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-57457-150-9 wrote:Page 358
How M.D. Weapons Work
WARNING: This information is not for the squeamish and is included due to popular demand from Rifts players asking how energy weapons work and their effects on victims.
Lasers, ion, and particle beam weapons fire a thin beam or pulse of energy with Mega-Damage capabilities. When a beam or pulse hits, it either vaporizes part os the body (what soldiers euphemistically call "mist" or "misting" an enemy), or slices through a body like a hot knife though butter, sheering off a limb/body part or punching a hole through the body. Note that most blasts and beams stop upon hitting their target, and if a beam goes all the way through an S.D.C. structure, it stops upon hitting whatever is behind the first target. The same is true of M.D. projectiles such as rail gun rounds.
Lasers burn and cauterize the flesh as they cut through S.D.C. bodies. That's good if it sheers off a limb, because there is no bleeding, however, the shock to the body is so great that a single M.D. point does massive damage and kills its victim 99 out of 100 times. Cauterization is bad, because it makes reattaching a severed limb impossible (all the nerves and blood vessels are closed), and if the laser cuts into the body the cauterization literally leaves a hole through the victim! This damages internal organs and requires extensive surgery to cut away the burned flesh and remove the damaged organs. Internal organs will have to be replaced with artificial bio-systems or cybernetic alternatives. Note, laser weapons have no kick and are silent. However, most humanoids are used to their weapons making noise and found silent weapons to be unnerving. As a result, manufactures have built sound generators into their laser weapons to produce a sound with every blast or pulse.
An ion beam works like a laser only it does more severe damage, burning and irradiating the entire severed limb, effectively turning it into a piece of cooked meat, as well as a portion of the body around the wound.
Particle beams are the most destructive, "misting" - completely vaporizing- the limb.body part it hits.
Plasma blasts are, in some ways, worse, consuming the limb cut off from the body, liquefying the flesh and bone, and severely burn 25-35% of the rest of the victim's body (third degree burns). Skin grafts will be necessary and additional muscle and internal organs could be so badly damaged they need to be replaced with bio-systems or bionics, all requiring massive amounts of surgery and money.
Mega-Damage Explosives can work in a similar way, vaporizing an S.D.C. character or structure at point-blank range (the center of the blast), but hitting those in the rest of the blast radius with shrapnel or destroying one or more body parts rather then instantly killing their victims. Even in our real world, we see examples of technology - i.e. body armor, advanced medicine and surgical procedures - saving lives, but at a terrible cost. More soldiers then any time in history are surviving grievous injuries, including the loss of one or to all limbs. Mercifully, in the scientifically advanced setting of Rifts Earth, limbs, internal organs, eyes, skin and even the entire face can be rebuilt and replaced.
Do RG-14 Rapid Acceleration Electromagnetic Rail Gun accelerate their flechette style rounds to a speed of Mach 5?