Paladin Steel ‘Cumular’ Multi-Environment GMR Cargo-Liner “Dimensional Transition complete! Stabilizing at four thousand feet! Position confirmed! Running environmental checks! Clear! Secure running gear, stand down alert stations!” “Well, now, we still have a few hours before we get to this ‘Halla’, which I understand is quite the trade center on this world, so let’s go over what we already know of our potential customers!”
“Think we can move the briefing up to the sundeck, Senior Merchant Enslo? I’ve been stuck in conference rooms all the way until loading; I’d appreciate some light and space.”
“EXCELLENT idea, Merchant Ida! I’ll ring up the steward and have some appropriate food and drink sent up! To the sundeck, gentlebeings!”
The Cumular-class GMR ships are direct descendants of the original Foss-Fliers, only writ larger(MUCH larger) with an eye towards interdimensional/Rifts trade routes. These giant ships resemble airborne cruise liners more than anything else, and indeed many of their features suggest PS engineers looked at surviving plans of pre-Rifts luxury liners when configuring the GMR vessels, but the Cumulars are true multipurpose mixed-cargo/accommodation craft, fully capable of operating in a variety of environments. Being Rifts Earth-designed, the ships carry a substantial protection of armor and armaments in the event good intentions, friendly attitudes, and signed treaties aren’t enough to insure the ships’ safety. As the Cumulars are not intended as front-line combatants, focus has shifted from a mix of heavy weapons to a variety of defensive weapons systems. The Cumulars have benefitted from a shift from the GMR ships being regarded as wholly separate from the starship-buildig programs to being a beneficiary of them, especially with regards to the adaptation of starship weaponry. Care has been taken to conceal their heavy defensive weaponry behind sliding hatches and hull panels to both allay fears other dimensional cultures might have about the alien craft, and to catch any potential pirates offguard.
Accommodations aboard a Cumular are quite conformable, as befits their cruise liner ancestry. All decks are environmentally enclosed, including the upper sundeck and pool/exercise area, so the crew and passengers are safe against sudden changes in hospitable environment(as sometimes happens around ley lines and nexi). Communications have been improved to keep the ship in contact with the GNE trade network, and the bridge includes provision for a a ‘mercantile command center’ which tracks personnel, inventory, and sales, as well as records relevant information for sales, future negotiations, and placed orders.
At least two of these craft, GNESS Haymarket Square and GNESS Westfarms, are used as ‘embassy ships’, traveling showrooms of PS/GNE goods and services, to far distant lands, including other dimensions. One client was so impressed by the Cumular that trade negotiations were conducted on that she commissioned one as a personal yacht.
Type: PS-HMAT-GMR-FF-04 Cumular
Class: Heavy Multi-Environment Armored Transport
Crew: 20-48 officers, 400 crew + up to 3,600 passengers(if carrying passengers exclusively)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body* 9,000
Bridge 1,000
Forward Observation Deck 1,000
Cranes(2) 50 each
Heavy Laser Cannon(2) 300 each
Mage Pod Mounts(4) 175 each
Medium Range Missile Launchers(2) 180 each
30mm Antiaircraft Cannon(6) 150 each
Point Defense Turrets( 8 ) 80 each
Auxiliary Thrusters(4)** 350 each
Lateral Thrusters(8, 4 per side)*** 500 each
Main Thrusters**** 3,000
*Depleting more than 75% of the Main Body MDC will compromise the GMR system, resulting in the loss of levitation ability. If airborne, the ship will drop like a stone.
**Destroying the Auxiliary Hydro-Thrusters will result in the ship being unable to effectively move in the water. The vessel can still push itself through the water using the lateral jets, but at 5 MPH, and at -20% to maneuver.
***Destroying the Lateral Thrusters will result in severely compromised flight control.
-25% to piloting rolls
****Destroying the Main Thruster will not destroy the ship’s ability to fly(the GMR coils are located in the main hull), but will severely cut the ship’s flight speed. The ship can still fly under power of the Lateral Thrusters, but only at 20% maximum speed.
Height: 110 ft
Width: 105 ft
Length: 970 ft
Weight: 94,000 tons
Cargo: Can carry up to 10,000 tons of cargo
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion; 20 year energy life.
2x ‘Wizard’-class TW Generators----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
Speed:
(Water) Traveling on the surface, the Cumular can reach a respectable speed of 20 MPH
(Underwater) Can travel underwater at 25 MPH. Max. Depth 1,000 ft
(Flying)Hover to 250 MPH; typically cruises at 150 MPH
Traveling on a Ley-Line, the Cumular can make Mach 1(670 MPH).
Maximum Altitude: 18,000 ft
(Space) Limited; if somehow transposed into space, the ship would still maintain environmental integrity, but would only be able to maneuver at about 100 MPH.
Market Cost: Estimated at 650 million credits, if not more
Systems/Features:
Standard Ship/Aircraft Systems, plus:
*Life Support---Star Cruiser grade
*Radio---200 mile range
*Radar--200 mile range, track and ID 144 targets simultaneously
*Sonar---50 mile range
*Cargo Cranes--The Cumular class cruisers have four side-mounted heavy lift cranes for loading and offloading the vessel even when airborne. Each crane can lift up to 80 tons.
*Lifeboats----The Cumular class cruisers mount several enclosed lifeboats/escape pods patterned on those deployed on the Foss Fliers; to allow them to be used under any circumstances, the lifeboats are fitted with watertight environmentally-sealled hulls(8 hour life support) and flotation bags for underwater escapes, and a combination parasail and Featherfall TW-system for aerial ejections.
Weapons Systems:
1) Medium Range Missile Launchers(2)---The main long range weapons system of the Cumular Cruisers are a pair of MRM launchers, mounted fore and aft behind armored shutters.
Range: Varies By Missile Type
Damage: Varies By Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 4, 6, or 12
Payload: 60 per launcher(120 total); additional missiles may be carried as cargo and loaded from stores.
2) Point Defense Turrets(
---Originally the Cumulars were to be fitted with separate mini-misisle and laser turrets, but the decision was made to consolidate them, using the CCW-pattern Point Defense Dual Laser/Mini-Missile Launchers that have become standard on PS/ASI spacecraft for close-in defense and are now showing up on naval vessels and larger atmospheric craft/grav/GMR-platforms. These have been modified to be able to fire standard mini-missiles and Black Talon LSAMs, though they cannot fire the “S-Sting” ‘Smart Mini-Missiles typical of the space fleet, and are distinguished from the spaceship PDSLs in having a more obvious covered launch rail cover for the longer LSAMs.
Range: (Lasers) 4,000 ft in atmosphere/2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere /200 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles) 1 mile in atmosphere/2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere/ 100 miles in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 1d6x10 MD per blast
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Lasers) EGCHH, or auto-fire; 6 attacks per melee
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1-8
Payload: (Rail Gun) Effectively Unlimited
(Mini-Missiles) 32 mini-missiles per turret; additional mini-missiles can be carried as cargo(typically takes 2d6 minutes to reload from the holds).
(Option)---The Mini-Missile launcher component of these turrets can be modified to fire the “Black Talon” L-SAM, particularly effective in atmosphere.
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 10,000 credits per missile
4) Heavy Laser Cannon (2)---One cannon is mounted in the nose in a retractable turret, and the other in a concealed aft turret.
Range: 2 miles
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited
5) 30mm Antiaircraft Cannon(6)----Mounted in armored turrets two forward, one each side, and two aft, these autocannons are intended for antimissile and antiaircraft/PA defense. This system uses the PS-862, the Paladin Steel copy of the Triax/New Roman Empire TX-862FC AA autocannon, also used in the Meles/Skywatcher, and Rattlesnake AA vehicles. The cannon mounts also have independent tracking and targeting sensors and hardware(reflected in the bonuses to strike). These ‘primitive’ projectile weapons have a respectable bite, especially against opponents normally immune to energy weapons.
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD two rd burst
2d6x10 MD six rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
4 attacks per melee when in autodefense
Payload: 4,800 rds per drum/magazine. Additional ammunition can be stored in cargo and loaded to the weapons stations(takes 2d4 minutes to do so)
Sensor Bonuses: +2 strike when on automatic sentry mode
+3 to strike when operated manually
6) Mage Pod Weapons Mounts(4)----The Cumular has benefitted from the advance of industrialized technowizardry in the GNE, and the ships sport no less than four of these magic projectors. The ones fitted to the Cumulars are typically of the PS-TWMPP-4(Bst) model, meaning each projector has a four-Spellcard ‘carousel’ that allows it to cast four different kinds of spells, while the (Bst) signifies the use of range-boosting barrel elements. Cumulars generally carry a mix of environmental control spells and defensive magic.
Range: Varies by spell , but the (Bst) modification DOUBLES the range of spells, and when the ship is traveling on a ley-line, the range of spells is typically increased by 50%.
Damage/Duration: Varies by spell
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
PPE Cost per Use: Varies by spell. However, the use of focusing elements and activator spells effectively reduces spell PPE cost by HALF.
(So you Technowizards aren’t flummoxed by PPE costs in a long-running battle, while the still relatively high PPE costs for the high-end spells keeps someone from using Sphere of Annihilation in every battle).
Payload: Draws from the main PPE Battery, but can also draw upon the Cruiser’s own PPE reserves. In an emergency, the gunner, if they are a mage or psychic, can kick in their own PPE.
Bonuses: As per spell(if any)
Cost: The PS-TWMPP-4(Bst) system costs about 1.9 million credits
Spell Cards cost (as per Jason Richards’ guidelines in Rifter #2) 5,000 credits per PPE cost of main spell plus an additional cost (as per following modifiers)
*500 credits per level of the creating caster(Mages’ time and PPE are money, so expect to pay more for the longer duration/higher power spells)
*Warlock spells cost 20% more, in addition to above modifiers, owing to the difficulties of adapting Elemental Magic to ‘conventional” magic systems.
Auxiliary Craft:
Provision for 2 light aircraft/transport helicopters/VTOLs
8 ground vehicles/hovercraft
Additional vehicles can be carried as cargo
Options:
Depending on their operations, Cumulars can be fitted with a variety of subsystems, including TW sensors, leyline storm defense mechanisms, forcefield generators, additional(or fewer) weapons stations, special accommodations, luxury features such as swimming pools and shuffleboard courts, extra environmental protection, and the like. Rift generators are common on ships engaged in the extradimensional trade traffic. Some Cumulars are so heavily modified for multi-environment operations that they are virtually indistinguishable from true spacecraft like the Concord-class, examples of which are also heavily employed in the extradimensional trade.
Variants:
Most Cumulars are of a general passenger-and-cargo configuration, but some have been outfitted as luxury passenger/diplomatic vessels, communications auxiliaries, hospital ships and scientific research craft.
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