How much does railgun ammo cost?

[plata_knight]

I'm sure there are rules on this somewhere, but I have no idea where. A page number or just listing the costs would be nice.

[GhostKnight]

I think we've had this discussion about 456789876543 times. Put it at 1 credit per potential MDC of damage. So... 1 samas burst = 40 credits, 1 glitter boy round = 180 credits. It's the electricity that propels the round that does the damage - the rail gun ammo is just a little ferrous slug of metal.

[Tinker Dragoon]

I'm sure there are rules on this somewhere, but I have no idea where. A page number or just listing the costs would be nice.

No there aren't, amazingly enough, and people have been looking for the last 14 years.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Is it THAT much work to just make up a cost rather than tear your books apart for it?

I honestly think that Big Kev leaves rail gun ammo prices out diliberatly, just to see who would notice and what they would do. I'm certian that he's been told about this before.

[plata_knight]

I apologize, I didn't mean to bother anyone, I just wanted to do it right.

[GhostKnight]

You didn't bother anyone. We all have the same gripe and would like to do it "properly" too.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Well, if you look in the Rifts Game Master Guide, you can find certain rail guns listed with separate costs for a clip, belt, or drum of ammunition. By dividing the cost per container by the rounds per container you can find the cost of each individual round.

Unfortunately this method fails to produce consistent figures across the board. For example, if you apply this formula to an Australian NeraTech Bushcutter Rail Gun you arrive at a cost of 16.67 credits per round for a 120-round mini-clip or 1440-round drum, and 22.22 credits per round for an ammo belt. Doing the same for the NeraTech Fletcher-12 you get a cost of 65 credits per round for a 100-round drum and 75 credits per round for a 20-round clip.

And of course most of the rail guns in the RMB, and the first few sourcebooks and world books have no costs listed at all for ammunition; not for a clip, nor a belt, nor a drum, leaving one no recourse but to make up a number.

Personally, I'd go with 1 credit per conventional rail gun round or even as low as 1 credit per 10 rounds, because the RGMG lists special depleted uranium rounds at 2-5 credits per round, and non-depleted uranium rounds at 10 credits per round.

[plata_knight]

Thanks

[Tinker Dragoon]

I just found another house rule online (I believe it's from a Palladium Mailing List FAQ):

9.06. How much does railgun ammo cost?

[This system was created entirely by Stan Bundy.]

The rule of thumb I've always used with Rail Gun ammo is to base the cost on the max damage it does, modified by a supply and demand fudge factor. Base cost would be 1 CR per 1 M.D. of damage for a Burst (Single shot for those RGs like the Boom gun and Shemmarian that fire a canister round or single slug).

Examples -

A Rail Gun does 6D6 MD for a 40 round burst: Cost of ammo is 36 CR per 40 rounds, or 90 CR per 100 rounds.
A Rail Gun does 1D4x10 MD for a 50 round burst: Cost is 40 CR for 50 rounds, or 80 CR per 100 rounds.
Boom Gun: 3D6x10 MD per shot: 180 CR per round.
Modifiers:

From Gun Manufacturer: -1D4x5% of cost.
Scavenged/Salvaged being resold: -2D4x10% (-1D4x5% if Pre-Rifts Boom Gun Ammo that has been proven legit and still in good condition)
Silver Ammo: Base x 5 (Manufacturer modifier still applies).
DU Rounds (Triax): Base x10.
U-Rounds (Triax): Base x 100.
War Zone: Base x (1D4+1), unless weapon type not normally used by either side in the conflict.
Rarity (Shemarrian, alien, military-only or no local source): Base x 10 for startup (plus at least one unused sample of the ammo) and purchase of at least 1,000 shots (bursts for MG type rail guns). Further purchases, once the person has plans for the ammo, are at double cost. There is also a chance of a misfire with this ammo on a natural 1 until 1,000 shots of it made by this source are used under normal battlefield conditions (literally; if they set aside the first 1,000 shots, or use them only on a firing range in order to circumvent this rule, keep it in effect with all ammo from the source until 1,000 shots ARE used in real combat. The purpose is to find the flaws in the ammo so that the manufacturer can correct the flaws in his manufacturing.)