The Spell Cloud of Smoke

[darthauthor]

The Spell Cloud of Smoke on page 198 of the Rifts Ultimate edition.

For some context

• A 50 credit Smoke grenade obscures vision in and through the cloud from those outside of it.
  • Roughly the same diameter.
  • Infrared cannot penetrate a smoke cloud or be used inside one.
  • Attackers firing into/through the cloud will be shooting wild.
  • Nightvision scopes will not work in a smoke cloud

Question #1:
Does the -5 to strike count for melee range combat or does that include ranged weapons?
For example, if cast on CS Deadboy are their energy rifle shots -10 while I am 90 feet away?

Question #2:
Are Dog Boys impared by it?
Or do their nose and ears compensate?

Question #3:
If you, the spell caster, are in the cloud are you immune to it or just as vision impared as everyone else?

Question #4:
Can you cast it inside of someones automobile within the 90 foot range?
The condition being that you can see through their clear wind-shield and see the driver.

[darthauthor]

I keep thinking about how I would use the spell "Cloud of Smoke" and it depends on the circumstances of the battlefield.

War of Tolkeen
Squad of CS Grunts (4) and a couple Dog Boys (2).

So Player characters are defenders.
CS advances.

I cast the spell one per melee attack action.
So maybe 4 clouds of smoke in front of, on top of, or around the CS (I assume I can see them coming up on my village or check point.

With the Dog Boys they have Sixth Sense so they know there is danger present. No surprises there.
They are on guard.
IF I were them and I saw the caster I'd take a shot at him (before, during, and after the smoke came up).
I'd check the seal on my armor.
Then sensory equipment / optic systems.
So the situation is I can't see anything.
The Dog Boys can sense magic, so they have clue which direction (North, West, etc) to shoot to fire at the spell caster.
Still without sight it is blind fire.
I'd probably fire then reload.
If one of the CS squad has a sensory instrument like radar or motion detector I'd have them tell me where the enemy is relative to us.
Of course, its effectiveness is relative to the terrain, so I'd imagine trees and such would get in the way.
I'd assume the enemy is as blind as we are in the cloud of smoke, so it goes both ways.
I'd probably either scramble to take cover and hide or withdraw.
If my squad hid we would wait for the cloud of smoke to go away and aim for anyone not CS.
If we left, we would come back again.

The CS squad is going to fire a lot of shoots.
Without a recharger, I'm going to need to go back to exchange or recharge my E-Clips.

In the smoke, in frustration, I might be tempted to charge out guns blazing but without being able to see, i could easily step into a trap (dead-fall, land-mine, etc) or a squad of shooters waiting for me.

I guess I would call in an air strike by SAMAS or artillary.
It is NOT a fair fight but it is effective.
Basically, destroy every village or settlement I came across.
It would mean a lot of house would be lost and civilains with it.
Reminds me of new (fake or real) of the Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

Boy the CS really are the bad guys when it comes to their methods of operation and ultimate goals.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Characters inside a CoS are -5 to their melee actions. I would consider that all ranged fire is firing blind.

If a mage casts CoS in a firing point, the those cought in the CoS would be -5 to their melee actions and I would rule they are blind as for firing at anything they could not see.

Psi-hounds: their hearing might give them a 2 point reduction to firing blind, if the opponent was making sounds. I would read up on the Psi-hound text and any cybernetic or bionic hearing enhancements to see if there are any reference texts that can be used to make a house ruling.

Everyone inside a CoS is affected by it.

Rifts has a "no casting magic into a closed up 'MDC' Vehicle/EBA" rule so those smart mages can't just outsmart the CS.
So if there is an open window.....opportunity.