Favorite Rifle in RIFTS

[Dog_O_War]

The NG Marksman. Good range, good bonus to strike, it's not a Wilks, and decent damage. These are all the reasons I like this gun.

My number two is the NG Particle-beam Rifle. High damage, not a laser, and not a Wilks. These are the reasons I like this one.

[Natasha]

Depends upon the character, I guess. A borg would likely favour a big heavy gun since it's high damage and still easy to carry while a wilderness scout may not want anything more than a good accurate huntin' raffle.

My faerie bot is fascinated by the plasma ejectors, however.

[Astral_Explorer]

I agree the L-20 Good reliable rugged and straight out of the base book.

[The Galactus Kid]

JA-12. Its saved my butt more than once. And no one expects the downed ultimax to clam shell open its reinforced pilots compartment and have the pissed off brutal killer assassin pilot come out blasting with that thing.

[Kagashi]

As written...JA-12.

4000 ft range....1D6X10+10 3 round burst (which in RUE says still counts as a single blast)....

Impervious to energy? who cares? I have grenades that do kinetic damage. Oh yeah, 2000 ft range on those bad boys as well... Depending on where you are getting your grenades, they can deal up to 6D6 with a blast radius to take out those pesky groups of bad guys.

Cost? a lowly 55k credits.

Personally, I think its WAY too cheap as written, but its the single most powerful piece of tech in the Megaverse.

[Rockwolf66]

I would say the ATL-7 from South America only the NG-P7 Rifle does more damage over the course of a full magazine. the ATL-7 averages 125 points of damage over three attacks. the NG-P7 (which in most books has a rate of fire standard) averages 200 oints of damage over a magazine in it's origional form. in it's 2D4X10 RUE version it does 400MD over the span of a magazine. Yeah sure the ATL-7 has better range, But it has a much slower rate of fire. Plus in the long run an NG-P7 will do greater damage.

[Killer Cyborg]

The L-20, because it's the ORIGINAL laser pulse rifle, it's got a huge capacity, and nobody knows who makes it, which somehow made it more awesome.

And it's insanely efficient.


I also like:
-JA-11: Three guns in one! Spiffy!
-NG-P7: When you absolutely, positively, have to kill ever mother----er in the room... accept no substitutes!
-Wilk's 457: Powerful to the point of being kind of broken, especially since the burst/spray rules got nerfed. And since it's Wilk's, it's really accurate. And I like the Laser Tag look.

[rat_bastard]

my Operator is going to add a Triax Pump rifle to nearly any energy weapon his power armor uses as a under slung weapon. I plan on making custom ammo along the lines of high tech arrowheads for an especially versatile weapon.

but I love the northern gun pulse ion rifle from juicer uprising, there are many better weapons but it feels right.

[Arnie100]

M-160 Ion Pulse Rifle!!

[sennin]

I have a Grackle Tooth big game hunter (wilderness scout) who uses the Wilk's pulse cannon out of Merc Ops. He has the generator strapped to his back. He also has a WI-SR15 (with a couple magazines of silver rounds) and a WI-GL80 Predator grenade launcher. He goes for the really big game.

As for rifles for my regular characters - the L20 (for pretty much all the reasons mentioned earlier), JA12, and the NG-IP7 ion pulse rifle. I like the IP7 because it has good damage, is compact enough to do well in tight quarters, and you can conceal it under you armored trench coat.

[Preacher]

NG-P7 Northern Gun
Particle Beam Rifle
Another heavy-duty weapon that is a bit heavy and awkward, but
sturdy and dependable in combat.

[RockJock]

In the handle man. The JA-12, but I do also like the NG bullpup from JU. YOu also have to give it up for Wilks in general. Any company that can pull off the laser tag, and wild west look has something going on.

[Dead Boy]

The CP-50 Dragon Fire, as written in CWC so it can still fire a volley of four micro-fusion grenades. Gives you decent firepower for everyday fighting, and the option to pour on the MD when the bad boys show up to play, or saturate a small area with 42 MD on everyone that fist in the blast radius, and twice that for the unfortunate soul at ground zero.

And as an honorable mention, I've got to throw in the TX-30 Ion Pulse Rifle with its 50 shot FSE-Clips and ability to be fired one-handed, and the NG-E12 Heavy Plasma Ejector for the big boys that can lift it.

Oh, and how could I forget the CP-40 Alpha 2?

[Dog_O_War]

In the handle man. The JA-12, but I do also like the NG bullpup from JU. YOu also have to give it up for Wilks in general. Any company that can pull off the laser tag, and wild west look has something going on.

Still waiting for that company.

[taalismn]

JA-12---Good damage and talk about range!
I prefer to keep my enemies as far away from me as possible, thank you....

[Ice Dragon]

K-4 Laser Pulse Rifle:
- Above average damage (I like the extra M.D. for hits)
- Long range
- Single and pulse fire modes
- Good capacity
- Ceramic and plastic design (Wilks design copy)
- Bonus for aimed shoots

What do you need more ???

[sennin]

Where can I even find that wi-sr15 rifle you guys mention???

Merc Ops pages 99 & 100

[Novastar]

I'm still a fan of the JA-11 in the main book.

[AdmTolval]

L-20 just because it's been in all of the major Palladium games; Rifts, Robotech, and Mechanoids. In Robotech, look at he LR-20 stats. It's still called the L-20 in Mechanoids.

[Rockwolf66]

Suprised not many people have gone witht he uber munchking stuff in teh South America 2 book..............like those recoiless ARP guns.....

I went with the ATK-7 but that's more of a Specialist weapon than a general Rifle. Heck, there are a couple of rifles that will put out alot more damage over the course of a melee round.

[runebeo]

NE-700 Vulcan Plasma Cartridge Mini-Gun deals 4D6X10 M.D. (Now thats firepower!) only has a 1200 foot range. In our mercenary group our Glitter Boy 7 uses this heavy weapon for major threats not really a rifle, but deals twice the damage of the Shemarrian Rail Gun and only half a million credits to buy (ammo is expensive & limited).

[Captain Shiva]

The NG-LG6 would be nice, if it had pulse capability, say 1D4 X 10 for a three shot burst?

[dark brandon]

My favorite rifle is the spider defense system.

[sHaka]

For intimidation factor, the Borg Rail gun always looks hot

[rat_bastard]

NG-202 is a company favorite.

[Dog_O_War]

NG-202 is a company favorite.

Quite the "Rifle" there. But then again, you are talking about a PA company, so I suppose it would pretty much be one, eh?

[Prince Artemis]

TK weapons of any type. Damage may be low, but their completely invisible payload makes them well worth it. Nothing better than having your enemies literally not know what hit them.

[Anthar]

Give the ATL-7 ffom South America 2 to a 'borg or a robot with an energy weapon link and you bypass the limitation of one shot per e-clip and it's range of 3000ft lets you put the smack-down on just about any one.
Now I prefer the 'borg, because you can make them a walking tank that even GB pilots will say "Oh Crud!" when they encounter one.

[Blight]

"The Mega Rifle" the TC-R5 Gargoyle Stopper's over sized Energy Rifle page 101 Mindwerks SB3 way back in the day my glitterboy pilot got one of these off a battle field on the Tarnow / Brodkil border near Kieice. My Boomgun was disabled and i was stuck using an over sized sword.
It's damage might only be 3D6 per single shot 6D6 per double.
But a range 8000ft and a payload of 40 shots per 20 of which recharge at a rate of 5 per hour.
And it looks cool.
Well let just say he still has this rifle it's name is Jessie .

[dark brandon]

Give the ATL-7 ffom South America 2 to a 'borg or a robot with an energy weapon link and you bypass the limitation of one shot per e-clip and it's range of 3000ft lets you put the smack-down on just about any one.
Now I prefer the 'borg, because you can make them a walking tank that even GB pilots will say "Oh Crud!" when they encounter one.

See this is exactly what I mentioned earlier. Whoever wrote the ATL-7 description was an idiot for not understanding that any player who read it would immediately think "I can eliminate every disadvantage this weapon has and be a god if I just hook it up to my 'unlimited' power supply", causing needless headaches for GMs. If it was that easy, every borg, power armor, and bot in the megaverse would be using ATL-7s. It is not like the player is a genius who figured out this 'big secret' and no one else could.

That is the best solution to players who insist on ignoring game balance: make the overpowered item standard issue for all the antagonists in the campaign.

I forget, I think it was here on the boards a few years ago, someone suggested that if a player did this, they would realize that the power output from a borg is not enough to fire this thing consecutivly, nor most robots. It had to do with watts, amps and other things I don't care to know about. You'd have to dedicate an entire power-supply to the thing itself. Somethink akin to a "brown out" for a borg and robot.

[taalismn]

JA-12...great range, great damage...I like to keep my opponents as far away as possible so I have that much more time to chop them up, ready another weapon, or runaway...

[TechnoGothic]

For Mages of any kind :

TW Nuhr Firebolt Musket (Book of magic and CS Navy)
MD: 6d6
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 1,600 ft
Payload: 50 shots (recharge 40 PPE/80ISP)
Bonus: +1 Strike
Rate of Fire : Single shot only

Why...??
Thats a 6d6 MD blast for just over 1 PPE per blast. Hands down the best Rifle for a mage to use and carry.

The TW Nuhr Firebolt Pistols are even better and cheaper and more shots for the PPE.

[rat_bastard]

For Mages of any kind :

TW Nuhr Firebolt Musket (Book of magic and CS Navy)
MD: 6d6
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 1,600 ft
Payload: 50 shots (recharge 40 PPE/80ISP)
Bonus: +1 Strike
Rate of Fire : Single shot only

Why...??
Thats a 6d6 MD blast for just over 1 PPE per blast. Hands down the best Rifle for a mage to use and carry.

The TW Nuhr Firebolt Pistols are even better and cheaper and more shots for the PPE.

I should point out that ever since DBoNA they are Rune Smith rifles, not TW rifles.

that said, yes they are very good.

[TechnoGothic]

For Mages of any kind :

TW Nuhr Firebolt Musket (Book of magic and CS Navy)
MD: 6d6
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 1,600 ft
Payload: 50 shots (recharge 40 PPE/80ISP)
Bonus: +1 Strike
Rate of Fire : Single shot only

Why...??
Thats a 6d6 MD blast for just over 1 PPE per blast. Hands down the best Rifle for a mage to use and carry.

The TW Nuhr Firebolt Pistols are even better and cheaper and more shots for the PPE.

I should point out that ever since DBoNA they are Rune Smith rifles, not TW rifles.

that said, yes they are very good.

Bah... I do not have DBoNA.
They are still TW in games...and in my CS Navy/Book of Magic. Until PB replaces my books with new versions for free, they are still TW.

[Talavar]

The hellfire shotgun is a good TW rifle - 6d6 damage per barrel, but you can fire both barrels at once. Range is lower though.

Bah... I do not have DBoNA.
They are still TW in games...and in my CS Navy/Book of Magic. Until PB replaces my books with new versions for free, they are still TW.

So just ignoring that they don't follow TW construction rules and are ridiculously overpowered for the PPE cost then? Good to know.

[TechnoGothic]

The hellfire shotgun is a good TW rifle - 6d6 damage per barrel, but you can fire both barrels at once. Range is lower though.

Bah... I do not have DBoNA.
They are still TW in games...and in my CS Navy/Book of Magic. Until PB replaces my books with new versions for free, they are still TW.

So just ignoring that they don't follow TW construction rules and are ridiculously overpowered for the PPE cost then? Good to know.

Nothing printed before RUE follows the RUE TW construction rules perfectly...
So it is not even a point.

Besides, the RUE TW construction Rules are more of a Guildline than rules (Pirates of the Carribean Captain Barbosa accent)

[Library Ogre]

Besides, the RUE TW construction Rules are more of a Guildline than rules (Pirates of the Carribean Captain Barbosa accent)

See, I read that as Peter Venkman.

[Nxla666]

TX-30 for everday encounters, TX-16 for those pesky imperv to energy types.

Or just give me a C-14 or one of the newer CP-50s.

[Library Ogre]

Does Triax put out a double-barrelled micro-grenade/energy weapon rifle?

[Nxla666]

Does Triax put out a double-barrelled micro-grenade/energy weapon rifle?

Not that I remember.

[Dead Boy]

The CP-40 and CP-50
Should have had the same laser power as the old C-12 but with burst capabilities, so it should have done 4d6 per shot and 1d6x10+10 for 3 shot burst

Actually a single shot from a C-12 only does 2D6 MD. I know, it doesn't read that way, but that's what Kev says. Further more Kev went on to say that this is how the rifle was always intended to work, with the 4D6 MD listing meant to represent the 5-shot (now 3-shot) burst. Again, I know it doesn't read that way, and there are numerous examples even in the original RMB that strongly suggest otherwise, but that's the official word. KC's recommended fix for this was to allow for all five shots in the original burst strike the target per attack, doing 1D6x10 MD, but at best that's a house rule patch.

Beyond that, I totally agree with you about the sad state of CS technology in terms of listed stats vs the written word in the books. It is under-powered below what it should be.

[Library Ogre]

Does Triax put out a double-barrelled micro-grenade/energy weapon rifle?

Not that I remember.

That would be a nice gun to have.

[Talavar]

I think when comparing CS weapons to Northern Gun and Wellington Industries, it's important to note that the CS is outfitting an army with standardized gear, while NG & WI are selling to mercenaries. The market tells NG & WI what to make & sell, while the CS probably has internal bids to make the most cost-effective weaponry possible.

Mercenaries, if they've got the cash, can decide an incremental increase in damage output or range is worth the extra money; the CS, who have to equip hundreds of thousands of soldiers, may decide to go with something pretty good instead of awesome, for reasons other than sheer damage output (cost effectiveness, resources, etc.).

It's like most real-world militaries today - every soldier out there, even in the US armed forces, isn't packing the best gear possible.

[Josh Sinsapaugh]

L-20.

I'm not sure why there is a soft spot in my heart for this rifle, but there just is.

~ Josh

[Talavar]

It's like most real-world militaries today - every soldier out there, even in the US armed forces, isn't packing the best gear possible.

Haha, that used to be true a long time ago, but modern military forces for rich western countries use gear that isn't even available outside the military in many cases. When it comes to new equipment, most NATO forces get the very best gear, as determined by internal testing and competitions. Given Coalition War Campaign, I think it is save to say the CS should have weapons that are not outclassed by anything the smaller countries with more limited resources would have.

The US uses the m4 as a basic infantry rifle, but every time there are calls to replace it, none of the contenders are better except in marginal ways that don't justify an upgrade.

Cost would be a major concern for power armor and mecha, because they vary in price and capabilities so widely. However, infantry equipment is SO MUCH cheaper for the md/mdc, that it almost always makes sense to get the very best rifle possible, because the price differences are not much.

Modern militaries for rich western countries use the best available gear - given the cost required to make weapons of a certain quality as required by the various militaries. If those rich western countries gave their militaries an unlimited budget, I think we'd all see that what they use now isn't the best possible.

In Rifts, defence spending for most nations would be a far greater percentage of their economies than similar countries today. And yes, while military grade weapons are limited in the present, in Rifts there's no one to do that limiting if your character has the resources to travel beyond the jurisdiction of any kingdom. I'm sure CS citizens can't walk around the fortress cities with a NG Particle beam pistol.

And while Wilk's, Northern Gun and Wellington Industries can make small production runs of more damaging weapons, and then sell those to a willing market, the CS isn't selling any of their weapon production - they make and use all their own gear, and equipping every soldier with the best weapons possible would be expensive for marginal gains (as with your example of the M4. If the CS were using a pulse rifle that did 1d6x10 MD instead of 6d6 MD, would that level of increase be worth the expenditure?

Because many of the weapons with significant increases in damage output over CS gear (Wilk's laser cannon, most rail guns, the WI Viper ramjet machine gun, the NG pulse plasma ejector, etc.) can't be used by normal people. They need someone like a crazy, juicer, cyborg or someone with supernatural strength to be used effectively as a handheld weapon, and the CS equivalent (the Missile Rifle) is quite effective as well.

I agree that the CS standard issue pistol and rifle should probably be a little better, but I don't agree that smaller kingdoms with less advanced technology shouldn't be capable of producing more damaging weapons.

Honestly, given the economics of it, all but the richest groups/cities/etc would rely almost completely on infantry. Infantry in this game is utterly dominant in combat power per credit cost. No matter how awesome any bot or power armor is, if I have the manpower, I can equip and train 20+ infantry for each PA and HUNDREDS per Bot, whereas it might only take 3 infantry to kill a PA or 10 to kill a bot.

It's true that infantry is far more powerful for the cost than power armour, and particularly giant robots, but you're assuming an unlimited supply of infantry. Sure, the CS seems to have an unlimited supply, but if I have a limited number of soldiers (for whatever reason), having some of those soldiers in power armour begins to make sense (robots are still too expensive for their military worth).

[Captain Shiva]

Does Triax put out a double-barrelled micro-grenade/energy weapon rifle?

Not that I remember.

That would be a nice gun to have.

On his site, Kitsune has several underbarrel grenade launchers, as well as an underbarrel mounted version of the TX-5, that would be a nice additional to a Wilk's 457.