UFO Intruder Vessel Revisions

UFO Intruder Vessel Revisions:

Introduction:

In the Authors revised rules, UFO intruder vessels do not fit completely within the revised rules. These include the speed of vessels as well as the range that they can be detected at. The author has worked a series of revised rules to use with UFO intruder vessels.

The first problem is simply speeds. The revised rules switch to an acceleration system instead of a top speed. This causes a problem with ships being able to accelerate at a percentage of the speed of light in an atmosphere. Weapon ranges also need to be revised to fit with greater vessel speeds.

The second problem is that the sensor ranges that vessels can detect UFO vessels do not fit with the Author's revised starship rules. Simply put, the ranges that starships are expected to engage are far greater than they are with the original speeds and ranges. Still, detection ranges need be kept short due to the UFO vessels not having missiles.

In addition, the amount of damage that the vessels can withstand is considerably less than other vessels. As well, weapons are underpowered compared to similar classed vessels. Below is given an example for the ability of vessels to withstand damage. It would also be better to put a system that allowed for the increasing of ranges by learning more about the vessels and their sensor patterns.

Example: The Hunter class Destroyer has a main body of 4,500 and a shield of 1,000 per side (6,000 total). The UFO Attack ship's main body is broken down into three sections with each having 1,000 total. This is only half the total damage capacity of just the Hunter's shield not including the main hull of the vessel. Even though in the case of the Hunter, the main weaponry of the UFO attack ship is greater that the damage that the main energy battery of the hunter, the Hunters cruise and medium range missile launchers as well the more powerful secondary battery, the Hunter has a sizeable advantage.

Revisions:

Mega Damage:

Double Mega-Damage of UFO Intruder craft in all hit locations and double Mega-Damage inflicted by all weapons on the vessels as well. The increase in main body should include the shield regeneration rates. This revision should be done to the War Beast Combat Armor in addition to the UFO Fighter and Power Armor. In the case of the UFO attack ships, divide the ship down the middle into thirds and consider each hit location to be a section of the pie.

Sensor Ranges:

For sensor ranges, ranges with vary by the amount of data available and the amount of training on detecting the vessels. The ship does not actually have to have encountered the vessels but could instead have data from another source.

Detection range will also vary on the type of sensor used. For Gravity Sensors (Normally the most important) sensors, Neutrino Sensors, and radar, the initial detection range will be 1/1000 of normal range (this means a Hunter would only be able to detect them at 40,000 miles using gravity sensors against a UFO attack ship.) Using Tachyon Radar, a vessel can detect a UFO ship at 5% of normal detection ranges due to the different nature of the Tachyon system. The disadvantage of using this system is that it is active and can be detected by the UFO vessels as well. Ranges on magical sensors are not affected and UFO aliens can find themselves at a distinct disadvantage when encountering U.W.W. vessels.

Ranges are increased by training and analyzing sensor data. Increase detection range by 5% of initial detection range for every day spent training on detecting vessels. Each encounter analyzed will allow for a 100% compared to initial detection ranges from analyzing the first encounter and 50% increase in the range of detection compared to initial detection ranges for additional encounters analyzed. This gets maxed out at 500% of initial detection range. The actual capture and analyzing of a UFO Intruder vessel will allow for the detection range of 10% of normal gravity detection ranges. (Side Note: There are other ways to increase detection ranges. One of the most effective is to have fighters or probes out to detect UFO vessels outside of the mother vessels detection ranges)

Speeds and Weapon Ranges:

For speeds and weapon ranges, use basically the same system as is used for other vessels using the Author's revised starship rules. Missiles are not a concern because no UFO vehicles are listed as carrying missiles.

For Starship Acceleration, use the Mach speed in space the same way as it is used for other vessels in the revised rules. That is to take the Mach speed, divide it by ten, and use that number as the maximum acceleration for the UFO vessel in percentage of light per turn. This would give a UFO Attack Ship a maximum acceleration in space of 2% of light per turn. Large ships are assumed to have a maximum speed of 60% of the speed of light, smaller ships such as fighters are assumed to have a maximum speed of 40% of the speed of light, and power armors are assumed to have a maximum speed of 20% of the speed of light. This is assumed to be due to the shielding of the vessels. For speeds in the atmosphere, simply use the vessels listed maximum speed for the atmosphere.

For Capital Scale Weapons, use the starship's weapon range in atmosphere as the weapon's range underwater. Use the weapon's space range as the weapons range in an atmosphere. For space range, take the weapons space range, take the weapons listed space range and multiply that by 1000 to get its new space range. If the weapon has no listed space range, the underwater range is considered to be the listed range. The Atmospheric range is considered to be double the listed range and the space range is considered to be 1000 times the listed range.

For Fighter Scale Weapons, use the starship's weapon range in atmosphere as the weapon's range underwater. Use the weapon's space range as the weapons range in an atmosphere. For space range, take the weapons space range, take the weapons listed space range and multiply that by 100 not 1000 to get its new space range. If the weapon has no listed space range, the underwater range is considered to be the listed range. The Atmospheric range is considered to be double the listed range and the space range is considered to be 100 times the listed range.

Combat Jump System (New Feature added to UFO vessels):

System is carried on the UFO alien's fighters and on their starships but not on their power armor. Can only be used in space due to the gravity of the atoms in the atmosphere interfering with the jump system. The ship can activate this system and reappear up to 310,000 miles (500,000 km) from the location it was. This requires one melee of charging but there is no outside signs of the activation of the system during that time. This system can only be activated twice in a one hour period due to strain on the ship's systems. For eight melees immediately after completing the jump, the ship's power systems are at partial strength. This causes the ship to accelerate at half normal, the ship's shields do not regenerate, and weapons inflict half damage (original book damage). The jump system can also not be used again during this period of lower power. The ship retains any inertia it had previously but may direct the inertia in a different direction than the ship was traveling originally. The ship does have +5 on initiative and +2 to dodge incoming fire when using a combat jump.

[ Phase WorldTM is a trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

The Author wishes to recognize (E-Mail Mischa) for assistance with project.