COPYRIGHT NOTE:

RIFTS® IS © 1983, 1987, 1988, 1990 KEVIN SIEMBIEDA; © 1995 PALLADIUM BOOKS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLD WIDE. NO PART OF THIS WORK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN PART OR WHOLE, IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER. ALL INCIDENTS, SITUATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLE ARE FICTIONAL AND ANY SIMILARITY TO CHARACTERS OR PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS STRICTLY COINCIDENTAL.

PALLADIUMS REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ARE:

PALLADIUM BOOKS®, MECHANOIDS®, THE MECHANOID INVASION®, RIFTS®, MEGAVERSE®, RECON®, AFTER THE BOMB®.

UNREGISTERED TRADEMARKS INCLUDE:

NIGHTSPAWN (TM), NIGHTLANDS (TM), HEROES UNLIMITED (TM), VILLAINS UNLIMITED (TM), BEYOND THE SUPERNATURAL (TM), BOXED NIGHTMARES (TM), NINJAS & SUPERSPIES (TM), MYSTIC CHINA (TM), PALLADIUM FANTASY RPG (TM), TRIAX (TM), MINDWERKS (TM), VAMPIRE KINGDOMS (TM), THE JUICER UPRISINGS (TM), PHASE WORLD (TM), WORMWOOD (TM), PSYSCAPE (TM), MEGA-DAMAGE (TM), S.D.C. (TM), I.S.P. (TM), P.P.E. (TM), SAMAS (TM), SPLUGORTH (TM), CYBER-KNIGHT (TM), GLITTER BOY (TM), JUICER (TM), MIND MELTER (TM), PSI-STALKER (TM), COALITION STATES (TM), NORTHERN GUN (TM), ERIN TARN (TM), NARUNI (TM) AND OTHER NAMES AND TITLES. 

Modern ranged combat

Shooting weapons in Rifts

Weapons that are in the category but cannot be fired by the character may be so alien in origin that the character cannot manipulate it, may be magicked or may require certain implants. The point is that even though a character has the weapon proficiency, he doesn't automatically have to be able to fire the weapon.

Unless a target area is specified, the strike hits the main body!
 

A note on W.P. Energy xxx: Weapon proficiency energy (pistol, rifle and heavy) is a dilemma since there may be doubt as to wether the weapon lies under the energy proficiencies or non-energy. What you then must keep in mind is that the skill also enables the character to maintain the weapon.

 

E.x.1 There might be arguments around wether or not the NE-300 "Stutterer" falls under the W.P. Energy Rifle or the W.P. SMG. Since the NE-300 is an energy weapon and requires other knowledge than "powder knowledge" to maintain, it falls under the W.P. Energy Rifle category.

E.x.2 Railguns are stated to fall under the W.P. Heavy Energy. This may seem strange, because it operates much like a usual heavy machinegun. However it does require special knowledge to maintain since the weapon is powered by electrical power rather than chemicals / gas.

In Rifts there are four methods to shoot a weapon: Aimed, Snap, Burst and Wild. A weapon may or may not be able to fire in all the above mentioned methods.
 

Rate of Fire:	Type:
Standard	The weapon may fire in all methods
Burst only	Bursts and Wild only
Aimed only	Only snap, aimed and wild shots

 
 

Range:	Needed Strike roll:
< 60 ft. (20 m.):	Any roll (with bonuses) over 4 hits unless dodged.
> 60 ft. (20 m.):	Any roll (with bonuses) over 8 hits unless dodged.

 

The Aimed shot

Time required: 2 actions
Bonus: +3 at level 1.
+1 at each 3rd consecutive level starting at level 3.
Strike roll: Must be 12 or more!
 

The Snap shot

Combatants often don't have time to think and react impulsively. Their shots are more an impulse than a well planed action. After some training though, the shots become more and more accurate.

Time required: 1 action
Bonus: 0 at level 1.
+1 at each 3rd consecutive level starting at level 3.

The Burst shot

The time spent firing per burst (full auto) depends on how much ammo is spent on the burst.
 

Burst type:	Ammunition spent:
Short	Spends 20% of the clip
Long	Spends 50% of the clip
Entire Clip	Spends 100% of the clip

Time spent per burst (by Fredrik Kvamme, modified by me):

Other:
4 x [Number of rounds fired] x [Characters total attacks per melee]
-------------------------------------------------------------------= Actions
                       [Rate per minute of the weapon]

The above formula gives the amount of actions needed to fire a burst (round fractions up).
 

Weapon Type:	Rate per minute:
Revolver	24
Pistol	38
Shotgun	400
Bolt action rifle	16
Semi-Automatic Rifle	100
Auto Rifle	650
Sub Machine Gun	700
Machinegun	800
Laser Pistols	40
Ion Pistols	30
Plasma Pistols	32
Laser Rifles	800
Ion Rifles	700
Plasma Rifles	650
Rail-Guns	1000
Heavy Energy weapons *	45

 

* Do 5D6 MD per single shot or more.

When it comes to how many of the fired bullets that hit, use the following method:

Step 1: Determine if the burst hits at all by standard means.

Step 2: Decompose the number of bullets fired into 2,3,4,5 or 10 shot combinations. Use always the combination that results in the fewest number of dice rolls (no. It isn't meant only to save time, but there is a difference between two 5 shots and 1 ten shot on the table!).

E.x.1 A burst of 19 rounds = 10+5+4 rounds

E.x.2 A burst of 8 rounds = 3+5 rounds

Step 3: Roll 1D20 + Burst bonus on the appropriate round table to find how many bullets hit their mark.

Step 4: Apply damage = [1 shot] x [Number of shots that hit]

RANGES LESS THAN 60 FT. (20 M.):
 

#Rounds	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20+
2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
4	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4
5	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	5
10	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	6	7	7	8

 

RANGES OVER 60 FT.:
 

#Rounds	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20+
2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2
3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3
4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4
5	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	5
10	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	6	6	7

 
 

E.x.1 A CS grunt fires on full auto with his C-12 on full power. He fires a long burst that uses 10 shots of his clip. The grunt has 3 actions. That means that he uses 1 action to fire the burst (0.15 rounded up = 1). He then rolls to see if he hits or not. Strike is 14 (12+2, long range so no close bonus), a definite hit. He then rolls to see how many rounds hit. The result of the roll is 13 (11+2 from W.P. bonus) that says that 4 rounds hit the target. Damage is then set to 4D6 x 4 M.D.

E.x.2 Jack the Juicer loves the sound of his NG-P7 on full auto. Seeing a huge Gargoyle at 300' advancing towards him he empties the clip. Jack has a +3 burst bonus and a total of 5 actions per melee. Using the formula, we calculate that Jack uses 4 actions on the burst (3.556 rounded up). He then rolls to see if he hits. The roll was a 17, a hit by most standards. He then has to determine how many of the 8 rounds that hit. 8 = 5 + 3. The first roll (5 rounds) gives 19 (16 + 3) translating into 4 shots hitting. The second roll (3 rounds) results in an 11 (8 + 3) that translates to 1 shot hitting the target. The total number of shots hitting the target is 4 + 1 = 5 shots. Damage is 1D4x10 x 5 M.D. !
 

NOTE 1: Energy weapons have enormous heat development curves. After firing more than 10 to 20 burst in a row (short burst. 5 to 10 long bursts or 3 to 4 full bursts) the weapon will overheat resulting in the possibility of malfunction, damage to the wieldier due to excess heat or even an explosion! See the section on weapons failure.

 

Spraying an area

Spraying an area does get the benefit of the burst bonus, but also a -6 penalty

Step 1) Determine the area of the burst (see examples).

Step 2) Determine #shots fired (use the burst percentages).

Step 3) Determine Strike.

Step 4) Determine Fire Intensity.

Step 5) Target may opt to dodge.
 

[# of shots that hit] = [# shots on the target] - [Dodge clearing]

Fire Intensity = [# rounds] / [Area in feet]

 
 
 

Fire Intensity:	Effect:
< 1	Multiply with 100. This becomes the percentage chance of being hit. Only as many target as #rounds fired may be hit!
=1	All targets are hit by one shot
1,1 - 2,4	Roll for 2 hits on the table.
2,5 - 3,4	Roll for 3 hits on the table.
3,5 - 4,4	Roll for 4 hits on the table.
4,5 - 5,4	Roll for 5 hits on the table.
etc.

 

F. I.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20+
2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4
5	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	5
10	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	6	7
20	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12

 

E.x.1 Jenny is guarding a hallway. She has a +2 burst bonus. Three persons with guns appear. She sprays them with the entire mag from her Wilk's 447. Strike is 16 (including bonuses). The hallway is narrow, only 5 ft. wide, which means that none of the men are more than 5 ft. apart in width. Fire intensity is 20/5 = 4.
Rolling against the table with a F.I. = 4 we get;
1D20 [16]+ Burst bonus [2] - Area burst modifier (see bonuses and penalties during combat) [6] = 16 + 2 - 6 = 12. That gives 2 shots hit target one.

Repeating the process with the other two gives 1 shot hitting target 2 and 2 shots hitting target 3.

E.x.2 During the same situation, target three opts to throw himself to the ground. He has a +4 dodge bonus and rolls a 17 (including bonuses). The save is 17 - 16 = +1. This means that the number of shots hitting target 3 is: 2 - 1 = 1.

E.x.3 William and his conspirators are running from a job gone wrong. He wants to buy them some more time and sprays towards the pursuing enemy with his MP-23A. Twenty guards / militia men are chasing him. From the uttermost left to the uttermost right soldier there is 60 ft. William fires 20 rounds in that area. The strike roll is 12. Fire intensity is calculated to be 20/60 = 0,33. Since the F.I. is under 1, he multiplies this value by 100, meaning that every soldier has a 33% chance of being hit by a single round. He rolls to see how many are hit and gets under 33% on a D100 4 times. 4 of the guards/soldiers were hit (unless they dodge).

Dodging and parrying shots

The starwars effect of Luke parrying / deflecting all incoming shots is both unrealistic and immensly stupid.

Parrying a shot

Every time a weapon sucessfully parries a shot, the weapon takes the shot damage.

In the description of such weapons, it is written "can parry energy attacks, -6 to parry. Very difficult". What they fail to recognize is that -6 isn't that much of a penalty. Anyone who has ever played with a PP munchkin player will notice that (ohh, I presume the strikeroll was lover than 24?).
 

Event:	Effect:
Parrying a shot	-10 to parry, takes up 1 action.
Barely making the parry	If the parry was made with only 1 or 2, the shot was strong enough to wrench the weapon/shield out of the defenders hand.

 

Dodging a shot

Personal weapon failures

This aught to be an exception and not the rule. There are those of us who cherish weapons going clank or fizz just when the characters need them dearly. If this happens often, it isn't talk about bad manufacture, but a controlling GM.

It is however important to note that the more complex a weapon gets, the more things can go wrong. The more things that can go wrong, the more do! This isn't an except from Murphys laws, but just a fact of life.

I will describe rules and subsequences for weapon failures after the type of weapon being utilized. It is up to the GM to allot weapons to the right spot (mail me if you are in serious doubt).

Ballistic weapons and cock-off

Every time a weapon is mishandled it has 10% chance of creating a mechanical failure. This failure can be simple to repair (changing a spring) or extremely difficult (straightening / realigning the bolt).

The following table can be used to determine the effect of the failure. It takes basis in the % roll made to see if the weapon malfunctions. The result of that roll gives the degree of the malfunction.
 

%	Effect
01	The chamber / bolt has become loose. The weapon will not fire. Will require 2D4 hours of makeshift repairs.
02	The bolt has become skew. This means that the next bullets fired will have a 2+2% chance of blowing the weapon up (unless the weapon has thick interior chamber). 2% on first bullet, 4% on the next, 6% on the third etc.
03	The loading mechanism of the clip / belt has been damaged. It will fire as normal, but on a roll of 1 - 8 on strike, the weapon jams (requires 1D4x10 minutes of makeshift repairs).
04	The loading mechanism of the clip / belt has been slightly damaged. The first shot will jam on a roll of 1 - 8 on strike (requires 3D6 minutes of makeshift repairs).
05	The trigger pulley has been damaged. The weapon will not fire for that attack on a roll of 30 or less on D100 (roll for each attack). Requires 2D12 minutes of makeshift repairs.
06	The trigger pulley gets stuck. The weapon will not fire single shots and the bursts are always one type higher (single -> short, short -> long, long -> entire). If the weapon cannot fire bursts, treat as result 05.
07	The scope/sighting is broken off the weapon / becomes damaged. It needs to be replaced. Remove all bonuses due to scope etc. Complex items (thermo / IR / UV) will require 2D6 hours to repair with the correct equipment and facilities.
08	The scope/sighting becomes unaligned. The first aimed shots made without re-aligning the weapon are done at -4 strike at long range (over 60 ft.). Realigning takes 2 shots.
09	The scope/sighting is damaged. Until repairs are made, they are unavailable (the damage is superficial, but enough to distort aiming too much). Requires 2D10 minutes of makeshift repairs.
10	The loading spring in the clip/belt is loose. Until that spring is replaced the weapon/clip/belt will have a 5% chance of jamming.
11+	You made the check. The weapon works fine.

 
 

NOTE: Makeshift repairs is repairing the weapon with minimal equipment and in the trenches. It requires a skill roll vs weapons engineer if possible, or a skill roll vs [lvl of character] x 4%.

 

Combat:

In combat situations (fire fights) a weapon may become so hot that rounds are cocked off as soon as the round is loaded. For ease of use, we will set a specific number of safe rounds per melee that can be fired.

For every consecutive melee of firing, reduce the value with 1 and for each melee of non-firing increase the value with 1 (up to the listed value)! When more rounds per melee are fired than safe, on every roll of 1 to 5 on a D20 will result in a cock-off (-1 action)
 

Weapon	Shots / melee
Pistol/Auto pistol	20
Revolver	-
SMG	50
Bolt action rifle	7
Assault rifle	35
Shotgun	5
Machineguns	70

Laser weapons

The table below gives a general idea of what can happen pending on the result of the D100 roll above.
 

%	Effect
01-03	The focuser is badly damaged / loose. Any shot fired will do double damage to the weapon. If the MDC of the weapon is reduced to 0, the weapon explodes.
04-08	The focuser is loose resulting in a poor focusing of the beam. Range is half of normal. Damage is the same.
09-10	The jarring of the weapon / exposure to elements has caused some of the electronics to fail. The weapon discharges more energy in each shot than intended. Reduce payload with half. Range and damage remain unchanged, the energy goes into heat development (halve the heat values found below).
11	The weapons power connector has been 'displaced' by a few mm. The weapon is -20% range and damage. Increase ammo capacity with 10%.
12-13	Some dirt has come into the focuser causing it to grind to a halt the next time the weapon is fired. The shot has only 10% the range and does half normal damage.
14-17	Some dirt grains cause the first shot to miss unless the strike roll is above 13. Damage is reduced with 20% for the first shot.
18-19	The filters for the air are damaged/unsecured. The weapon has a 15 percent chance of spewing visible clouds of dust out between each shot.
20	The trigger is a little loose. Has a 5% chance of hanging up resulting in a full magazine burst.

 
 

NOTE: Such damage requires proper equipment and facilities to fix. Cannot be done in the field unless the character has Weapons Engineer.

 

Combat:

Laser weapons have the same safe number of shots per melee. However, this value varies greatly from producer to producer.

Reduce the number by 10 per consecutive melee of firing. Increase with 10 per melee of no-fire (the values stated below are idle / maximum)
 

Producer:	Safe shots / melee
Atlantis / Kittani / Phase World	800
Naruni Enterprises	700
Coalition States	300
Wilk's	400
Northern Gun	200
Whykin / other minor kingdoms	150
NGR / New Navy	450
Mindwerks / Japan	500

If the number of shots fired exceeds the total value, the weapon has a 10+5% chance of burning out per melee of use (needs to cool down slowly over a 3 hour period).

Ion / PP weapons

Combat:

Ion weapons have a tendency to heat up but these weapons have better cooling systems / ventilation systems that other weapons. No matter who produces the weapon, or what type of weapon it is (pistol, rifle, SMG etc.), overheating occurs when the weapon fires more than 40 shots a melee. This value isn't modified by continuous melee fire etc.

Each time the weapon overheats, roll on the following table:
 

% roll	Effect
01	A malfunction in the electronics causes all energy to be diverted into the coil sequencing. It will start humming and shaking til the weapon explodes after X minutes, where X is the number of shots left in the magazine. Damage is proportional with the number of shots in the magazine, but should be SDC only!
02-34	The weapon fires a long burst every time the trigger is pressed.
35-60	The weapon will not fire for the melee.
61-90	All electronics melted. The weapon is useless.
91-00	Can only fire every other action for that melee.

 

Knockdown

100% knockdown

Knockdown tables

The knockdown tables are found on page 13 of the conversion book 1. These tables do not include those for the vampires (Vampire kingdoms, WB 1).

This table is used for characters who don't have a PS of 30 or higher, are in powerarmor/robot, are powerful supernatural creatures (gigants, dragons, demons etc.)
 

Damage	% knockdown chance
1 - 10	0
11 - 20	20
21 - 30	30
31 - 40	50
41 - 50	70
51 - 60	90
61 +	100 + stunned (loose all actions that melee!)

 

This table is for those creatures who are mentioned above.
 

Damage	% knockdown chance
1 - 30	0
31 - 50	10
51 - 70	20
71 - 100	40
101 - 150	60
151 - 200	80
201 +	100 + stunned (loose all actions that melee!)

 

Bonuses and penalties during combat

The list is divided into Attacker, Defender and Environment modifications.

• Attacker modifications are bonuses and penalties from the one making the attack.
• Defender modifications are bonuses and penalties due to the defender of the attack.
• Environment modifications are everything from high winds and lighting.

* People / enemies attacking the character are at -2 strike unless very close, where they are +2 strike.

DEFENDER MODIFICATIONS
 

Action	Bonus	Description
Crawling along the floor	Close: 0 , Long: -2	Close is < 60 ft., long range is > 60 ft.
Walking	0
Running	- 2	+ 1 to dodge per SPD point above 50
Jumping	- 4	+ 3 dodge
Dodging on moving vehicle
> 40 m.p.h.	- 3	+ 2 dodge
< 40 m.p.h.	- 6	+ 3 dodge
Evasive action	- 6	+ 3 dodge
Covered (50% to 90%)	- 6
Covered (90% to 99%)	- 6	Must make a detect roll - 5%
Invisible	- 6	Must make a detect roll - 20%
Lying down	Close: 0 , Long: -2	* - 3 dodge

 

* this dodge is different from the one mentioned above (crawling along the floor),

ENVIRONMENT MODIFIERS
 

Environment	Penalty	Description
Partial darkness	- 3	Moonlight
Total darkness		No light
Augmentation	- 6
Not augmented	5% hit
Smoke	- 5	Mini-missile version etc.
Fire	- 2	Heat ripples distort aim
Underwater	- 6	Wild strike only*
Vacuum	- 6	Wild strike only*
Raining	- 2	Both irritating and spoils sighting.
		+ 30% on detect invisible enemies
Storm / Tornado	- 6
Typhoon / Hurricane	- 12	No one fights under such conditions!

* Characters trained to fight in these conditions don't have any penalty.

E.x.1 Thomas has just entered a poorly lit passage. He can hearsome noise in the other end. Running to investigate what the noise is, a vapor trail zooms past his left ear. He quickly readies his weapon. Thomas wins the initiative and he can see a man with a laser pistol lying near the door on the other end of the passage, some 40 feet away. Thomas fires at the man while walking towards him. Since Thomas is walking, he gets a - 1 strike penalty. Since the target is lying and is in close range (<60 ft.), he gets a + 0. Since the passage is poorly lit, he gets a - 3 penalty. - 1 + (- 3) = - 4. Thomas fires the weapon with a - 4 penalty.

E.x.2 Thomas has dropped to a kneeling stance and snaps offa shot. The target stood up and is running towards Thomas in a wild fury. Thomas receives a +1 from the kneeling position, a - 2 since the target is running towards him and a - 3 from the poor lighting. 1 - 2 - 3 = - 4. Again Thomas receives a - 4 penalty.

E.x.3 Thomas now changes to thermographic and snaps off another shot. Since thermographic effectively negates the partial darkness (he is now reading/seeing the temperature), he gets only a - 1 penalty. + 1 from the kneeling position, a - 2 since the target is still running towards him and no environment modifier.