Jul 31 14:08 1998

To: Froccer

From: Lindharin

Hi,

> I have been playing Rifts for a long time now, and have
> struggled with the notion of the common infantry weapon
> doing more damage than the heavy mount weapons put on bots
> and tanks (e.g. Joe "Blow" Infantry can do 3d6 x 7 = 126 MDC
> while Coalition Spider Skull Walker can only do 1d6 x 10 =
> 60 MDC). Why not just mount a common infantryman's weapon
> on the bot and hook it up to the nuke, instead of these 1
> ton railguns?

I'm afraid you've lost me here. Where does it say an infantry
weapon can do 3d6 x7 damage? I don't have Rifts books immediately to hand.

> Also, I have looked at your alternative to MDC rules, and
> must say that I am intrigued. Doesn't this mean that Mr.
> Juicer with his 400+ SDC doesn't really need armor? Sure it
> would give you an extra 90 SDC, and make you immune to small
> arms fire (all of the damage is usually done by high tech
> weapons anyways), but you would have a better prowl and
> wouldn't have to be repairing your armor all the time.

I have reduced the number of SDC a Juicer gets. Check the my Rifts OCC
file - I was considering 3d4x25 instead of what they got in Rifts, but
actually decided to make it 4d4x10, as per the super power Extraordinary PE.
The only reason they got hundreds of SDC in Rifts was so that an MDC pistol
wouldn't guaranteedly blow them away. With my MDC replacement rules, they
can get by with a lower amount of SDC and actually be tougher - even with
only a +100 SDC on average, it would take a number of shots from an energy
pistol (averaging 3d6-5d6 SDC damage under my system, not counting bursts).
And wearing armor would add a significant bonus both in SDC and to overall
toughness since the armor means they wouldn't take any damage at all (not
even the armor) from normal human punches, etc.

> One last thing. Would the helmets of body armor have the
> same SDC / MDC as the main body? If so, how come armor like
> the Glitterboy and SAMAS don't have nearly the amount in the
> head as body armor? If it doesn't, what would be the armor
> value of the helmet?

I haven't planned on the helmet having a separate amount at all. As per
Rifts, a suit of standard body armor has a total amount of SDC, not each
limb separately. However, if someone removes the helmet that will reduce
the AR and also mean it is not environmentally sealed and any strike over
the AR will do full damage to the victim. Remember that even in full,
environmentally sealed armor, strike rolls over the AR will still do 1/2
damage to the wearer.

On the other hand, for Power Armor like the SAMAS that is not true - the
wearer NEVER takes damage while the armor is functioning, so Palladium has
rules for having lesser amounts of SDC at each body location and the
attacker can try to wear through that location in order to strike the pilot,
not to mention taking out sensors or other devices. My MDC replacement
rules adds an AR to the powered armor, but strikes over the AR do not
necessarily damage the pilot, they damage components of the power armor
itself (one of which can be the pilot's compartment).

What do you think?
Lindharin