R Ditto wrote:I'm back with muy opinions and views on the subject.
About the lightbulb example I gave.
One of the latest estimates I did (thanks to one of the more "accurate" bits of info about e-clip power, via a 'super power conversion', IIRC, in the new Conversion Book) indicated that roughly 10 e-clips equal 1 gigawatt of energy. That comes down to around 27,777 watt hours of energy for a single e-clip. (I round up to 28,000 just for kicks).
That is a lot of energy.
I did a math conversion of wattage to PPE to e-clips for a superhero character I was running in Rifts once. My GM was being pretty a**l about how much power I could draw off stuff, so I had to make conversion for everything to KW/e-clip. While I don't have the full list anymore, what I do have on spread sheet seems point to your math being off a bit. My conversion came up with a figure of roughly 50kW per e-clip. 1 PPE was equal to 8000 watts of power.
As to the burst rules, here's what I use in my games:
No longer do energy weapons burst like machine guns of old. All non-pulse weapons can also fire a double-tap for x2 damage. Now some confusion has come up as to which weapons are considered as pulse weapons and how much damage do they do. My reading on this is rather simple: First, all pulse weapons fire 3 simultaneous shots, doing x3 damage. Second, all weapons previously listed as pulse weapons do x3 the listed damage for a single shot. Third, all energy weapons that were previously listed as firing bursts (C-12, Q2-10, Q2-20,...) now are considered as pulse weapons and do damage x3.
As always, there is an exception. Heavy energy weapons (that fall under the like named WP) like the Free Quebec Q2-30 Rapid-Fire Heavy Laser can still fire bursts. They fire a set number of shots, depending on the type of burst. You should use the damage multiplier for the burst mode you use, versus using the damage that is listed in the description (which is usually nerfed lower than what the damage would be if you rolled it out). If you use my burst descriptions below, that should be damage for a single round x2 (short), x5 (long), or x10 (extended).
Burst Fire Ruling
Short Bursts: 5 rounds. Counts as one attack.
Single Target: Inflicts normal damage x2.
Spray: Inflicts normal damage for one round, hits 1D4-1 (minimum 1) targets.
Note: Pulse weapons can't spray.
Long Bursts: 10 rounds. Counts as two attacks. Chance of hitting innocent bystanders is 50%.
Single Target: Inflicts normal damage x5.
Spray: Inflicts normal damage x2, hits 1D6 targets.
Extended Burst: All rounds fired or up to 20 rounds. Counts as four attacks. Chance of hitting innocent bystanders is 70%.
Single Target: Inflicts normal damage x10.
Spray: Inflicts normal damage x4, hits 2D4 targets.
Bonus to strike/Number of attacks
Called Shots
Called Shots take up three actions, and you can pick your target location. Standard weapons get +3 to strike with WP, and fire a single shot only. Pulse weapons get +3 to strike with WP, and can fire single shot or pulse.
Aimed Shots
Aimed Shots take up two actions, and fire at the main body only. You are concentrating on hitting the target, not picking a location. Standard weapons get +3 to strike with WP, and fire a single shot only. Pulse weapons get +3 to strike with WP, and can fire single shot or pulse.
Standard
Standard fire is basically firing the weapon from your hip. You are trying to hit the target, but you aren't really aiming. The big benefit of this kind of firing is that you can walk while firing with no major penalties to strike (only -1). Standard weapons get +1 to strike with WP, and can fire a single shot or a double-tap. Pulse weapons get +1 to strike with WP, and can fire single shot or pulse.
Wild Fire
Firing Wild didn't really change. All the previous examples of firing wild still hold true, and there is still a -6 penalty to strike.