Forums of the Megaverse®

Back from Open House and back to working on my various Phase World papers (maybe that should be the title of of my Palladium book... The Phase World Papers)

Anyway... I'm working on Urban Combat, specifically on the restrictions of using tanks, robot vehicles, and power armour in a city fight, when I realise robots have no sensors! For those who doubt, take a look at any printing of the Standard Features table. they have combat computers, HUDs, targeting arrays, but nothing like motion tracker, thermo-optics, infrared night vision, etc.

So to illustrate: you are in a Glitterboy and I have Vagabond rags and CR-1 (plus several pieces of candy). I make a successful Prowl skill roll to remain hidden among the ruins of a hotel as you walk by. Then I fire a plasma mini-missile at your back, and you have no clue where it came from because you can not detect me.

BTW: the radar included on robots, tanks and power armour assists in the tracking of incoming missiles, the guiding of any missiles you yourself fired off, as well as identifying large targets above a certain height (but definitely not man-sized).

So what do we do about this little dilemma, if anything?

Well, there are man pack battlefield surviellance radars that can track man sized targets in existence now. The range they can detect a man sized target is much reduced compared to what they can track a vehicle (about 5 to 10 %) but they can do it. They are even accurate enough to aim machineguns with. Some of them translate their doppler signal into sound waves allowing a practiced operator to identify targets just by "listening."

I think the glitter boy's specific section refers to a thermal imager.

I'd have to double check this, but I thought a lot of robots included motion detectors and external audio pickups (could be a hold over from my Robotech days).

The prowl skill means you avoid giving away your position. It never states that it is ineefective agaisnt sensor systems. You jsut have to prowl taking into account the detection systems the opponent has (ie staying out of direct line of sight and limiting exposed time will work agaisnt most sensors).

Any of the above.

Robots have no standard IR detection, or anything like that that. A guy with a multi-optics helmet and a hand scanner has more methods of detection at his disposal than someone in Silverhawk power armour.

This must be fixed, one way or the other...

Investigating further...

Both the Titan Recon Bot and the Glitterboy go out of their way to make mention of special sensors. These include thermo-sights, and both infrared and UV sensors as well. The Coalition Abolisher also has a special section where it lists "sensory systems of note"... and then all the following CS robot vehicles have the same suite or better.

CS tanks seem to have only standard radar, save for the Sky Sweeper which has extra stuff for tracking jet fighters (yet no weapons that could actually hurt said fighters )

So, being the book more recently minted than Phase World, I think we can safely assume that the advanced robots and power armours of the Three Galaxies all have sensors at least equal to the Glitterboy.

PS. You can buy that Naruni Gravitic sonar for 1,000,000 credits.

Braden, GMPhD wrote:Back from Open House and back to working on my various Phase World papers (maybe that should be the title of of my Palladium book... The Phase World Papers)

Anyway... I'm working on Urban Combat, specifically on the restrictions of using tanks, robot vehicles, and power armour in a city fight, when I realise robots have no sensors! For those who doubt, take a look at any printing of the Standard Features table. they have combat computers, HUDs, targeting arrays, but nothing like motion tracker, thermo-optics, infrared night vision, etc.

So to illustrate: you are in a Glitterboy and I have Vagabond rags and CR-1 (plus several pieces of candy). I make a successful Prowl skill roll to remain hidden among the ruins of a hotel as you walk by. Then I fire a plasma mini-missile at your back, and you have no clue where it came from because you can not detect me.

BTW: the radar included on robots, tanks and power armour assists in the tracking of incoming missiles, the guiding of any missiles you yourself fired off, as well as identifying large targets above a certain height (but definitely not man-sized).

So what do we do about this little dilemma, if anything?

Actualy, they DO have sennsors... we just didn't get the froggin' memo
-sigh-
In all other books (except the "COMPLETE" Rifts: Ultimate Edition), all robots & power suits are listed as having the full audio / visual sensor suite... it's just another case of cut&paste'ism gone horribly horribly wrong.

Funny side note; I honestly thought "Nah, he's full of it.. of course they had the sensors listed in the Rifts Main Book.. I've been using it for years."
Whoops! Boy, was my face red when I saw that yeah... there ARE no optic systems at all... or exterior mikes...
I guess for all that time I was superimposing the info from my original print 'Robotech: Book 1' on the Destroids; which are essentialy larger, cruder versions of the Rifts combat 'bots.

I'm still usign my 2nd printing RMB with the torn cover and the hash oil stain page 3...


good times...

So what is the final word on generic robots sensor equipment? Do they have sensors or not.

gadrin wrote:

DhAkael wrote:
Whoops! Boy, was my face red when I saw that yeah... there ARE no optic systems at all... or exterior mikes...

hmmm, you must have a different version of the RPG than me.

pg214 lists 12 features common to Robot Vehicles, #7 is a External Audio Pickup, sound amplifier that lets them hear a whisper at 300 feet.

my Rifts RPG is 13th printing Sept 2000.

So a few adjustments to that and you're set.

I'd say base models would have a Thermograph and IR and Telescopic out to 2000 to 4000 feet.

First print, first edition

Greyaxe wrote:So what is the final word on generic robots sensor equipment? Do they have sensors or not.

They do. See the seperate thread....

I'd just make a Rifter submission with changes in tow...