Paladin Steel Storefront

[Aramanthus]

Nice new weapon! I like it. And now that you are located in the 3 Galaxies area you can start coming up with versions of those pesky Naruni weapons. We at the Federated States will be buying some of these weapons to try them out.

I'm glad to hear that your car is hopefully fixed.

[taalismn]

Who's all the micro-scale stuff for?
Here's a few customers....

‘Small Kingdoms’
“Sorry, didn’t see you down there.”
“S’right, but step on me again and you better be able to afford kneecap implants.”

“It’s not that we’re small, it’s that you’re too damn BIG.”

“We think of it as having lots of room to grow.”

“No more will we cower in the shadows, hide in our holes, and hope the big things, the massive events, will bypass us and leave us to be in our quiet little bubbles! Today we take the first steps towards determining our own destinies, of being able to determine events that can shape the world and our future in it!”

“Small Kingdoms” or “small folk”(also ‘smallkin’) are general terms used in the GNE to describe populations of beings smaller in stature than the average human; typically three feet tall of smaller, though the majority are in the 1-2 ft range. Traditionally these folk have survived in small communities, remaining on the fringes of the larger societies, and surviving the harsh conditions of Rifts Earth where they are near the bottom of the food chain of predation by monsters and criminals alike, by laying low and trying not to attract attention. As civilizations expand, however, formerly hidden enclaves are now in danger of being discovered, once remote pastoral homelands about to be overrun, and the formerly stealthy ferreted out by watchful eyes and technology. Advanced and adaptive technologies have also made it possible for the smaller beings to acquire ‘equalizers’ that put them on a more even footing, commercially and militarily, with their larger neighbors. However, such technologies, unless painstakingly developed indigenously, are expensive to obtain and support, so many of the communities of the smallkin have banded together to pool their resources and purchase what they did, or to more formally join the economies of their larger neighbors, to increase their incomes and economic clout.

Most of these kingdoms are fairly low-tech dirt-and-scrabble lifestyles living off the land, with few major communities or discernable borders(in fact the Rodentia union and Nutkin Republic both sprawl over the GNE’s borders, while the Chirpasee and Noctre nations can almost be considered nomadic, with only a few established central ‘roosts’). Many of the following states, existing as they do within larger nations, can be thought of much like the Palestinean Territories of Golden Age Palestine/Israel/TransJordan, only without the tensions, with regards to organization.

Gnomocracy
“We’re Old School clout with New School firepower! And while I may wear a little leather jacket, hose, and peak’s cap in Parliament, I wear armor-plas and power armor when I’m leading my county militia regiment! Care to see what I learned between my old bladesmen’s academy and New West Point artillery school?”

Racial Makeup: Palladium Gnomes
Location: Western Pennsylvania
Estimated Population: 65,000
The Gnomocracy claims to be the largest concentration of Gnomish people anywhere(at least, on Rifts Earth). They are the descendants of Palladium Gnomes accidentally Rifted off their world when they were caught in the crossfire in the magic war between the Elves and Dwarves. They settled after coming to Rifts Earth in the cavernous mountain territories of northern Appalachia, laying low, and fending off predators and brigands as best they could with their magic, psionics, and what they could salvage and figure out from nearby ruined towns. The Gnomocracy has gone through several changes of regime over the century since First Settlement, from heademen to monarchy to constitutional monarchy to a loose parliamentary structure.
The Gnomocracy is arguably the best organized and most advanced of the small kingdoms, with a strict and comprehensive government set out, rules and regulations, centralized organization, and an organized militia. Their quality of life is quite good for a smaller kingdom, with about two-thirds of the private residences having both running water and electricity(the other third makes do with magic or more primitive means), about the GNE average. Though their innermost communities and enclaves remain closed to outsiders(by writ of differing scale, if nothing else), increasingly the Gnomes are finding their way and making their niches in the urban communities of the GNE, especially as the Alliance expands its reach and affluence. Aware of the possibilities of the rapid-prototyping capabilities and inclusionary marketing policies of Paladin Steel, the Gnomocracy stepped foreward in hopes of persuading the GNE to help them modernize their defenses against other encroaching threats. The Gnomocracy paid for its purchases of weapons and armor in ancient silver and mithril, and started a sizeable account with PS, furthering the attraction of developing ‘micro-scale’ weaponry and equipment. This in turn led to the organization and pronouncement of other ‘small nations’, eager to cash in on recognition.
The Gnomocracy currently has a provisional seat in the GNE State Congress.

Nutkin Republic
“Being up a tree is exactly where we want to be! Why, we can cross the entire length of Greater New England without EVER having to set foot on the ground!”

Racial Makeup: Mutant Squirrels and Chipmunks. They’ve recently begun admitting smaller opossums and porcupines, as well as other rodents.
Location: Northern New York, northern New England, and the Great Lakes coasts
Estimated Population: Claimed to be some 100,000
The Nutkin Republic is a well-organized and widespread ‘nation’ of mutant squirrels and other arboreal rodents, reaching over most of the GNE, west and south to the Great Lakes and the Pennsylvania border. The Republic was among the first of the ‘small nations’ to formally organize a self-defense militia, complete with uniforms(camouflage, of course) and standardized weaponry.
The Nutkin Republic declared its presence to the shock of Greater New England, who were again flummoxed by the revelations of another secret population within their borders(the first being the Trelvi). The degree of infiltration of GNE territory by the Republic presented a galling security risk, had the Republic been hostile, which it rushed to assure its bigger host-nation it wasn’t.
The Nutkin Republic was the first to contract with Paladin Steel for high-tech weapons, offering the services of their widespread intelligence network in payment. The wilderness-wide intelligence network has blunted multiple Splugorth incursions, tracking slaver movements and allowing Alliance forces to better intercept them. The images of Splugorth Slavers getting savagely harassed by micro-missile-armed arboreal commandoes did much to attract the attention of other ‘small nations’ like the Gnomocracy to place orders and make what was once a minor sideline for Paladin Steel into an increasingly lucrative mainstream equipment category.
The Nutkin Republic now effectively functions as a state-within-a-state, strongly allied to the GNE, with a voting seat in the GNE State Congress. Though still fairly low-tech with regards to the average standard of living, many Nutkin enjoy electrically-heated burrows and nest holes. However, only about one personal residence in every ten has both electrical power AND running water. For many in the Nutkin Republic, a military career is a quick way to improve standard of living and social standing. Thus, it is not uncommon to see mutant squirrels in uniform in the GNE military, servinga longside their larger brothers- and sisters-in-arms.
The Nutkin get along fairly well with the Gnomocracy, but regard the next-up smallkin kingdom, the Rodentia Union, with bemused disdain, seeing them as something of the less-couth and more unruly branch of their family tree. The other smallkin nations are too new or too small to yet have any impression for the Nutkin.

Rodentia Union
“We’re everywhere! And there’s more of us every day! Talk about your popular power!”

Despite having potentially more members than the Nutkin Republic, the Rodentia Union was late in forming, in part due to the efforts of several Ratlings to subvert the nascent Union into becoming their minions and spies. By the time the Union was able to elect its own leaders and appoint a government, the Gnomocracy and Nutkin Republic had both declared themselves and made loose alliance with the GNE.
With the Chi-Chuks acting as their sponsors and patrons, the Rodentia have represented themselves to Greater New England as a potential power asset to the GNE. They have recently attained a voting seat in the GNE State Congress, and are quickly asserting their (limited) powers through this significant achievement.
Among the Union’s strengths, they boast an open-door policy that welcomes any mutant rodents, and they’ve hinted at stretching the enterance requirements to include non-rodents as well. The Rodentia have a lukewarm friendly rivalry with the Nutkin; the Rodentia regard the Nutkin as elitist exclusionists, while the Nutkin see the Rodentia as a burdgeoning mass of the great unwashed. The recent move by the Nutkin to include non-squirrels amongst their number is seen as a fearful reaction by the Nutkin Republic to the growing power of the Rodentia. This has only egged the Union on to challenge and provoke the Nutkins in the GNE Congress in a competition to be recognized as the more influential and valuable group.
The overall standard of living among the Rodentia varies, but they tend to be worse off than the Nutkin(only about one residence in twenty has both electricity and modern plumbing with running water), and like the squirrels, many Rodentia find that taking a job with the GNE government or enlisting in the military is a fast way of securing improvements in quality of life(with access to community improvement programs and low-interest loans).
If the Rodentia Union has a problem, it’s that its enthusiasm for hard fast growth may result in it expanding its numbers and reach too far and too fast, beyond its ability to control and responsibly serve its constituency. This may lead to factionalism and political infighting further down the road, especially if the current regime can’t make good on its promises to its people. For now, like a labor union feeling its oats, the Union is riding a wave of popular support, bolstering its pride.
Racial Makeup: Mutant rodents
Location: Northern New York, northern New England
Estimated Population: Claimed to be some 190,000 strong



Chirpasee Greater Flock
“These birds don’t poop on your car if they don’t like you. They drop grenades instead.”

Being less tied to specific geographical locations like other nations, the avians were slower to organize beyond the basic flock. The Chirpasee were among the first, though they’ve come late to the GNE. Currently, the Chirpasee are limited in their clout and power by their nomadic lifestyles on the wing, and a decidedly non-materialist outlook, though most members are permanent year-round residents of the NorthEast regions. Though there has been some drive to count mutant hawks and other raptors among their number, negotiations have not been fruitful and most of the other members of the Chirpasee, if not prey-species themselves, have traditional suspicion of airborne predators.
The Chirpasee are still a power in the act of organizing itself and finding its niche in the GNE/Alliance, but individual members have made livings as scouts and couriers with the military and commercial sectors.
Racial Makeup: Mutant birds, mostly smaller birds like sparrows, chickadees, and other paserines, with a few ducks and coastal birds.
Location: All over New England, though the more migratory members claim ranges as far south as Florida and as far north as Hudson Bay.
Estimated Population: Estimated at some 45,000 members


Gouyesh(aka ‘Ur-Kapa’)
“Think you own the land, control everything on it? You know nothing of the land if you do not know its waterways, its wetlands, its blood and its pulse. Mud builds up riverbanks, nourishes the soil and the farms, water ..water is life itself.
We know these things, and we are willing to share our knowledge, if you are but willing to listen.”

The Gouyesh are a union of mutant wetland amphibians and turtles. Like several other ‘small nations’, the Gouyesh have formed only fairly recently from a loose affiliation of tribal hamlets and fishing villages on the fringes of the larger and more civilized nations. Their stepping foward to be recognized is in part due to the rapid expansion of their larger neighbors, and in reaction to several other groups of ‘underfolk’ organizing.
The Gouyesh sought to arm themselves with high-tech weapons and made several purchases when PS learned the Gouyesh were gearing up to take on another mutant band, the Noctre(the bats having been natural predators on the frogs). PS stopped arms shipments to BOTH groups and offered to serve as mediators between the two. The ploy worked, and the Gouyesh and Noctre signed a ceasefire and tentative peace that lasts to this day, though members of both groups remain suspicious of the others.
Gouyesh is somewhat hampered by their environment and by the fact that, come winter, over half the nation goes into hibernation in the deep mud. Covering and protecting its members during these vulnerable months is a major issue and concern for Gouyesh.
Overall quality of life among the members of the Gouyesh is primitive, owing to the weat conditions they live in. Still, Gouyesh are investing in water-proofed technologies, and security systems for their hibernation burrows. A number have joined the GNE Armed Services(particularly the coastal and inland waterway naval forces) and have received training in high-tech equipment and weaponry.
Recently the name ‘Ur-Kapa’ has appeared in connection with the Gouyesh; it is claimed that several transplanted Asian Kappa have joined the amphibians(see Rifts Japan for details on these creatures), while other observers believe that the more mystical members of Gouyesh are trying to contact these beings in order to attract their attention and bolster Gouyesh power and prestige.
Racial Makeup: Mutant frogs, toads, turtles, and newts
Location: Southern New England and coastal regions up into Maine.
Estimated Population: Perhaps 20,000-22,000 members


Noctre
“Need something sent overnight? Nightwatchmen who don’t fall asleep on the job? We’re your people, then!”

Noctre is made up of mutant bats. They are a nation without borders, though they have set up a few ‘home caves’ where their defacto government can operate. The majority of its people are far-ranging and nomadic, claiming few places as a true ‘homeland’.
Taking a page from the Nutkin Republic, with whom they have had occasional contacts, the Noctre offered their services as nocturnal scouts to the GNE, in return for various specialty goods and services.
Unfortunately, it was discovered that a major impetus for their trade for high-tech weaponry was armed aggression on the part of the Gouyesh, whose frog members had been prey for many of the Noctre in the past. When PS discovered they were arming both sides in what was shaping up to be a nasty little brush war on their borders, the GNE stepped in and put a halt to the military build-up, then used their muscle to bring both sides to the negotiation table. A truce was put in effect, with the GNE moderating, but the Gouyesh and Noctre still have their suspicions about each other.
Like the Avians, the Noctre have a slanted non-materialistic way of life, most members only owning what they can reasonably carry. They HAVE, however, availed themselves of modern conveniences for their shelter-caves, and advanced medical care to deal with various sicknesses that in the past devastated the bat populations.
Racial Makeup: Mutant Bats
Location: Varies; their caves are secreted in the Appalachians in northern Pennsylvannia, up into Old New York State.
Estimated Population: Between 10,000 and 16,000 members

Mendabeese
“We’re the Underground, the unseen world under your feet, your businesses, your homes.”

The organization calling itself Mendabeese only recently surfaced. Literally surfaced, because this under-nation consists of mutant moles. They are now working to achieve recognition by the GNE and other Smallkin nations, and they have not yet acquired a seat in the State Congress.
The Mendabeese insist on being distinctly different from the Rodentia Union, and tend to be a lot more exclusive than other ‘small nations’, with only mutant moles allowed access to their burrows and tunnel complexes. This has led to some tensions between the Mendabeese and the Rodentia, while the Gnomocracy and the Nutkin have remained out of the developing fray.
Little is known of Mendabeese organization or potentials, but their representatives claim to be able to offer any would-be allies ‘considerable value on their returns for their investment’. Their general attitude and off-the-cuff public remarks, however, leaves many potential allies and investors turned off, though most subscribe the moles’ attitude to social ineptitude, rather than menace.
Racial Makeup: Mutant Moles
Location: Claimed to be south-west New York State, extending into western New England.
Estimated Population: The moles claim to be 100,000 strong, but other estimates place them at only half to a third that figure.

Tlem Amaru
“Once we were a timeless people, living the pleasant moment to moment, only the passage of the seasons giving any sense of the flow of time, and even that was seen simply as a regular changing of the variety of beauty of our world.
Now we know time. The Time of Fear, the Time of Enslavement, the Time of Torture, the Time of Pain, the Time of Dismemberment, the Time of the Splugorth, the Time of the Flight. Hurried time, time that seems to stretch tortorously forever.
Perhaps it is finally Time to Fight.”

The Tlem Amaru are faerie folk refugees from the Canadian East, fleeing Splugorth persecution. A good number of these fay-folk seek to emigrate to the arguably safer Canadian Northwest , but some have chosen to stop, gather their strength, and fight, or at least send assistance to those who remained behind. Though the Tlem Amaru have no formal seat in the GNE Congress, they are a very public issue of discussion and government attention. Their plight has become something of a minor cause celeb in the GNE, and one of the constant public relations goads motivating GNE support for the Sidhe Liberation Army and other efforts to sabotage the Splugorth hunts along the Canadian seaboard.
Though deeply suspicious of Big Folk, the faerie of the Tlen Amaru have courageously set aside their fears and prejudices to approach others in search of heroes to champion their cause, allies to help them, and artificiers to make the weapons to defend (and liberate) their brethren. A few maimed ex-slaves seek medical attention, or revenge on their persecutors. Some formerly peaceful Fay have been moved to tears and anger by their uprooting, and seek to strike back at their enemies. And a few of the normally hide-bound and traditionalist Fay are looking at the ways of the Other Folk, and wondering if it isn’t time to change their ways and adapt some new ways of doing things. Some of this ‘technology’ looks understandable...
Racial Makeup: Faerie Folk
Location: Currently in western New York
Estimated Population: 25,000

Nomanser Republic
“We were born of sand and saltwater, harsh sea and hot sun, blood and iron, hunger and war! We have no fear of death, and our greatest ambition is to sink our teeth into the throats of our enemies! And your enemies are now OUR enemies!”

A population of fierce mutant warrior rabbits who evolved on No Man’s Land Island, off Martha’s Vineyard. They have since migrated to other territories, though they continue to maintain a heartland on the small island. Described in detail elsewhere.
Racial Makeup: Mutant Rabbits(Nomansers)
Location: No Man’s Island(Fadeland, off the Fade Island of Martha’s Vineyard, Old Cape Cod)
Estimated Population: 55,000

Fraanids
“Heyyyy....now that’s something I haven’t seen before! Can you show me how it works? Better yet, leave me alone with it and I’ll figure out for myself what makes it tick!” I’ll put it back together when I’m done! I promise!

Described in detail in D-bees of North America, the Fraanids(or ‘Faerie Bots’) are increasingly drawn towards Greater New England and the Alliance, both because the liberal, racially tolerant, techno-bent of the GNE fascinates the tiny techno-explorers, and because the extra-dimesional exploration and trade initiatives of the GNE Alliance offer the Fraanids the best opportunity they’ve seen so far of finding a way back home.
In return, Fraanid engineers have collaborated with their Paladin Steel equivalents to develop technologies of an appropriate scale for the other ‘small folk’.

[abtex]

Did you cross post the above to the AtB forum? They are Cute little nations. Your Puppet Master must love you for them.

[taalismn]

Did you cross post the above to the AtB forum? They are Cute little nations. Your Puppet Master must love you for them.

No I haven't. Though at some point I should start plugging my products to the AtB forum.

[abtex]

Tick Tock Tick tock

[taalismn]

Tick Tock Tick tock

So many ideas, so many other projects, so little time...(shrug)

[Aramanthus]

LOL Very cool! Small Kingdoms deserves it's own thread.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel McQIR-03 ‘Pinscher’ MicroRobot
(aka ‘Fu-Dog’)

Gunner Liggin the Gnome was starting to feel frustrated. Two hours of wandering, and nothing to show for it but an appreciation for how damn BIG the woods of Old New Brunswick Territory were.
“Remind me again why we’re all by our lonesomes crawling through the underbrush in the middle of nowhere?”
“We’re in Brunswick Territory, not nowhere , on recon patrol, and we’re looking for a Splugorth hunt party somebody sighted.”
“Oh, right.”
“Keep an eye out. Like you said, we’re on our own out here; nearest backup’s the battalion, about eight miles away. Might as well be on the other side of the Moon in this terrain.”
The quad-bot padded around yet another tree(the forest was FULL of them!), under and over several fallen trees, and into a small clearing, Gunner Liggin dividing his attention between the greenery around them and the HUD screens on his turret-mounted gun. In spite of the warning, he was actually feeling pretty bored...until he saw something that suddenly had a curse trembling on his lips.
Ahead part of the forest shadows detached itself and loped to the top of a rock. Behind it several other low-slung forms emerged from the shadows; long lean blunt-headed things with spikes growing from their shoulders. A low hissing growl rent the air.
“Oh $&^! Demonrunners! And they got our scent! Meno, turn this thing around and RUN!”
The mouse didn’t need any second warnings. The Pinscher jumped into the air and seemed to rotate in mid-leap, landing facing the other direction, its legs already churning. With a gust of flying dirt and splinters the ‘bot took off running.
Liggin spun his turret around, feeling the sickening reorientation of direction and acceleration in every bone and muscle of his body. Fighting off the motion sickness, he looked through the rangefinder of his targeting scanners. Yep, three following clouds of debris told him they had at least three of the Splugorth hound dogs right behind them, the monstrous shapes occasionally porpoising into view as they leaped over forest obstacles or bounced off of trees.
That just wouldn’t do. Liggin keyed up his targeting recticle, trying to fix his eye on the pursuing shapes behind him. He heard and felt the micro-motors of the weapon slaved to his vision tracking with him. When a snarling blunt head momentarily filled his bullseye, he let rip, bright fire lancing into the darkness.
The shape yowled as it suddenly took a header, tumbling into the undergrowth. Just as quickly, though, another loping shape took its place, leaping forward, eager for the kill. As Liggin fired off several more blasts, trying to skewer the second predator, he briefly saw the first ‘runner stand up, shaking its head furiously, smoke still pouring from where his laser had tried to punch through its head.
Then it was back to yelling and cursing, trying to hold his fire on target as the scout fled, hotly pursued by Splugorth hunting dogs.
“Long periods of tedium and routine,” Liggin distantly recalled his drill instructor teaching the Militia recruits about the realities of patrol-recon; “-broken by moments of adrenaline rush and stark raving terror!”
Liggin suddenly found himself wishing very badly for the boredom he’d been feeling just a minute ago....

The McQIR-03 ‘Pinscher’ is a small quad-legged robot vehicle meant for use by very small statured sentients, such as mutant rodents(and other small animals) and gnomes. The robot is based on the pre-Rifts NEMA-RX 3030 Combat Hound Drone, examples of which turned up in the heritage caches of the former Mountain Warfare School in Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont. Though it was not until fairly recently that Paladin Steel was able to reconstruct the Golden Age robot’s programming and start producing their own version(s) of it, they were able to reverse engineer enough to make a piloted version of it.
The ‘Pinscher’ resembles its Golden Age ancestor in most things, except for having a larger head fitted with mandible jaws in addition to its lasers, and a modular back mount. Rather than be directed by a robot drone A.I. the Pinscher carries a crew of two: a pilot in a saddle cockpit in the head, and a gunner in a shoebox-sized gunnery pod on a turntable turret on the back. Because of its small size, the Pinscher does not carry much in the way of life support; crew members are advised to wear micro-EBA.
Though fairly expensive, especially for small sentient beings without much earning power, the Pinscher has been bought and deployed in quantity, with the largest numbers being deployed by the Gnomocracy. The Pinscher is often deployed as a scout, guerilla raider, courier, and forward spotter. The ‘bot frequently acts as a support vehicle for units of ‘Scamper’ armors(being able to recover damaged and wounded power armors and carry them from the field in its jaws), flankers for slower moving ‘Tom Thumb’ tankettes and ‘Speedy’ ATV wheeled tanks, and companion units for ‘Rhobar’ ‘bots. It is also not unknown for Pinschers to act as ‘pack leaders’ for cyberdog packs.

Type: PS-McQIR-03 Pinscher
Class: Quadruped MicroRobot Vehicle
Crew: 2, Size Level 1 or 2 sentients
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 135
Head 65
Head Lasers(2) 10 each
Legs(4) 65 each
Back Turret 50
Height: 3 ft at shoulder, 4.3 ft at gun turret
Width: 2 ft
Length: 4 ft
Weight: 230 lbs
Cargo: Only what can be carried in the small crew compartments, or carried saddlebag-style on the sides of the ‘bot. Can carry up to 200 lbs and pull 600 lbs.
Physical Strength: Robotic P.S. of 26
Powerplant: Nuclear Power Cell w/ 3 year energy life
Speed:(Running) 100 MPH
(Leaping) 5 ft up/12 ft across, increase by 50% with running start
(Underwater) Run along bottom at 25% of maximum speed. Maximum depth: 600 ft.
Market Cost: 500,000 credits
Systems of Note:
-Full Robotic Optics(Telescopic w/ 2 mile range, full spectrum imaging, infrared/ultraviolet, polarized, thermal imaging, laser targeting, and passive nightvision.

-Radar w/ 2 mile range

-Motion Detector---100 ft range

-Radio/Video Communication---50 mile range

-Radio Tracker---Can backtrack radio transmissions occurring within a 10 mile radius

-Voice Amplification---90 decibels

-Language Translator---Programmed for 22 different languages

Weapons Systems:
1) Head Lasers(2)---Retained from the original design
Range: 300 ft
Damage: 2d4 MD per single blast, 4d4 MD per double blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Back Weapon---A modular mounting allows a variety of different weapons to be carried:
a) MicroMissiles---25-shot box

b) Mini-Missiles---4 shot rack

c) 23mm Mini-Grenade Launcher. Up to TWO can be mounted.
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 280 ft
Damage: (High Explosive)2d4 MD to a 10 ft area
A 5 rd burst does 1d4x10 MD to an 15 ft area
(Incendiary)---A slug of thermal gel that does 1d6 MD to a 12 ft splash, and an additional 1d4 MD per melee for 1d6 melees
(Flare) Burns with blinding incandescence for 1d6 melees, each round brightly illuminating an area roughly 100 ft in radius. These are NOT parachute flares, but fall normally.
Rate of Fire: ECHH; single shot or 5 round burst
Payload: 50 shot drum
Cost: 9,000 credits. HE Shells cost 400 each, incendiary 450 each, and flare rounds 30 each.

d)30mm Grenade Launcher---ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 12 lbs(20 lbs with a 24-shot drum magazine attached)
Range: 1,200 ft
Damage:
(SDC)* (Fragmentation) 2d6x10 SDC to 16 ft radius
(High Explosive) 6d6x10 SDC to 4 ft radius
(Armor Piercing) 1d4x100 SDC, no blast radius
(Crowd Control rds)---Essentially an expanding plastic ‘fly swatter’ that delivers a bruising knockdown punch. Cut effective range to 200 ft. Does 2d4 SDC per rd, humans and human-sized D-Bees must roll a D20-5 to maintain their footing (must equal or surpass the attacker's roll to strike...Full rules in TNW p.174). Human-sized light power armors(500-800 lbs) also roll on a D20, but are +2 to save versus knockdown
(Wood Rounds) 7d6 SDC single shot (1d4x10+5 HP to vampires), no blast radius

*(Yes, I know, why include SDC when it just as quickly becomes MDC? You’re still being hit with a pretty hefty shell)

(MD)(HE) 2d6(12 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d4x10 MD to an 20 ft area
(Armor-Piercing) 4d6(3 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d4x10 MD to an 9 ft area
(light micro-fusion) 6d6 MD (12 ft blast radius)
A 5 rd burst does 1d6x10 MD to an 25 ft area
(HESH (High Explosive Squash Head)) - Designed to ‘spald’ off armor on the interior of power armors and vehicles. Composite ‘chobham’(layered armor and nylon mesh) armor reduces this internal damage by HALF, by holding the armor together.
HESH rounds do NOT have a blast radius.
3D6 MD plus 4D6 SDC to the person(s) inside the object.
(Incendiary) 2d4 MD to a 12 ft blast radius, plus an additional 1d6 MD per melee for 1d6 melees.

The GL can also be used to fire radio beacon adhesion heads, flare rounds, paint shells, EMP grenades, flash-bangs, and, it’s rumored, TW grenades like the feared ‘Snuffers’ and Aura of Doom curse grenades.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 12 shot magazine, 18 shot ‘saddle drum’, or 24 shot drum
Note: The Drum magazines are fully compatible with the PS ‘Drum Mine’ system that allows large-caliber ammunition drums to be converted into boobytraps/mines.
Cost: 19,000 credits; SDC rounds cost 40-60 credits each, Crowd Control rounds cost 20 credits each, standard 30mm HE grenades cost 400 credits each, armor-piercing cost 550 credits each, micro-fusion(rarely available on the open market) cost 1,500 credits each, Incendiary cost 600 credits each.

e)40mm Grenade Launcher. ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 1,300 ft for standard 40mm AGLs
Damage: Same as for the standard 40mm format
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 12
Cost: 9,000 credits
Options:
*Semi-Auto Mode---A modification that allows the LAGL-40D to fire in three-shot burst mode for increased damage. Cost: 2,500 credits.

*Drum Magazine(24 rds and adds 9 lbs). Cost: 1,200 credits

f) Light Rail Run---Modified PS ‘STARifle. Up to TWO can be mounted.
Weight: 5.6 lbs
Range:(SDC Fire Mode) 600 ft
(MDC Fire Mode) 2,000 ft
Damage:(SDC Fire Mode)3d6 SDC per single shot; 2d4x10 SDC per 5 shot burst
(MDC Fire Mode) 1d6 MD per single shot, 5d6 MD on a 5 shot burst
Rate of Fire: Single shot or 5-shot burst
Payload: 20, 30, or 40 shot box magazines
Special Features:
*Commando Kit----This fits the STAR with a special 38mm barrel extension that contains a special sonic suppressor that damps the atmospheric shockwaves from the emerging projectile. It is impossible to completely eliminate the mini-sonic boom of the bullets as they slice the air, but the suppressor does cut down the initial BANG of the muzzle shockwave to a more subdued chuffing. Because no hot gases are involved, the suppressor baffles don’t burn out as quickly, and a single suppressor extension is estimated good for 600 firings before needing replacement.

*Sharpshooter Sniper Kit----This kit features a special power pack, 460mm barrel extension,bipod mount, and special telescopic targeting scope w/ laser spot, rangefinder, low-lite, and thermo-imager functions. This weapon modification kit allows the weapon to fire single shot(bursts are not possible) up to 4,000 ft. Laser Targeting electronics give this weapon a +2 to strike.

Cost: 20,000 credits(After 110 P.A., PS reduces the price to 15,000 credits); 2,000 credits for the Commando Kit; 9,000 for the Sharpshooter Kit

g) Light Machine Gun---Modified cyborg forearm weapon. Up to TWO can be mounted.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: (Conventional) 1d6x10 SDC/HP per 10 rd burst
(Exploding) 1 MD single round, 2d4 MD ten-shot burst
(PSX-1)1d4 MD per single rd, 1d4x10 MD per 10 rd burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 400 rd box magazine
Cost: 20,000 credits

h)PKSM Auto-Shotgun(w/ light laser). Only ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 25 lbs
Range:(12 Gauge)) 300-1,000 ft(varies by ammunition type)
(Laser) 4,000 ft!
Damage:(12 Gauge)
*Standard Shotgun shell--300 ft range, 5d6 SDC
*Standard Buckshot shell---300 ft range, 4d6 SDC to 5 ft area
*Teargas shell---300 ft range, 25 ft radius---victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -3 initiative, lose 1 melee attack/action, for the next 1d6+1 melees
*Baton shell---300 ft range, 2d6 SDC, plus humans and human-sized D-Bees must roll a D20 to maintain their footing (must equal or surpass the attacker's roll to strike...Full rules in TNW p.174).
*S-9Dex Incapacitation Munition ---300 ft range, Essentially a paper-shelled shotgun shell-sized gas-propelled 'cold rocket', packed full of taser beads. Beads powder on impact, reducing the chance of bystanders or incoming police stepping on undischarged beads. Great for crowd control and dealing with closed-space situations(alleyways, rooms, vehicle interiors, etc...)
Effective Range: 300 feet, w/ 20 ft radius
Damage: Nil. Humanoids struck with this weapon must save vs. coma or be shocked unconscious for 1D6 minutes.
Cyborgs have a 60% chance of having their cybernetics disrupted for 1D10 minutes, and a 30% chance of a non-vital system being permanently shorted out.
*High Explosive Armor Piercing Shell---1,000 ft range, 6d6 MD(no blast radius)
*Mini-Grenade(plasma)--- 1,000 ft range, 5d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
*Mini-Grenade II(Fragmentation)---1,000 ft range, 2d4 MD to 10 ft blast radius
*Standard HESH Shell---1,000 ft range, 2D4 M.D. plus 4D4 S.D.C. to the person(s) inside of EBA power/body armor & roll versus knockdown (14)

(Laser)4d6 MD per single blast, 1d6x10+10 MD per triple blast
Rate of Fire:(12 Gauge) Standard
(Laser) ECHH
Payload:(12 Gauge) 20 rd ‘banana’ clip
Or a 50 shot drum can be added
(Laser) 10 shot standard E-clip in handle, 30 shot long E-Clip, or 60 shot rechargeable canister. Or can be linked to an external power source for potentially infinite shots
Cost: 18,000 credits

i) Ion Blaster---Modified PSIP-2 ‘Smasher’ gun. Only ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 4.5 lbs
Range: 800 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
1d4x10 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 30 shots short e-clip, 60 shots long-Eclip. Effectively Unlimited linked to the ‘bot’s power system.
Cost: 20,000 credits (after 110 P.A., Paladin Steel will slash the price to 12,000 credits)

Options:
Note: It takes a person with the Weapons Engineer skill a successful roll and about 5 minutes to install and test one of the following modules, those with the Armorer/Field Armorer skill about 10 minutes, and someone following the printed instructions about 30-45 minutes to install/swap modules.

*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel clip-on that turns the PSIP-2 into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 400 ft, but does 4d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area. Cost: 5,000 credits

*Ion Booster Module---Another barrel attachment that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 3d6 MD, but boost range to 1,500 ft. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Ion Focal Booster Module---Aka ‘Puncher’---This barrel attachment improves the focus of the ion pulse density, improving damage at the cost of range. Reduce range to 400 ft, but up damage to 5d6 MD per shot. Note, however, that the weapon also suffers sharp ‘kickup’ giving it a -1 to strike, when fired single-handed; a foregrip for two-handed bracing is recommended(and provided as part of the kit). Cost: 5,000 credits.

*Laser Sight Module---Another underbarrel attachment, this consists of an improved laser sight that adds a bonus to strike, but the laser also creates a temporary ‘guidepath’ of disturbed/ionized air that slightly improves the striking power of the ion bolts. +2 to Strike, and +3 to damage per bolt. This can be used in conjunction with the other barrel attachments, but added damage is reduced to +2 MD. Cost: 1,000 credits

*Ion Step-Down Module---This barrel attachment, rather than increase range or power, actually ‘steps down’ the power of ion bolts into the SDC range, and modulates their effect, making the weapon in effect a ‘super-taser’(albeit it with flash-burns). An added power regulation chip allows the weapon to use less power in SDC mode. CAN be used in conjunction with the the Laser Sight Module. Switching between MD/SDC modes takes 2 actions. Popular with urban security and police units.
Range:(SDC shots) 600 ft
Damage: 1d6 SDC shock-burn. Plus, victims must make a save of 14 or better, or be -8 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2d6 melees. A savings throw versus non-lethal poison means the person is unimpaired. 25% chance of knocking out unshielded cybernetics for 1d4 melees.
Payload: One MD shot equals 10 SDC shots
Cost: 4,000 credits


j)Ion ARC Pistol---TWO can be mounted, either side of the gunner's seat.
Weight: 7 lbs
Range: 800 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per bolt to primary target.
Furthermore, a secondary bolt will jump to 1d6 targets in the vicinity of the main target, starting with the nearest target(or the nearest metallic target) as long as they are within 6 ft(10 ft for metal targets) of the initial target/point of impact, then jumping to the next one until the ball lightning dissipates. Secondary targets can attempt to dodge the energy ball as standard.
Secondary targets will take HALF damage(3d6 MD).
Does only 1/4 of the original damage if the secondary targets are nonmetallic or grounded
Organic targets roll for Stun; save at 16 or better or be -8 to strike, dodge, parry, roll, and initiative, reduce APMs and Spd by HALF, for 2d4 melee rds. A successful save means lose only initiative and 1 APM for 1 melee round.
50% chance of knocking out unshielded electronics(or 1d4 subsystems like radio, electronic image amplification, cybernetic sensory implant, or the like) for 1d4 melees.
Beings susceptible to electricity take DOUBLE damage.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 12 shots standard E-clip, 20 shot long e-clip. Effectively Unlimited linked to the ‘bot’s power system.
Bonuses: +2 to strike metallic targets
Cost: 19,000 credits

k) Plasma Gun---Adapted version of the PS ‘Incendii’ Plasma Pistol. TWO plasma guns can be mounted, one on each side of the gunner’s seat.
Weight: 5 lbs
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 8 shots standard e-clip, 16 per long e-clip. Effectively Unlimited linked to the ‘bot’s power system.
Cost: 16,000 credits
Options:
*“Hot Shotting”---This system augments the normal air-draw plasma re-mass system with deuterium-gas injected into the plasma flow for a cleaner, hotter, more potent ‘burn’. The deuterium is stored in pressurized cylinders attached to the feeds of the gun, like a CO2 air rifle cartridge. This allows the plasma to do 50% more damage, but the weapon now has a bit of a recoil due to the more powerful plasma acting like a crude plasma drive(-1 to strike).
Cost: HotShot modding on the Incendii costs +8,000 credits, and a recharged cylinder of refined d-gas costs 500 credits(300 credits if the user can return a depleted gas cylinder at the time of purchase) and is good for 20 shots.

*Scatter-Fire---This modifies the muzzle plasma ejector mechanism to fire a dozen or so smaller plasma bolts at shorter range and with less individual damage, but with a scatter effect like a shotgun---ideal for clearing out rooms and compartments.
Reduce range by 1/3, and mini-plasma bolts do 2d4 MD each, but now covers a 30-degree arc(or roughly 15 ft wide area)
Cost: +4,000 credits

*Plasma Bolt-exploder----Rather than a single plasma bolt, this mod supercharges the outgoing shot into a sort of freeform plasma ‘grenade’ whose cohesion deteriorates faster, resulting in shorter range, but which explodes with greater area of effect and intensity.
Reduce range by HALF, but the bolt now does 1d6x10+4 MD and explodes in a 5 ft blast radius . A single plasma ‘grenade’ costs two shots from the e-clip.
Cost: +5,000 credits


l) Pulse Laser-----An adapted copy of PS’s ‘Partisan’ laser rifle. Only ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 6 lbs
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: (SDC Mode) 6d6 SDC per shot
(MDC Mode) 2d6 MD per bolt, 6d6 MD per triple burst.
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 30 shots standard E-clip, or 50 shots long E-clip(or 600 SDC shots)
Bonuses:-----
Special Features:
*Underbarrel Attachment for a grenade launcher, bayonet, flashlight, mini-flamethrower, grapple-launcher, or other attachment.
*Sight Rail for mounting various existing sights and scopes.
*Compatible with laser-pulse ignition adaptor for PS Rifle Grenades.
Cost: 15,000 credits
Options:
*Blue-Green Frequency Kit---This modifies the ‘Partisan’ to fire more effectively underwater, down to 1,000 ft. Comes with a slip-on casing for the laser that gives the weapon neutral buoyancy if dropped in the water. Cost: 6,000 credits

*Long Shooter---A 38 cm barrel extension with focussing optics that allows the weapon to shoot an extra 1,000 ft, but reduce the damage to 1d6 MD per single shot, 4d6 MD for a triple burst. Cost: 5,000 credits.

m) Pulse Laser II(2)---Modified copies of the PSLP-4 ‘ Bushmaster’ Laser Pistol. TWO lasers can be mounted, one on each side of the gunner’s seat.
Weight: 4.5 lbs each gun
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD per single shot, 6d6 MD per 3-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 28 shots per e-clip, 45 per long E-clip. Effectively Unlimited linked to the ‘bot’s power supply.
Bonuses:+1 to strike from the weapon’s superior balance and design
Cost: 18,000 credits
Options:
*Rifle Conversion Kit---This kit adds a rifle butt and barrel extension with additional electronics and beam focus elements, pushing the range to 2,200 ft. Cost: 8,000 credits and adds 3.5 lbs to weight

*Blue-Green Frequency Kit---This modifies the ‘Bushmaster’ to fire more effectively underwater, down to 1,000 ft. Comes with a slip-on casing for the laser that gives the weapon neutral buoyancy if dropped in the water. Cost: 6,000 credits

*Fan-Scatter-Laser Kit---This conversion adds what looks like a round-tipped air-cooled muzzle or perforated silencer to the end of the muzzle. In reality, it is a beam-splitter that converts the PSLP into a short ranged ‘fan laser’, doing 1d6 MD to an 10 ft-wide area, at about 300 ft range, with a single shot, and 3d6 MD to a 12 ft area with a burst shot.
Sometimes called a ‘paint stripper’. Cost: 5,000 credits

*PS-S27 ‘Superscope’---A multimode/media sensor and sighting package that clips onto/around the gun, and gives the following bonuses:
(Sensor Bonuses) +2 to strike with normal shots, +3 to strike with called shots, with integrated weapon, and is only -2 to strike invisible targets caught in the motion detector arc.
Special Features:
*Sensor Integration Algorithm Computer---A ‘peewee’-sized ‘wonderchip’ that integrates all the sensor data and displays it, along with handy ‘pointers’, on the gunscope, or via a feed to wired HUDs or headjack optic displays. Also can be programmed with a clip-on modie for ‘virtual target practice’, allowing the shooter to be able to dry-fire practice target-shooting.
*Laser Targeting---Visible ‘red dot’ or invisible spot
*Passive Nightvision---2,000-6,000 ft
*Thermo-Imaging System---3000 ft
*Motion Tracking System---120-degree arc in front of the weapon. Range: 500 ft
*SmartGun Linkage Port---Allows the weapon to be ‘jacked in’ to a cyberarm or headjack for additional sensor coordination and targeting system integration.
Note: No bonuses are given for this system because it’s designed to be integrated with a variety of smartgun link platforms, not strictly PS ones; of course, some interface software may not be compatible, or require special adaptors/filters/translators that may factor in a time delay sufficient to negate any bonuses for initiative, but...GMs, use your discretion...
Cost: 8,000 credits and adds 2.5 lbs to weight


n)Particle Beam Cannon---Adapted PSPBW-12 ‘Genna’ Light Particle Pulse Rifle. Only ONE can be mounted.
Weight: 7.9 lbs
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10+20 MD per triple shot burst
Rate of Fire: Single shot of three-shot burst, ECHH
Payload: 15 shots from a standard e-clip, 30 shots from a long E-Clip, 55 shots from an E-canister. Effectively Unlimited linked to the ‘bot’s power supply.
Cost: 21,000 credits

o) Laser Designator---This is an illumination laser, used to ‘paint’ targets for assault with precision-guidance laser-riding munitions. This system has an effective range of 7 miles, and gives a +1 to strike to guided weapons(in addition to any other sensor bonuses they may have).

p) Ground Sensor Pack---A specialized sensor module, with a short range microwave ground radar system for scanning for buried mines.
Range: The magnetometer has a range of 3,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy
The ground radar has a range of 2,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting nonmetallic ordnance.
-PPE Sensor--- The GSP also has a PPE sensor pack; The sensor has a 200 ft range(out to 400 ft with 50% error in determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible entities. Other penalties similar to the Japanese SNARLS system(on which it is based.....see Rifts: Japan, pg. 116).
-Aura Scanner: ---Sees general concentrations of PPE. Range: 2,000 ft

q)Bio-Scanner---Has a molecular analyzer, enhanced radiation detector, high-powered acoustic ‘shotgun mike’(3,000 ft range), and thermo-imager optics.


3) Pincer Jaws---Though really intended for clearing underbrush, snipping wire, and carrying things, the robotic mandibles can still deliver a sharp bite.
Range: Melee
Damage: 1d6 MD

4) Hand to Hand Combat
Use Robot Combat Training bonuses(on account of the control setup)
Head Butt 3d6+11 SDC
Restrained Pounce Attack 5d6+5 SDC
Full Strength Pounce Attack 1d6 MD
Paw Strike 4d6+11 SDC
Power Punch/Paw Strike(2 attacks) 1d4 MD
Body Block 1d4 MD

Options:
-Vibroclaw Paws---Does 3d4 MD on a paw swipe. Cost: 9,000 credits each

-Heavy Jaw---Enhanced Bite: 3d6 MD. Cost: 15,000 credits

-Leaper Legs---Sacrifice some speed for enhanced leaping ability. DOUBLE leap distance, but reduce maximum running speed to 80 MPH. Cost: 18,000 credits

-Swimmer Conversion---Adds flotation units and paw webbing. Can now swim at 10 MPH. Cost: 20,000 credits

-Gecko Molecular Adhesion Paw-Pads---Allows the ‘bot to cling to any surface sturdy enough to half its weight. Cost: 28,000 credits

[Aramanthus]

That is one wicked little critter. I think it could be sold to some of the smaller beings who populate the Federated States. So I guess we'll be ordering some of them.

[taalismn]

No Man’s Land Island---Home of the Nomansers
http://dgl.salemstate.edu/geography/Profs/luna/projects/2010_09Fall/GPH903/MenichelliNomansIsland.jpg

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/nomanslandisland/images/NomansAerial.jpg

http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/sites/images/nmr1p22.jpg

http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/sites/nlitmap.htm

http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/sites/images/nliusgs1.jpg

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/NoMansLand_MA_43topo.jpg

“It might look like nowhere to you, but we call it home. It’s all a matter of perspective. What looks like scrub-brush to a giant, is a tree to somebody smaller, and what may look like low bluffs are mountains. It bore us, it bred us, and it’s still someplace special to all of us who bear the Rusty Blade.”

Located about three miles off the southwest tip of Martha’s Vineyard, the small island of No Man’s Land was regarded pre-Rifts as a scrap of barely useful property. After the Rifts, however, it has become home to a civilization of fierce mutant animal warriors.
Discovered by Europeans in 1602, by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold , the island would supposedly receive its name as a corruption of the name of the local Wampanoag sachem, Tequenoman, who had jurisdiction over the island(the English referring to the island as "TequeNoman's Land"). Variously exploited as a fishing ground, a pasture island, then later as a combination naval gunnery range and wildlife sanctuary for over fifty years, the island eventually reverted to a full nature preserve after concerns from the nearby heavily populated island forced the military to cease live fire exercises there. Tourism to the wildlife sanctuary would be curtailed by the possibility of still-live munitions lying around the island.
Roughly 612 acres in size and about a mile wide, No Man’s Land is rough-terrained, with a geography dominated by packed bluff-dunes and heavily covered by beach growth and briars. Several small brackish ponds and several small fresh water pools lay inland. The remains of the old military landing field and target bunkers were the only signs of human usage after it became a full wildlife sanctuary, and these would quickly become overrun by wild vegetation growth. Despite several extensive cleanup efforts that removed much in the way of old ordnance, much in the way of old rusting metal shell and rocket casings, as well as aircraft cannon shells, remained in the soil. This would be the state of things on the island throughout the Golden Age; seen from afar, but rarely ever visited but by the occasional conservation official or storm-blown boater seeking temporary shelter.
No Man’s Land would be caught up in the same bubble of warped space/time triggered by the Coming of the Rifts that teleported Martha’s Vineyard into its own pocket universe. Caught on the fringes of that bubble, but subjected to somewhat different conditions, No Man’s Land would be the scene of its own drama. Though traveling through time/space in parallel with the Vineyard, No Man’s Land was, at least in the initial years of the separation from the home reality plane, subjected to more interdimensional violence. Time moved slightly faster on the island, and the surrounding waters, unlike Martha’s Vineyard’s, which remained relatively benign, were more subject to infestations and incursions by various extra-dimensional fauna as zomba and dragonfish.
Cut off from conservation efforts and the periodic culling-by-aerial-gunnery that once policed the local ecology, and subsequently exposed to the strange energies of warped space/time, the rabbits of No Man’s Land would find themselves in a life and death struggle over limited resources. Accelerated mutation and pressurized evolution would result in the emergence of intelligence among the rabbits. Intelligence that was immediately put to the service of survival. Wars broke out between families, clans formed, alliances made, a rude sort of technological development taking place as the various rabbit factions fought for food and water, and what usable material washed ashore.
This seething evolution, however, these wars for dominance, would take place unseen from the Vineyard, where the natives there struggled with their own problems.
Hard contact with the outside world, aside from what monsters slithered ashore, came when a Coalition naval officer, Master Chief Gifford Lewis, washed ashore, borne on a freak wave that pushed him into the bubble of space/time around Martha’s Vineyard. Traumatized after his patrol ship had been sunk by Splugorth Slavers, Lewis was furthermore delusional, and saw the approaching rabbits as other humans,and responded accordingly. Rather than kill the strange outsider, the tribal Nomanser Warseers decided to pick the brain of the stranger, to see what knowledge he could impart. What came to be called as the New Knowledge, culled psionically from Lewis’s mind as he stumbled through his delusional world of ordering new recruits around, opened the eyes and minds of the Noman’s Land mutants to a far larger and more complex world, and the threats it harbored, beyond their little scrap of island.
Master Chief Lewis lingered for about five years before succumbing to a failing cybernetic organ implant, but in that time he had trained what he thought was a ‘hopeless crop of mewing and crapping wet-behind-the-ears maggots who thought they were soldiers’...in reality he’d imparted the hardcore culture of the Coalition Naval Infantry on the already warrior society of the Nomansers. He also left a unified No Man’s Land, the Nomansers finally banding together for whatever came next from beyond the ocean mists curtaining their world. To this day, for conferring the New Knowledge upon them, Master Chief Lewis is honored and almost worshipped by the Nomansers.
The Nomansers might have eventually invaded(or tried to; the ZOT would have had other ideas about that) Martha’s Vineyard, but the Islanders found them first. Having finally gotten their wits about them with the assistance of the dimension-hopping ZOT(who were working to make part of the island over into the equivalent of the resort it once was), the locals finally got around to investigating the other islands in their locale. They were stunned to discover a teeming society of aggressive sentient mutant rabbits inhabiting the tiny island. They were even more stunned to find themselves in the sights of several scavenged high tech firearms in the hands of the mutants.
Though initially wary of the strangers who arrived in force, the Nomansers eventually came to the opposite feeling; the strangers from the Big Island were the ‘relief reinforcements’ that Master Chief Lewis had promised would one day come. Especially when the Islanders, bolstered with the newfound prosperity and security brought by the ZOT replacing the severe austerity and fear of the Dark Ages, offered the Nomansers food and assistance.
Today the Nomansers serve as part of the defensive militia protecting Martha’s Vineyard against intruders, but large numbers of the rabbits have joined the service of the Greater New England Armed Services, either directly as part of the formal military, or as members of the sponsored mercenary unit, the Rusty Blade.
While No Man’s Land is still considered the ‘homeland’ of the Nomansers where the old tribes have their burrow-halls, the island is something of a training camp and fortress anchoring MV’s defenses on that side of the island chain. The island once again has a small airfield, and is dotted with bunkers and pillboxes, including several concealing medium-range missile launchers. Several water distillation/desalination systems replace dependence on the few small ponds on the island for fresh water, and a modern fusion powerplant provides power to the bunkers and fortified residences. While many more Nomansers live(and breed) off the island than on it, the old homestead remains their Gibraltar, their Paris Island, and cadet trainee Nomansers are always sent to do orientation and a tour of duty on the island, manning its defenses.
The modern Nomansers operate a small naval air wing, have a small ‘navy’ of several modified patrol boats and amphibious vehicles, and a ground task force of power armors and appropriately-scaled robot vehicles.

Nomansers RCC (the Mutant Rabbits of No Man’s Land Island)

“My gang got virtually annihilated by a mob of small rabbits with knives and guns...Our ship got boarded by a boatload of them...This is a bad joke....the universe is ####ing with me.”
-Captain Ul Robards, late of the Northwaters Marauders

“Dibs on the eyeballs!”---Anonymous Nomanser Marine overheard during a counterattack on a Horune pirate raid.

The Nomansers are descendants of feral rabbits that lived on No Man’s Land Island. scratching out a living amongst the beach growth, bird colonies, brackish pools, and scant resources. Added to that was an ecology that for over fifty years was periodically forcibly renewed by brush fire and naval gunnery that set fires and knocked off some of the rabbit population. And that was BEFORE the Coming of the Rifts. Subsequently, isolated island living and dimensional flux-fueled evolution has bred a smaller, heartier, more grizzled breed of sentient rabbit. Scarce resources has bred a more omnivorous creature from vegetarian rabbit stock; indeed breeding predators with a taste for meat, and a digestive system able to handle contaminated water and substandard foodstuffs such as dry grass and rotted meat. Hard living and magic mutation have also bred a creature shockingly resistant to damage and resilient as well.

Nomansers have learned the arts of cunning, and of patient stalking of prey and other predators. If they can, Nomansers will strike from ambush, ideally from concealed shelters, tunnels, or blinds dug and camouflaged in advance. If that isn’t possible, they’ll try to hit fast and retreat just as quickly, to come back later and strike again and again, probing for weakness and exploiting an enemy’s injuries.

The Rusty Blade is a common icon in the Nomanser culture, dating back to the days when the Nomansers had to make due with what weapons they could improvise from driftwood and the heavily rusted metal remains of fishing boats, gunnery targets, and shrapnel. The most common design, hammered from old scrap iron, was a diamond- or trowel-shaped blade that came to be known as a ‘ghuta’ in Nomanser pidgin. The rough-textured rust-red shiv icon remains a prominent one among the warrior Nomansers, and many warriors and prominent Nomansers carry a similar blade on their person, although many times it is made of more modern corrosion-proofed alloys and given a rough-textured coat of rust-colored paint. Nomanser Marines carry a special vibroblade version of the ghuta, as both a symbol of prowess and as a still very lethal melee weapon. The ghuta’s broad blade in practice is frequently TWISTED inside a wound, opening it up and causing massive tissue trauma and blood loss.

Though cannibalism was rife during the Hungry Age, the Nomansers have since downplayed it and now only practice the highly ritual eating of honored dead. It is claimed, however, that in the field, adherents of the Rusty Blade have eaten the internal organs of fallen enemies to ‘take their courage’ and ‘spite their spirits’.

While the Nomansers are largely limited to Rifts Earth campaigns, given the increasingly pan-dimensional nature of the GNE trade/manufacturing network, and indeed of the Martha’s Vineyard/No Man’s Land Phase-Island ‘cluster’ themselves, it’s entirely possible to find Nomansers traveling in other universes, typically as part of a GNE expeditionary force or trade delegation.

Alignments: Any, but tend towards Scrupulous and Aberrant
Life span: 65 years(twice to three times what it was back in the Hungry Age)
Size: Size Level 2; about 14 inches tall and between 4-5 lbs in weight(on the slender side)
Gender: Heterosexual, and the females fight as well as the males.
Physical Description/Appearance: Grizzled-looking mutant rabbits with large claws and teeth. Their musculature is very dense and tough, under leathery skin and short bristly wire-like hair. They have an upright posture and fully articulated hands, but have no problems crouching over, the better to rapidly move through their burrows and bunkers. Fur color ranges from a beach sand tan to dark gray, while their eyes are dark. The Nomanser face is somewhat more pointed and fox-like than a normal rabbit’s(vulpine rather than lupine), in order to accommodate the more pronounced set of canine teeth.
Nomansers prefer to dress in military-style gear, typically camouflage with a sand-pattern. When not in ‘sneak mode’, Nomansers like to prominently display a crest or banner(such as a trailing ribbon banner tied around an upper arm) somewhere on their person declaring their old warren-affiliation(The Greater Sweetwater Clan, the Bloodsands, the Windhills Gang, etc.) or unit(First Seaborne Marines, Lewis Brigade, etc.).
Disposition/Attitudes:
Not the brightest of soldiers, the Nomansers make up for it in loyalty, courage and ferocity. Very unit-oriented, quiet, and dangerous, always scanning for trouble and possible threats, they come across like a group of assassins or commandoes. Combat-readiness is a virtue, not just of individuals, but also of groups, and Nomansers in any sort of military group will check their teammates for preparedness, take care of each other’s gear, and watch each other’s backs.
Nomansers tend not to be finicky eaters, and can stomach a lot of things that would make other folk retch to consider eating. Voracious eaters with little in the way of table manners, they still will share and evenly divide any food they have among members of their squad, team, or family.
Nomansers can be quite personable, but inevitably the train of their thoughts is going to be focused on the Corps, the Team, and the Mission(even if it’s just securing lunch).
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 4d4
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 2d6
PP: 3d6 +3
PB: 2d4
PE: 4d4
SPD: 3d6 +18
(ISP): By Psionic Class
(PPE): 2d6
Hit Points: P.E. +1d8 per level of experience
SDC: 30+ any additional from skills, training, and OCC bonuses.
MDC: By armor, technology, and/or magic.
Horror Factor:
Natural Abilities:(Starting Bio-E: 5)
*Hands: Full(10)
*Posture: Full Upright(10)
*Speech: Full(10)
*Looks: None
*Brute Strength(special)(10)---Can carry 20 times their P.S. and lift 50 times it in pounds.
*Leaping: Feline(10)--Can leap twice their height across and three times their height straight up from a standing still position. Increase range by 50% with a running start. Can leap down five times their height in distance and land without injury.
*Tunneling(10)--Can tunnel at 1.5 feet per melee if P.S. is under 13, 2 ft per melee if P.S. is 13-18(most warrior Nomansers are in this range, thanks to their exercise regimens).
*Running Claws(5)--1d6 SD
*Advanced Hearing (5) (+1 on Initiative)
*Advanced Smell(5) (Tracking: 50%+5% per level of experience, Recognize Individuals: 60% + 2% per level of experience).


Additional Mutant Traits:
*Enlarged Jaw--Bites for 1d6 SD

*Leathery Skin and Dense Musculature----Nomansers are a LOT tougher than their size would suggest.

*Poison Resistance----Nomensers are +6 to save versus poisons and ingested toxins, including rotten meat, and can safely drink brackish water without ill effect for as many days as they have P.E. points x2.

*Damage Resistance---Between being more sinewy than a ball of twine and exposure to superdimensional flux energies, Nomansers take HALF damage from physical attacks like punches, kicks, stabs, and concussion. They also possess a form of energy resistance that causes energy weapon attacks to be treated like normal SD attacks, so a laser blast that would normally do 10 points of Megadamage and vaporize a car, let alone a simple rabbit, only does 10 SD points to a Nomanser.

Psionics: Standard; high psychic Nomansers are attached to War Party Leaders as ‘Warseers’.
Magic: Virtually unknown among the Nomansers until they made contact with the Big Island. Now a few Nomansers are looking at more combat-oriented magic, like Smokers and Battle Magic.
Cybernetics/Bionics: None; the Nomansers don’t want ‘em.

Available OCCs: Can take just about any Tribal or Barbarian OCC, with an emphasis on combat and survival(may also substitute the profession selection and apprenticeship programs from AtB, adjusting accordingly for Rifts). Since contact with the Vineyard, the education level is rising, so the Nomansers can buy off their heritage of primitivism and study subjects such as high-tech operation and maintenance. Thus, Headhunters, CS Grunt- and Technical Expert-equivalents are becoming possible. The most common OCC among Nomanser Warriors is their version of the Coalition Naval Infantry, with an emphasis on weapons training and physical toughness.

RCC Skills:
*Language---Nomantic---This is a rather general, crude, pidgin language that the Nomansers developed on their own before Master Chief Lewis introduced them to the more complex and eloquent English language that would become the standard. Nomantic is a terse, guttural, language for conveying information quickly(“Enemy coming here!” “Danger from above!” “Come quick! Food from the sea!””Mate now? Here or over there?”) but breaks down when trying to describe more sophisticated concepts(such as numbers; beyond 20, the sum of fingers and toes, for instance, Nomantic just goes ‘many’ or resorts to clumsier phrases like ‘six hands of hands’). Though supplanted by American-English, Nomantic is still taught as a form of battle-speak. It has a written component, but this consists of icons representing the more basic or strategic concepts(“Danger”, “Latrine”, “Fresh Water”, etc...).

Wilderness Survival(+15%)
Swimming(+5%)
W.P. Knife
Hand to Hand: Basic(can be modified through OCC choices)


Culture: Warrior Tribal, though the once violently opposed tribal factions have been absorbed into a common command structure presided over by an Elder Council of Chiefs of Staff, and the old animosities now relegated to the level of an old college football rivalry. The Nomanser unified government has taken on an organization familiar on many points to the layout of the Coalition Navy’s, with similar rank structure.

Allies:
Greater New England and the peoples of it. The Nomansers tend to be suspicious of strangers and new people, but will accept them without reservation of they prove themselves honest and not antagonistic to the GNE or the Nomanser Corps.
Though they’ve lost their early idolization of the Coalition States, the Nomansers still regard the Coalition Navy that spawned Master Chief Lewis with respect, and they view the Coalition Naval Infantry with wary admiration. If and when the Nomansers face such Coalition units in the field, they treat their enemy with chivalrous respect.
The Nomansers have also heard of a high-powered mercenary group of alien lupines called the Ninja Bunnies, and some of the Nomansers have started agitating for some effort, official or unofficial, to go and find these elusive operators and see what they’re all about. If possible, the Nomansers would love to test their mettle and get them to sign with the GNE.

Enemies:
The Splugorth, the Horune, and monsters from the sea in general.

[glitterboy2098]

oh god, a nation of bun-buns...

[taalismn]

oh god, a nation of bun-buns...

Think of it as evolution in action.

But seriously, part of the inspiration came from an anecdote that one of my cousins-by-marriage, who was in wildlife management, told me. About twenty years ago, the local Greeners on Cape Cod noted the apparently oxymoronic title of No Man's Land as a 'Naval Bombing Range and Wildlife Sanctuary' and demanded, as was their right, an inspection of the grounds to see if the latter was indeed the case, figuring that no good to the ecology could come of being bombed and strafed. In case the Navy would have to stop(much to the relief of the MVers who feared that naval bombardment just three miles away would affect local property values) The military hedged and hawed, but law and court order finally resulted in a boatload of ecologists accompanied by grinning eco-activists and a couple of dour Navy representatives heading amidst some fanfare and publicity out to do a thorough study.
Now the way the story goes, a week later the boatload came back, the ecologists buzzing happily with info, the activists dour, and the Navy grinning. And aside from a preliminary report, nothing more was heard of the matter...Until much later when a comprehensive report surfaced and unremarked upon.
Contrary to expectation, rather than a struggling ecosystem, the island wildlife was thriving, assisted by the periodic application of American firepower. Old growth set ablaze by incendiaries would remove dead matter from the 'system and new growth promoted, and the occasional (introduced) rabbit that ate a bullet or shrapnel would be culled from circulation, keeping the rabbits from overgrazing. Aside from possible long-term heavy metal poisoning from decaying projectile casings, the No Man's Land ecosystem was doing quite well.
Of course, it was more safety concerns about bombing nearby MV(my father had a student who almost bombed Gay Head in a fog), as well as rising economic costs of live fire exercises led to NML becoming a full-time wildlife sanctuary.

[Aramanthus]

I have to admit it is a very cool concept. I like it. I think it makes a lot of sense.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel (Mc) PABS---Portable Armored Bunker System
(aka ‘Munchkin-Kan’)
http://heintzspropane.com/admin/images/IMG_0151.JPG
(newly manufactured McPABs sit outside a Paladin Steel shipping center, unpainted, but ready to be delivered and installed)

It was to be a show of force, a demonstration of power and a repayment to the cultists who had helped them. Eliminate the town that had dared persecute the followers of Rizneth LifeBlighter and hang the villagers by their entrails. Proof that nobody defied the Infernals. Really, though, the demons would have done it anyway, not to reward some group of chattel-mortals who felt slighted by other cattle.
The demon war party swept into the town, laughing with dreadful glee as they saw the pitiful villagers’ defense forces break and run after a few shots, fleeing towards the more heavily built-up part of the community.
The demons expected the mortals would make a stand for it, a show of bravado before their supposed shelter proved their undoing. Wary of the mortals’ fireweapons, but not breaking their advance, the demons ducked down so as not to be caught by the expected enemy fire.
What they were NOT prepared for was the sudden crisscross of fire that cut across the grounds at leg level.
With harsh cries and blasphemous curses the foremost demonic troops tripped and fell, legs burnt, ankles shattered, and knees exploding in blooms of ichor, the warriors behind them running into them and tripping as well. Pained annoyance turned to screams of agony as fire now stitched across the prostrate demons’ heads and shoulders. Some of the yells broke off abruptly as fatal head shots rammed home.
The demonic noncom in charge of this intended massacre dropped back to take cover behind an abandoned vehicle, as barely visible energy pulses, and rather vocal projectile fire, scythed into his men, forcing an undignified temporary retreat.
“Where is that infernal fire coming from!?”
“From those beds of cultivated plants, Your Despicableness,” a minor underling explained as it ducked behind cover. “There are small defensive works there!”
Indeed, as the Alu risked a glance, he saw a glint of hard armor among the decorative plants. Armored stumps that shot fire, maiming his troops and slowing them down. A glance through the arcano-optic he wore revealed life-auras....there were living things behind that armor...not all of them, but more than a few
“HAH!!! So they hope their little pets can stop us from holes in the ground? Now that we know they’re there, they will die just as the others! Regroup and muster our magicks!”
It was then that the demon became aware of the small projections sticking up out of the grass, spraying a fine mist. It obscured some of the small defenses, but highlighted others, as the tracks of laser fire became more visible.
The demon had heard of these mortal creations. Irrigation devices, likely broken by the firefight, or turned on as some futile gesture by a panicked defender.
“Ah-hah! Look! They make water as they realize they are doomed! Even their machines empty their bladders in fear of what is....what is that smell?!”
The demon officer suddenly realized that the acrid mist was NOT water.
With a roar and a flash, the fine mist of fuel exploded into a wall of heat and force, rolling over the fallen demons, incinerating them where they lay. The officer and his minion were crushed as the vehicle they were hiding behind was bowled over by the blast, its rigged fuel tank then exploding, sending shrapnel sleeting into their semiconscious bodies, cracking even Infernal bones, remaining burning fuel drenching them and immolating them.
Then the BIG guns in the town keeps began opening up on the surviving demons.

The (Mc)PABS is a design for a portable, easily installed, armored bunker small and cheap enough to appeal to the smallkin sentients of the GNE(and elsewhere) as a ready shelter, defensive strongpoint, or checkpoint.
The (Mc) PABS is modeled on a large external residential propane tank, with a broad cylindrical body and a smaller covered ‘cupola’ on top. Construction is of megadamage composites with ceramic inlays. Internally the PAB can be set up with 1-3 separate levels, accessed by ladder, allowing for accommodations for the occupants, storage for supplies and ammunition, and a power source of some sort, with the revolving turret-cupola on top. Like their larger cousins, the (Mc) PABS comes fully equipped with environmental shielding, and closed-cycle emergency life support.
The (Mc) PAB can be set up on level ground as is, but it is typically buried in the ground or behind an embankment, with only the cupola showing(and that typically camouflaged). The micro-bunkers can be set up alone, or networked via underground cabling(and in some cases actual pipe-scale tunnels) to other bunkers.
The powered turrets atop the bunkers can be fitted as observation posts, or can mount one or two infantry-scale weapons(like a modified laser rifle or pair of blaster pistols). Though not as powerful or long-ranged as heavier weapons available for mounting on larger fortifications, these weapons, firing from concealment, can often catch unwary enemies fatally by surprise. The turrets are typically fitted with low-light observation gear, and the occupants frequently given remote control of external lighting and/or command-detonation minefields(claymores).
Though traditionally many ‘smallkin’ dislike the idea of fixed defenses that forces then to lose the mobility they see as critical to their survival in a larger being’s world, others have found the size-specific defensive works a necessary evil and a welcome addition, especially to those with a ‘nest’ mindset that requires the defense of fixed locations.
Since its introduction, Paladin Steel has sold and installed hundreds of the mini-bunkers across the GNE, the disguised micro-forts helping to secure perimeters, guard checkpoints/chokepoints, and providing quickly set up defensive lines.
Type: (Mc) PABS
Class: Portable Armored Bunker System(Micro-scale)
Crew: 2-6 beings of Size Level 1-3
MDC:
Main Body 250
Turret 80
Size: 5.5 ft tall, 3 ft in diameter
Weight: 300-400 lbs
Power System(s): Typically a battery or small ICE powerplant. Networked bunkers can be connected to an external powerplant as part of a defensive position. For extra cost, the PAB can be fitted with a nuclear power cell(good for 2 years before replacement).
Systems of Note:
*NBC-Shielded---The mini-bunker can seal up against nuclear radiation, biological threats, and chemical contamination. A air filtration system goes in operation, and an independent air supply, based on spacesuit systems, provides 120 hours of closed-cycle life support.
Cost: 36,000 credits for the basic (Mc)PAB, 84,000 credits for the nuclear-powered unit.
Weapons Systems:
None standard, but the cupola can mount an infantry-scale long arm, or two pistol-style weapons on a mounting. The weapons are typically powered by an internal battery( normal e-clip payload x100) or mini-generator, while projectile weapons will be belt-fed from a magazine inside the bunker.

[glitterboy2098]

some images dredged up from my 40+ GB's of image files..

nutkin republic defense checkpoint
Nutkin republic infantryman receiving medal of valour.
republic 'cyber-squirrel' at work
artillery school trainee..about to sound reveille

and i know where to get some Gnomocracy stuff, i just have to copy/paste the images from the (legally obtained) comic PDF's to files i can post on photobucket.. (well..not really gnomes. leprechans, just not palladium style ones..)

[abtex]

some images dredged up from my 40+ GB's of image files..
Nice little folk pictures.
republic 'cyber-squirrel' at work

and typing all the stuff I thought of while zoning on on the porch...

Ok where do I start?

taalismn calls that one...

SPARKY!!!!

[glitterboy2098]

some stuff for the rest of the wee-folk

Don't mess with the wee Folk
little people in a big world
Little people, big tanks
charge of the green brigade
tank commander
with a big enough lever and a place to stand...
Guarding the princess
size matters not..
team noob...ever army has their's
send in the spec-ops!
Leprechan ninja?
every race has it's fanboys..

wee folk negotiation tactics

Taalismn's "mini-me"?


-----------
all from the gold-digger series of comics. i intentionally left out images of the Leprechan super-sentai team "Vaultron", and their enemies, Prince Lowtor of the Umpaloompan's (and his Snacktekons), and the Pirate-ninja-leprechan team and their transforming pirate-ninja-rowboat-robot "Gaolleon"

[abtex]

cute ones, glitterboy2098.
Wee armor roof top sticker "Do Not Step On, Please!"

[taalismn]

Very funny, guys, and much needed.
Here's the sitrep: the storm didn't do as much damage as feared, save that I lost BOTH phone and power for 24 hours, forcing me to pack my fridge with ice...I'll be playing food poisoning roulette deciding what to toss and what to save(and cook the hell out of)...fun, fun, fun. But the worst part is, all the excitment did not help fight the sinus infection stalking me, so I'm in a bout with a nasty little virus that makles me feel like death warmed over with a nail hammered in my nose by some misguided, invisible and over-enthusiastic exorcist...more time away from my computer while I wrestle this thing with enough liquids(orange juice and soup primarily) to float a Liberty Ship(non-TW enhanced) and attempts to rest(bless Nyquil and please don't destroy my liver).
Like my father said to me over the phone; "You really seem to be catching it this year."

[abtex]

As long as you are safe and able to have fun. You may keep it to your self please.

hammered in my nose by some misguided, invisible and over-enthusiastic exorcist...

Glad your Puppet Master is trying to make you feel better.
Get well or at least better.

[taalismn]

As long as you are safe and able to have fun. You may keep it to your self please.

hammered in my nose by some misguided, invisible and over-enthusiastic exorcist...

Glad your Puppet Master is trying to make you feel better.
Get well or at least better.

Yep. Gotta. Otherwise how would I survive the NEXT disaster?

[Aramanthus]

That is another very nice creation of PS. We'd like to check them out and see how they work.

I'm glad you are doing well!

[taalismn]

Yeah, and I didn't realize how lucky I was until I went over a town and went grocery shopping. NO or sporadic power over there(forget about hitting the frozen foods, folks), trees split or down altogether all over, and 40% of the state still doesn't have power....

Nutkin Republic Mutant Squirrel(AtB conversion)
“Alright you pathetic nutcases! Today we learn how to set up defensive minefields using twenty-three millimeter grenades! They’re about the size of a big acorn, so planting ‘em should come naturally to most of you primitive tree rats! Putting them in the ground’s not going to be your problem then. It’s going to be remembering WHERE you planted them that’s going to tax your fuzzbutt little brains! I find that even one of you maggots can’t account for every single mine issued you, you’ll search for the missing bomb barehanded UNTIL YOU FIND IT!!! There ain’t going to be any boom-trees growing on MY watch because your brains decided to go hibernate on the job!”

The mutants of the Nutkin Republic would appear to be indigenous mutants, rather than D-bees, though the sophistication of their society would suggest outside influence. Were Desmond Bradford of Lonestar to do a DNA analysis of the Nutkin, he might be surprised to discover certain gene markers similar to those of certain pre-Rifts Golden Age ‘genie’ pets that were hitting the markets just before the Coming of the Rifts. These pets were generally ‘tweaked’ for higher intelligence and less aggressive behavior(so they could be more easily housebroken) for living in urban areas and homes, as well as longer life span. Whether subsequent rapid generational mutation, even with the influence of the Rifts, was enough to create the human-equivalent intelligence of the Nutkin and allow them to create their society from scratch, remains unknown, as the Nutkin have no written records and only dubious oral tradition dating back to the Dark Ages. It is possible that the indigenous mutants might have assimilated similar squirreloid d-bees, who passed their knowledge to the locals; again, there is no evidence to either prove or refute this theory.
Years of hiding in plain sight, fooling the Big Folk, and swiping small things or tapping public resources on the sly has given the old-school Nutkin something of the airs of ‘gentlemen thieves’, proud to have pulled one off for so long on supposedly smarter beings. Now that the Nutkin are more open in their relations with certain Big Folk and the GNE culture, there’s some resentment in the older generations about the Nutkin losing some of their ‘freedom’, especially when it comes to feeling entitled to certain things. Some of this arrogance has transferred to a disdain for their less intelligent rodent cousins, who the older Nutkin see as ‘second-string’(aka ‘second-rate’). The recent formation of the Rodentia Union is seen by many of the old guard Nutkin as a challenge to their own vaunted status as a recognized nation.
Younger generations who have grown up closer to the Big Folk tend to disagree, and see the current trend of openness as moving away from being parasites and non-contributors (Not ALL younger Nutkin share this attitude; there’s a growing amount of street crime attributable to Nutkin rogues). These young and adventurous squirrels want to share ideas, take part in big happenings, and see the Megaverse. Many Nutkin join the military in order to prove themselves brave against larger opponents, get a free education in the high tech world, and to earn money and status.
Alignments: Any
Lifespan: 55 years
Size: Size Level 3; 8-16 inches long, 2-7 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual, with females producing litters of 2-4 offspring at a time. Reach sexual maturity at 10 years of age.
Physical Description/Appearance:
A typical gray squirrel. Closer inspection will reveal small fully articulated hands and eyes mounted more to give superior forward binocular vision. Oh, and the squirrel is likely wearing clothes.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Tend to be fairly urbane and nonchalant, especially about scurrying along very high and precarious locations. Generations of hiding in plain sight of Big People has given the Nutkin a rather furtive and voyeuristic attitude; they tend not to reveal much to outsiders while taking it for a given that their own behavior will be excused or not noticed. Most people would find the old-school Nutkin to be haughty, mildly arrogant, and roguishly aristocratic, with a high level of snoot. Their high intelligence, compared to other mutant smallkin like the Rodentia, gives them even more of a ‘blue blood’ arrogance about them. Nutkin who spend more time socializing with Big Folk tend to lose this, though they retain a certain degree of irrepressible impulsiveness with regards to daring-do(“Hey, what can they do to me? To them, I’ll just look like a dumb animal!”).
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6+1
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 3d6-3
PP: 3d6+2
PB: 3d6
PE: 3d6-1
SPD: 3d6+9
(ISP): By Psionic Class
(PPE): 4d4
Hit Points:P.E. +1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 15+ any additional from skills, training, and OCC bonuses.
MDC: By armor, technology, and/or magic.
Horror Factor:---
Natural Abilities:(Starting Bio-E: 15)
*Hands: Full(10)
*Posture: Full Upright(10)
*Speech: Full(10)
*Looks: None
*Extra Intelligence Quotient(offsets the size penalty)(10)
*Leaping: Rodent(5)--Can leap their height across and straight up from a standing still position. Increase range by 100% with a running start. Can leap down four times their height in distance and land without injury.
*Righting Reflex(10)---+4 to roll w/ fall or knockdown
*Climbing Claws(10)---2d4 SD and add +20% to climbing skill
*Extra Limb: Fluffy Tail(10)*
*Advanced Hearing(5) (+1 to Initiative)

*20% of Nutkin are of Flying Squirrel or Sugar Glider stock, and replace the Fluffy Tail with Gliding Membranes(10)

Psionics: Standard
Magic: Uncommon, but there are a few Nutkin Mystics. Other classes are possible, but so far the Nutkin have found few Big People mages willing to train them.
Cybernetics/Bionics: None currently available, aside from basic prosthetics and basic optic chip implants.
Available OCCs: Can take just about any Tribal or Barbarian OCC, with an emphasis on combat and survival(may also substitute the profession selection and apprenticeship programs from AtB, adjusting accordingly for Rifts). Since intermingling more openly with the larger folk civilizations of the GNE and attending classes, so Nutkin Operators, Rogue Scholars, and the like are possible. Already though, police have reported problems with Nutkin City Rats, especially burglars and pickpockets.
Military Nutkin are most likely to be AtB-equivalent Elite Militia or Guerilla Warrior, or Rifts Wilderness Scout, though as more appropriately-scaled high-tech equipment enters service from PS and other manufacturers, it is not impossible to see Nutkin Grunts, Technical Officers, Commandoes, Paratroopers, and Robot Pilots in coming years.
Master Psychics are possible, but currently, oddly, the only Master Psychic class available is the Zapper. “Sparkies” are eagerly recruited by the GNEAS, especially as anti-tech saboteurs.
RCC Skills:
*Climbing(+10%)(+20 w/ climbing claws for a total of +30%)
*Camouflage(+5%)
*Acrobatics(+5% where applicable)
Skills of Note:
Nutkin get a +15% to Disguise skills as long as they’re trying to pass for normal squirrels(note that this mainly requires disrobing and removing any manufactured gear).

Culture: The Republic is an expanded town-hall democracy electing the equivalent of headsmen down to the family level, at which point it’s a matriarchal familial moiety, with a matriarch running herd over a family of 2-4 offspring(sometimes more, if there are children from a previous season).

Note: The average ‘Squirrel Trooper’ is an AtB-equivalent Elite Militia or Guerilla Warrior, or Rifts Wilderness Scout, and is equipped with either VBA-McUC-1A or VBA-McUC-1E skinsuit armor or a scaled-down non-EBA ‘Huntsman’-style bodya rmor(10 MDC), carries either a PSMcAR-02 Automatic Rifle (w/ extended 12 rd clip or 20 rd drum) or a (Mc)LR-9 ‘Sunsting’ Mini-Laser with a backpack e-clip. One in five will carry a PSMcAGL-03 ‘Fenwick’ Grenade Launcher or a single-shot micro-missile launcher. Also standard is a mini-vibroknife(does 1 MD), air filter mask, survival pack, goggles, and mini-radio.

[Aramanthus]

ROFLMAO!!!! Now those people who try and keep the squirels out of the bird feeders are going to one heck of surprise when they meet these guys.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Mini-MicroGrenades (MMGs)
“Okay, I got the gas tank open! Prime ‘em, throw ‘em in, and let’s SCRAM!!!”

“Don’t knock poffers because they can’t scratch paint on a modern car, let alone a main battle robot. Not everything needs to be vaporized to be put out of commission, and even a weak charge can wreak merry havoc on sensitive systems, or internal organs, if stuffed in the right place. Maybe even better, because when a smaller charge goes off, it doesn’t go with all the fanfare of a larger blam, and the enemy doesn’t immediately know that their motorpool just began leaking petrochem all over their engines. And a handful of poffers thrown on the battlefield sounds just as explosive as the bigger booms; nobody in their right mind wants to be hit with one to find out otherwise.”

These micro-scale munitions were originally supposed to be simply the modified heads of exploding bullets of .22-20mm caliber, minus the cartridge, and equipped with timed exploder chips, small enough to be carried and thrown(or slung) by a being of Size Level 1-3. However, PS soon realized that the explosive characteristics of a fired high speed projectile versus a thrown slow-speed projectile were different. In order to maximize area of effect, PS took the original explosive filler idea and reformatted the respective sizes with slightly different explosive filling configurations and, in some cases, a pre-fragmented external casing.
Currently six different sizes of McMG exist, in each of two different damage classes, one conventional SDC(known as ‘Poffers’ in the trade for their light damage) and the other megadamage. The .22 ‘Snap’ is based on the .22 bullet filling, while the 5,56/.22 ‘Long’ ‘Crackle’ is an extended length .22 munition with pre-fragmented casing for larger area of effect. The 7.62mm ‘Pop’ is larger and more powerful, while the 9mm ‘Pow’ rounds out the lower-powered McMGs. The 15mm ‘Whump’ is actually the most powerful of the McMGs, being based on the later-generation Gyrojet bullet with the benefit of the PSX-2 explosive chemistry, while the 20mm ‘Slam’ is based on the extremely common PS 20mm explosive shell. In addition, incendiary variants are also available.
Though not very powerful compared to larger grenades, their shock value, delivered from unexpected assailants, or placed in critical places, can be tremendous. Many a pursuing predator has had its nose blown off by one of these flung in its face, and many a shocked(and maimed) enemy soldier has had one of these nasty little surprises dropped down his neck by unseen bombers in the overhead piping and beams.
Though intended for smallkin customers, Mini-MicroGrenades are quickly becoming popular with espionage units, special forces, and unfortunately certain criminal elements. Their light weight, easy concealibility and simple deployment make them ideal for sabotage and assassination work.
Weight:(.22) 1.9 grams
(5.56mm/.22 ‘long’) 2.8 grams
(7.62mm) 8 grams
(9mm) 115 grams
(15mm) 120 grams
(20mm) 130 grams
Damage:(*Note that much of a conventional bullet’s damage comes from
(SD)
(.22) 2d6 SDC to eight inch ft blast radius
(5.56mm/.22 ‘long’) 6d6 SDC to 1 ft blast radius
(7.62mm) 1d6x10 SDC to 1.5 ft blast radius
(9mm) 9d6 SDC to a 2 ft blast radius
(15mm) 2d4x10 SDC to a 2 ft blast radius
(20mm) 4d6x10 SDC to a 3 ft blast radius

(MD)
(.22) 1d4 MD to six inch ft blast radius
(5.56mm/.22 ‘long’) 1d4 MD to 1 ft blast radius
(7.62mm) 1d4 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
(9mm) 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
(15mm) 3d6 MD to 2 ft blast radius(*uses more recent chemical technology)
(20mm) 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Features:
-Exploder Chip---A multi-mode detonator that be set for as little as a fifteen second count to as long as five minutes, or can be radio detonated.
Cost:
(SD)
(.22) 100 .22 SD MMgrenades cost 30 credits
(5.56mm/.22 ‘long’)100 5.56mm SD MMgrenades costs 40 credits
(7.62mm)100 7.62mm SD MMgrenades costs 50 credits
(9mm) 100 9mm SD MMgrenades costs 40 credits
(15mm) 100 15mm SD MMgrenades costs 360 credits
(20mm) 100 20mm SD MMgrenades costs 450 credits

(MD)(.22)100 .22 PSX-1 MMgrenades costs 800 credits
(5.56mm/.22 ‘long’)100 5.56mm PSX-1 MMgrenades costs 900 credits
(7.62mm)100 7.62mm PSX-1 MMgrenades costs 1,000 credits
(9mm)100 9mm PSX-1 MMgrenades costs 1,200 credits
(15mm)100 15mm PSX-2 MMgrenades costs 1,600 credits
(20mm) 100 20mm PSX-1 MMgrenades costs 1,500 credits

Note: Incendiary Grenades are also available; they do only HALF normal damage for the first round (minimum of 1 MD) and the same for 1d4+1 melee rounds afterwards. They also cost 25% more.

[abtex]

Okay...I saw the 'designed by..." note on one of them...sadly, Panzer Front stuff would probably count as a conversion, and send red flags up on the forums.......
But there's plenty enough oddball designs and prototypes(especially the American 'gun carriages') to make up for it...

To bad it would make a nice "roll on, Roll off" [of transport aircraft] version of the Sherman family or US WW2 type Hunter Killer tank. Could the concept be used on other tanks, with out playing red flag with it? Or do a Armored transport without heavy weapon.

Thanks to British prototyping and research the InHull Turret [low profile] Tank concept can be used.

Topic: Test Vehicle TV.1000 - The ultimate off-roader?
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/i ... 894.0.html
http://s553.photobucket.com/albums/jj39 ... --TVR1.jpg

Talk about Panzer Front start here.

This is the start of it all --

Now do this version of a M-4/M-24 T69E3 and the T69E3 Box.
Other Panzer Front kits and art pictures that I found

Are those for REAL!?

If you want too do something like that.

[taalismn]

Spent all day working on art for future projects....whew! But probably won't be able to post the stuff for another two weeks....line up of stuff.

[Aramanthus]

So is this another PS weapon? Or is this another exploding nut that the squirels use? I know a squirel who'd love to get ahold of this.

[taalismn]

So is this another PS weapon? Or is this another exploding nut that the squirels use? I know a squirel who'd love to get ahold of this.

Oops. They are indeed. Updated OP with Paladin Steel byline attached.

[Aramanthus]

I still know a crazy squirel who'd love to get ahold of these. I'll have to email him the RCC and the grenades.

[taalismn]

Mama Abigail’s Old-Fashioned Home Cooking( a subsidiary of Paladin Steel)
“Let’s Eat!”

Mama Abigail’s Old-Fashioned Home Cooking is a small mom-and-pop that has grown into the Vermont Free State’s largest processor and distributor of proccessed foods. Mama Abigail’s produces the MRE-style “YumYum Pacs” that the GNE military carries as field rations, as well as sells plastic-wrapped goodies outside the state.
Other products produced under the ‘YumYum’ label are Readifoods, pre-made meals in special packaging that heats up or chills the contents when openned, via exo- or endo-thermic reactions in special chemical packs in the packaging. Thanks to deals with ranchers and hunters in the New West, one of YumYum’s biggest hits is ‘Cup-o-Dinosaur’, featuring such mouthwatering selections as Allosaur Soup, Duckbill Burgerettes in Gravy, Shellback Stroganoff, and Sauropod Stew with Veggies. Just pop the lid and smell the steam as the meal heats in its own disposable bowl; it’s ready to eat in less than a minute. Cup-o-Dinosaur typically costs 2-6 credits a serving in the GNE, but can cost more than that elsewhere, especially with demand growing.
Other products include the very popular SouthWestern Tex-Mex Herbal Medley Meal(beef heavily seasoned with garlic, and coming with an extra packet of extra-large wooden toothpicks), TriTops Ice Cream Cup(especially the Maple Mountain flavor), and their Juicer-sized Feeding Frenzy Platters.
Recently Mama Abigail’s has introduced BuggiBowl, Instant Chicken-Fried Xiticix, in a self-heating container, costing maybe 10-18 credits for a two-serving platter. The Coalition has protested the selling of the Xiticix-based product on the open market, but not due to its contents or the long standing animousity between the CS and the GNE, instead the CS military is claiming Mama Abigail’s stole THEIR recipes. However, the Coalition States military has NOT ever attacked any clearly-marked MAOFHC harvesting crew venturing into Xiticix territory to gather more meat.
Naturally, Mama Abigail’s is in deep with Paladin Steel, and is one of the happy little subcontractors assisted by Paladin Steel’s ABtechS agricultural branch.

(Campaign Notes: Think this is just frilly background dressing? Think again; the Cartier -Fury Ranch proved that ‘megadamage ranching’ could be done profitably and imitators have improved on that success. ‘Modern’ megadamage ranching and food processing businesses as are popping up in the bigger nations like the Coalition States, Greater New England, Manistique, and the New German Republic are impressive affairs featuring efficient assembly line cleaning and processing gear. Unfortunately, they can also be very dangerous places to work, even after the original herding and slaughtering is done. Megadamage mechanical and heat processing systems, built for large-scale industrial handling of big hocks of monster meat can easily accidentally kill a careless worker in any one of a hundred gruesome ways, so workers have to remain on their toes and typically wear megadamage body armor. And all that blood and offal inevitably attracts other predators, including malign entities which find the plants to be ready-made feeding grounds, requiring some serious security...And when a monster or pack of them DO manage to get established in one of the facilities, it means somebody’s got to go in and flush them out, ideally without damaging the money-making equipment too much. Fancy an assignment going after a demon in a dark abattoir, full of sharp gutting and grinding gear, plasma cookers and industrial microwavers? Could this be a possible job for the PCs, a quick buck assignment that turns into a nightmare? Or have they got what it takes to go the distance in the exciting new world of mega-carniculture?
And for additional laughs, more than once, some of the more rabid Coalition hardliners have either mistakenly(or deliberately) claimed that the meat-packing plants used by the more liberal pro-D-bee kingdoms are really murder factories used to exterminate human prisoners. That sometimes translates into the plants being targeted by terrorists or ‘freedom fighters’ who will fight to the death rather than be captured. “Soylent Green is People!” might ring true in certain parts of monster-dominated Atlantis or Dyval, but it’s hardly what the new mega-food magnates of North America or Europe want to hear shouted outside their packing plants.
On the plus side, most ranching and packing companies offer good benefits(like paying for replacement cyberlimbs) and the annual company picnic has a GREAT buffet.
Ain’t working at the meat-packing plant FUN?)

Mama Abigail’s Fishery
Mama Abigail’s Fishery is the seafood division of Mama Abigail’s Old-Fashioned Home Cooking. Their cannery and processing plant at New Bath is a state-of-the-art facility(built by PS) dedicated to buying and rending the catch of the day, in one of the few truly modern and aggressive fishing efforts on the East Coast. Mama Abigail’s employs its own small fleet of armed trawlers and is also the place for the smaller fishermen to sell their catch.
Many local fishermen contend that Mama Abigail’s is so successful because they have a local hammerlock on the fish trade, and squeeze out any dissenters with strongarm tactics and price-fixing. They also contend that MAOFHC is indiscriminant in what they proccess; that what is labelled “Fresh Atlantic Tuna” may be anything from bunkerhead, sea robin, giant squid, or Nauty’ll, minced finely and packed in its own juices.
Of course, Mama Abigail provides plenty of jobs for locals, if you don’t mind going out onto the open ocean hunting the schools, and being hunted in turn by monsters. Many trawlers don’t come back despite sticking close to shore, and carrying heavy weaponry.
Mama Abigail’s Fishery hopes to open a similar operation in the Paladin Steel West enclave.

(Campaign Notes: Wanna put those big-scale boat piloting and fishing skills to work? Fishing the seas of Rifts Earth is one of the most dangerous professions you can imagine, driven by sheer necessity; an adventurer party can choose NOT to go into danger, while a fisherman often HAS to, in order to feed his family. Few fishermen have fallback jobs in case of a bad season.
Fishing the Rifts blue water means facing bad weather without the benefit of the Golden Age’s global weatherwatch services, relying on your intuition and maybe a helpful psychic. And magically-fired storms can pop up in an instant. There’s slavers and pirates and monsters on those seas too, attacking from above, alongside, and below...and no Coast Guard most of the time (The GNECC and New Navy only watch a few areas, and while there are mercenary units hireable to fishermen, and the Free Quebec and Coalition States Navies MIGHT respond to a distress call, don’t count on it). And some of those critters are inhumanly intelligent. And they’re out for your catch or out to catch YOU.
Whether the PCs are working for Mama Abigail’s Fishery or in competition with it, they’re going to have their hands full trying to survive, let alone make a profit.)

[taalismn]

I still know a crazy squirel who'd love to get ahold of these. I'll have to email him the RCC and the grenades.

Old buddy of yours?

[Aramanthus]

The gm allowed us to play whatever we wanted and this guy played a crazy squirel with psionics. The squirel's name was "Korn Nutz."

[taalismn]

The gm allowed us to play whatever we wanted and this guy played a crazy squirel with psionics. The squirel's name was "Korn Nutz."

Feel free to send him a gift package of micro-scale equipment, then.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel/Farnborough Aviation PS/FA-MS20 Merlin Smart Mortar Rounds
“Regardless of how much ‘smart’ electronic whiz-gaw they pack into the warhead, the mortar shell is still dumber than you are...so you don’t want to push that bar even lower by firing blindly at targets you know nothing about. The shells still have trouble distinguishing good guys from bad guys, so be wary on blue-on-blue ‘friendly fire’, especially if you’re the guy doing the firing. And if the enemy is equipped outside the limited target parameters of your dumb little shells? You could be dropping your rounds in a dumpster for the good they do you. So whenever possible have forward spotters for your mortar artillery to get the most out of your shells.”

“Danger! Incoming Ordnance! Projectile Count! Twenty-Six Ballistic Rounds! Target! This Position! Recommendation! Drop Pants! Kiss Posterior Goodbye!”---Kittani automated threat tracking system, during an attempted raid on New Bath, Maine.

The Merlin Smart Mortar System is based on pre-Rifts British designs for 81mm mortar rounds that incorporated self-guided glide bomb and shell technologies. The idea was to create mortar rounds that could be fired in the general direction of the target(s), the shell then using surface-scanning sensors at the apex of its flight to look for pre-programmed target profiles in the area of the shell’s calculated ‘footprint’, then use aerodynamic fins to glide the shell to the target for a more accurate strike. The early attempts at perfecting the concept failed, owing to the limitations of the then-current technology, though there were some efforts later on to revive the idea, and a few systems did get deployed just before the Coming of the Rifts. The concept has been revived post-Rifts by Paladin Steel in collaboration with their Farnborough Aviation allies and developed into what has been called the Merlin Mortar System.
The technology in many ways is a precursor of the sort of developmental path that would result in the Arkhons’ own ‘smart’ mortar rounds, though currently only the larger diameter Earth-made shells(with more room for the electronics) can equal the alien technology’s accuracy. Still, with their experience with their ‘smart’ micro-missile guidance chips, PS is closing the gap, and has mass-production capabilities on their side as well.
Though meant ideally for ‘fire and forget’ missions that would allow mortar teams to fire ‘blind’ and over-the-horizon, with the Merlin sensors locking on to enemy targets they see, the Merlin system can also take advantage of laser illumination targeting, though this must be selected BEFORE the round is fired(the fuse and sensor packages can be updated/reprogrammed with a keypad and interface cable, while active/passive mode can be selected by a twist of the fuse band).

By way of comparison between the extremes of mortar systems, in WW2, the Japanese deployed the misleadingly-named ‘Knee’ mortar which weighed 10 lbs and threw a 28 ounce shell 700 yards. At the upper end of portability is the Soviet M1938 120mm mortar, weighing in at 617 lbs and throwing a 35-lb bomb roughly 3 miles. Larger mortars exist, but these weapons are typically towed affairs, more akin to regular field guns in deployment.

Weight: Varies by mortar system; most single tube systems weigh between 10 lbs and 1,500 lbs.
(40-60mm mortars) Shells typically weigh 1-5 lbs
(80-120mm mortars)Shells typically weigh 6-35 lbs
Range: Varies by mortar system; typically ranges between 2,000 ft and 26,000 ft.
Damage:Varies by mortar system
Rate of Fire: Typically 1 shot per melee manually loaded. A well-trained/coordinated fireteam(2 members with at least 3rd level W.P. Heavy Weapons), can load and fire 2 shells per melee. Some breechloading and automated systems can get off up to 5 rds a melee round.
Payload: Varies by mortar system; most mortar systems are single-tube single-shot.
Bonuses: (40-60mm mortars)+2 to strike
(80-120mm mortars)+3 to strike
Cost: Merlin bombs generally cost twice as much as the base bomb cost.

[Aramanthus]

Very nice. I like it. And by the way I emailed that friend of mine with the Nutkin material. I'm sure he will get a laugh out of it.

[taalismn]

Very nice. I like it. And by the way I emailed that friend of mine with the Nutkin material. I'm sure he will get a laugh out of it.

Should have more material by this weekend, in spite of busy work schedule....it's slump-surge, slump-surge, and we're finally coming up on the surge part of a cycle.

[Aramanthus]

Cool! I'm always glad to hear that.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Spacesuits
“When you’re travelling the stars, dress for success and survival.”

While most any EBA can serve as a spacesuit in a pinch(indeed, many classic Golden Age-designed EBA had origins in the space program), Paladin Steel has seen fit to develop a number of EBAs specifically with space travel(and by extension extra-dimensional travel) in mind. These suits have been designed and manufactured by the Three Galaxies’ branches of Paladin Steel(such as Aegis Stellar Industries), in order to take advantage of the higher tech-base, and the production runs are mainly marketed there, but a few examples are being shipped back to Earth for distribution there.
The following are considered to be CIVILIAN suits, marketed to the public, but as with most Rifts Earth items, they can serve quite ably in combat in a pinch.

Note: PS spacesuits tend to have large helmets for accommodating the different head shapes of various humanoid species. They also have modular visors, for quickly adding glare-shielding, sensor instruments(such as binoculars), and other Head Up Devices. Other common features include universal servicing ports(and adapters for non-standard service connections), modular foot clip mounts for magnetic or molecular adhesion footpads, and the ability to(unless otherwise noted) attach to a jet pack or space mobility unit.

Note 2: Civilian spacesuits tend towards basic white in color, or bright colors(especially labor/work suits) for easier visibility. Personal spacesuits may sport extravagant custom color schemes or art on them, depending on the preferences(and wallet) of the owner.

The following suit basic specs can also be adapted for NONhumanoid species, though generally such suits can cost 2-3 times as much for customization.



PS-VBA-UC-1S ----The space-adapted, full EBA version of the Skinsuit, with pressure-girdle lining, boots and gloves, 4 hour air supply, life-support hookups, added radiation-insulation, and triple-layered ‘crystal ball’ helmet with liquid-crystal polarization and HUD. 10-20 MDC and NO movement penalties. Often worn under a partial ‘Huntsman’ suit ( VA-H-SA-EVA) of armored vest, extended life support/MMU pack, gauntlets, and boots, or as a liner/pressure garment under a full-body multi-piece suit of machined megadamage tungsten-alloy( Main Body MDC 120, lasers do HALF damage, weight 21 lbs, -18% to prowl), nicknamed ‘Space Samurai’ from its resemblance (complete with mask!) to ancient samurai armor.
A basic suit of VBA-UC-1S costs 26,000 credits(10,000 credits in the Three Galaxies), while the ‘Samurai Suit’ costs an additional 20,000 credits

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img160.jpg

PS-ASEBA02 ‘Trekker’
“It’s a straight-out hike up the slopes of Olympus Mons, but a tough one, with more than a few surprise technical climbs, espcially if you didn’t plan your route right. Count on a few bivouacs unless you’re superhuman or stupid and don’t need rest or reason. Make sure you have plenty of spare life support time on your suit; you’ll eat up time and oxygen in equally big portions, especially if any of the downslope giant insects slip the security perimeter and come hunting the upper slopes. I’ve seen yellowjackets pick off an entire team up on Olympus. The air’s a little thin to be supporting those big airborne predators, but don’t count on it; they can crawl pretty fast too. Running for your life eats up a lot of Oh-Two as well, so that’s another reason to have lots of reserve life support.”

It’s not unheard of, but rare, for a first or second design to achieve greatness, but PS managed to do that with the ‘Trekker’, a modest, medium-weight spacesuit meant for the domestic market and with travellers in mind.
The Trekker is a combination-suit, with a hardshell torso, large helmet affixed directly to the shoulders, and flexible limbs. Despite the rigid torso design, the suit engineering offers NO impediment to movement, and the suit is very comfortable to wear, even in vigorous activity. Multiple light pads insure the wearer can see what they’re doing, or allow others to see them in an emergency. Quick-don design means the suit can be quickly put on and sealed up in an emergency.
The real distinguishing features of the ‘Trekker’, however, are its long life support span, and its distinctive silvery ‘Mercury’ covering that is meant to reflect heat, but has proven effective in blunting laser damage.
The ASEBA02 has proven wildly popular with customers, especially ‘astrohikers’ looking for a long endurance suit for spacial tourism and such extreme sports as lunar marathons, ‘crater crawls’, and asteroid sports.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Medium; 22 lbs
Encumbrance: None!
Protective Value: Low MDC: Helmet -50 , Main Body -60 , Arms -, Legs -,
Life Support: 110 hours(battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Light Pads--Bright low-power ‘cool light’ pads provide both utilitarian illumination and glowing decoration to the outside of the suit.
-Quick-Don---The backdoor access and flexible elastic design of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power.
-Laser-Reflective Armor---Though not as effective as combat mirror-armor or superconductor ablative, the Trekker’s distinctive silver coating serves to disipate laser energy; lasers do 1/3 LESS damage. The suit also reflects solar heat very easily, so photonic and ultraviolet radiation do NO damage to the suit.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 37,000 credits(!)
Options:
*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 50,000 credits

*AutoDoc---Derived from the Juicer Harness, this mini-comp-controlled system is compatible with 25 different humanoid species, and uses a combination of compu-drug injectors, RMK/IRMSS dispensers, and a system of inflatible bladders in the limbs, tied to a biomonitor, to monitor the wearer’s health, dispense needed medications(including stimulants) as needed or requested, selectively apply pressure to punctures and wounds, treat external and internal injuries, and immobilize broken limbs. It has Paramedic programming equivalent to a skill of 90%. Cost: 50,000 credits

PS-ASEBA03 ‘AstroWander’
“Here’s the sitrep; as you know the reactor’s gone chernobyl and blew chunks of core all over moonbase, including the landing pad. Wouldn’t be much of a problem, seeing as we’re already buried under regolith sun-shielding, but we have only the one pad, and that core material’s enough to go through the moonbus’s shielding at close range. We wanna evacuate the wounded, we either wait for somebody to come in with some robot rigs to carry the stuff off, or we do it ourselves with old-fashioned shovels. Fortunately our suits are all rated for nine hundred gus of radiation, so anybody going out ain’t in any danger of getting cooked or sterilized. I got any volunteers for some bucket brigade duty?”

After the roaring success of the Trekker, the rather stiff-limbed ASEBA03 would seem something of a letdown, but as a design meant for industrial applications, the ‘Astrowander’ is quite serviceable. The AstroWander is a hardshell hardsuit with stiff rotary jointing, heavier armor plating, and integral radiation shielding. Its helmet, based on military designs, features a lock-down armored visor that can be replaced with a variety of different work-visors featuring different sensor fits, for everything from micro-welding to multi-spectral stress inspection. Though nominally only rated for forty hours of straight life support, a clip-in recycler module can extend oxygen for as long as the suit has power. The AstroWander finds more employment with spaceyard and mine workers, especially in roles where protection takes precedence over mobility, rather than with space tourists, but the suit’s relatively low cost means that many travellers end up investing in one.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Light: 25 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed
Protective Value: MDC: Helmet -50, Main Body -80, Arms -30, Legs -40,
Life Support: 40 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Quick-don---The backdoor access of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Radiation Shielding---Has radiation protection at least twice more effective than standard EBA.
-Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 40,000 Credits

PS-ASEBA04 ‘Starwalker’

“I don’t care if you DO have direct line-of-sight suit comm on Ceres! Quit having phone-sex with your loverboy and get back to work securing the sun-sack on this ice ball! The sooner we get this chunk of water back, the sooner you can direct-interface with your ape!”

The ASEBA04 ‘Starwalker’ was meant to address the mobility and protection issues of the previous ASEBA03 ‘AstroWander’, by combining successful features from the ASEBA02 with the toughness of the hardsuit design. Heavier, but with more flexible jointing(even with the integral exoskeletal assist), sturdier, and with more advanced impact resistance, the Starwalker is meant for external deep space operations and labor in mind. A long range communications suite incorporated into the large helmet means that work and exploration crews wearing these suits can remain in touch with each other, despite being spread out over a large area. Like the ASEBA03, the ASEBA04’s large helmet features a modular visor that can be swapped out to be fitted with a variety of different sensor visors, for special work. Modular backpack points allow the suit to be quickly fitted with jet packs and propulsion units, as well as vehicular hard-joins.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Medium
Encumbrance: Moderate; -10% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy MDC: Helmet -80, Main Body -120, Arms -50 , Legs -65,
Life Support: 40 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Long Range Communications---Deployable antennae from the helmet give a radio range of about 50 miles in atmosphere, 150,000 miles in space.
-Light Exoskeleton---Adds +10 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +6 to P.S., +10 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 75,000 Credits
Options:
*Tool Gauntlet---A modular vambrace and heavy glove that serves to hold a variety of small tools, including a small robot arm(18 inch reach, grip strength of 10), vibroblade(1 MD), soldering iron(1d4 SD damage), power screw driver, precision drill(1d6 SD damage), laser measure, power abrasion tool(1d4 SD per melee of operation), and options for two other small tools of choice. Exoskeletal reinforcement of the fingers gives the hand 5 MDC and a Robotic grip strength of 17. (In the alternate, the Bionic Multi-Tool can be substituted instead) Cost: 8,000 credits.

*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 50,000 credits

*Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power. Cost: 3,000 credits

*Advanced Recycler---A combination of recycler tech, nanotech scavenging systems, and Cambridge Jungle-derived modified algae recycle not only oxygen, but water as well, and to a limited extent reprocesses solid waste into nutrient. This can stretch onboard nurient supplies as much as 50% Cost: 15,000 credits

PS-ASEBA07 ‘Cosmotreader’
“The foam-steel Enviroflex used in the original design is most of the problem; it’s supposed to be strong, but it’s not. It’s supposed to be light, but it ain’t. It’s massy and it’s bulky, and all that extra foam-bulk gets in the way. On the other hand, the stuff’s cheap, and it soaks up kinetic energy a lot better than thinner stuff, so under the right circumstances it’s literally a damage sponge. And if the inner lining springs a leak, the air just leaks into the foam structure, not bust the suit fabric and pop you open to vac. So, yeah, there’s better suits out there, but there’s also worse suits we could be putting our name on. “

The ASEBA07 is a less successful PS-stamped suit design that came about as a result of PS/ASI’s efforts to expand its tech base and commercial facilities in the Three Galaxies. Eager to acquire more advanced production equipment, PS/ASI purchased the workings of an Anvil-based spacesuit company, Enviroflex Engineering, that was facing hard economic times. Through a combination of mismanagement and increasingly uninspired engineering work, Enviroflex was falling behind the times and was facing liquidation, despite a last minute attempt to upgrade their products with some new equipment and overhaul of their production lines. Paladin Steel swooped in and bought the factory workings at fire sale prices, and moved the works to a location under their control, confident that they could adapt the machinery to produce their own designs.
In the process of taking over Enviroflex, however, PS/ASI became responsible for the remaining unsold stocks(nearly a million!) of Enviroflex spacesuits. In an effort to salvage something of this warehouse cache, PS set to repairing what they could of the suits, bringing up to a standard they were comfortable with.
The EFG-103 suit was modified into the PS-ASEBA07 ‘Cosmotreader’, and marketed anew under the Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries imprint.
The ASEBA07’s main problems, inherited from the original design, are its low MDC, heavy weight, and stiff jointing that fights free movement. On the plus side, the suit’s stiff structure handles kinetic shock well. PS made some modifications to make the suit easier to slip into, and added a Juicer Harness-derived autodoc system, making it more attractive to industrial applications. A modification kit, adding a light exoskeleton, is also available. To further sweeten the deal for prospective customers, the ‘Cosmotreader’ is being offered at decidedly low prices, as supplies of the modified suits last.
Paladin Steel has considered producing a more heavily armored version of the ASEBA07, using better materials, but the idea seems likely to be dropped, as PS/ASI is focusing on converting the original EFG-103 production line to producing the more popular PS-ASEBA02 and PS-ASEBA04.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: 40 lbs
Encumbrance: -20% to physical skills and speed
Protective Value: Low MDC: Helmet -40, Main Body -50, Arms -15, Legs -20,
Life Support: 36 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Autodoc---Derived from the Juicer Harness, this min-comp-controlled system is compatible with 25 different humanoid species, and uses a combination of compu-drug injectors, RMK/IRMSS dispensers, and a system of inflatible bladders in the limbs, tied to a biomonitor, to monitor the wearer’s health, dispense needed medications(including stimulants) as needed or requested, selectively apply pressure to punctures and wounds, treat external and internal injuries, and immobilize broken limbs. It has Paramedic programming equivalent to a skill of 90%.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 49,000 credits
Options:
*Tool Gauntlet---A modular vambrace and heavy glove that serves to hold a variety of small tools, including a small robot arm(18 inch reach, grip strength of 10), vibroblade(1 MD), soldering iron(1d4 SD damage), power screw driver, precision drill(1d6 SD damage), laser measure, power abrasion tool(1d4 SD per melee of operation), and options for two other small tools of choice. Exoskeletal reinforcement of the fingers gives the hand 5 MDC and a Robotic grip strength of 17. (In the alternate, the Bionic Multi-Tool can be substituted instead) Cost: 8,000 credits.

*Exoskeleton---Adds +10 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +6 to P.S., +10 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%. Cost: 30,000 credits




*PS-ASEBA(Mc)05 ‘Longstepper’
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img172.jpg
“I declare this planet-”
“Planetoid.”
“I declare this planetoid-”
“Though actually it’s more of a comet-”
“-This comet-”
“Though at this point it’s too far from the sun to be a proper comet, more of an Ort Object--” “-This PLANET Snowflake and claim it in the name of the Nutkin Republic!”

The ‘Longstepper’ was designed with the growing number of ‘small folk’ taking part in the GNE’s polyspecies culture. With space travel becoming increasingly important to PS/ASI and the GNE Alliance, PS decided to anticipate that the ‘small folk’ would want a larger role in all aspects of the supra-culture, including space.
PS scaled down as much as they could of the wildly successful ‘Trekker’ suit, with a similar hard torso, fixed helmet, flexible jointing, and long endurance life support system. A shock-absorbing network of flex-tensers absorbs shock from falls and concussive impacts, and helps in rapid-donning of the suit, but also tends to bind and fight free movement, the only downside to an otherwise impressive work of miniaturization.
Though not intended as combat armor, ASEBA(Mc)05s were shipped in large numbers back to Earth during the Minion Wars to outfit Small Folk militia units(Earthside factories being unable to meet the demand in the short term). The mobility impediment was worked around by distributing the suits to garrison, checkpoint, and static-position heavy weapons crews protecting locations and facilities from the expected Infernal onslaught.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Heavy(relative) 8 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy (relative) MDC: Helmet -25, Main Body -25, Arms -10 , Legs -15
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Auto-don---The suit actively assists the wearer in gearing up, and environmental sensors can automatically seal up the suit in event of detecting hazardous conditions. Typically, suiting up with this suit will take 15 seconds.
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+3 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 22,000 credits

PS-ASEBA(Mc)06 ‘Astronomad’
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img159.jpg
“Miffy! Headcount!”
“I got six back here, counting myself!”
“Anybody else coming?”
“I see nobody! Nobody in the last three minutes! You going to hold?”
“You see anybody else down the way?”
“No! Hall haz-alarms just went to red-three! We gotta leave, Mepbo!”
“Seal ‘em up then! We can’t wait any longer!”
“Sealed!”
“Casting away!”
With a hiss and a pop the hardsuit detached from the inspection port it had been using as an escape trunk, the suit’s fully inflated shelter ball trailing behind it and giving it the appearance of a queen insect with distended abdomen abandoning its hive.
Midshipman Mepbo watched the mass of the stricken freighter roll away from behind them, then started to plot a course to rendevouz with the larger lifeboats he saw also thrusting away. He spared a glance to his helmet monitor to an HUD window showing the view in back, where fellow middie Miffy tried his best to calm the five extra pssengers who hadn’t been able to make it to one of the larger lifepods in time. What looked like somebody’s family, a mother, daughter, and three boys, barely out of puphood, all surprisingly calm under the circumstances until he saw how pale they looked under their fur, or how nervously they clutched the liquid nutrient bags they were sucking on. All of them, himself included, of Rodentia descent.
Middie Mepbo looked again at the external rearview of his late ship assignment, the giant deep space freighter now looking toylike with distance, haloed by eruptions of its own internal atmosphere as the hull vented castastrophically into space.
Deep sea or deep space, Mepbo thought despairingly as he navigated to the survivors’ gathering point; I hate to be a rat abandoning a sinking or exploding ship, but what other choices do we have?

The ASEBA(Mc)06 is another small-scaled suit meant for the ‘small folk’. It resembles a bulky, stiff-limbed high-tech diving suit (or rather spacesuit) with a large backpack merged into the forward suit, with its broad mirror-bowled visor. The suit is entered through the back through a circular hatchway.
The hidden surprise of the Astronomad is that it can expand into a larger space shelter! Using ‘rescue ball’ technology, the Astronomad packs a folding megadamage fabric inflatable shelter. The spheroid ‘balloon tent’ expands out the back of the suit, ballooning out to about three feet in diameter, the rear hatch and thruster assemblies forming the rear ‘pole’ of the sphere. The rest of the suit remains at the front of the sphere to act as a control ‘bridge’ and thruster system. The shelter allows the suit wearer to relax and stretch their limbs, or allows the suit to take on extra passengers and serve as an emergency lifeboat.
Two Astronomads can dock back to back, sharing access to each others’ inflated shelters and increasing the space of the impromptu spacestation.
The novel Astronomad has caught on like hotcakes with the Small Folk, and the design has proven so popular that PS/ASI is looking to scale up the design to larger suit designs.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Heavy(relative) 12 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy (relative) MDC: Helmet -35, Main Body -50, Arms -12, Legs -20, Inflatable Shelter---50
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Quick-don---The backdoor access of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Space Maneuvering Jets----Can push the suit at 150 MPH in micro-gravity
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+4 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 28,000 credits
Options:
*Exoskeleton---Adds +5 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +3 to P.S., +5 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%. Cost: 12,000 credits

*Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power. Cost: 1,800 credits

*Advanced Recycler---A combination of recycler tech, nanotech scavenging systems, and Cambridge Jungle-derived modified algae recycle not only oxygen, but water as well, and to a limited extent reprocesses solid waste into nutrient. Suits so outfitted are sometimes refered to as ‘terrarium suits’, especially when the space shelter is fully deployed. Cost: 7,200 credits

*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 10,000 credits


Variants:
The Astronomad has spawned a number of variants, most substituting the expandable shelter ball with other inflatable structures:

*ASEBA(Mc)06B(LTA) (aka ‘Balloon Suit’, ‘Gasbaggie’)---This version, intended for planetside exploration, especially for operations in the atmosphere of gas giants, replaces the shelter with an inflatable lift envelope holding whatever the local equivalent of lighter than air gas is.

*ASEBA(Mc)06E---The emergency shelter in this case is replaced with a bowl-shaped bag of thermal-resistant fabric filled with thermal-proof aerogel, for one-way atmospheric re-entry. A ribbon chute slows the suit down in thicker atmosphere, then deploys a regular ring-chute for the final descent.

*DSEBA(Mc)06---Aquatic dive armor version, rated for 1.5 miles maximum depth. In this case, the inflatable shelter is replaced with a deployable float-bag that can grant the suit nuetral or positive bouyancy.


PS-ASEBA(Xl)08 ‘Stargypsy’
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img162.jpg
“Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. See that big woman over there?”
“How can I NOT?! She’s nearly fourteen feet tall, and that skinsuit fits like shrinkwrap! I’d love to explore the valley between those two peaks! Pity that helmet’s hiding her features. Then again, a lady that big, I don’t wanna know if the face matches the rest of her.”
“Got your mind out of the gutter; that’s not why I pointed her out. But if it’s any consolation, she’s a Cyclops, and she actually looks pretty cute. And that’s the interesting thing, her being a Cyclops. She’s been here maybe three days and already she’s gone out with a survey team and the work foreman about a dozen times to that fissure we found darkside. The passenger manifest on the ship she came in on lists her as an ‘industrial metallurgist’ . Care to speculate what THAT all sums up to?”

After the wildly successful micro-scale designs, PS decided it was time to scale up suit designs with an eye towards the literally larger market, for beings with larger-than-human physiques.
The ASEBA(Xl)08 is a light (relatively speaking) skintight elastic pressure suit meant for outfitting beings of sizes 10-40 ft tall. The flexible elastic material allows for the suit to fit a wide range of sizes and body types, thanks to ‘smart materials’ and ingenious stitching configurations. The large mirrored-bowl helmet and ‘epaulette’ life support/systems collar-pack carries the essential mechanical elements, and also fits a variety of head-types. Modular hard-shell gauntlets and boots can be screwed on to fit a variety of limb types.
PS/ASI has also taken advantage of the large size of the suit to fit it with an experimental nanite repair system, based on cyborg repair systems, that reseals breaches and repairs minor damage.
PS is just starting to gear up to produce the ASEBA(Xl)08, but already early sales promotions through Center have proven promising, showing that there’s a demand for extra-plus spacesuit sizes.
Type: Skinsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: 120 lbs
Encumbrance: Low; -5% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Light(relative) MDC: Helmet -80 , Main Body -120, Arms -60, Legs -70,
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
*Elastic--Can stretch to fit humanoids from 10-40 ft tall.
-Auto-don---The suit actively assists the wearer in gearing up, and environmental sensors can automatically seal up the suit in event of detecting hazardous conditions. Typically, suiting up with this suit will take 15 seconds.
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Limited Damage Regeneration---Adapted ‘smart’ materials and a cyborg-based nanorepair system means that the suit can actually ‘heal’ up to 50% of basic damage at a rate of 1d10 MD per ten minutes before needing to be replenished. Note that this applies ONLY to basic suit damage and not to specialized systems like radio, sensors, actuators, and other ‘active’ systems.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 180,000 credits

[Shark_Force]

- given the astronomad has access to a recycler, it seems it could benefit from having access to solar power... perhaps built-in to the outer shell of the ball...

[taalismn]

- given the astronomad has access to a recycler, it seems it could benefit from having access to solar power... perhaps built-in to the outer shell of the ball...

Thanks. Added as an option.
Should have a pic of the 'Gypsy' added next Monday...coulda had it today but forgot to load it to my transfer disc.

[taalismn]

For Glitterboy2098:

Paladin Steel PS-McGPMG07 ‘Frenzy’ Micro-Light General Purpose Machine Gun
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/glitterboy2098/7-21-07-army_squirrel.jpg

“We got the main party, sir, but we missed a group of Juicer commandoes who we last saw flanking into the Republic woods and lost them. Should I mobilize pursuit to go in and smoke them out?”
“Wouldn’t worry about them. You know what they call bandits in squirrel country?”
“What?”
“Fertilizer.”

The PS-McGPMG07 is a scaled-down machine gun developed at the request of the Nutkin Republic, who wanted a small fully automatic weapon capable of sustained fire for its militia. The McGPMG is based heavily on the PSMcAR-02 Automatic Rifle, but uses the longer .22LR round, has a longer barrel, belt-feed mechanism, and higher rate of fire(it’s rated for 600 RPM). The weapon visually resembles a small version of an FN MAG or Minimi, and can be fitted with a muzzle brake, bipod, or tripod mounting. Even with lightweight megadamage alloy and composite construction, it’s too heavy for a single smallkin to manage alone, so it’s effectively a heavy weapon, static-mount and crew-served, with a gunner and porters on hand to carry the dismantled weapon and its ammunition belts.
Though still falling short of larger machine guns in terms of individual round damage and overall range, the McGPMG07 can still prove lethal at the short ambush ranges that the Smallkin favor(Really, who expects a machine gun nest on the upper shelf of their closet?). The weapon typically has to be well-braced, especially in full-auto mode, as the recoil from burst firing even the light .22 cartridges builds up impressively for small-framed operators.
The McGPMG07 got its nickname of ‘Frenzy’ reportedly after its first operational use in repelling an incursion of raiders come from Free Quebec territory. The resulting firefight when the group of slavers blundered into an ambush of a dozen of the guns being tested by Nutkin militia on exercises was described as a ‘bloody frenzy’ of flying bullets that left only a handful of the invaders able to flee without grievous injuries. The nickname stuck, and the weapon has been called the ‘Frenzy’ ever since.
Though initially commissioned and purchased by the Nutkin Republic, the McGPMG07 has been ordered by other smallkin kingdoms and groups, including the Gnomocracy and the Sidhe Liberation Army.

Note: No variant for larger ‘Bigfolk’ exists as yet of the McGPMG07
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Length: (assembled) 18 inches
MDC: 9
Range: 500 ft
Damage: (.22LR) 1d6 SDC or 3d6 SD per 3-rd burst, 6d6 SDC for a six-round burst, a ten-round burst does 1d6x10 SDC, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d4x10 SDC.
(Wellington/PS Exploders) 3d6 SD per rd or 9d6 SD per 3-rd burst, 1d4x10 SDC for a six-round burst, a ten-round burst does 1d6x10 SDC, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d6x10 SDC.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, a three round burst does 2d4 MD, a six-round burst does 4d4 MD, a ten-round burst does 1d4x10 MD, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d4x10 MD!!
Rate of Fire: Automatic
Payload: 50-round box magazines are available, but 250 and 360 rd belts are the norm
Features:
*Corrosion-proof Construction
*Top Sight Rail---Can be fitted with a scope or other sight
*Top Barrel-Changing Handle—Doubles as a carrying handle.
*Bipod- and tripod-mountings available
Cost: 2,500 credits

Variants:
*PS-McGPMG08---This is a variant on the standardized McGPMG07, reworked to fire caseless ammunition, linked in disintegrating soft polymer plastic belts. The lack of a need for a cartridge extractor shaves the weight down to 2.1 lbs, making for a lighter and more easily handled weapon. However, caseless ammunition is not yet in as wide a distribution as regular cartridged rounds, so the new weapon is not yet widely available or common. Once it does, however, the 'Caseless Frenzy' is expected to eventually overtake the McGPMG07 in sales and popularity. Currently the McGPMG08 sells for 2,900 credits.

[ZINO]

Paladin Steel Spacesuits
“When you’re travelling the stars, dress for success and survival.”

While most any EBA can serve as a spacesuit in a pinch(indeed, many classic Golden Age-designed EBA had origins in the space program), Paladin Steel has seen fit to develop a number of EBAs specifically with space travel(and by extension extra-dimensional travel) in mind. These suits have been designed and manufactured by the Three Galaxies’ branches of Paladin Steel(such as Aegis Stellar Industries), in order to take advantage of the higher tech-base, and the production runs are mainly marketed there, but a few examples are being shipped back to Earth for distribution there.
The following are considered to be CIVILIAN suits, marketed to the public, but as with most Rifts Earth items, they can serve quite ably in combat in a pinch.

Note: PS spacesuits tend to have large helmets for accommodating the different head shapes of various humanoid species. They also have modular visors, for quickly adding glare-shielding, sensor instruments(such as binoculars), and other Head Up Devices. Other common features include universal servicing ports(and adapters for non-standard service connections), modular foot clip mounts for magnetic or molecular adhesion footpads, and the ability to(unless otherwise noted) attach to a jet pack or space mobility unit.

Note 2: Civilian spacesuits tend towards basic white in color, or bright colors(especially labor/work suits) for easier visibility. Personal spacesuits may sport extravagant custom color schemes or art on them, depending on the preferences(and wallet) of the owner.

The following suit basic specs can also be adapted for NONhumanoid species, though generally such suits can cost 2-3 times as much for customization.



PS-VBA-UC-1S ----The space-adapted, full EBA version of the Skinsuit, with pressure-girdle lining, boots and gloves, 4 hour air supply, life-support hookups, added radiation-insulation, and triple-layered ‘crystal ball’ helmet with liquid-crystal polarization and HUD. 10-20 MDC and NO movement penalties. Often worn under a partial ‘Huntsman’ suit ( VA-H-SA-EVA) of armored vest, extended life support/MMU pack, gauntlets, and boots, or as a liner/pressure garment under a full-body multi-piece suit of machined megadamage tungsten-alloy( Main Body MDC 120, lasers do HALF damage, weight 21 lbs, -18% to prowl), nicknamed ‘Space Samurai’ from its resemblance (complete with mask!) to ancient samurai armor.
A basic suit of VBA-UC-1S costs 26,000 credits(10,000 credits in the Three Galaxies), while the ‘Samurai Suit’ costs an additional 20,000 credits

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img160.jpg

PS-ASEBA02 ‘Trekker’
“It’s a straight-out hike up the slopes of Olympus Mons, but a tough one, with more than a few surprise technical climbs, espcially if you didn’t plan your route right. Count on a few bivouacs unless you’re superhuman or stupid and don’t need rest or reason. Make sure you have plenty of spare life support time on your suit; you’ll eat up time and oxygen in equally big portions, especially if any of the downslope giant insects slip the security perimeter and come hunting the upper slopes. I’ve seen yellowjackets pick off an entire team up on Olympus. The air’s a little thin to be supporting those big airborne predators, but don’t count on it; they can crawl pretty fast too. Running for your life eats up a lot of Oh-Two as well, so that’s another reason to have lots of reserve life support.”

It’s not unheard of, but rare, for a first or second design to achieve greatness, but PS managed to do that with the ‘Trekker’, a modest, medium-weight spacesuit meant for the domestic market and with travellers in mind.
The Trekker is a combination-suit, with a hardshell torso, large helmet affixed directly to the shoulders, and flexible limbs. Despite the rigid torso design, the suit engineering offers NO impediment to movement, and the suit is very comfortable to wear, even in vigorous activity. Multiple light pads insure the wearer can see what they’re doing, or allow others to see them in an emergency. Quick-don design means the suit can be quickly put on and sealed up in an emergency.
The real distinguishing features of the ‘Trekker’, however, are its long life support span, and its distinctive silvery ‘Mercury’ covering that is meant to reflect heat, but has proven effective in blunting laser damage.
The ASEBA02 has proven wildly popular with customers, especially ‘astrohikers’ looking for a long endurance suit for spacial tourism and such extreme sports as lunar marathons, ‘crater crawls’, and asteroid sports.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Medium; 22 lbs
Encumbrance: None!
Protective Value: Low MDC: Helmet -50 , Main Body -60 , Arms -, Legs -,
Life Support: 110 hours(battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Light Pads--Bright low-power ‘cool light’ pads provide both utilitarian illumination and glowing decoration to the outside of the suit.
-Quick-Don---The backdoor access and flexible elastic design of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power.
-Laser-Reflective Armor---Though not as effective as combat mirror-armor or superconductor ablative, the Trekker’s distinctive silver coating serves to disipate laser energy; lasers do 1/3 LESS damage. The suit also reflects solar heat very easily, so photonic and ultraviolet radiation do NO damage to the suit.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 37,000 credits(!)
Options:
*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 50,000 credits

*AutoDoc---Derived from the Juicer Harness, this mini-comp-controlled system is compatible with 25 different humanoid species, and uses a combination of compu-drug injectors, RMK/IRMSS dispensers, and a system of inflatible bladders in the limbs, tied to a biomonitor, to monitor the wearer’s health, dispense needed medications(including stimulants) as needed or requested, selectively apply pressure to punctures and wounds, treat external and internal injuries, and immobilize broken limbs. It has Paramedic programming equivalent to a skill of 90%. Cost: 50,000 credits

PS-ASEBA03 ‘AstroWander’
“Here’s the sitrep; as you know the reactor’s gone chernobyl and blew chunks of core all over moonbase, including the landing pad. Wouldn’t be much of a problem, seeing as we’re already buried under regolith sun-shielding, but we have only the one pad, and that core material’s enough to go through the moonbus’s shielding at close range. We wanna evacuate the wounded, we either wait for somebody to come in with some robot rigs to carry the stuff off, or we do it ourselves with old-fashioned shovels. Fortunately our suits are all rated for nine hundred gus of radiation, so anybody going out ain’t in any danger of getting cooked or sterilized. I got any volunteers for some bucket brigade duty?”

After the roaring success of the Trekker, the rather stiff-limbed ASEBA03 would seem something of a letdown, but as a design meant for industrial applications, the ‘Astrowander’ is quite serviceable. The AstroWander is a hardshell hardsuit with stiff rotary jointing, heavier armor plating, and integral radiation shielding. Its helmet, based on military designs, features a lock-down armored visor that can be replaced with a variety of different work-visors featuring different sensor fits, for everything from micro-welding to multi-spectral stress inspection. Though nominally only rated for forty hours of straight life support, a clip-in recycler module can extend oxygen for as long as the suit has power. The AstroWander finds more employment with spaceyard and mine workers, especially in roles where protection takes precedence over mobility, rather than with space tourists, but the suit’s relatively low cost means that many travellers end up investing in one.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Light: 25 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed
Protective Value: MDC: Helmet -50, Main Body -80, Arms -30, Legs -40,
Life Support: 40 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Quick-don---The backdoor access of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Radiation Shielding---Has radiation protection at least twice more effective than standard EBA.
-Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 40,000 Credits

PS-ASEBA04 ‘Starwalker’

“I don’t care if you DO have direct line-of-sight suit comm on Ceres! Quit having phone-sex with your loverboy and get back to work securing the sun-sack on this ice ball! The sooner we get this chunk of water back, the sooner you can direct-interface with your ape!”

The ASEBA04 ‘Starwalker’ was meant to address the mobility and protection issues of the previous ASEBA03 ‘AstroWander’, by combining successful features from the ASEBA02 with the toughness of the hardsuit design. Heavier, but with more flexible jointing(even with the integral exoskeletal assist), sturdier, and with more advanced impact resistance, the Starwalker is meant for external deep space operations and labor in mind. A long range communications suite incorporated into the large helmet means that work and exploration crews wearing these suits can remain in touch with each other, despite being spread out over a large area. Like the ASEBA03, the ASEBA04’s large helmet features a modular visor that can be swapped out to be fitted with a variety of different sensor visors, for special work. Modular backpack points allow the suit to be quickly fitted with jet packs and propulsion units, as well as vehicular hard-joins.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Medium
Encumbrance: Moderate; -10% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy MDC: Helmet -80, Main Body -120, Arms -50 , Legs -65,
Life Support: 40 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Long Range Communications---Deployable antennae from the helmet give a radio range of about 50 miles in atmosphere, 150,000 miles in space.
-Light Exoskeleton---Adds +10 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +6 to P.S., +10 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 75,000 Credits
Options:
*Tool Gauntlet---A modular vambrace and heavy glove that serves to hold a variety of small tools, including a small robot arm(18 inch reach, grip strength of 10), vibroblade(1 MD), soldering iron(1d4 SD damage), power screw driver, precision drill(1d6 SD damage), laser measure, power abrasion tool(1d4 SD per melee of operation), and options for two other small tools of choice. Exoskeletal reinforcement of the fingers gives the hand 5 MDC and a Robotic grip strength of 17. (In the alternate, the Bionic Multi-Tool can be substituted instead) Cost: 8,000 credits.

*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 50,000 credits

*Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power. Cost: 3,000 credits

*Advanced Recycler---A combination of recycler tech, nanotech scavenging systems, and Cambridge Jungle-derived modified algae recycle not only oxygen, but water as well, and to a limited extent reprocesses solid waste into nutrient. This can stretch onboard nurient supplies as much as 50% Cost: 15,000 credits

PS-ASEBA07 ‘Cosmotreader’
“The foam-steel Enviroflex used in the original design is most of the problem; it’s supposed to be strong, but it’s not. It’s supposed to be light, but it ain’t. It’s massy and it’s bulky, and all that extra foam-bulk gets in the way. On the other hand, the stuff’s cheap, and it soaks up kinetic energy a lot better than thinner stuff, so under the right circumstances it’s literally a damage sponge. And if the inner lining springs a leak, the air just leaks into the foam structure, not bust the suit fabric and pop you open to vac. So, yeah, there’s better suits out there, but there’s also worse suits we could be putting our name on. “

The ASEBA07 is a less successful PS-stamped suit design that came about as a result of PS/ASI’s efforts to expand its tech base and commercial facilities in the Three Galaxies. Eager to acquire more advanced production equipment, PS/ASI purchased the workings of an Anvil-based spacesuit company, Enviroflex Engineering, that was facing hard economic times. Through a combination of mismanagement and increasingly uninspired engineering work, Enviroflex was falling behind the times and was facing liquidation, despite a last minute attempt to upgrade their products with some new equipment and overhaul of their production lines. Paladin Steel swooped in and bought the factory workings at fire sale prices, and moved the works to a location under their control, confident that they could adapt the machinery to produce their own designs.
In the process of taking over Enviroflex, however, PS/ASI became responsible for the remaining unsold stocks(nearly a million!) of Enviroflex spacesuits. In an effort to salvage something of this warehouse cache, PS set to repairing what they could of the suits, bringing up to a standard they were comfortable with.
The EFG-103 suit was modified into the PS-ASEBA07 ‘Cosmotreader’, and marketed anew under the Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries imprint.
The ASEBA07’s main problems, inherited from the original design, are its low MDC, heavy weight, and stiff jointing that fights free movement. On the plus side, the suit’s stiff structure handles kinetic shock well. PS made some modifications to make the suit easier to slip into, and added a Juicer Harness-derived autodoc system, making it more attractive to industrial applications. A modification kit, adding a light exoskeleton, is also available. To further sweeten the deal for prospective customers, the ‘Cosmotreader’ is being offered at decidedly low prices, as supplies of the modified suits last.
Paladin Steel has considered producing a more heavily armored version of the ASEBA07, using better materials, but the idea seems likely to be dropped, as PS/ASI is focusing on converting the original EFG-103 production line to producing the more popular PS-ASEBA02 and PS-ASEBA04.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: 40 lbs
Encumbrance: -20% to physical skills and speed
Protective Value: Low MDC: Helmet -40, Main Body -50, Arms -15, Legs -20,
Life Support: 36 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Autodoc---Derived from the Juicer Harness, this min-comp-controlled system is compatible with 25 different humanoid species, and uses a combination of compu-drug injectors, RMK/IRMSS dispensers, and a system of inflatible bladders in the limbs, tied to a biomonitor, to monitor the wearer’s health, dispense needed medications(including stimulants) as needed or requested, selectively apply pressure to punctures and wounds, treat external and internal injuries, and immobilize broken limbs. It has Paramedic programming equivalent to a skill of 90%.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 49,000 credits
Options:
*Tool Gauntlet---A modular vambrace and heavy glove that serves to hold a variety of small tools, including a small robot arm(18 inch reach, grip strength of 10), vibroblade(1 MD), soldering iron(1d4 SD damage), power screw driver, precision drill(1d6 SD damage), laser measure, power abrasion tool(1d4 SD per melee of operation), and options for two other small tools of choice. Exoskeletal reinforcement of the fingers gives the hand 5 MDC and a Robotic grip strength of 17. (In the alternate, the Bionic Multi-Tool can be substituted instead) Cost: 8,000 credits.

*Exoskeleton---Adds +10 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +6 to P.S., +10 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%. Cost: 30,000 credits




*PS-ASEBA(Mc)05 ‘Longstepper’
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img172.jpg
“I declare this planet-”
“Planetoid.”
“I declare this planetoid-”
“Though actually it’s more of a comet-”
“-This comet-”
“Though at this point it’s too far from the sun to be a proper comet, more of an Ort Object--” “-This PLANET Snowflake and claim it in the name of the Nutkin Republic!”

The ‘Longstepper’ was designed with the growing number of ‘small folk’ taking part in the GNE’s polyspecies culture. With space travel becoming increasingly important to PS/ASI and the GNE Alliance, PS decided to anticipate that the ‘small folk’ would want a larger role in all aspects of the supra-culture, including space.
PS scaled down as much as they could of the wildly successful ‘Trekker’ suit, with a similar hard torso, fixed helmet, flexible jointing, and long endurance life support system. A shock-absorbing network of flex-tensers absorbs shock from falls and concussive impacts, and helps in rapid-donning of the suit, but also tends to bind and fight free movement, the only downside to an otherwise impressive work of miniaturization.
Though not intended as combat armor, ASEBA(Mc)05s were shipped in large numbers back to Earth during the Minion Wars to outfit Small Folk militia units(Earthside factories being unable to meet the demand in the short term). The mobility impediment was worked around by distributing the suits to garrison, checkpoint, and static-position heavy weapons crews protecting locations and facilities from the expected Infernal onslaught.
Type: Combo-Suit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Heavy(relative) 8 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy (relative) MDC: Helmet -25, Main Body -25, Arms -10 , Legs -15
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Auto-don---The suit actively assists the wearer in gearing up, and environmental sensors can automatically seal up the suit in event of detecting hazardous conditions. Typically, suiting up with this suit will take 15 seconds.
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+3 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 22,000 credits

PS-ASEBA(Mc)06 ‘Astronomad’
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img159.jpg
“Miffy! Headcount!”
“I got six back here, counting myself!”
“Anybody else coming?”
“I see nobody! Nobody in the last three minutes! You going to hold?”
“You see anybody else down the way?”
“No! Hall haz-alarms just went to red-three! We gotta leave, Mepbo!”
“Seal ‘em up then! We can’t wait any longer!”
“Sealed!”
“Casting away!”
With a hiss and a pop the hardsuit detached from the inspection port it had been using as an escape trunk, the suit’s fully inflated shelter ball trailing behind it and giving it the appearance of a queen insect with distended abdomen abandoning its hive.
Midshipman Mepbo watched the mass of the stricken freighter roll away from behind them, then started to plot a course to rendevouz with the larger lifeboats he saw also thrusting away. He spared a glance to his helmet monitor to an HUD window showing the view in back, where fellow middie Miffy tried his best to calm the five extra pssengers who hadn’t been able to make it to one of the larger lifepods in time. What looked like somebody’s family, a mother, daughter, and three boys, barely out of puphood, all surprisingly calm under the circumstances until he saw how pale they looked under their fur, or how nervously they clutched the liquid nutrient bags they were sucking on. All of them, himself included, of Rodentia descent.
Middie Mepbo looked again at the external rearview of his late ship assignment, the giant deep space freighter now looking toylike with distance, haloed by eruptions of its own internal atmosphere as the hull vented castastrophically into space.
Deep sea or deep space, Mepbo thought despairingly as he navigated to the survivors’ gathering point; I hate to be a rat abandoning a sinking or exploding ship, but what other choices do we have?

The ASEBA(Mc)06 is another small-scaled suit meant for the ‘small folk’. It resembles a bulky, stiff-limbed high-tech diving suit (or rather spacesuit) with a large backpack merged into the forward suit, with its broad mirror-bowled visor. The suit is entered through the back through a circular hatchway.
The hidden surprise of the Astronomad is that it can expand into a larger space shelter! Using ‘rescue ball’ technology, the Astronomad packs a folding megadamage fabric inflatable shelter. The spheroid ‘balloon tent’ expands out the back of the suit, ballooning out to about three feet in diameter, the rear hatch and thruster assemblies forming the rear ‘pole’ of the sphere. The rest of the suit remains at the front of the sphere to act as a control ‘bridge’ and thruster system. The shelter allows the suit wearer to relax and stretch their limbs, or allows the suit to take on extra passengers and serve as an emergency lifeboat.
Two Astronomads can dock back to back, sharing access to each others’ inflated shelters and increasing the space of the impromptu spacestation.
The novel Astronomad has caught on like hotcakes with the Small Folk, and the design has proven so popular that PS/ASI is looking to scale up the design to larger suit designs.
Type: Hardsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: Heavy(relative) 12 lbs
Encumbrance: High; -20% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Heavy (relative) MDC: Helmet -35, Main Body -50, Arms -12, Legs -20, Inflatable Shelter---50
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
-Quick-don---The backdoor access of the suit means that the wearer can slip into it in as little as 30 seconds.
-Space Maneuvering Jets----Can push the suit at 150 MPH in micro-gravity
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+4 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 28,000 credits
Options:
*Exoskeleton---Adds +5 MDC to Main Body, Arms, and Legs. +3 to P.S., +5 to Speed, and increase leaps by 50%. Also reduce wearer fatigue by 50%. Cost: 12,000 credits

*Recycler---Advanced electrochemical filtration and recycling extends oxygen supply for as long as the suit has power. Cost: 1,800 credits

*Advanced Recycler---A combination of recycler tech, nanotech scavenging systems, and Cambridge Jungle-derived modified algae recycle not only oxygen, but water as well, and to a limited extent reprocesses solid waste into nutrient. Suits so outfitted are sometimes refered to as ‘terrarium suits’, especially when the space shelter is fully deployed. Cost: 7,200 credits

*Solar Power---This consists of strips of photovoltaic film added to the limbs and body, and a deployable ‘wing’ pack of solar cells that collect ambient light(ideally direct sunlight) and convert it into electrical power, storing some in a battery. As long as this suit has sunlight, it has power, and as long as the Recycler has power, it can keep filtering and recycling the oxygen. Has a two-hour battery reserve for periods of darkness(can be stretched out as much as 8 hours with minimization of demand on suit systems). Cost: 10,000 credits


Variants:
The Astronomad has spawned a number of variants, most substituting the expandable shelter ball with other inflatable structures:

*ASEBA(Mc)06B(LTA) (aka ‘Balloon Suit’, ‘Gasbaggie’)---This version, intended for planetside exploration, especially for operations in the atmosphere of gas giants, replaces the shelter with an inflatable lift envelope holding whatever the local equivalent of lighter than air gas is.

*ASEBA(Mc)06E---The emergency shelter in this case is replaced with a bowl-shaped bag of thermal-resistant fabric filled with thermal-proof aerogel, for one-way atmospheric re-entry. A ribbon chute slows the suit down in thicker atmosphere, then deploys a regular ring-chute for the final descent.

*DSEBA(Mc)06---Aquatic dive armor version, rated for 1.5 miles maximum depth. In this case, the inflatable shelter is replaced with a deployable float-bag that can grant the suit nuetral or positive bouyancy.


PS-ASEBA(Xl)08 ‘Stargypsy’
“Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. See that big woman over there?”
“How can I NOT?! She’s nearly fourteen feet tall, and that skinsuit fits like shrinkwrap! I’d love to explore the valley between those two peaks! Pity that helmet’s hiding her features. Then again, a lady that big, I don’t wanna know if the face matches the rest of her.”
“Got your mind out of the gutter; that’s not why I pointed her out. But if it’s any consolation, she’s a Cyclops, and she actually looks pretty cute. And that’s the interesting thing, her being a Cyclops. She’s been here maybe three days and already she’s gone out with a survey team and the work foreman about a dozen times to that fissure we found darkside. The passenger manifest on the ship she came in on lists her as an ‘industrial metallurgist’ . Care to speculate what THAT all sums up to?”

After the wildly successful micro-scale designs, PS decided it was time to scale up suit designs with an eye towards the literally larger market, for beings with larger-than-human physiques.
The ASEBA(Xl)08 is a light (relatively speaking) skintight elastic pressure suit meant for outfitting beings of sizes 10-40 ft tall. The flexible elastic material allows for the suit to fit a wide range of sizes and body types, thanks to ‘smart materials’ and ingenious stitching configurations. The large mirrored-bowl helmet and ‘epaulette’ life support/systems collar-pack carries the essential mechanical elements, and also fits a variety of head-types. Modular hard-shell gauntlets and boots can be screwed on to fit a variety of limb types.
PS/ASI has also taken advantage of the large size of the suit to fit it with an experimental nanite repair system, based on cyborg repair systems, that reseals breaches and repairs minor damage.
PS is just starting to gear up to produce the ASEBA(Xl)08, but already early sales promotions through Center have proven promising, showing that there’s a demand for extra-plus spacesuit sizes.
Type: Skinsuit
Tech Base: Advanced
Weight: 120 lbs
Encumbrance: Low; -5% to physical skills and speed.
Protective Value: Light(relative) MDC: Helmet -80 , Main Body -120, Arms -60, Legs -70,
Life Support: 120 hours (battery-powered)
Special Features:
*Elastic--Can stretch to fit humanoids from 10-40 ft tall.
-Auto-don---The suit actively assists the wearer in gearing up, and environmental sensors can automatically seal up the suit in event of detecting hazardous conditions. Typically, suiting up with this suit will take 15 seconds.
-Impact Protection---Suit takes HALF damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns.
-Limited Damage Regeneration---Adapted ‘smart’ materials and a cyborg-based nanorepair system means that the suit can actually ‘heal’ up to 50% of basic damage at a rate of 1d10 MD per ten minutes before needing to be replenished. Note that this applies ONLY to basic suit damage and not to specialized systems like radio, sensors, actuators, and other ‘active’ systems.
-Clip-On Visor Mount---Allows for quick mounting of various sensor attachments, or an armored visor(+10 MDC to helmet)
Cost: 180,000 credits

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[taalismn]

Updated the Spacesuits post with the picture of the 'StarGypsy' Skinsuit.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PS-MR-14 ‘Simarand’ Automatic Rifle
(aka ‘Flip-blam’, “Rusykee Rifle’)
http://www.waffenamt.it/pics/AT06/13-467_01.jpg

“Take the wheel, ‘ruma, I’m going to try to slow them down!”
“You’re using a RIFLE against one of those things?! You’re insane!!! We’re going to die!!!”
“Trust me, ‘ruma, I know what I’m doing! Get ready to hit the gas!”
“You CAN’T stop those things with a rifle, Mar! You---”
*BLAM*BLAM*BLAM*
**PHIBBBSTTZZZZZ!!!**
SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
“...you just blew up one of its engines?!”
“ACCELERATOR! NOW!!!!”
VRrroooommmmm!!!!!!!!
*****
“You just shot down a flying Devastator with a RIFLE?!!!”
“Heh, knew I was saving the heavy penetrators for something! And those d-bee ‘bots aren’t as tough as they look. AND those adhoc repairs helped. Bullets punched through the plate like it was storefront metal shutters!”
“...but...but...”
“I’ll tell you it all when I get you someplace safe. Suffice to say I’m a Company man, and the Company gives us good equipment. Though if I’d had a PULSE-rifle... But then again I’m only a Junior Merchant on what’s supposed to be a soft assignment.”


“Shoot them until your gun barrels melt, stab them ‘til your bayonets are dulled, then beat them until your guns break! And then, if you can’t find any rocks, lay into them with your bare hands and teeth!”
---Sheriff Milston Rhome, addressing the Meggittown militia, recently issued MR-14s, just before an attack by a demonic army from the Magic Zone.

“See, you wanna be careful when you’re flipping the bayonet in and out of the forward slot that it’s off and that you don’t have your hand under it. That’s a great way to lose fingers even before combat!”

While Paladin Steel-owned and -affiliated autofacs and subcontracting gunshops turn out thousands of SDC-metal and plastic examples of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of pre-Rifts firearms, based on surviving examples/templates of such weapons as the M-16, M-1, M-14, Kalashnikov, FN, Springfied, and the like(though Colt and Remington designs are the most common due to their ‘local’ affiliations), only a few weapons are chosen for ‘master editions’, weapons reworked in megadamage materials and improved accordingly. Often these ‘upgrades’ bear little resemblance to the originals(as with the MR-1 Garand Rail Gun), while others become wholly new weapons in their own right.
The MR-14 grew out of a desire to combine the best features of the M-1 Garand, M-14(essentially an improved M-1) and the Soviet Simonov SKS, in one weapon, rather than produce three separate weapons with essentially the same characteristics. The MR-14 has the reliable gas operation and larger magazines of the American designs, the rugged good looks of the SKS, as well as its integral bayonet, and is chambered to fire the 7,62 NATO round, which gives the weapon good damage and range. The wooden furniture of the weapon is transformed ironwood, the metal parts tough corrosion-proof megadamage alloy, and dry lubricant coatings have been applied to moving parts and surfaces to improve reliability and reduce maintenance. Though fairly heavy for a regular rifle, the Simarand is reliable and sturdy, and being a projectile weapon can chamber a variety of specialized ammunition types. The magazine receiver can accept ten- or twenty-round box clips, and the weapon can fire off short three-round bursts. A bayonet is integrated into the design, with swing-forward action, allowing the weapon to be quickly used in melee combat(users also report that the heavy weight and sturdy construction make the MR-14 a good club in melee).
The MR-14 is marketed as a ‘wilderness rifle’ for hunters(though it’s rather overpowered for small game hunting) and wilderness adventurers, but a number have found their way into the hands of affiliated ‘house mercenary’ sniper units, and GNEAS Ranger and SpecOps units. It’s also popular with towm militias for its reliability, good range, and versatility. Paladin Steel interdimensional merchants have been known to carry the weapons because they don’t contain active sensitive technologies, can often go unremarked and unnoticed on worlds with limited(gunpowder) technologies, and are typically not affected by local conditions that might prevent more advanced technologies from working.

Weight: 8.5 lbs
MDC: 32
Range: 2,600 ft
Damage:(7.62mm) 5d6 SD per round, three round burst does 15d6 SD
(7.62mm Ball) 6d6 SD per round, three round burst does 18d6 SD
(Ramjet) 1 MD per rd, 3d6x10 SD against ‘soft’ targets, three round burst does 3 MD
(Wellington/PS Exploders) 15d6 SD per rd, three round burst does 4d6x10 SD
(Saboted Light Armor Piercing)1d6 MD per round, a three round burst does 3d6 MD
(PSX-1) 2d6 MD per round, a three round burst does 6d6 MD
Can chamber a variety of other ammunition types, including silver, wood, Glaser, and TW bullets.
Rate of Fire: Standard; single shot of 3 round burst
Payload: 10- or 20-round clip
Features:
*Corrosion-proof Construction
*Top Sight Rail---Can be fitted with a scope or other sight
*Bipod-mounting available
*Muzzle Threading---For attachment of muzzle break, flash-hider, rifle grenade launcher attachments.
*Integral Bayonet---Hinged under the muzzle, but folding backwards to scabbard itself in a slot in the forestock. Generally, any bayonet can be used, but weapons sold direct from Paladin Steel come with a vibrobayonet(1d6+1 MD).
Cost: 7,000 credits (1,500 credits without the vibrobayonet)
Variants:
*MR-14B----An attempt to produce a lighter weapon by replacing the wooden furniture with lightweight composite plastics instead, reducing the weight to 7 lbs.

*MR-15C---Variant re-engineered to fire caseless ammunition. Range and damage stats remain unchanged, but the weapon is 7.5 lbs, and clips now hold 15 and 28 rds respectively

[abe]

anybody ever use the duck armor that I put on the site a few years ago?

[taalismn]

anybody ever use the duck armor that I put on the site a few years ago?

'Fraid not...ever thought of reposting your question to the original thread to see if any of the original commentors used it? In essence, necro'ing your old thread(but for good reason).
You really want to necro with a vengeance, post an upgrade to the original Duck Armor, or maybe something heavier, like GOOSE Armor, LOON Armor, GREBE Armor, or SWAN Armor(using the capitalized names as acronyms optional).

[abtex]

Abe's Duck Armor topic posted "years ago" on March 8 2011. stats near the bottom of page 1. But read it for the humor as well.

[taalismn]

Abe's Duck Armor topic posted "years ago" on March 8 2011. stats near the bottom of page 1. But read it for the humor as well.

Read it before it flies south for the winter.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Nao Deep Space Mercantile Transport
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img173.jpg

“Greetings, Sentients! I am Merchant-Lieutenant Drala Geswold of the New Hampshire Agricultural Trading Collective, and we come to your world in hopes of doing business! We seek no trouble, only the opportunity to put before you a humble assortment of goods and garner your interest in bargaining with us! We come with products from farflung ports of call, fabrics, foodstuffs, agricultural machinery, personal electronics, and samples of more items in the event you deem us worthy of repeat business!
If you would but indicate where we can land, my ship -The Basket of Goodness- shall set down and we can get down to business! Rest assured , our selection is great, and our prices are fair!”

“What do we have left for trade goods after THAT fiasco?”
“Well, we have an assorted shipment of readi-foods from YumYum Foods. Eight hundred tons of lizard meat.”
“’Cup-o-Dinosaur’, heh?”
“’Heats in its own cup’. Allosaur Soup, Duckbill Burgerettes in Gravy, Shellback Stroganoff, and Sauropod Stew with Veggies. Yum.”
“Yum-yum. I’m tempted to keep those for our use if we run short of supplies. However, let’s see if we can’t make some sales before we go dipping into our merchandise just to get by.”

“Out by Calsena, we had to use about a dozen Naos as troop carriers for the drop on that pirate outpost that had been giving us trouble. Let our converted missile-ships lead formation and let the bandits think we were a convoy that had lost its way. When they closed, we gave them a faceful of missile. Even though they were expecting escorts, we still bagged a good portion of their in-system space arm. Then, while our warships and fighters were tangling with the survivors, we dropped our troop-pods and unleashed several companies of power armor and robots right outside their ground base doors. All courtesy of the Merchant Marine!“

The ‘Nao’(named for an early Portugese sailing vessel type) is a short- to mid-range interstellar transport meant for quick manufacture and low cost sales, while remaining high-capacity and multipurpose.
The Nao has some similarities to early Foraker Aerospace designs(not entirely impossible, as PS/ASI’s connections to WZTechyards may have given them access to the common domain designs held in their archives), but has been updated with more modern technologies. The Nao has a roughly rectangular design, with a semi-circular prow attached to a blocky midsection, two large engineering sections with triple-venturi’ed engines in each on each side, a rear utilities hull, and the cargo bay slung underneath. While the engines may be arguable more vulnerable to attack in the lateral nacelles, their positioning means that BOTH sections must be taken out to rob the ship of propulsion. Furthermore, the straddling position of the engines allows for greater stability when operating in a gravity well, as thrust can be more effectively vectored around the center of gravity. The lower hull positioning of the main cargo bay also allows for easier unloading, particularly of ‘roll-on/roll-off’ cargoes like vehicles. The semi-circular prow can be detached/ejected from the rest of the ship to act as an escape vehicle. A rear-mounted topside ‘spoiler’ is in reality a communications and sensor tower. A small hangar bay is located at the rear of the ship behind the rear horizontal clamp for the cargo pod, and also permits the crew, whose quarters are in the midsection, an alternate escape route to running forward to the bridge pod.
Naos do not come standard with armament, but they do have proviso for up to six weapons emplacements in the upper hull, plus the cargo pod can be exchanged for a variety of missile launcher modules and gun platforms. The Nao really isn’t meant as a warship, though; it carries only standard armor and a regular forcefield. Even with upgrades, the Nao can’t stand up long in heavy combat against purpose-built warships, but it can serve ably as low cost combat support.
Simple, inexpensive, and reliable, the Nao is aimed at smaller mercantile concerns and local short-range interstellar routes. Aegis Stellar Industries assembles a lot of these vessels, and they are good sellers on the market among those seeking a good basic ship.
Type: PS/ASI- SC07 Nao
Class: Medium Multipurpose Interstellar Transport
Crew: 25+ capacity for up to 50 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 4,000
Bridge/Forward Hull 2,000
Main Communications/Sensor Array 700
Engines(6, 3 each side) 800 each
Hangar Bay 800
Cargo Pod 1,000
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 40 ft (90 ft w/ cargo pod)
Width: 160 ft
Length: 550 ft
Weight: 13,000 tons
Cargo: 500 tons internally in the main hull
Standard Cargo Pod has 6,000 ton capacity(Cargo Pod is roughly 250 ft long by 40 ft tall by 50 ft wide)
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 75 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Ejectable Escape Module---The entire front end of the ship can eject to become a lifeboat. The semi-circular section is streamlined for atmospheric re-entry.

*Escape Pods---Standard model escape pods are located in vertical launch cells in the midsection, as well as in the rear hangar bay/engineering section.

*Rear Hangar Deck---A small hanger facility able to accommodate a pair of small shuttles, light aerospace fighters, EVA work modules, or a scoutship.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but comes with provision for up to six weapons stations(up to Medium class, as described in Rifts Dimension Book Six, Three Galaxies, pgs 127-129), one forward, one aft, and two on each wing.
Also see Options for pod-mounted weaponry.

Auxiliary Craft:
2 shuttles

Options:
The modular cargo pod of the Nao allows the lower hull to be replaced with a variety of different cargo modules, including liquid storage tanks, mini-fac pods, habitation modules, and even weapons pods and hangar bay pods.
A few examples are as follows:

*Passenger Pod---Has the extra life support and accommodations to house up to 150 people comfortably, 300 if cramped. Alternately, the pod can instead be used for luxury accommodations for a much smaller number of occupants. Has emergency life support for two weeks or more(depending on life support layout) if detached from the ship.

*Aero-Transporter Pod---This is a pod outfitted to be dropped from orbit, that can make re-entry, planet fall, and even fly itself to its final landing point. It can deploy six gimbaled thrusters(300 each) and a low-power anti-gravity system to propel itself at a modest speed of 400 MPH. Onboard nuclear power of 15 year duration, or it can be powered by a super solar electric system and solar panels on its top and sides.

*Carrier Pod---Has provision to service up to 6 aerospace fighters, each with its own launch bay.

*Missile Launcher Pod----A combat module, meant to convert the Nao into a stop-gap warship. The module is built around a battery of long range missile launchers, with several medium- and short-range batteries for close-in defense.
a) Long Range Missile Launchers(1)
Range: Varies by missile type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by missile type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 120 LRMs

b) Medium Range Missile Launchers(2)
Range: Varies by missile type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by missile type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload:60 missiles per launcher, 120 total, reloading from the cargo hold takes 1d6 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 24 missiles)

c)Short Range Missile Launchers(2)
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 100 missiles per launcher, 200 total

*Gunship Pod---This is an armored pod(2,000 MDC) fitted with multiple gunnery stations meant for close support or anti-fighter/missile picket duty.
a) Medium Range Missile Launchers(4)
Range: Varies by missile type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by missile type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload:60 missiles per launcher, 240 total, reloading from the cargo hold takes 1d6 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 24 missiles)

b) Mini-Missile Launchers(4)
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 320 missiles each

c) 40mm Rail Guns(4)
Range: 2.6 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage:(Proximity Fuzed Fragmentation) 3d6 MD to 15 ft blast radius
(Armor Piercing Tracer) 5d6 MD single shot
(High Explosive Tracer) 4d6 MD to 10 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: EPCHH, single shots or bursts of 1-5 shots
Payload: 500 rds per gun

d) 100mm MB Massdriver Cannon(PS-MDJ100M)(2)
Weight: 9,000 lbs(4.5 tons)
Range:(Direct Fire APFSDSDU) 27,000 ft (5.4 miles) in atmosphere, 11 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 11 miles in atmosphere, 1,100 miles in space)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)---- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 2d6 x10 MD to 10 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 2d6x10 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma-----3d6x10 MD to 35 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 4d6x10 MD out to 11,000 ft, 2d6x10 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: Four per melee
Payload:100 mm AP shell weighs 25 lbs( 80 shots per ton)
Each cannon has 550 rds readily available to it.

e)Pulse Lasers(6)
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage:2d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*Heavy Laser Pod---This armaments pod mounts three medium laser cannons arranged in a fixed forward position, plus an independent power plant, cooling, and targeting gear.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per blast per single cannon, 6d6x100 MD for all three cannons firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*Heavy Ion Gattler---This is a quad array of heavy ion cannon, firing in a fixed forward attitude.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast per single cannon, 8d4x100 MD for all four cannons firing simultaneously
The ion blasts can also be ‘shotgun spread’, doing HALF normal damage to everything in a 30-degree arc out to HALF normal range.
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Variants:
*PS/ASI- SC07B---An up-engined model that crams the six engines into power-booster nacelles, three to a pod(each pod has 2,700 MDC), on each ‘wing’. The more powerful engines can boost the Nao up to Mach 9.7 in space(Kitsune Values: Can now hit speeds of 50% of light, and accelerate/decelerate at .97% of light speed per melee). Sometimes called a ‘burner’, ‘astro-clipper’, or ‘zhoomer’, the SC07B markets for 82 million credits.