Forums of the Megaverse®

The invocation Spll Energy Bolt from the book Rifts ultimate Edition Page 202

P.P.E. cost is 5

Range is 150 feet.

Damage is 4d6 S.D.C.

It appears main advantage of the spell is its accuracy.
No roll to strike is require.
No save verus magic.
Its a magic handgun.
Only defense against it is to see it coming and dodge with a modified 18 or higher.

So my question are:

1. "Does the Energy Bolt start a fire (Shot a gas can / Jerry can situation)?"

2. "Can it disarm a guy with a gun in his hand?"

3. "Can it make called shots, like to the head or a car tire, like a sniper?"

4. "Is the Energy Bolt invisible or super fast so no one can see it or is it like a Star Wars laser blast (really about what people see)?"

5. "As a magically energy attack does it do full damage to an Astral Projection, Entity and Vampire?"

6. "IF everyone is wearing Mega Damage armor, is it useless, or can I only use it to shoot a hole in their canteen?"

7. "IF a grenade was targeted, say the mage is peering through binoculars or is invisible and 30 feet away, would the Energy Bolt set off the CS hand grenade?"

8. "Can it be used to hunt or shot fish under-water from above the surface?"

9. "IF the damage exceeds the target's capacity or if they successfully dodge the attack does the bolt do any damage to whatever is behind them even though they or it was not the intended target?"

10. "CSI. Is it obvious that it was a magic Energy Blast?"
I'm thinking of a villain who cheats at a gun fight by using the spell to shot a man in the back. The adventure would make a big deal about it and want a trial. The character with CSI or forenics, what will they find?

1. GM's call, but in the situation you use as an example I'd say no (it's a physics thing, while its a Hollywood trope, it is not as easy as that as shown by the Mythbusters. I'd say that a 4d6 energy bolt has the same energy as an SDC gun)

2. Mythbusters busted this Hollywood trope, and this assumes the Energy Bolt imparts force to the hand/gun. That said I could see it taking damage.

3. As there is no strike roll, I'd say no you cannot make a called shot the traditional way. You can't target a specific part of subject (no called shot hand or eye), but I could see it doing something the subject is holding/wearing PROVIDED it is large enough to be easily visible.

4. GM call. Given you can dodge, there must be some visible/audible component to it I would say.

5. Yes.

6. It is not useless, it is for those situations when a MD attack would be overkill. You could use it for small game hunting, or dealing with foes not wearing MD armor (and you don't want to turn into mist).

7. I would say no.

8. See point 6, though attacking something in water means your view is distorted.

9b. Dodging the attack IMHO means the bolt keeps traveling until it hits something (it usually assumed when you miss or target dodges the attack goes off harmlessly, but it could hit a "bystander" the old RMB had rules for this when spraying an area with a machinegun).

9a. IIRC SB1o's Q&A this gets addressed, but it is supposed to keep going (again for simplicity I think most people just assume it goes off harmlessly or was all absorbed by the target).

10. IMHO yes and no. While they will be able to determine it was an energy bolt of some kind at minimum (likely due to the burns) I don't think they will be able to connect it to a given person per say. It won't be like they can match the physical bullet to the gun it was fired from, so you can't say person A cast the spell.

EDIT: if you want to allow those Hollywood tropes you can of course, but I would be consistent about it.

I agree with the previous post. I do think it should be a first level spell costing just 1or 2 PPE in a MD setting.