Shooting multiple weapons systems in Robots

[ryokoryu]

Trying to find the rules for using multiple weapons systems for robot vehicles. I remember it telling me I can use every weapon system it has in 1 turn as long as I had 1 attack per weapons system I fire.

[DD The Shmey]

Sure, you can mix and match your attacks any way you want so long as you limit your robot to the number of actions that your character has. You could spend all of your attacks firing one weapon system if its listed rate of fire says that it is only limited by the number of actions of the pilot, or you could choose to open up with a volley of mini missiles on your first action, dodge a bite from a T-Rex with your second action, shoot your rail gun with your next two actions, then stomp on another bad guy on your fifth action before activating the smoke dispensers on your last action.

The number of attacks you get comes from your hand to hand combat skill, and whatever other skills (looking at you boxing) or occ bonuses you might have. You may get an extra attack or two from your robot piloting skills if it says so, and some robots are more advanced or have extra limbs or something that gives the pilot an extra attack (it would say so under the description of the robot vehicle, usually in or around the hand to hand combat section of the robot).

A lot of robots can also have multiple crew members, maybe one piloting the bot and one weapon system while another is manning a turret and the sensors. In such a case each pilot uses their actions based on what systems they control. So if you have two pilots and they each have 6 attacks then together your robot would get 12 actions total, but if one guy takes control of the bots main gun and shoots it for every melee action, you can't have the other pilot say, "hey I'm going to shoot the main gun too so we get 12 blasts out of the same weapon system". That gun is already being used, you know what I mean?

[ryokoryu]

The rules I am looking for is shooting multiple weapons systems in one action (it burns 1 action per weapon system I know but takes place in 1 turn) like I shoot my missiles and my lasers at you at the same time.

[Giant2005]

The rules I am looking for is shooting multiple weapons systems in one action (it burns 1 action per weapon system I know but takes place in 1 turn) like I shoot my missiles and my lasers at you at the same time.

Generally, such a rule doesn't exist.
However, Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide page 174 has this rule with respect to custom designed space ships: "Multiple weapon systems can be purchased and fire-linked to act as a Single weapon. However, this reduces the number of targets the ship can engage at once. Fire-linking is merely a matter of configuring the weapons operations software and does not cost anything extra. However, to link or unlink weapons requires both a successful Computer Programming and Spacecraft Mechanics or Weapons Engineer skill roll."

If your GM were willing to import Aliens Unlimited rules and didn't care about how immensely powerful such a vehicle would be, I don't see why the same thing couldn't be done for terrestrial vehicles. Be careful though, if your characters start running around with vehicles like that, the enemies will too and the end result will be everything being one-shotted. That might sound fair but your characters are going to feel the consequences a whole lot more than disposable villain number 361 will.

[Orin J.]

The rules I am looking for is shooting multiple weapons systems in one action (it burns 1 action per weapon system I know but takes place in 1 turn) like I shoot my missiles and my lasers at you at the same time.

Generally, such a rule doesn't exist.
However, Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide page 174 has this rule with respect to custom designed space ships: "Multiple weapon systems can be purchased and fire-linked to act as a Single weapon. However, this reduces the number of targets the ship can engage at once. Fire-linking is merely a matter of configuring the weapons operations software and does not cost anything extra. However, to link or unlink weapons requires both a successful Computer Programming and Spacecraft Mechanics or Weapons Engineer skill roll."

If your GM were willing to import Aliens Unlimited rules and didn't care about how immensely powerful such a vehicle would be, I don't see why the same thing couldn't be done for terrestrial vehicles. Be careful though, if your characters start running around with vehicles like that, the enemies will too and the end result will be everything being one-shotted. That might sound fair but your characters are going to feel the consequences a whole lot more than disposable villain number 361 will.

also all the weapons would reasonably need to be slaved to a single control system via a combat computer, which not all things will do (some systems can only be controlled by one of multiple pilot/gunner stations, others are externally controlled being held as rifles or aimed by positioning arms, ect.)

[Warshield73]

The rules I am looking for is shooting multiple weapons systems in one action (it burns 1 action per weapon system I know but takes place in 1 turn) like I shoot my missiles and my lasers at you at the same time.

What you want here is a problem because of what an attack is. In the case of a rail gun I am firing a supersonic projectile so my targeting would require me to lead the target slightly and account for a very tiny amount of drop. Speed of light weapons like lasers target differently as there is no need to lead the target and absolutely no drift but compare that to mini-missiles which are, even compared to rail guns, very slow and un guided. Missiles, of all kinds, are different in that your attack is not just firing the weapon but selecting a volley amount and often the type of missile. Now add to this the question of "does your vehicle have the power available to fire all these weapons at once"? Now if you are in a vehicle that has multiple crew stations I would say yes, if a single occupant vehicle I would say maybe / maybe not. Also is the vehicles targeting system capable of doing targeting solutions for different weapons at the same time. Again if you are in a vehicle that has multiple crew stations I would say yes, if a single occupant vehicle we're back to maybe / maybe not.

This is all to say that if your GM allows this at all it should be situational and might involve penalties for some of the weapons to strike.

Examples that I allowed from Phase World and Rifts proper.
- Character in an Enforcer robot that tied the shoulder laser turrets to the rail gun. The lasers auto tracked with whatever he was looking at and if he pulled the trigger and the target was in the fire arc of fire for the rail gun it fired too.

- Character with a Silverhawk Power Armor created a macro that when activated the next shot he fired with his multi-rifle would trigger a maximum volley of mini-missiles at the same target. The mini-missiles didn't have much of a penalty but I gave the target a bonus to dodge. This worked for the situation as what he wanted to use it for was attack components of large starships that really couldn't dodge.

Hope this gave you some things to think about.

[ShadowLogan]

Trying to find the rules for using multiple weapons systems for robot vehicles. I remember it telling me I can use every weapon system it has in 1 turn as long as I had 1 attack per weapons system I fire.

IF such a rule exists it likely is for a specific case(s) and not a general rule. Most likely you are misremembering something (possibly a house rule, but I honestly do not know).

The closest concept I can see for this is the Zebuloid from one of the later Phaseworld Dimension Books (#5 pg62-3), but that is actually a unique ability of the Zebuloid and then we are talking about a multi-station vehicle.

There are examples (megaversally) that you can fire link different weapon systems together, but again those are specific cases.

[ryokoryu]

I know it isn't a house rule I am remembering an incident in which a GM popped one of our PAs doing this and when we said it wasn't so he sent us to a book and page where it indicated that you can fire all weapon systems in one turn but each one you fired in a turn used another burned another action. the part I was unclear about was weather or not you had to make a separate attack roll for each system. It may in fact be that it only applies to that one robot also but without the section I can't confirm.
<<edit addition>> It also was specifically arifts book I remember also that much

[Orin J.]

i feel as though perhaps you GM baffled, bamboozaled, flummoxed or possibly even tricked you.

[pad300]

There are some specific robots with this kind of ability; it is called out in the robot description. A specific example is the X2700 Dragonwing robot in the Triax and the NGR (worldbook 5) can fire double blasts (for double damage) from it's paired Laser cannons.

[Mouser13]

Only thing I know of is a race can do it under power weapon of malvoren says can link multiple weapon systems and link fire them.