Rules Modifications

Combat Rules Modifications

• Mega Damage Capacity MDC
The biggest gripe people have with the Rules system is the invulnerability MDC bestows on they wearing it. I don't have a problem with the concept behind MDC armour - technologically we not far off it as we go into the 21st Centuary - what I do have a problem with is the ratio of SDC to MDC. At 1:100 it unworkable as even a single point of MDC damage will kill even an above average human. The answer I've found very workable is just to change the ratio to 1:10.
• Armour Rating AR
The purpose of wearing armour is to protect the wearer from damage. How ever the energy/force of an attack has to be absorbed/disipated some how and the only thing that can do this if not the wearer is the armour. Under the basic rules only SDC items have an AR, MDC items are so tough they never wear out. If this were the case SDC things would never wear out and hitting a suit of chaimmail with a sword wouldn't blunt the sword or break the links in the armour.
Unfortunately reality isn't like that; even in a fantasy game. The exact amount of damage inflicted to the armour from a hit is upto the invidual GM, I use 100% but I'd not recommend less that 50%. For SDC items the AR's remain as they are in the books. MDC items/objects now gain a variable AR according the their state. The states are
• Undamaged (76% to 100% original MDC value)
• Lightly Damaged (51% to 75% original MDC value)
• Moderately damaged (26% to 50% original MDC value)
• Heavily damaged (6% to 25% original MDC value)
• Unrepairable <5% or less original MDC Value)
These states equate to an AR of

	State	AR
	Undamaged	20
	Light	18
	Moderate	15
	Heavy	12
	Unrepairable	8

Any to-hit roll which exceeds the AR of the armour hits the occupant or contents of the armour/vehicle and inflicts damage to said occupant or contents. Rolls under the AR but above the required to-hit target strike the armour and inflict damage to the armour.
Force Fields and Magic/Psionics which create Force field effects (Armour of Ithan, etc) have an AR of 20 until the force field/magic is depleted.
• Natural 20 and Critical Strikes
A Natural 20 or a roll which yields a Critical Strike inflicts double damage on the target. For SDC weapons add any PS bonuses if a hand wielded weapon and then double the total and apply except as detailed below. For MDC weapons double the total damage and apply except as detailed below.
If a Natural 20 is required to penetrate the armour (ie it has an AR of 20) then
Roll the weapon damage, double and apply the damage as normal to the armour.
Roll damage again and multiply by three. This is the damage as SDC damage (do not multiply by 10) that the occupant/contents of the armour takes as a result of the penetration.
If MDC armour has been damaged such that its AR is 15 or lower then SDC weapons will penetrate on a Natural 20 or Critical strike inflicting normal (not double) damage to the occupant/contents. If the AR is 8 then SDC weapons will penetrate on a Natural 18 or higher and inflict double damage on a natural 20 or Critical Strike.
• Range Combat - Maximum Effective Range

All characters and most NPC's now have a range combat skill, one of Rogue, Infantry, Special Forces or Sniper. These are described in full in Rifter 11 but a synopsis is on the skills page.

The range indicated in the Rifts® rule and source books for non-hand to hand combat weapons is the maximum effective range, ie the limit at which a shot from the weapon can hit and still inflict the stated damage. The chance of actually hitting with a weapon is based upon the range of the target in relation to the maximum effective range and the type of attack made by the attacker. These are detailed below

Range	Modifiers
0-25%	None. All bonuses for Aimed or Burst apply. Called shots take 2 attacks for aim bonus to apply.
26%-50%	All Aimed and Called shots take 2 attacks otherwise no Aimed shot bonus and -3 to strike. All other range attacks are at -6 to strike (making bursts -5).
51-100%	All Aimed and Called shots take 3 attacks. If only 2 attacks are used, called shots are not possible and aimed shots are -9 to strike (including +3 aim bonus). All other range attacks are at -12 to strike (making bursts -11).
101-150%	Single shot or long burst weapons only. All Aimed and Called shots take 3 attacks and even then are at -3 to strike (including +3 aim bonus) Long burst weapons are at -15 to strike (including +1 burst bonus) Reduce all damage by 50% and burst by 1 multiplier
151%-200%	Single shot weapons only. All Aimed and Called shots take 4 attacks and even then are at -8 to strike (including +3 aim bonus) Damage inflicted is only 10% of listed (roll and divide by 10)

Weapons capable of firing pulse bursts use a single attack and count as aimed attacks for the purpose of determining bonuses.

In addition to the penalties listed additional penalties for light level, visibility, and weather conditions may apply.

These penalties apply to all hand held and arm mounted weapons except mini-missiles! This is true for all Infantry, Cyborgs, Power Armour, Robots, and some vehicle mounted weapons. Main body mounted, shoulder mounted, and turreted weapons controlled by a firing computer are automatically compensated. At ranges greater than 100% use the table below.

101-150%	All Aimed and Called shots take 2 attacks and even then are at -3 to strike (including +3 aim bonus) Burst weapons are at -6 to strike (including +1 burst bonus) Reduce all damage by 50% and burst by 1 multiplier
151%-200%	Single shot weapons only. All Aimed and Called Shots take 3 attacks and even then are at -8 to strike (including +3 aim bonus) Damage inflicted is only 10% of listed (roll and divide by 10)

If two weapons can normally be fired at a single target for an enhanced affect then a separate strike roll is made for each weapon at ranges greater than 100%.




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Page Created 11/08/1999 Last Updated 20/03/2002