WNS Firedrake Battle Cruiser (UWW):
Ship Information:
The Firedrake was modified to experiment with some new ideas in the
design of ship of the U.W.W. fleet. A problem that many captains had commented
about was a lack of long range missiles and a certain lack in point defense.
It was decided that a Black Swan class Battlecruiser would be modified
with some new systems. So far only three ships have been modified to this
new configuration. This is the Firedrake, Fenris, and Woton
The ship had eight cruise missile launchers added to it. These were
positioned in such a way as to look very similar to torpedo tubes on World
War Two submarines. The launchers are copies of those carried on the Hunter
class frigate and the UWW purchased the programing of the launchers to
allow for volley firing of the launchers. This allows the ship to actually
fire missiles of equal size to a Kreeghor Doombringer. While the launchers
usually launch conventional cruise missiles, they can also fire a special
magical cruise missile which is basically a larger version of a bottle
demon missile. The ship has four smaller version of the Death Cloud cannon
added to increase the ships point defense. Two are mounted on each side
of the ships superstructure. The standard bottle demon missile launchers
have been modified to be able to fire standard mini-missiles as well. They
are fitted with a special sleeve to be fired this way. These greatly increase
the ships point defense allowing it to protect itself better against cruise
missile volleys. The final system is a special experimental magic device.
What it does is project in all directs magical shockwave that can devastate
missile volleys that come in.
The Naruni fighters that most UWW ships use could be considered obsolete
so this ship carries Katana class fighters instead of the Naruni fighters.
The fighters carry FTL boosters along with several different weapon systems.
If these fighters work out as well as hoped, the UWW may attempt to get
a full contract with Bushido Industries.
The ship's crew compliment is unusual when compared to most UWW ships,
the leaders of New Midgard have done various trades to have 90% of the
crew come from New Midgard itself. This means that a huge percentage of
the ships crew are Asgardian High Elves and Asgardian Dwarves. For some
unknown reason, all four of the upgraded battlecruisers have heavy New
Midgard crews.
Class information:
While the United Worlds Warlock does not use Battleships, they do use
Battlecruisers. While the Black Swan class only exist in small numbers,
they are the backbone of the UWW fleets and are both powerful and dangerous
opponents. The appearance of the Black Swan Battle Cruisers are very unusual
and no two ships of the class look completely identical. The appearance
of the ships are much like contemporary battleships and are reminiscent
of starships in Japanese animation. Some ships look like First World War
Dreadnoughts in their superstructure and gun designs while others look
like the much like the more sleek Fast Battleships of the Second World
War.
The ships propulsion is a combination of magic and technology. The ship
uses contragrav drives to propel it in normal space but uses a Rifts Fold
Drive to travel from system to system. The Rifts jump drive requires a
large amount of magical energy and can only be operated once every four
hours.
While the ships look like ancient battleships, they are quite well armed
and capable of taking on all comers. The nose of each starship houses a
Rift Projector Cannon. It is a powerful but potentially dangerous weapon
system. The ship's more conventional main battery consists of four turrets.
Three of the turrets are on top of the ship with two turrets forward and
one turret aft. The ship also has one turret in the center bottom of the
ship. In each turret is a triple barrel mounting of Magical Flame Cannons.
If the ship is attacking, the ship will usually attack using its broadside
because the ship can bring the most guns to bear from the side than from
front. The ships secondary battery is fitted into casemates in some cases
and are in topside and bottom smaller turrets in other cases. The ships
have four mounts on each side of double medium laser cannons. The cannons
are like those carried on the Dwarven Iron Ships. The ship has a total
of twelve sub particle accelerator cannons and twelve twin TK-Machine-guns
for point defense. For missile launchers, the ship has a total of eight
bottle demon missile launchers. These ships are constructed out of modern
MDC materials and are very strong and the ships are protected by a powereful
magical Armor of Ithan forcefield as well.
The ship carries both a relatively large fighter and troop compliment.
The ship carries twice as many fighters as the Dwarven Iron ships and carries
eight hundred troops with half in power armor and a small number of tanks
as well.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See
Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details
Model Type: UW-BC24 (FRAM1)
Class: Fleet Battle Cruiser
Crew: 645 (65 officers and 580 enlisted)
Troop Capacity: 400 Marines (Typically 200 stay on board for
ship defense), 150 fighter pilots, 400 Warlock Combat Armor pilots, and
can carry up to 120 passengers in addition.
Vehicles:
Power Armors & Robots:
| 250 | W-1 Warlock Combat Armors |
| 150 | W-F1 Flying Warlock Combat Armors |
Fighter Compliment:
| 60 | WF-F15 Shadow Bolt Strike Ship |
| 24 | BIF-67 Katana fighter ship with FTL boosters |
| 12 | WF-P60S Black Widow II Heavy Starfighters |
Assault Shuttles:
Tanks & Other Vehicles:
| 15 | WIFV-99 Greataxe IFV Tanks |
M.D.C. by Location:
| Rifts Projector Cannon (One, Nose of Ship): | 5,000 |
| Flame Cannon Barrels (12): | 900 each |
| Flame Cannon Turrets (4): | 2,000 each |
| Medium Laser Cannons (16, 8 double mounts on each side) | 800 each |
| Mini-Death Cloud Cannons (4): | 200 each |
| Cruise Missile Launchers (8, front): | 1,000 |
| Bottled Demon Missile Batteries (8): | 600 each |
| Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons (12): | 100 each |
| Twin TK-Machinegun Turrets (12): | 140 each |
| [1] Main Bridge: | 30,000 |
| [1] Auxiliary Bridge: | 30,000 |
| [1] Flag Bridge: | 30,000 |
| [2] Main Body: | 165,000 |
| Hangar Bay: | 20,000 |
| [3] Main Engines (2, rear of ship): | 40,000 each |
| [4] Magical Armor of Ithan Force Field: | 30,000 |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship also has both an auxiliary
bridge and a flag bridge. Even if all three bridges are taken out, the
ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and
all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge
that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or
near the bridge.
[2] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Battlecruiser out
of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[3] Destroying the main engines reduces maximum sublight speed by half.
[4] This is not a variable force field, but a magical shield that must
be completely depleted. Once the shield has been knocked down, it will
cost 3000 P.P.E. and require one minute ( 4 melees) of spellcasting to
restore the force field.
Speed:
Driving on the ground: Not Possible
Water Surface: 60 knots (111.3 km/69.6 mph)
Underwater: 40 knots (73.6 km/46 mph)
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.75 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 200 mph (321.9 kph),
can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric
flight
Star Drive: Rift Jump Drive; maximum safe jump of 20 light years
every four hours
Range: Life support will keep crew alive for up to ten years,
as long as the P.P.E. generators are kept in working order.
Statistical Data:
Height: 622 feet (189.6 meters)
Width: 390 feet (118.9 meters)
Length: 2496 feet (760.8 meters)
Weight: 7.5 million tons fully loaded, plus up to 150,000 tons
of additional cargo.
Power System: Combination Fusion & Techno-wizardry with
20 year life span. The Battlecruiser also has a P.P.E. generator that produces
12,000 P.P.E. per hour / 50 P.P.E. per melee (Activating the Rifts drive
costs 48,000 P.P.E) and can hold up to 48,000 P.P.E. in storage. This P.P.E.
can be used to power the Rifts Drive or can be used to power spells cast
by the Battlecruiser crew.
Cargo: Cargo Holds can hold up to 150,000 tons of additional
material. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items
and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal items. Most of
the ships spaces are take up by extra ammo, armor, troops, and weapons
Market Cost: The Battlecruiser costs 38 billion credits to construct.
The ship is not for sale outside the UWW Armed Forces (The ship will not
even be sold to UWW member worlds)
Weapon Systems:
- Rifts Projector Cannon:
In the nose of the ship is large
opening which is the main barrel of the cannon. The cannon creates a huge
rift in front of the cannon that has a variable effect. This weapon can
become a danger to the ship if it fails. The cannon has a 0.5% cumulative
chance of failure (i.e., becomes 1% after two shots, 2% after four, and
so on) if fired multiple times within a twenty four hour period. This cannon
has penalties to strike small targets. For more information on the Rifts
Projector Cannon on page 155 (Except ranges are 1000 times range in book
in space)
Mega-Damage: Roll on Chart in Phase World Book page 156
Effective Range: 50,000 miles (80,000 km) in space and 50 miles
(80 km) in an atmosphere.
Rate of Fire: Can fire once per minute (4 melee rounds/ 60 seconds).
Payload: Requires 1,000 P.P.E. per shot.
- Four Triple Barrel Turrets with 16 Inch Flame Cannons (12 Cannons
Total):
While the cannons are virtually identical to those on the Dwarven
Iron ship, the heavy battery of cannons gives the ship a very powerful
punch. Each top turret can rotate 360 degrees and has a 60 degree arc of
fire upwards and 15 degree arc of fire downwards. The bottom turret can
rotate 360 degrees and has a 15 degree arc of fire upwards and 60 degree
arc of fire downwards. All the cannons in a turret can be fires as one
or each barrel can be fired separately. The ship can fire three turrets
forward, two turret aft of the ship, and can fire four turrets to the side
of the ship. The ship will often engage attacking with the sides to increase
the ships firepower. The cannons fires giant fireballs which can travel
enormous distances. The cannons fire control is not designed to lock onto
targets smaller than frigates but the cannons can be used to bombard planets
as well.
Range: 20,000 miles (32,200 km) in space and 20 miles (32.2
km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 MDC each cannon and all three cannons
in a turret can be combined for a total of 3D4x1000.
Rate of fire: Maximum of Two (2) times per melee per cannon
(A total of 24 individual blasts or 8 triple blasts).
Payload: Needs 1000 P.P.E. per day to function.
- Eight (8) 5 inch Double Mount Laser Cannons (16 cannons Total):
On
the older appearing versions (Look like dreadnoughts before fast battleships)
of the ship class, the guns are in double mounts in Casemates. Weapons
in casemate mounts have a 150 degree rotation and a 60 degree arc of fire.
The newer appearing vessels (Look like fast battleships) of the class have
the lasers in three turrets on each side of the deck and two turrets on
the bottom, however. Top mounts mount can rotate 360 degrees and have a
80 degree arc of fire up and a 45 degree arc of fire down. Top mounts mount
can rotate 360 degrees and have a 45 degree arc of fire up and a 80 degree
arc of fire down. In any case, these are a modern weapon system that are
powered by the ships reactor. The cannons are not quite as powerful as
the cannons on the CAF classes but have a higher rate of fire. Weapon has
standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for a large starship
weaponry. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling
at FTL velocities.
Range: 16,000 miles (25,000 km) in space and 16 miles (25 km)
in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 1D6x100 MDC each or both cannons in a turret can
be combined for a total of 2D6x100.
Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of
the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
- Mini Death Cloud Cannons (4):
These cannons are mounted with
two on each side of the ships superstructure. This weapon is very similar
to that mounted on the Arcane patrol ship. The weapon release a massive
amount of water that quickly freezes. While the ice is not a solid barrier,
the particle density of the ice is great enough to eliminate missiles and
inflict large amounts of damage to larger targets. Each weapon releases
about 1/4 of the ice that the weapon mounted on the Arcane patrol ship
does. The weapon can also be used to block heavy plasma weapons and can
be used to hide a ship on sensors systems. The "wall" of ice has a virtually
indefinite duration in space but does drift at the heading and speed of
the ship launching the "wall" of ice. If used in an atmosphere, the weapon
has only a momentary duration and reduced effects. The weapon system is
useless underwater. The cloud of ice is -6 to dodge normally with the penalties
for large ships used as well.
Range: can be accurately targeted up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km)
with a diameter of 25,000 feet (15,200 meters) when used in space and 10
miles (16 km) with a diameter of 250 feet (152 meters) when used in an
atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: A ship or missile 1D6 x speed of target in percentage
of light. For example, a ship traveling at 10% of the speed of light would
have 1D6x10 inflicted on them. Larger ships will have greater damage inflicted
on them. Destroyer sized ships (greater than 1000 tons but less than 40,000
tons) have damage multiplied by 5, Light Cruiser sized ships (greater than
40,000 tons but less than 100,000 tons) have damage multiplied by 10, Heavy
cruiser sized ships (Greater than 100,000 but less 1 million tons) have
damage multiplied by 20, and the truly huge ships like heavy cargo ships
and battleships (1 million tons and greater) have damage multiplied by
100. Most missiles are automatically destroyed by the cloud of ice. If
used in an atmosphere, the weapon will automatically knock missiles off
course and anyone flying through the cloud of water will need to make a
piloting roll at -6. Optional: The speed of the ship launching the
cloud may also be calculated but it is math intensive due to the fact that
direction of travel and vectors will also effect the damage of the weapon.
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee per mini-death cloud cannon.
Payload: Each weapon may be activated 20 times per twenty four
hour period. Further activations require 100 P.P.E. from either onboard
magicians or drawing on the ships P.P.E. generator.
- Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons (12) in Single Mounts:
Mounted on top of the ship along the sides of the ships hull in turrets.
Cannons turrets can fire at up to a 90 degree angle up or 55 degree angle
down and can rotate up to 360 degrees side to side. The gun does not have
penalties to strike small targets. Uses the spell of the same name from
page 143 of Federation of Magic. The spells must be renewed every two months
(costs 400 PPE and 20,000 credits per Cannon) but during theat period the
weapon can fire unlimited blasts
Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space. 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 1D6x10+10 per cannon.
Rate of fire: Equal to gunners hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every
two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
- Twin TK-Machineguns Turrets (12):
these cannons are identical
to those mounted in the Shadow Bolt Starfighter but are in twin mounts.
Mounted on top of the ship in turrets. Cannons turrets can fire at up to
a 90 degree angle up or 55 degree angle down and can rotate up to 360 degrees
side to side. The gun does not have penalties to strike small targets.
Because the cannons do damage by impact, they do full damage to targets
that are using the spell impervious to energy. The spells must be renewed
every two months (costs 400 PPE and 20,000 credits per Cannon) but during
the period the weapon can fire unlimited blasts.
Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an
atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 12D6 per burst for both cannons in a turret.
Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of
the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every
two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
- Eight (8) Cruise Missile Launchers:
The ship has been refitted
with four missile tubes on either side of the ships rift cannon. This is
to give the ship the ability to fire cruise missiles. The launchers are
copied from those carried on a hunter class destroyer. Missile has a top
speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10%
of light per turn (far faster than any starship). Since star ships will
no longer engage at rock throwing distances, whether weapons can be shot
down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When
drive goes dead, missile will still cruise unless set to self destruct
but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and
planets because target does not move and missile when dead at -25% to detect.)
Cruise missiles have minuses to hit small targets but are all considered
smart missiles. While missile are only launched at the rate of one at a
time per launcher, the ships computer has special software that allows
all the missile to hit a target at the same time for the purpose to make
point defense of a target is more easily overwhelmed. This is done by slowing
down the acceleration of missile and by setting some for delayed activation
and target must be a least 30 seconds away. Missile are then considered
to only have an acceleration of 5% of light for the first turn. These launchers
can also be combined with pepper box launchers. Batteries can launch on
multiple targets each at the same time
The launcher can also fire a special larger version of the bottle demon
missiles although for safety purposes, only a few are normally carried
on board. It has been said by many people that an escaped demon is worse
than a matter/anti-matter explosion. They can be launched at the same rate
as conventional cruise missiles, can use the same programming, and although
slightly smaller than a standard cruise missile they are fitted into a
collar that allows them to be used in the standard launchers. The missiles
accelerate at the same rate as conventional cruise missiles. Missiles are
super smart and have +4 to strike and +5 to dodge. Unlike normal missile,
the bottled demon does not explode and keeps striking at its target over
and over. If the target is destroyed or vanishes, the missile disappears.
The missiles are literally powerful demons summoned and bottled into a
missile and are an aggressive and intelligent guidance system. The evil
demons will continue to chase its target until destroyed (100 MDC to the
missile). Optional: Because the super bottle demon missiles use a more
powerful demon and the missiles are still experimental, there is a 5% chance
that the missile will turn on the ship launching it.
Range: Conventional Cruise Missiles: Missile range is
8,000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376
km/ 21.5 light seconds) Bottled Demon Missiles: Effectively Unlimited!
Once fired, the demon controlled and powered missile will fly and pursue
the designated target until its target or the missile is destroyed (or
the target vanished from sight, jumps away, or gets away by another means)
Mega-Damage & Properties: Conventional Cruise Missiles:
See Phase World
Missiles (Anti-Matter does 4D6x100 MDC).
Bottled Demon Missiles:
6D6x100 of magical energy every time the missile strikes (3% chance of
releasing the demon every time it hits)
Rate of fire: One per melee attack (special software allows
4 to 8 missile to be launched as one volley depending on gunners hand to
hand attacks) per launcher. This allows total volleys of 32 to 64 cruise
missiles to be launched in one melee
Payload: Conventional Cruise Missiles: 50 cruise missiles
per launcher for a total of 400 cruise missiles.
Bottled Demon Missiles:
5 demon missiles per launcher for a total of 40 demon missiles
- Bottled Demon Missile Batteries (8):
On each side of the
hull the Battlecruiser has four bottle demon missile batteries. The missiles
are literally demons summoned and bottled into a missile and are an aggressive
and intelligent guidance system. The evil demons will continue to chase
its target until destroyed (50 MDC to the missile). Bottled demons are
slightly larger than mini-missiles and require special launchers. Missile
has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration
of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it
is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration). Missiles are super smart and
have +4 to strike and +5 to dodge. Unlike normal missile, the bottled demon
does not explode and keeps striking at its target over and over. If the
target is destroyed or vanishes, the missile disappears. Batteries can
launch on multiple targets each. The launchers have been modified so they
can fire standard mini-missiles. This is done mainly by fitting the mini-missiles
with a special sleeve that allows them to be fired from the launcher. This
allows the launchers to be used for point defense and targets not worth
a bottled demon. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same
time.
Mega-Damage: Bottled Demon Missiles: 3D4x10 M.D. of magical
energy every time the missile strikes (3% chance of releasing the demon
every time it hits). Conventional Mini-Missiles: varies with mini-missile
type (See Phase World
Missiles).
Range: Bottled Demon Missiles: Effectively Unlimited!
Once fired, the demon controlled and powered missile will fly and pursue
the designated target until its target or the missile is destroyed (or
the target vanished from sight, jumps away, or gets away by another means)
Conventional Mini-Missiles: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in
an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space
Rate of fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys
of two, three, four, or eight per battery.
Payload: Bottled Demon Missiles: 32 per battery for a
total of 256 bottled demon missiles. Conventional Mini-Missiles:
64 per battery for a total of 512 mini-missiles.
- Shockwave Defense System:
When it is activated, a spherical
energy wave is emanated from the ship in all directions which can devastate
missile volleys. The blast is semi-spherical and the affects travel upwards
and downwards as well. The blast does not effect targets underwater. It
is a far longer ranged version of the eight level spell shockwave. Unfortunately,
the spell can only be activated once per melee and requires magical energy
every time it is activated. The system does not affect people and equipment
on the deck of the ship
Range: 40 miles (64.4 km) in space and 4,000 feet (1,220 meters)
in an atmosphere in all directions.
Mega Damage: 2D4x10 to all targets within radius of effect (SDC
objects will be completely destroyed). The system also inflicts knock back
as per the spell shockwave on page 144 of federation of magic.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: One, requires 35 P.P.E. to be activated again
- Techno-Wizard Modifications:
The Firedrake has the following
Techno-Wizard Modifications built into the ship. These require P.P.E. or
I.S.P. from the ships crew or P.P.E. battery.
Special Features:
Shadow Meld (15th Level) 160 PPE or 320 ISP
Impervious to Energy (15th level) 320 PPE or 640 ISP
Invisibility-Superior (15th Level) 320 PPE or 640 ISP
[ Phase World TM, Naruni TM, Kreegor TM, UWW TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned
by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
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