Armor Modification Rules

Armor Material Conversion

The following system can be used to determine the results of stripping a vehicle's armor off and replacing it with armor of a different material. Just to show that these rules weren't pulled out of the air, here is how I came up with them.

The rules were based off a set of rules created by my former GM. The rules were simple. RDF equipment had crapy armor, so re-armoring RDF equipment with standard Rifts stuff doubled MDC. Chroming something in Rifts doubled it's MDC (giving RDF stuff four times normal MDC). Composite (body armor and Cyclones etc.) was considered to be on par with the Glitter Alloy, explaining it's high protection for such a low weight.

Composite could not be used to construct large objects because it is slightly malleable, and giant robots constructed of it would bend. The Chrome was very rigid, so it was unsuitable for body armor, but great for giant robots.

The Rifts Conversion book listed some okay rules for Robotech mecha conversion from Robotech, so I decided to refine the system. I used the Alpha gaining 200 MDC to it's main body as the basis for the REF/Southern Cross material MDC factor (as they had been considered equal to Rifts Standard previously). I also looked at the Glitter Boy. By our previous system, a Glitter Boy constructed of Standard Rifts alloy would have had 385, this seemed low, so I changed the Chrome MDC factor, making it 1.7. A Glitter Boy of standard equipment would now have about 450 MDC, a good number.

When Dave Deitrich came up with Third Invid War, I used the difference between the CVR-3 and CVR-4 to determine the MDC Factor of the Molecular Aligned Crystals.

As you can see, this system has evolved quite a bit. I am quite proud of the final product. I feel that the MDC factors are all appropriate, except for the Macross II material factor, which I'm still not quite sure (maybe it should be same as TIW standard, or even Rifts Standard).

What's Made of What

In general, most Rifts Power Armor, Robots and Vehicles are made of Rifts Standard MDC, the Glitter Boy is Chrome, Body Armor is made of Composite, RDF, REF and Southern Cross equipment are made of the appropriate materials, but there are some exceptions;

- Cyclones are made of Composite
- Juicer's Assassin's Plate is made of Rifts Standard
- Borg Body Armor is made of Rifts Standard
- Terrain Hoppers, Flying Titan and the K-Universal are made of Composite
- Mecha from Robotech Strike Force are made from RDF material
- TIW Cyclones as well as the CVR-4 and CVR-4C body armor are made from Mollecular Aligned Crystals (M/A Crystal)

Using The Table

Divide the MDC Factor of the new material by the MDC Factor of the old material. For instance. This will give a factor by which you multiply each MDC location of the vehicle in question by. For really strange numbers (such as 566), you may reduce the MDC by small amounts (this makes the vehicle look better on paper).

Material Conversion Table


Material                           MDC Factor   Effected by Magnetic Weaponry?

M-A Crystal *                      2.45                  No

Glitter/M-A Blend **               2                     Yes

Glitter ***                        1.75                  Yes (double effect)

Composite *                        1.75                  No

Standard Rifts                     1                     Yes

Third Invid War                    .75                   Yes

REF/Southern Cross/Macross II      3/5                   Yes

Macross                            1/2                   Yes
* Composite material is what the Cyclones are constructed of. M-A Crystal is the stuff the TIW Cyclones are Constructed of. This material is strong, yet flexible. Only small equipment can be constructed of it (ie. powered armor etc.). Nothing larger than a Cyclone or Terrain Hopper can be built using this material. Same with the Molecular Aligned Crystal.

** The Blend (Chrome and M-A Crystal) is a combination of the Chrome and M-A crystal woven together at the molecular level creating a material which can be used for large mecha and shadowed. It is very difficult to produce and requires some of types of material from which it is constructed. It is 57% Chrome (for the strength and durability) and 43% M-A Crystal, for the flexibility. The net result is a material with great damage resistance and consistency similar to standard MDC material.

*** Glitter chrome cannot be Painted properly or Shadowed. The best a character can do is to pencil in a symbol, if that.

Note: A Glitter Boy without Boom Gun goes for 15 million and gives 2810 MDC of Glitter Alloy, this amounts to 4930 MDC of Glitter/MA Blend when mixed with 2120 MDC of M/A Crystal MDC.

Examples

example #1 - we Chrome a SAMAS
- SAMAS is constructed of Standard Rifts armor. Divide Chrome MDC Factor (1.7) by standard Rifts Material MDC Factor (1), we get 1.7. This gives the SAMAS 425 MDC main body, 119 on the head, etc. Note that in this case, the Rail Gun would probably not be changed.

example #2 - An Alpha being converted to standard Rifts.

- Standard Rifts Material MDC Factor (1) divided by REF/Southern Cross Armor MDC Factor (3/5) gives 1.66 repeating. This gives the Alpha 500 MDC main body (this should seem familiar to people who have brought an Alpha over using the Rifts conversion book), and a proportionably higher amount in each other location.

example #3 - A suit of CVR-3 Armor is converted to M/A Crystal

- Standard CVR-3 has 50 MDC and is made of Composite (factor 1.75). We convert it to M/A Crystal (factor 2.45). This gives a modifier of 1.4 which when multiplied by the original MDC of the CVR-3 gives 70. Note: The suit is now CVR-4, this is where the original conversion came from.

Increasing Armour

Of course there are people who will want to increase the amount of armor instead of just adding the same amount of armor, made of a different material for improved protection. There are also those who will want to keep the same MDC while changing to a better material, thus making the mecha faster and lighter. Rules are as follows;

Assume that the weight of the mecha is 1/3 internal skeleton (which won't change) and 2/3 armor. Using some math and the table above, determine the new weight of the mecha.

Multiply original weight of the mecha by it's speed.
Divide that by the new weight of the mecha.
This will give you the mecha's new speed. The GM will assign bonuses and penalties depending on the speed adjustment.

Example: Converting an RDF Veritech to Standard Rifts material while keeping the same MDC.

- The Veritech weighs 18.5 tons and goes at mach 4.
- The armor weighs 12.3333 tons. The new armor will weigh 6.1666 tons.
- The Veritech now weighs 12.3333 tons with it's new armor.
- (18.5 * 4) / 12.3333. Veritech is now capable of mach 6.

Note that this is the simplest example. You will have to do more tricky math if you try, say, adding 100 MDC to the main body of a SAMAS. Most people simply elect to change the material.

The Co$t of the Modification

The actual cost of the armor modification is determined by the type of armor being installed, and the type of material used. The character must purchase/obtain the material, and find somebody to install the armor. This process is fairly straight forward, and most Operators can do it. Cost for standard Rifts armor material and Composite will be $300-$500. Chrome is generally only available by tearing apart Glitter Boys (only 15 million for one without a Boom Gun).

Robotech materials are generally not for sale, and must be obtained from the REF. This will not be too difficult for former REF characters, since the REF is constantly trying to get supplies to their troops on earth during the Third Invid War. Also note that Invid decompose and cannot be salvaged for MDC scrap. Zentradi Mecha and Bioroids can, however.

To simplify things, we will consider an MDC point to be a unit amount of armor. For instance, the main body of a Glitter Boy yields 770 MDC of Chrome. This is more than enough to Chrome a SAMAS, and have lots left over (Chrome the main body takes 425, the head takes 119...)
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By Scott Hayden (shayden@execulink.com)