500,000 credit challange

[Killer Cyborg]

High Tech arrowheads have indeed come down in price. Sourcebook One Revised, page 51

But bear in mind that explosive arrowheads won't get you executed by a wandering CS patrol, unlike the Naruni Plasma Cartridges

That's an oddly thorough patrol that inspects the arrowheads on the arrows to be sure they aren't alien/banned technology. They'd have to be pretty bored to be that complete.

Agreed.
And since we're outside of CS territory, I don't think that we'd be breaking any CS laws, and they wouldn't have jurisdiction... which isn't a 100% guarantee that there wouldn't be any trouble from the CS, but it makes CS interference a lot less likely.
So the firepower would be worth it, I think, in the scenario we're exploring.

But if Naruni rounds are too risky, you could do the same thing with Wilk's CFT rounds. They're a LOT more expensive than the Naruni rounds, but they're still cheaper than the High Explosive arrows in SB1r: CR 320 compared to CR 450.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

You've given me even more ways to save money. the NE-cartridge mines alone will save thousands.... and then the arrowheads.

I dont disagree with the principle of the thing, it should work. I just think that it demonstrates how poorly put together Rifts is, sometimes. 20cr per awesome arrowhead vs the book price for explosive heads is mind-bogglingly good.

FWIW, i just took your standard loadouts for non-weapons and applied them to my template as well, KC, because, quite honestly, you'd already gone to all the trouble! We also had some overlapping ideas (circulating moat!).

I need to hit the sack and take a nap (i didnt sleep for crap last night) but hopefully ill be back later today with a treatment. This little town is turning into something of a fortress.

[Nightmask]

High Tech arrowheads have indeed come down in price. Sourcebook One Revised, page 51

But bear in mind that explosive arrowheads won't get you executed by a wandering CS patrol, unlike the Naruni Plasma Cartridges

That's an oddly thorough patrol that inspects the arrowheads on the arrows to be sure they aren't alien/banned technology. They'd have to be pretty bored to be that complete.

Sadly, it's one of the things that I tend to have to plan for with various GMs. Somehow, the NPCs tend to be somewhat omniscient

My condolences on having had such bad GM experiences, as those are certainly bad decisions when you see that level of thoroughness without some actual justification beyond 'I want to screw with my players', which is no justification at all.

[wyrmraker]

High Tech arrowheads have indeed come down in price. Sourcebook One Revised, page 51

But bear in mind that explosive arrowheads won't get you executed by a wandering CS patrol, unlike the Naruni Plasma Cartridges

That's an oddly thorough patrol that inspects the arrowheads on the arrows to be sure they aren't alien/banned technology. They'd have to be pretty bored to be that complete.

Sadly, it's one of the things that I tend to have to plan for with various GMs. Somehow, the NPCs tend to be somewhat omniscient

My condolences on having had such bad GM experiences, as those are certainly bad decisions when you see that level of thoroughness without some actual justification beyond 'I want to screw with my players', which is no justification at all.

Actually, I know exactly where this GM is coming from. He, as a player, was treated like that by GMs for so many years that it became the standard, accepted way to do things for him. He has recently agreed to try and ease off of that, and when he slips I am to remind him. Conversely, his behavior over the years has conditioned my own defensive behaviors.

[Nightmask]

High Tech arrowheads have indeed come down in price. Sourcebook One Revised, page 51

But bear in mind that explosive arrowheads won't get you executed by a wandering CS patrol, unlike the Naruni Plasma Cartridges

That's an oddly thorough patrol that inspects the arrowheads on the arrows to be sure they aren't alien/banned technology. They'd have to be pretty bored to be that complete.

Sadly, it's one of the things that I tend to have to plan for with various GMs. Somehow, the NPCs tend to be somewhat omniscient

My condolences on having had such bad GM experiences, as those are certainly bad decisions when you see that level of thoroughness without some actual justification beyond 'I want to screw with my players', which is no justification at all.

Actually, I know exactly where this GM is coming from. He, as a player, was treated like that by GMs for so many years that it became the standard, accepted way to do things for him. He has recently agreed to try and ease off of that, and when he slips I am to remind him. Conversely, his behavior over the years has conditioned my own defensive behaviors.

Good to hear that thinks are improving and it was something that you could discuss and work out rather than get dismissed out of hand.

[sagajr]

Rockwolf66:
I think they need a different power source, something that attracts less attention. A working, powerful nuclear power plant/reactor, with good amount of operation time, easily worth millions of credits (so if anyone - especially bandits - outside the settlement becomes aware of it, they will be in serious trouble very soon).
If you really want to protect it and the people of the town, you must spend more money on defenses (and hire a skilled operator to manage and maintain the reactor, increase the income of the settlement by charging E-clips and provide repair jobs, plus maintain/modify/create useful items for the town people) or change their power source.

As an alternative, the people of this small town may use a combination of wind+water and solar energy to power their settlement instead of the nuclear one.

How far away you put this settlement from a ley-line? I know you write it one day, but its one day on foot or horseback, with a car or a hover vehicle? 25 miles (on foot in the wilderness is about a day for an average man) or 50 or even more? The range from the line can affect the potential dangers of the area (I think magical creatures and monsters occur more frequently in the vicinity of a ley-line).

How many people live in the town (I know, 100 families, which can be 300 to 600 people depending on the age of the settlement)? This affect the number of potential soldiers/defenders/hunters.

How old is this settlement? Older settlement (older than 2-3 decades), they already have their own defensive measures/tactics/armaments (more hunters who feed and protect the settlement, lay down traps and so on), while newly formed settlements lack such defenses and skilled support/scout manpower.

Do they bred their animals (livestock like chickens, cows, sheeps, working animals like horses or dogs) or buy them from other settlements/wandering traders? Are they farmers who plow the lands around their settlement or hunters/gatherers who use the resources of the local flora and fauna or both?

What type of resources they have/gather/trade (buy and sell)?

What template do you use for the average towns people (if any)? Do they have any OCC (I recommend the use of russian farmer/worker/peasant OCC to represent average wilderness people)?

What kind of professions can be found in the town (which can be used to improve the defense)? Do they have their own smith (make and maintain steal/iron tools/weapons), healer, tanner (who can make, among other things, MDC home made leather armors form the skin of the dinosaurs/MDC animals or monsters killed by the hunters, so they do not need artificial and expensive protective suits), fletcher (bow and arrow maker) or use the services of travelling ones?


I would do the following (assuming that they can produce their own home made light MDC armor):
Make a boot camp training to the defender wannabes. Something like the one described in the Mercenary Adventures (its not that complicated, but it will provide lower bonuses), but a little less universal (concentrate on the defensive training and general fitnes, supplemented with wilderness survival/trap construction training). 3 to 6 months more than enough for such training and buy/install the following items/weapons:

1. Supplies for the town (can be used both the guard and the townsfolk). Total cost: 95,000 credits.
24 weapon cleaning kits (2K credits) plus 5 weapon repair kits (2.5K credits), 4 moisture condensers (7K credits), 50 distress signal kits (7K credits)

One medical station with a portable lab (beyond normal usage, this lab can be used to make their own tear gas or other chemical substances, 12K credits), one portable bio-scan & bio-lab (5K credits), 2 field medic kits (5K credits), 50 first-aid kits plus 200 doses of qwik-clot plus 10 palm bio-units (7.5K credits total) and about 100 protein healing salves (10K credits). Additional 7K credits spend on various medical equipments (bandages, sutura tapes, suture guns, basic anti-toxins).

I would give the settlement 5 portable computers with various databases (animals, monsters, vehicles, blueprints and maps, for about 7.5K credits total cost), 50 basic multi-tools and 50 SPU-5 sonic pulsar units (about 7.5K credits), at least 200 gas-masks (10K credits) and 25 winter survival kits (2.5K credits).

2. Surveillance and communication gears for 60.35K credits:
6 portable scan dihilator (from GMG, 1 for each tower for basic detection package which inculdes short range radar, long range wide-band radio, multiple other sensors and a detachable short range communicator for a mere 4200 credits each, 25.2K credits total), 1 Wilks portable ultra mini radar (5.5K credits), 30 used Wilks infrared binoculars (18K credits).
30 pilot's survival kits (15K credits), 30 flashlights (0.45K credits), 30 vehicle spotlights (acts as short range floodlights, 3 per tower, 4 additional for the gate, the rest are reserve, 6K credits total), 20 video wall mounts with 8 hand-held monitors (5.2K credits).

3. Weapons for the guards/scouts (344.55K credits):
Heavy weapons(32K credits total):
6 heavy gun platforms (a heavy machine-gun and one GAW-AT6 LAW placed on a mount, the LAW is detachable, 1 platform per tower).

Short range weapons (33.1K credits total):
15 portable flamethrowers (100 credits each, Merc Ops pg. 123, 1.5K credits total), 15 high pressure hoses scattered on the walls (about 1.5K credits total), 15 portable high pressure air guns/spud guns/potato cannons (can be created by the locals, ideal for lobbing grenades beyond throwing ranges, the parts cost about 1.5K credits). 60 NG frag grenades plus 60 flash/stun grenades (or 15 reusable Wilks laser blinding greandes) plus 60 tear gas grenades plus 60 smoke grenades (30.6K credits). They can made their own molotov cocktails.

Personal weapons (81.55K credits total):
30 Silver plated combat bush knives (9K credits, 200 for each knife and another 100 credits for the silver coating), 30 cattle prods (1.35 credits), 6 NA-LB1 laser bows (48K credits), 6 flare guns (1.8K credits), 24 assault rifles (21,6K credits). Bows and arrows (made by the locals).

Ammunition (195.9K credits total):
18 Frag missiles (3 missiles per launcher, 14.4K credits), 100 rocket parachute flares (1.5K credits), 9000 standard assault rifle ammo (4.5K credits), 4500 assault rifle ramjet rounds (18K credits), 2400 assault rifle silver rounds (4.8K credits). 18000 standard machine gun rounds (54K credits), 6000 machine-gun tracer rounds (2.7K credits), 12000 heavy machine-gun ramjet rounds (96K credits).

[Killer Cyborg]

I dont disagree with the principle of the thing, it should work. I just think that it demonstrates how poorly put together Rifts is, sometimes. 20cr per awesome arrowhead vs the book price for explosive heads is mind-bogglingly good.

It IS, I agree.
I think that the problem, if any, is simply the insanely low cost of Naruni rounds in the first place.
A 3d6 MD plasma round for a shotgun is CR 300 (iirc), and a 5d6 MD plasma Naruni plasma round is CR 15!
But since it's Naruni, we can chalk it up to the incredible superiority of the alien technology; apparently they can produce for cheap what we can't even match at high cost.

[Killer Cyborg]

Personal weapons (81.55K credits total):
30 Silver plated combat bush knives (9K credits, 200 for each knife and another 100 credits for the silver coating)...

...2400 assault rifle silver rounds (4.8K credits).

Silver prices have gone WAY up as of the Vampire Kingdoms revised version.
It's now 10x the cost of the knife as a rule, so if the knife costs CR 200, then plating it with silver will cost CR 2,000.
And silver-coated bullets for assault rifles now cost CR 300 each, so 2,400 rounds would cost CR 720,000.

This is why I didn't go with silver weapons in my own defenses.

[sagajr]

Personal weapons (81.55K credits total):
30 Silver plated combat bush knives (9K credits, 200 for each knife and another 100 credits for the silver coating)...

...2400 assault rifle silver rounds (4.8K credits).

Silver prices have gone WAY up as of the Vampire Kingdoms revised version.
It's now 10x the cost of the knife as a rule, so if the knife costs CR 200, then plating it with silver will cost CR 2,000.
And silver-coated bullets for assault rifles now cost CR 300 each, so 2,400 rounds would cost CR 720,000.

This is why I didn't go with silver weapons in my own defenses.

Ouch, that price is insanely high (I don't have the revised VK book). Its not much for a knife (simple one with 1D4 SDC basic damage) that cost 10-20 credits, but its too much for bullets. Isn't that a typo (something like the ones in Triax 2 where a 102 tons vehicle able to haul 89000 tons and a 1700 tons deaths head transport wannabe can haul 190000 tons)?

Any other viable alternatives against were creatures (against vampires, the defenders can use water cannons or squirt guns)? Silvered arrowheads maybe or silvered sling bullets?

[Killer Cyborg]

Personal weapons (81.55K credits total):
30 Silver plated combat bush knives (9K credits, 200 for each knife and another 100 credits for the silver coating)...

...2400 assault rifle silver rounds (4.8K credits).

Silver prices have gone WAY up as of the Vampire Kingdoms revised version.
It's now 10x the cost of the knife as a rule, so if the knife costs CR 200, then plating it with silver will cost CR 2,000.
And silver-coated bullets for assault rifles now cost CR 300 each, so 2,400 rounds would cost CR 720,000.

This is why I didn't go with silver weapons in my own defenses.

Ouch, that price is insanely high (I don't have the revised VK book). Its not much for a knife (simple one with 1D4 SDC basic damage) that cost 10-20 credits, but its too much for bullets. Isn't that a typo (something like the ones in Triax 2 where a 102 tons vehicle able to haul 89000 tons and a 1700 tons deaths head transport wannabe can haul 190000 tons)?

The cheapest knife they have listed in VKr is "Knife, Small or Shank," which they list as "40 Credits x10 for silver plating."
So I think that the cheapest they want a silver knife to be is CR 400.
That's with 1d4 SDC, too, so if you got anything cheaper, the damage would be lower.
A silver needle might be better than nothing, though.

Any other viable alternatives against were creatures (against vampires, the defenders can use water cannons or squirt guns)? Silvered arrowheads maybe or silvered sling bullets?

Silver arrowheads are CR 200 each, or I'd have had a lot of those for my scouts!
A sling bullet would be at least as much as a bullet for a firearm, but I guess you'd have a larger chance of recovery.

As for were-creatures...
They take HP damage from magic spells and magic weapons.
Wolfebay and wolfsbane can keep them at bay.

Powerful kinetic attacks and explosions have the same potential knockdown effect as with vampires, so you might be able to make a werewolf feel frustrated and bored enough that he leaves you alone.

That's pretty much it, as far as canon sure-fire methods.

They do have keen senses of smell, though, so stuff like pepperspray might cause them some issues at GM discretion, although it shouldn't actually cause them any harm.

They're STRONG, too, so nets and such might slow them down, but probably not for long. Supernatural PS, supernatural bite... they can probably claw and chew out of most entanglements.
You could trap one in a landslide, though, possibly, or under a heavy enough log trap (ala Predator). But it'd have to be pretty heavy.

They are supernatural creatures, though, and that opens up one other possibility: Dogs.
In Chaos Earth, it is mentioned that dogs can inflict 1d6 MD to supernatural creatures with their bite.
Which is silly, and it's arguably for a different setting even though it's the same world (Chaos Earth has wilder energy levels in it, so that effect might not apply in the time of Rifts)... but it's also arguably canon.
So packs of dogs could be potential weapons against werewolves and other supernatural creatures, although dogs are only supposed to fight supernatural stuff when cornered, and the dogs would be fairly easy for a werewolf or other supernatural creature to kill.
Better than nothing.

Edit:
Oh, and Were-creatures are generally intelligent. Which means that they may be reasoned with.
Of course, this reasoning might consist of "Let me eat one of your people each month, and I'll leave the rest of you alone" or something, but that's better than a demon who's just going to kill as many as he can, as fast as he can.

[Shark_Force]

@ Shark_Force, Ref, Rogue Scholars...
Umm...*rereads my last post*...isn't that what I said? A Rogue Scholar would be a good person to teach others to learn, incidentally teaching them an odd skill or another. But a specialist can do a better job of teaching a specific skill to others, presuming they are already prepared to learn. And a specialist in this case is a soldier or Man at Arms of some type, not a Rogue Scholar.

Especially since a Rogue Scholar will rarely have all the skills you want to teach a soldier, since, you know, they aren't normally soldiers and all that. They may have some of the basics, but unless he is a scholar of military studies (and therefore hardly very rogue like in nature) he isn't going to have but a handful of those same skills. He has other better stuff he can select really.

no, that isn't really how it works at all. when you want to learn about math today, do you go to:

a) a mathematician?
b) a physicist?
c) an engineer?
d) a teacher?

now, while any of the first three will know their math (with varying degrees of knowledge between individuals etc), they simply aren't the people you go to if you want to learn math. not because they don't know math, and not because they don't know math better than others.

you go to the teacher because the teacher knows how to teach. they've trained for it, they've practised it, they have the patience for it, and they understand how to present things so that you can do it. this is not a skill that every person in the world have. in fact, not even all teachers have that skill, frustratingly enough.

for example, someone recently posted a link to a video on what makes a fire burn, explained at a level for 11-year-olds to understand. the video originated from a contest where people were asked to explain fire in a way that 11-year-olds could understand. as i understand it, thousands of people sent in explanations. the majority of them were awful, including at least one that sent in "a flame is oxidation", which was literally the answer to the question that triggered the whole contest as a result of that explanation not actually explaining anything at all.

most of the people submitting explanations were people trained in science, all of whom should have known the answer to the question. and most of them sucked at actually answering the question in a useful way.

as another example, when i was going to school, i had a textbook on electronics. now, i don't know how much you know about transistors. this book had an entire chapter on them, plus chapters later on about how to use them etc. the book spent a whole bunch of time explaining the various kinds of transistors, what they're made of, how the science behind them works, what they're used for... and did an absolutely atrocious job of explaining what they did. eventually, i learned more from my teacher in about 20 seconds than i did from hours of reading that book. a transistor has 3 places to hook things up. in common english, one is where power goes in, one is where the power comes out, and the third controls how much can go through the other two. after hours of reading the book, that particular piece of information had never been simply stated. it had tables of what the upper limits of various transistors might be, how to read part sheets, etc... and never actually bothered to sit down and explain the basic "here's what you do to a transistor to make it go" aspect. the people who wrote the book were undoubtedly experts in electronics. frankly, they probably still know far more about transistors than i do. but they sucked at teaching.

rogue scholars teach. it's what they do. they love doing it, and they are good at it, and they get an obscene amount of skills, many of which you can spend on nearly anything you feel like. a grunt will have the skills to use the weapons you want to train people in. but the rogue scholar will teach it better and faster, because they know how to teach, and teaching is not a skill that everyone has at a high level. individual wilderness scouts or grunts may be good teachers, but wilderness scouts in general are not inherently good teachers. this is why the rogue scholar has an OCC power to teach people new skills, and the wilderness scout does not. the rogue scholar can teach any skill they have, provided it can be learned as a secondary skill. no other published OCC that i am aware of has anything even close to it.

also, regarding your assertion that half a million credits isn't enough: as has been demonstrated, you can get a pretty solid militia going (for a village of this size) with half a million credits, if you know where to shop. i guarantee, if that merc grunt was to attack the village some posters have described, he will soon become a permanent resident of their cemetery and will have donated his weapons, armour (for conversion into patchwork armour of what's left of it), vehicles, e-clips, and any other supplies to the cause of defending the town. yes, his equipment is much more expensive. no, he isn't better than 25 people using ramjet ammunition or APRJ shotgun rounds or naruni plasma cartridge traps/arrows.

on a side note, one of the two scholar/adventurers should be able to get you a better deal on everything you buy

also on another side note, the village presumably already has defences... otherwise, how did they last long enough to build a 15-foot tall stone wall encircling the whole place? presumably, whatever they were doing before was working fine, whatever it was, because a 15-foot stone wall means a lot of effort went into it. particularly if we're talking MDC-grade stone wall, because that likely means it's also very very thick....

[Mack]

The counter-argument from most people is going to be that Ironwould should be totally impossible to find because it isa 12th level spell, and mere mortals and player charaters aren't allowed to have those.

I'm only mostly kidding or being sarcastic.

I love the idea though.

I don't dispute at all that a 12th level spell should be a bit difficult to find. My counter to that counter is that the players don't actually have to learn the spell. They just have to find a TW that knows it and will build the device (which is rather cheap and easy to build). Giving the fictional town's location in Southern Colorado, there's plenty of TW's in either the Baronies or in Arzno who should be able to make it.

[sagajr]

Killer Cyborg:
Just finished speaking with one of my friend who read the revised VK book and he said, the coating cost can be lowered.
If I remember correctly what he said, there is something about cheaper coating price under the weapons of silver or silver prices in Mexico or similar title. The price of the coating can be lowered by 30 to 50% (or 70% North of the Baronies?) depending on the place (where the customer buys its weapon or order the silver coating).
May this mean that the coating multiplier can be lowered from 10 to 5 or even as low as 3? In this case, a cheaper large/combat knife (not those pricey ones in the VK book, the normal ones described in the GMG) can be silvered later for lower price. Maybe this could work for arrowheads too (they need less amount of silver than an average large/combat knife).

Maybe the creative use of an earth elemental, who can search for silver and take it to its master (one of the helping player characters) who take it to the local smith to make silvered weapons, solve the problem. Do not think to a large quantity, just enough for 20 to 30 knives and several dozen arrowheads.

Against vampires the gunners may use wooden bullets(russians and germans were known to use wooden bullets in the WW2, and the US army used .45-70 government forager rounds too in the 19th century), at least at a shorter range (lighter bullet, slower muzzle velocity). These rounds can be used against SDC targets too, but I don't know how much it costs in Rifts.

[Killer Cyborg]

Killer Cyborg:
Just finished speaking with one of my friend who read the revised VK book and he said, the coating cost can be lowered.
If I remember correctly what he said, there is something about cheaper coating price under the weapons of silver or silver prices in Mexico or similar title. The price of the coating can be lowered by 30 to 50% (or 70% North of the Baronies?) depending on the place (where the customer buys its weapon or order the silver coating).

I missed that part!
Looking it over...
-In Mexico, silver is CR 900-1,000 an ounce.
-In near the border, it's CR 500/ounce.
-Further north, it's CR 300/ounce.

The context of the 70% number is:
All of this has made the cost of silver weapons painfully expensive in Mexico and the American Southwest. A silver-coated dagger can cost 2,000-4,000 credits. A machete or short sword 5,000-8,000 credits.
Silver plating can be done in the Pecos Empires for 30% less, at the Colorado Baronies for half and up north for 70% less.

Comparing those examples to the book prices I looked at early:
Book:
Dagger: CR 1,000
Bowie Knife: CR 3,000
Machete: CR 2,000
Short Sword: 3,500

The result is unclear, BUT the book prices are already lower than the prices that the northern areas are 70% lower than.
The book prices might represent the cheap prices, or they might represent the maximum.

May this mean that the coating multiplier can be lowered from 10 to 5 or even as low as 3? In this case, a cheaper large/combat knife (not those pricey ones in the VK book, the normal ones described in the GMG) can be silvered later for lower price. Maybe this could work for arrowheads too (they need less amount of silver than an average large/combat knife).

Quite possibly.

Maybe the creative use of an earth elemental, who can search for silver and take it to its master (one of the helping player characters) who take it to the local smith to make silvered weapons, solve the problem. Do not think to a large quantity, just enough for 20 to 30 knives and several dozen arrowheads.

It's not a bad idea. How well it would work would be up to the GM.
Elementals aren't too bright by our standards, but if you had some silver to show them to start, they might well be able to find more of it.

Against vampires the gunners may use wooden bullets(russians and germans were known to use wooden bullets in the WW2, and the US army used .45-70 government forager rounds too in the 19th century), at least at a shorter range (lighter bullet, slower muzzle velocity). These rounds can be used against SDC targets too, but I don't know how much it costs in Rifts.

Even though wood is cheaper than led, they'd probably count as Specialty Rounds, which according to the RGMG is something like +CR150 per box of 48 rounds.
Not too bad, really.

[Talavar]

Elementals may be dumb, but they know their metals - even lesser earth elementals can identify all minerals and gems at 80%. Having one look for silver (or gems for TW gear) is a pretty great use for one.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Rockwolf66:
I think they need a different power source, something that attracts less attention. A working, powerful nuclear power plant/reactor, with good amount of operation time, easily worth millions of credits (so if anyone - especially bandits - outside the settlement becomes aware of it, they will be in serious trouble very soon).
If you really want to protect it and the people of the town, you must spend more money on defenses (and hire a skilled operator to manage and maintain the reactor, increase the income of the settlement by charging E-clips and provide repair jobs, plus maintain/modify/create useful items for the town people) or change their power source.

Disagree completely here. From the outside, no one is going to know what is powering the town, and even if they did, is it really worth getting your ass shot off over? I also disagree with the price on the reactor. The thing could be salvaged from an old vehicle and only be worth a few hundred thousand at most. To power a paltry 100 homes, it could be the size of a suitcase. ALl they are providing is lighting and basic heating/cooling, if that.

[Zamion138]

As for the ne shell booby trap, they make these for 12 guage shotguns.....this one 30 bucks ive seen them for 15 at gun shows.
http://www.pyrocreations.com/inc/sdetail/11971/

[Mack]

Another power source is that ley line that's only a mile way. Buy a Mystic Generator (45,000 credits, RUE p136) install it or bury it at the Ley Line, then run a buried cable to the town. While an attacking force might find it, until they do the townsfolk would have a second source of power for a very small outlay.

Also, that Ironwood TW device I mentioned could be Ley Line powered instead of by a mage. Just truck it over the Ley Line, create a wagon load of ironwood and haul it back. The build cost for such a device would only be 6,400 credits.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Is a TW device that is repeatedly triggering a 12th level spell effect that also requires the expenditure of 1 P.P.E. for each converted SDC really going to cost only 6,400 credits, require so common a stone, and a mere 5 P.P.E. to activate it?! I would never, ever, in a million years allow this. Period. Its far, far too cheap, far far to easy to make, and entirely too capable for what little yo put into it.

What you might require (i dont disagree, btw, the item seems.... oddly overpowered and costs damn near nothing to use, which just seems.. off to me) doesn't bear on the RAW written, though. Im fairly certain he built that item right out of the TW items creation section in R:UE.

At the very least, you are looking at a 12th level spell effect here, since it is much less likely that a 8th level warlock is involved.

I dont really see how it is any more or less likely that there would be a warlock involved. There are a lot of them around in NA (hundreds in Tolkeen alone). Im not saying it's super likely - im just saying that it isn't super-unlikely either. About the same odds as just walking into a town and finding a TW who has what you need.

Possible, but even so, an 8th level warlock enchantment is treated as a 12th level spell in the books, so that's what I would insist on. Next, you are triggering an affect that, bare minimum, has to be able to effect all of the SDC of a sizable chink of wood, at least a decent sized four by four section, so you have to have enough P.P.E. on hand to affect that same chunk of wood, whatever it is. I would require a significantly larger outlay of initial resources to make this possible, and it would stand as one of the premiere TW magic items in existence if it could be done at all. The sheer utility of this item is staggering. You make something out of wood, and then *poof*m its MDC. You could make fairly good wood armor and just turn it into MDC. Think Tarnow, but you didn't have to go get an artifact to accomplish it! Its a bit lacking as an offensive option, yes, but defensively it basically can't be beat!

Honestly, that's Ironwood for you. The spell is freaking AMAZING. With the new Ley-line PPE-drawing rules in RUE, even if you have to cast it yourself, the spell is the gift that never stops giving. You will see how amazing during my write-up for the town (im still working on it in a text editor, before posting. Hopefully done today.. no promises. It's long). Hell, even if the TW item required the full potential cost of the spell to activate (and/or had an upper limit -say 200 points, and reqiured the full 200 to recharge it to work even once) it would be amazing. There's an option in the TW item creation section that allows items to draw their power from a Ley Line instead of a user and to allow non-psionics and non-men of magic to use TW items. It's just a great spell all around. Adding into Techno Wizardry (+ the possibility of the same item also creating the wood used out of thin air!) just makes it even better.

This would have to be more expensive than that, and certainly well beyond the half million mark we are tasked with for sure! (Especially when Stormspire, Atlantis or Dunscon hear about this, and come to collect it!)

Why bother collecting it, when they can just make a few hundred of their own?

[Killer Cyborg]

The problem and the saving grace of TW item creation is that nothing built using the TW Item Creation rules is legal unless the GM says that it is.
Which is good, because the rules are so flexible that they'd be extremely easy to abuse.

Technically, you wouldn't even need Ironwood.
You could use Fire Bolt, Energy Field, and Throwing Stones to make a TW Easy Bake Oven that permanently turns clay into Mega-Damage Clay.
And you could probably work it out to be pretty cheap, too.

Of course, most GMs wouldn't allow it, which is why that rule exists, to keep abuse to a minimum.

But the net result of all this is that in this kind of discussion, I tend to discount Techno-Wizardry and TW items unless they're actually official, described-in-the-book items.
Because ultimately, the only canon response to "you could make a TW item that...." is
"Maybe."

[Subjugator]

Dear God. Creating TW items to create one's raw material is genius.

"Hey boys! I just converted enough ironwood into MD material to turn the whole town into a fortress AND make armor for everyone in town! Why would I use my own PPE? I've got this little baby right here!" *pats TW ironwood device*

KC: I wish I could *like* your post re: an Easy Bake Oven about nineteen THOUSAND times.

[Shark_Force]

@ Shark_Force, ref, teaching...
The thing is, it does tend to work that way for basic soldiering skills. Drill sergeants aren't professional teachers, and many of them loath being in the role anyhow. They get rotated into and out of the duty from time to time, and all go to a school for classes on teaching, but they aren't dedicated teachers, they are typically professional soldiers instead (none of the ones in my entire training company had less than four years of time in the military. I think the lowest was the new guy that almost got his face blown off my a grenade simulator, and he had like 6 years and was looking at his E-7. All three of my platoons drill sergeants had at least 10 years, and two had 12 years behind them). They are typically high quality NCOs chosen because they are superior soldiers, and tasked with teaching civilians how to be soldiers. What they aren't are some sort of Indian Jones like traveling scholar tasked with the same, regardless of how good a teacher they are.

A Rogue Scholar certainly could teach someone a few various useful skills. This could include navigation, some degree of survival, maybe some basic marksmanship with a rifle, and some first aid or possibly even some paramedic style skills. But the last thing they are going to do is turn out a viable soldier in any realistic period of time. (1D6+8 weeks to teach a secondary skill. 12 hours a week teaching, 10 hours a week of study from the student. If you had 3-4 such Rogue Scholars, and if you presume each can teach a different skill, and IF you presume that the students they are teaching have nothing else to do but learn, study and practice...you would have a boot camp, and "real" soldiers would be better off teaching these skills anyhow.) Though I went and checked, and interestingly enough, most of the skills a basic soldier would need can be taught as secondary skills.

So I suppose it could work for just teaching people the skills they need to defend their village, which honestly might be what is required in this case. So a rogue scholar with the right skill selection could work I guess. So long as all he was doing was training others in the basics, and not trying to train a real Man at Arms class character.

the military:

- as you noted, specifically trains their trainers how to train people. it's not something that every last grunt knows how to do well.
- has a heck of a lot of infrastructure invested in training up a military, which is something likely well beyond the scope of the village's capabilities.
- has probably spent millions, or hundreds of millions, or more, developing training programs for a specific set of skills. which, again, is something that neither the village, nor the adventuring group, will really have access to.

if calling up the CS and having them train the town was an option, that would be an excellent way to teach a couple dozen of the locals how to be full-time soldiers. but that's not the case. we've got farmers and merchants and such that need to be taught a variety of skills needed to have a functioning militia, not a functioning military. they need to know how to use their guns (provided a given person's plan calls for standard SDC weaponry, this is likely already a skill most of the militia will have), basic hand to hand, and in some cases radio operation (depends how complex you make your communication equipment, i don't think you need the skill to set a walkie-talkie to channel 5 and press the button to speak), read sensory equipment, and basic repairs and maintenance for the most part (and not all of them need all the skills, either). and it needs to be on top of their regular skills, and it needs to be done in their spare time, because if you don't leave them enough time to keep themselves fed, they will die anyways and all your training will have been a total waste.

i don't know why you would think training a man at arms OCC to the townsfolk would be the logical approach. just because the CS gets to use handwavium to be able to sustain something stupid like 30% of their population being full time military doesn't mean it makes even the tiniest amount of sense for everyone else.

[flatline]

Certainly someone can often become a better teacher if they receive some instruction, but I find the notion that someone can only be an effective teacher if they are trained as such to be utterly ridiculous.

Schools are a modern invention and even now, the vast majority of learning still occurs in a model more akin to apprenticeship where the student learns by interacting with a mentor. Some of the best teachers I've had were experts in a particular skill or field without a lick of training on how to be a teacher. Heck, some of them had zero "people skills" yet they were able to competently pass on knowledge to me when I needed it.

--flatline

[Shark_Force]

Certainly someone can often become a better teacher if they receive some instruction, but I find the notion that someone can only be an effective teacher if they are trained as such to be utterly ridiculous.

Schools are a modern invention and even now, the vast majority of learning still occurs in a model more akin to apprenticeship where the student learns by interacting with a mentor. Some of the best teachers I've had were experts in a particular skill or field without a lick of training on how to be a teacher. Heck, some of them had zero "people skills" yet they were able to competently pass on knowledge to me when I needed it.

--flatline

sure.

but 6 months. 2 men-at-arms OCCs.

the one-on-one apprenticeship model is not going to work for our goal here, or at least not very well.

and yes, some people can be competent teachers without training. they won't be as good as someone who is inherently a competent teacher and who also has 'training'... ie the kind of person the rogue scholar OCC is supposed to represent.

however you look at it, if you want to teach people, you're better off with someone who loves teaching, is good at it, has trained in it, and has experience in it. in rifts, the OCC that best fits that description is the rogue scholar. there are undoubtedly other people in the setting who can teach. we don't have OCCs for them. but sure, if there was a mercenary trainer OCC, i'm sure that would be comparable or possibly even better for training the relevant skills to these people. if there was a military drill sergeant (or whatever they're called, if i've just completely botched that one), they might also be better for giving basic military training, due to a large degree of specialization. but, we don't have those classes.

if we're just going to make up whatever we want for rules, then i'm going to invent an OCC that can create permanent MDC defenders that will regenerate no matter what, has no limits in terms of numbers, and can be produced quickly and efficiently at a cost of 1 PPE each (not a permanent cost) and some dirt, of any quality level. these defenders will be able to fly, swim, travel underground, shape the earth on a whim into any form they wish, create forcefields, and will be immune to everything.

on the other hand, i get the feeling the objective is to use the tools available to us, rather than making up whatever we want willy-nilly. and when it comes to teaching, that would be the rogue scholar.

[flatline]

however you look at it, if you want to teach people, you're better off with someone who loves teaching, is good at it, has trained in it, and has experience in it. in rifts, the OCC that best fits that description is the rogue scholar.

It doesn't matter how good a teacher someone is if they don't know the skills you want to to teach.

If the rogue scholar knows his stuff, then that works just fine.

--flatline

[glitterboy2098]

You should consider getting a TW to build an Ironwood device. For example:

Device Level 1
Spell needed: Ironwood
Gems needed: 5 carats of Amber
PPE Construction Cost: 100 PPE
Build Time: 10 hours
Cost to build: 4,000 credits
Activation Cost: 5 PPE
Result: This magical planer converts a normal SDC board (2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet) into a megadamage structure worth 50 MDC.

Or you can add in Create Wood so you don't need a board to start with:

Device Level 1
Spells needed: Ironwood and Create Wood
Gems needed: 6 carats of Amber
PPE Construction Cost: 140 PPE
Build Time: 14 hours
Cost to build: 5,000 credits
Activation Cost: 7 PPE
Result: This magical planer creates a megadamage board (2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet) worth 50 MDC.

(Note - I made this with the assumption that a normal board of that size would be 50 SDC to start with. If anyone has a SDC reference for a 2x4, I'll adjust accordingly.)

how expensive and PPE intensive is it if your not exploiting the device level by assuming such a device is simple, aka device level 1? barring some sort of actual rule to determine device level, that's going ot be up to the GM, and anything with a lv12 spell is not going to be made simple.

my rule of thumb about device levels is that unless a GM says otherwise, assume the device level is equal to the highest level spell involved.. so in this case, level 12.

[flatline]

You should consider getting a TW to build an Ironwood device. For example:

Device Level 1
Spell needed: Ironwood
Gems needed: 5 carats of Amber
PPE Construction Cost: 100 PPE
Build Time: 10 hours
Cost to build: 4,000 credits
Activation Cost: 5 PPE
Result: This magical planer converts a normal SDC board (2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet) into a megadamage structure worth 50 MDC.

Or you can add in Create Wood so you don't need a board to start with:

Device Level 1
Spells needed: Ironwood and Create Wood
Gems needed: 6 carats of Amber
PPE Construction Cost: 140 PPE
Build Time: 14 hours
Cost to build: 5,000 credits
Activation Cost: 7 PPE
Result: This magical planer creates a megadamage board (2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet) worth 50 MDC.

(Note - I made this with the assumption that a normal board of that size would be 50 SDC to start with. If anyone has a SDC reference for a 2x4, I'll adjust accordingly.)

how expensive and PPE intensive is it if your not exploiting the device level by assuming such a device is simple, aka device level 1? barring some sort of actual rule to determine device level, that's going ot be up to the GM, and anything with a lv12 spell is to going to be made simple.

my rule of thumb about device levels is that unless a GM says otherwise, assume the device level is equal to the highest level spell involved.. so in this case, level 12.

I've made the same house rule. I've also changed the math so that many more carats are required to bring the activation cost down.

--flatline

[Zamion138]

It does seem a bit low of a cost per power its giving.
Your basicly fabricating mdc walls that are light and cheap yet as strong as mdc metal/ceramic plates.

[Mack]

how expensive and PPE intensive is it if your not exploiting the device level by assuming such a device is simple, aka device level 1? barring some sort of actual rule to determine device level, that's going ot be up to the GM, and anything with a lv12 spell is to going to be made simple.

Totally agree that it's an exploit, but notice I only listed the "Build Cost" not a purchase price.

Now if we upped the Device Level to 12, you could make it for this:

Device Level 12
Spell needed: Ironwood
Gems needed: 33.5 carats of Amber
PPE Construction Cost: 179.1 PPE
Build Time: 214.9 hours (26.9 work days)
Cost to build: 41,593 credits
Activation Cost: 9 PPE
Result: This magical planer converts a normal SDC board (2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet) into a megadamage structure worth 50 MDC.

my rule of thumb about device levels is that unless a GM says otherwise, assume the device level is equal to the highest level spell involved.. so in this case, level 12.

My rule of thumb is to use the original spell level as a multiplier when calculating the purchase price. The formula I use is a bit complex, but it works for me. For the above example, I would round it off at 150,000 credits.

Now, I'll freely admit that used another exploit (33.5 carats) to find the minimum possible cost in the above example. To counter it, I would make it difficult to find that many carats (not expensive, just hard to find).

Old TW: "Sure, fellas... I could build that for ya, but I ain't seen that much Amber in one place since Plato was nibbling on a pacifier. If you can find enough, come back and see me."

[glitterboy2098]

Now, I'll freely admit that used another exploit (33.5 carats) to find the minimum possible cost in the above example. To counter it, I would make it difficult to find that many carats (not expensive, just hard to find).

Old TW: "Sure, fellas... I could build that for ya, but I ain't seen that much Amber in one place since Plato was nibbling on a pacifier. If you can find enough, come back and see me."

actually 33.5 carats of amber is only about the size of your thumbtip. large for a piece of amber, but not unheard of. (here is a ring with a 33.5 carat piece of baltic amber.. [pic])

and there is nothing saying the gems used have to be all one chunk.

[glitterboy2098]

one thing with Amber though is that is it fairly easy to fake. colored plastic can be made to look like actual amber a lot easier than it can be made to look like any other gemstone, because Amber is basically fossilized resin.

so you'd want to be extra sure when buying amber your not being scammed.

[Shark_Force]

As for the training thing, I didn't say I felt the need to train them to Man at Arms OCC levels. I in fact said that so long as you WEREN'T training them to that level, that a Rogue Scholar in actual possession of the required skills could pull it off. But it would take sis months, because it takes 1D6+8 weeks to train each skill, and you need H-H: Basic, W.P. Rifle, First Aid, and perhaps Radio: Basic. The physicals you can skip if you want to, you aren't training a field army, your training people to man the walls mostly, and perhaps escort the farmers. Heck, many of them would end up BEING those farmers, and would be escorting themselves. Except for Radio: Basic (I suppose you could skip it really, but I wouldn't), he others are secondary skill selections for sure. I don't recall is Radio: Basic is.

it would be ideal, but unlikely, to train every member with every skill.

however, as i said, it's fairly likely these people already have WP rifle (they're living in the wilderness, and are the ones choosing to be in the militia... the odds of them having no existing skill with guns seems fairly low to me). if you have a simple enough radio system, you shouldn't need all to have radio:basic since frankly a 5 year old kid can use a walkie-talkie. first aid, you could once again train specific people to be medics (or just use the various nano-kits, depending). and finally, HtH:basic should be taught to all of them. but overall, you likely have less than 10 people of the larger militias proposed (i think the largest suggestion has been 30 people) that really need to know 3 skills.

so, the trick is, the scholar only needs to spend 12 hours a week on teaching a skill... that means you could easily fit as many as 3 different skill training classes into a week. and each student could potentially have as many as 2 skills being taught at a time without overloading them (though this really depends heavily on what other responsibilities they have. if it's the dead of winter, depending on what those people do for a living, you may have close to 3 solid months where they have lots of spare time anyways, for example). probably teach 2 skills at a time, with a possible 3rd class if there is a specific need, and you should be fine (and imo, a rogue scholar having those skills shouldn't be all *that* uncommon).

on a side note, looking closer... it says it teaches the skill at a secondary skill level, not that they are restricted to secondary skills when they teach. i'm not entirely sure how to interpret that. you could argue that it just means no OCC related skill bonus, but you could also argue that it means that non-secondary skills don't have a secondary level... it's kinda up in the air, really. probably best to keep it to secondary-only for the most part, with some possible exceptions... i see no problem with teaching, say, military etiquette, or WP heavy weapons, but i definitely don't think it's reasonable to train someone as a doctor in a few months, and even something like paramedic feels like a larger time investment might be required, but shouldn't be impossible. probably part of the problem is that some skills cover a lot more education/training than others.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Okay, here's my treatment for "how well can you defend this town with 500,000cr".

The Big Caveat:

Ironwood. I'm going to use/abuse it liberally. Unlike a lot of the posters here, i don't feel that just because it is a 12th level spell that it is a near-mythical impossibility to acquire; in fact, given that this town is in Colorado (as specified by the OP), a quick trip to Arzno (or any of the Colorado Baronies, which make heavy use of Technowizardry) and some of the budget, if necessary, would get you the spell (they have access to it, obviously, as they produce Ironwood armors.

The Adventuring Party
Okay. So, to start, lets detail our adventuring party. I'm going to go with an Earth Warlock vs a Technowizard, because i didn't really see the need to complicate matters with Technowizardry, given that the rules are optional and subject to debate. Ironwood isn't. The fact that an 8th level Earth Warlock gets it if he chooses is mostly irrelevant - i'd assume any mage of that level of most other classes could have it or would acquire it if this was their mission (fortifying the town).

Our Party is:
An Earth Warlock
A Master Psychic (could be any OCC; assume Mind Melter)
A Wilderness Scout (with an emphasis on traps an guerrilla tactics)
An Operator
2x Grunts (weapons proficiencies, basic military training)
1x Military Specialist (demolitions)
1x Technical Officer (specialized in field fortifications and demolitions)

We have an even spread of useful skills that can be taught to potential militia and townsfolk. The Wilderness Scout can teach the basics of fieldcraft, hunting, and trapping to any Scouts (though i suspect that some of the townsfolk are already pretty good in the wilderness), the Grunts can put the Militia through a rough form of basic training, complete with basic weapons training, and the Operator and Technical Officer can work on any installation and creation of necessary gear and field fortifications.

The Earth Warlock will also work with the Technical officers to provide "labor" for field fortifications and with the Operator for helping to conceal the placement of several of the upgrades for the town.

The Town
Changes and Upgrades to the Town's Basic Defenses
Part of the priority is to make the town safer in general. To whit:

- the Warlock will spend part of his time focused on creating a lot of Ironwood for construction purposes. I'm going to assume weekly trips out to the nearest Ley Line to make this processes quicker and easier.

- the towers in the town wall will be reinforced with Ironwood plating, providing more secure firing stations. Also, if damaged, they can be replaced fairly quickly, potentially even in the middle of battle.

- clearing the area around the town out to a distance of at least one mile. Possible (given time) creation of "dragons teeth" style impediments to vehicles except for the main roads, forcing vehicles to use the main road into town, and creating difficulties for men on foot, particularly with the placement of NG anti-personnel mines in the no-mans-land.

- The Operator will be spending a lot of time working on upgrading the infrastructure of the town itself, and the surrounding area. Several backup generation technologies will be installed (basic solar and wind that can still run some water pumps and lighting, if the need arises) and laying cabling and plumbing to the wall towers.

- The creation of a reinforced tower/town hall/command center in the middle of town. Created primarily from earth which is then transformed into clay, then reinforced with Ironwood siding. The town hall will have the active sensor stations, primary field radio receiver, and all other command center gear. (Display readouts for the radar detectors, radar units, etc.). Also located here is the main computer for the town (a large unit with lots of capability - 5000cr) and a Portable Scan Dihilator to act as a back-up to the radar and other sensors.

Each Tower Will have:
- Ironwood reinforcement/armor plating
- a water-cannon on a swivel mount.
- spotlights
- mounts for "heavy" weapons
- a simple field phone for calling into the town command center.
- a mounting for the Radar systems (see below) - while all towers can mount them, only two will actually have them mounted at any given time.
- Control systems for anti-vehicle mines (see below, in defenses/defenders section) in their area.

The Warlock will assist (possibly with the help of an Earth Elemental or two) in the creation of a moat around the walls. The moat will be dug in such a way that the bottom of the moat slopes very gently in one direction from 'north' to 'south', providing a slow flow of water, though the surface of the moat is level. Sculpted with "Dig" then turned into clay by the warlock. A water pumping system will pump water back to the "north" end of the moat, so it is gently flowing at all times. When needed, the speed can be increased.

The Technical officer and Operator will oversee the installation of a Microwave Fence system (GMG pg 190, covers a 14 mile area). These will be installed in small stone and earth/clay mounds, created by the warlock and some labor. They won't be immediately visible and are protected from attack. Entire system is wired back to the control/monitoring sensor. Doesn't have to be on during the day, and makes sneaking up on the town at night nearly impossible. Also installed in these emplaceents will be Radar Detectors (GMG, pg 190) - normally portable systems with a range of 1 mile, these will be wired into the control center as well. Totally passive units that merely detect the presence of Radar in use. Position at the same distance as the Microwave fence, they provide about 6+ miles of warning, allowing time for the sensor operator at the main base to turn on the radar units. Lastly, the remote portions of a Ground Sensor System (GMG page 190) will also be placed in these units, giving the town 10 miles of warning that something is approaching overland.

Mounted along the nearby roadways, particularly leading to town, will be 10 motion detectors (GMG, page 190, range 60t) - these are placed near the roadways to detect any vehicles coming towards town. Each major approach also is covered by a video camera - (GMG page 190, low quality) to give the town some idea of who is coming to town. Not a comprehensive system by any means, but allows the townsfolk to see who is coming down the most likely avenues of approach. These should be easily concealable in a tree or sculpted into the landscape.

Mounted on two of the defense towers are Wilks Portable Ultra Mini Radar systems - 20 mile range. (Merc Ops). These are off, normally, but can be switched on at a moments notice from the command center when incoming radar is detected by the sensor net. Each position also has a portable field computer that can read the radar display (RUE/GMG, 2500cr) as a repeater or as an auxiliary. Entire radar system is wired into the main computer.

Lastly, a number of bunkers will be created by sculpting them with Dig and then transforming them into clay; and then re-enforced with Ironwood to protect the townsfolk during attack. My first thought was to simply reinforce every building in town with Ironwood, but this would take too long, considering the other projects that the Warlock already has on his plate.

His final (town improvement) project is to dig an escape tunnel from the primary bunker under the command center to a distance of about a mile outside of town. The last ~15ft of the tunnel will remain uncompleted, and be set up with a charge to clear the last few feet, making external discovery and use of the tunnel extremely unlikely to largely impossible.

So, the costs to upgrade the town itself are:
-Ironwood - "free" - provided by the Warlock. Can even create the wood he needs out of thin air in the shapes he desires with Create Wood.
-Radar Detectors (30 - a few spares) - 200cr each, 6000cr total.
-Motion Detectors (10) - 400cr ea., 4000cr total.
-Ground Sensor System - 18,500cr
-Digital Video Cameras, Low Quality (4) - 2100cr ea., 8400cr total
-Microwave Fence System - 20,000cr
-MDC tools (to work with Ironwood, other MDC materials, various): 20,000cr worth of tools
-Piping, Hoses, Tubing, other general construction materials: 25,000cr
-Cabling (for tying in sensors to the town): 20,000cr
(forgive the estimates above, but i can find nothing reliable for those items - i tried to estimate high).
-Misc Materials (additional light-gauge wiring, minor construction materials, etc) - 20,000cr
-Portable Field Computer (3; 2 installed in towers w/radar, 1 spare/for field use) - 2500cr each, 7500cr total.
-Main computer (town hall) - 5000cr
-Portable Scan Dihilator - 5000cr
- Wilks Portable Ultra Mini Radar (2) - 5,500cr each, 11,000cr total.

Total Cost of upgrades to town: 170,400 credits. Call it 175,000 credits for nice round numbers and paying for odds and ends.

The Militia
Next we get to our town's defenders. I envision a total militia size of about 70 men and women (a sizable portion of the adult population). 50 will be straight-up town militia, tasked with defending the town itself, and broken down into five ten man squads. They will rotate through militia duty (manning the sensor tower, walls, guard duty) every 3-4 days, meaning they can all also continue to do their work. They will be assisted by five four-man scout squads.

The training required for most of the militia will be quite basic (how to shoot your gun, reload and take care of your gun(s), etc) - with 2-3 of each squad additionally being trained to operate/read the sensor system outputs. (though i wouldn't say they need a straight-up "read sensor equipment" skill - just the ability to look at the screen and see "radar detected, danger coming!").

The scouts will be selected from those townsfolk who are already comfortable in the wilderness, are hunters or the like, etc. They will be trained in basic scouting and woodcraft, using their weapons (bows, with one man of each squad designated as a marksman and issued a .50cal sniper rifle), and laying traps, particularly the Naruni Bullet Mines for taking out enemy vehicles.

The big caveat here, again, is Ironwood. Each Militiaman and scout will have a suit of Ironwood armor. This isn't as ornate or special (or protective) as that listed in Arzno - basically, for the heavy versions of this armor, it is a plate-style armor similar to early medieval plate, created by forming wood planks with water and weight. It's very easy to make (cut the planks with a pattern, soak, place weights, wait a day or three, done) and will provide pretty comprehensive protection (but isn't environmental at all) including a basic infantryman's "pot" style helmet. Scouts will be in a lighter suit that is mostly made of a mesh (think basket-weaving) of thin saplings reinforced along the chest with strips of thin hard wood (like a brigandine or scale armor). Its a lot more mobile but provides even less protection.

Militia Plate Armor
MDC: 40 for the main body, 20 for each limb/helmet. Weight: 40lbs or so, heavy, but not hard to move in as it straps to the body, but forget trying to be sneaky, as the wooden plates will clack against each other loudly, and the weight makes acrobatics troublesome. 20-40% movement penalty for acrobatics, prowl, etc.

Scout Brigandine
MDC: 25 main body, 10 for each limb, 20 for the helmet (same pot style helmet). Weight: 20lbs or so, easy to move in, as it is mostly woven wood mesh with strips of harder wood reinforcing the chest area, upper legs, lower legs, and lower arms. 10-15% movement penalty for most acrobatics (the mesh is still a little stiff) but only -5% to prowl (doesn't make a lot of noise).

cost for both is essentially "free", as the wood can be created out of thin air and turned into Ironwood fairly easily by the warlock. Weekly trips to the local ley line should see that there is at least one suit for each militiaman and scout and probably a decent set of spares.

I tried to be conservative for the MDC values, as i honestly think that the plate armor could be substantially more, if fitted properly, but since these are one-size-fits-most, well stick with lower numbers.

The town Militia has 10 backpack field radios (600cr each, 6000cr total) - usually 1 given to each squad and scout squad to make sure they can radio home if need be.

The Militiamen

The in-town militia will be broken down into five ten man squads. Each squad will consist of 8 basic militia men, a squad "grenadier", and a squad "heavy gunner". The grenadier or heavy gunner are the commander of each squad.

All wear the heavier Ironwood armor when on duty.

The basic kit for all of the town militia is as follows: (and thanks to KC for compiling most of this already)
-Pilot Survival Kit (Merc Ops, provides a radio, knife, other useful material) - 500cr each
-Web vest - 15cr
-Backpack - 40cr
-Wooden Cross - 2cr
-Gas Mask (used) - 25cr
-Duct Tape - 3cr
-- Total cost of each basic load out: 600cr each; total cost for militia basic kits: 30,000cr

Basic Militamen (40)
have the following basic weapons load out:
Sidearm: .45 caliber automatic pistol (Colt 1911 or similar); 8 round magazine.
------ 40 rounds of Ramjet ammunition - 1 MD or 3d6x10 SDC.
------ 400cr for the weapon, 200cr for Ramjet rounds (5cr each)
Primary Weapon: 12g a pump-action Shotgun, 5 round internal magazine
------ 50 APRJ rounds (20cr each) - range 500ft, 2d6MD per shot.
------ 600cr for the shotgun (shotguns listed as 300-900cr, i assumed 300cr breechloader, 600cr pump, 900cr automatic), 1000cr for ammunition.
Knife (included in Pilots Kit)
-- Total cost for each basic militiaman: 2200cr each; total cost for all militia: 88,000

Squad "Grenadier" Militiaman (5)
Not actually armed with a grenade launcher, but instead a breech-loaded side-by-side double barrel shotgun, and explosive shells (regular and plasma) for a "grenade" like effect.
Sidearm: .45 automatic (as above) - 600cr total
Primary Weapon: as above, but only 24 rounds of APRJ ammunition - total cost for weapon and ammo 1080cr
"Grenade" Gun: 12ga side-by-side breech loading shotgun - 300cr
------10 explosive shells (frag) - 2d6MD to 10ft/3d6 to 20ft; 130cr each (1300cr total)
------10 explosive shells (plasma) - 3d6 to 6ft/5d6 to 12ft; 170cr each. (1700cr total)
Knife (included in Pilots Kit)
-- Total cost for each "Grenadier": 4980cr each; total cost for all "Grenadiers" - 24,900

Squad "Heavy Gunner" Militiaman (5)
Sidearm: .45 automatic (as above) - 600cr
Primary Weapon: AA-12 style automatic shotgun (900cr)
------ 200 rounds (4 50-round drums) of APRJ rounds. 2d6MD per shot/4d6 MD per short burst (3 rounds) - 20cr each; 4000cr total.
Knife (included in pilots kit)
-- Total cost for each "Heavy Gunner": 5500cr each; 27,500

Total Cost of all Militiamen: 176,400cr (includes field radios)

Total Cost so far: 352, 400cr

The Scouts
The twenty scouts are divided into five four man squads. Each squad has a designated marksman (may or may not also be the squad leader) and the squad leader is carrying advanced optics systems.

All wear the light Ironwood mesh armor when on duty

The standard basic load out for all scouts is:
Pilots Survival Kit (lots of goodies) - 500cr
backpack - 40cr
water skin (1 gal) - 30cr
wooden cross - 2cr
gas mask (used) - 25cr
binoculars - 400cr
duct tape - 3cr

In addition, each scout squad leader also carries a Pocket Night Viewer - 500cr each (2500cr total)

total cost for Scout basic load outs: 1000cr (total 20,000cr) + 2500cr for leader optics (grand total 22,500)

Scout Weapon Loadout
One scout in each Squad is a designated marksman, issued a .50 cal bolt action rifle to "reach out and touch someone"
Sidearm (as above, .45 cal automatic) - 600cr
Ironwood Bow - free (created by townsfolk, transformed into Ironwood)
------ Anti-vampire arrows (5, as needed) - plain wooden shafts
------ Ironwood hunting arrows (as needed) - free; don't need steel heads, can be carved with heads and then turned into Ironwood
------ Naruni Plasma Derringer Shot Arrows (20cr each, cost of round + conversion) - 5d6 MD. 30 arrows. Cost - 600cr.
Designated Marksman's .50 cal bolt-action rifle (5) (1500cr - guestimate, 50% more than .30 cal rifle)
------ Heavy Ramjet Rounds (10cr each); 45 rounds (3 15 round magazines) - 450cr

Total Cost of Scout Weapon Loadouts: 1200cr each; total 24,000 + DMR (1950cr each; 9750cr total) - grand total: 33, 750

Total Cost of Outfitting all Scouts: 56,250cr

Total Cost so Far: 408, 650cr


Additional Town Defenses/Armaments
In addition to the basic armaments of all of the defenders and scouts, the town will have additional defenses, such as Naruni Heavy Bullet Mines for anti-vehicle uses (placed along the roads into town, remote detonated by tower defenders) and Naruni Bullet mines and NG Anti-personnel mines for anti-personnel use.

- NG Anti-personnel Mines (30): 600cr each. Placed in anti-personnel positions in the no-mans-land near the walls. Total: 18,000cr

- Heavy Naruni 'Bullet Mines' (100)- using the heavier cartridges from the NE-75H; 50cr/round, 50cr/mine (parts to convert it into a mine) - total cost 100cr per mine. Inflict 2d4x10+20 to a single target. The Heavy Bullet Mines will be used to line the roads coming to each town gate, where the vehicles are boxed in by 'dragons teeth' on each side of the road. They are remote-detonated by men in the towers. Total: 10,000cr

- Naruni 'Bullet Mines' (100) - uses the round from the NE-6 "Magnum" gun; inflicts 1d4x10 to one target. 20cr/round + 20cr to convert it into a mine, so, 40cr each. Half are used in the no-mans land to supplement the NG Anti Personnel mines, the other half are issued to the scouts when an enemy is spotted to be deployed where they can do the most good. Total: 4,000cr.

- NG-E4 Plasma Ejector (2) - used as heavy, anti-vehicle weapons. The towers have mounts for these heavy guns, which are used in place of Mini-missile launchers. While they don't have quite the stopping power or range of a mini-missile launcher, they are close, have a good range (1600ft) are cheap and durable, and are rechargeable with a much larger payload than missiles (20 shots with a long eclip). Base cost per gun is 30,000cr, but as of SB1:R, they can easily be had up to 20% cheaper in towns that cater to mercenaries and soldiers, so cost is 24,000cr. ea. These weapons are only brought to bear in emergencies, to keep the illusion that nothing in the town is worth stealing. Total: 48,000

Total Cost Of Additional Defenses: 80,000cr

Total Cost so far: 490,650cr

Additional funds would be spent on spare ammunition.

The general idea of the defenses is to get the best bang-for-the-buck, and, additionally, make it appear to most bandits that the town has nothing worth stealing. Shotguns armed with APRJ rounds may do decent damage, but they aren't worth much as loot. The town is just well defended enough to be dangerous/potentially lethal to assault, but has nothing to make the chance of dying worth the risk.

Simvan and other low-tech raiders are likely to feel similarly - there may be "food" inside, but it shoots back - easier to just move on and find more easy prey.

Local monsters can be driven off with Ramjet rounds - if they aren't intelligent/are MDC animals, a few shots will convince them to go elsewhere.

In reality, the town is so well defended that even a fairly large pack of bandits would have a tough time assaulting the place, and, given the ability of the townsfolk to have an early-warning system and time to prepare, the first few groups of regularly-armed bandits that show up are likely to wind up in the town graveyard with their equipment enriching the town coffers, particularly if the townsfolk have time to box the bandits in and demand a surrender.

Even if they capture a lot of gear intact, were i the adventurers, i'd tell the townsfolk to sell most of it and keep only about 10 suits/sets of high-tech gear - the better to preserve the appearance of being too poor to have anything worth stealing and just dangerous enough to make it not worthwhile to try.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

I also toyed with the idea of creating enough wooden tower shields (shoulder to shins) with a firing port in one edge (much like early Roman scuta had a notch to rest your spear on/through) so that if the town wall is breached, the defenders are all standing there in a phalanx of shields with their shotguns pointing straight at you. Just slightly smaller than an exterior wood door (which has 170SDC) - i'd call these 120SDC/MDC when converted into Ironwood.

They could prove a nasty surprise to attackers.

[Killer Cyborg]

Nice write-up, Colonel Tetsuya!

[sagajr]

Colonel_Tetsuya:
Excellent write-up!

Just a little fine tuning and it will be perfect defense. For a fort it is already fantastic, but these defenses could be a little self-dangerous for a town. Let me explain it (and describe some of my fears and suggestions).

1. If the town is a rural, self-supporting settlement, they need a lot of space where they keep/bred their animals and grow plants/fruits (100 families requires a lot of food). Usually these farmlands are placed as close as possible to the settlement (easier to defend, the farmers can withdraw faster from a closer location), so if you want to place mines into the close vicinity of the town, you must equip them with a remote switch to turn them on and of when you need the defense (sadly, this will increase their price), so you can prevent accidents and loss of the mines to wandering animals. Another solution could be the use of mine pits with varied strength roof (they won't collapse under 100-150 lbs so most smaller animals, children cannot activate it) to concentrate the damage effect of the blast to a smaller area.

2. Without proper equipment, your guards are nearly worthless during nighttime. The lack of heat/infrared/nightvision equipment could be dangerous. The single portable scan dihilator is not enough, because the sensors included in its package are too short ranged and you put them on the central tower (heat detector range is a mere 250 feet and probably the other sensors have similar ranges). Your guards need one additional scan dihilator at the gate and maybe 1 Wilks infrared distancer binocular per squad (it can be purchased for only 600 credits).

3. Guards will need continous training (at least once per month) if they want to hit their targets, so they will need more ammo (normal ones for target prectice and against SDC targets, not the pricey ramjets). If you buy ammunition from the GAW, you can save a lot of money (they give more bullets for your money and they sell ramjet rounds cheaper than other manufacturers, for a mere 4-8 credits per round). If you don't want to buy normal bullets, you can buy tracer rounds for very low prices (cost only 45 credits for 100 such bullets at the GAW, see Merc Ops).

4. If I were you, I will change the .45 pistols to .22 revolvers for the following reasons.
These little fellows are cheaper (150 to 500 credits, so for lower price than an average quality .45 pistol you can have a rather good and simple weapon), may have the same ammo capacity, lighter, easy to maintain, carry and clean, have a simplier mechanism (lower amount of moving parts). With ramjet ammo they do the same damage as the ramjet loaded .45 pistols(if they come with longer barrel they can harm enemies from a little longer range).

I think those heavy .50 cal sniper rifles serve the defenders better in the town (from the towers and the walls). Those toys are too heavy and large to be carried with a normal man into the surrounding lands during a patrol, but provide excellent ranged attack when used from the towers of the settlement. Your scouts are already well-armed without these long range monsters (MDC arrows, normal arrows and handguns).

Buy at least 1 weapon cleaning kit per unit and maybe some (not much, 2 to 5 total) repair kits. Without proper equipment they cannot clean and maintain their weapons which could lead to accidents over time.

While the NG-E4 seems a very good choice as a heavy energy weapon, there are better alternatives (the NG-45LP or NG-IP7 seems good alternatives) for lower price thad do nearly the same or better damage with similar/higher payload.
Just look at the NG-IP7. Lighter, presumably smaller frame (easier to hide and carry), same range (1600 feet), excellent damage (1d4x10 per pulse), same payload (18 single shots or 6 pulse shots per E-clip against the E4's 6 shots per E-clip) for a mere 20K credits each (without the price reduction you mentioned).
The credits saved by weapon changes will be enough to buy ammo and additional sensor equipments/binoculars, weapon cleaning/repair kits.

Finally, as an anti-vampire measure buy or make several squirt guns and flash-bang grenades. The former can harm a vampire the latter can distract and slow down the monster and scare away many less intelligent monsters and animals.

5. Armor. Just a little tweak/addition of your already excellent work.
Mix the ironwood armors with home made leather armors (based on the skin of the nearby dinosaur skins). It can be done for free or minimal cost (need something to cut the MDC hide, like a very weak/low quality vibro scalpel/knife that do similar damage like a standard ramjet round) by a tanner (just kill a dino and bring it in) and provide the same or better protection with lower weight. Leather clothes/vests attracts less attention in the wilderness and the mixed use of wooden and leather armor gives poorer looks (which could be another form of defense).

[Blue_Lion]

Which is exactly the same way that a bullet mine works.
With a bullet mine, which can supposedly be created using a piece of bamboo, a shotgun shell, and a nail, the pressure of the foot stepping down onto the cartridge pushes the cartridge down onto the nail, which acts as a firing pin, and sets off the cartridge.
I first heard about them back in Marvel Comics' New Universe comic book Mark Hazzard: Merc, and he didn't even use bamboo in that, just buried a rock, a nail, and a shotgun shell.
Even back, then, I was skeptical if this would actually work, but I've heard variations on the concept repeatedly since then, attributed to the Viet Cong (that's the bamboo version), or to modern meth dealers or pot growers who don't want people (like cops) trespassing.
But, again, the principle is the same as with the powerhead, which is the same as with a gun.
Guns work.
Powerheads work.
So bullet mines should work, in theory.
I'm skeptical about whether or not the force of a normal footstep would actually set off a cartridge, but it seems pretty clear that if you set such a mine up correctly, and stomped on it, it would detonate.
Some people say that if you have a sharp point, like a nail, it doesn't take much force at all, and a normal footstep would in fact set it off.
Personally, I'm not going to test this out.

And we know that Naruni rounds can be used to make Bullet Mines, because that's specified in the Trap Construction skill (RGMG 64), in the section titled "Naruni Bullet Mine:"
A crippling trap design which employs a Naruni plasma cartridge or small explosive. The cartridge is placed in a small hole in the ground atop a nail or firing pin, then covered by a camouflaged wooden slat. When someone steps on the slat, the cartridge is pressed down on the firing pin, triggering a plasma blast that inflicts 1d4x10 MD to the victim's foot. Uncommon, due to the generally poor availability of Naruni ammunition.

So we know that Naruni rounds work like normal cartridges.
And we know that powerheads use normal cartridges for spears and spearguns, and logically would work with arrows as well.
So we know that a Naruni round could be used in a powerhead-type projectile.

Now, what we don't know is how big a normal Naruni plasma cartridge IS, and we DO know that a 12-gauge powerhead is generally considered to be too large for a speargun spear (as mentioned in the link above).
So a normal Naruni Plasma Cartridge might be too large for a powerhead-type arrow.
But Naruni also makes a smaller round for their NE-H10 Plasma Derringer (RGMG 151), and this derringer is "small enough to be hidden in a pocket or even up a sleeve," and that it weighs less than one pound.
Which makes me think that the derringer rounds are probably pretty small compared to shotgun shells, most likely not much bigger than a .357 round (which can be used in powerheads).
Since the COP .357 Derringer has 4 barrels, and weighs 1.75 lbs, I'm assuming that a normal .357 derringer would weigh roughly half of that, which would fit with the weight of the Naruni Derringer, indicating that it might have similar sized rounds or smaller.

So no, it's not 100% official.
But it seems so perfectly reasonable to me that I could not find any real way to object to them if a player wanted to make them in a game I was running, and had any kind of weapon-making or otherwise appropriate crafting skill.

There is allot force in the human foot step on the heal. I can stop the hamer that strikes the pin to set off a round in a gun with my thumb. I can not stop a person foot step with my thumb as easly. If I recal right from my mine training a 180 pound person heal strikes the ground with 550 pounds of presure, witch is also the amount of prsure to set of many anti tank mines.

That said we tend not to notice the force as it is what our body is desined for. That means to you it maight not seam like that much force when you walk but the shock impact is much higher than most fire arms striking the pin.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Colonel_Tetsuya:
Excellent write-up!

Just a little fine tuning and it will be perfect defense. For a fort it is already fantastic, but these defenses could be a little self-dangerous for a town. Let me explain it (and describe some of my fears and suggestions).

1. If the town is a rural, self-supporting settlement, they need a lot of space where they keep/bred their animals and grow plants/fruits (100 families requires a lot of food). Usually these farmlands are placed as close as possible to the settlement (easier to defend, the farmers can withdraw faster from a closer location), so if you want to place mines into the close vicinity of the town, you must equip them with a remote switch to turn them on and of when you need the defense (sadly, this will increase their price), so you can prevent accidents and loss of the mines to wandering animals. Another solution could be the use of mine pits with varied strength roof (they won't collapse under 100-150 lbs so most smaller animals, children cannot activate it) to concentrate the damage effect of the blast to a smaller area.

The paramaters for defense were laid down b y the OP, not me. Town already has a wall. What the citizens do with their livestock (if any) isnt my problem.

2. Without proper equipment, your guards are nearly worthless during nighttime. The lack of heat/infrared/nightvision equipment could be dangerous. The single portable scan dihilator is not enough, because the sensors included in its package are too short ranged and you put them on the central tower (heat detector range is a mere 250 feet and probably the other sensors have similar ranges). Your guards need one additional scan dihilator at the gate and maybe 1 Wilks infrared distancer binocular per squad (it can be purchased for only 600 credits).

Floodlights. All the towers have them. The entire area surrounding town out to the effective range of the shotguns can be illuminated to near-daylight. The Scan Dihilator is a backup radar unit, nothing more. Remember, the only purpose of the militia is to defend the town - they aren't an army. If the floodlights come up and the bad guys bail out and leave town - great. That's a solid win. Pretty much only non-machine flyers or flyers with their radar switched off can even hope to sneak up on the town anyway, given the Microwave Fence, Radar and the Ground Sensor System. I mean, sure, special forces or a determined party of adventurers or miscreants armed with magic (invisibility, portal spells) can do it, but these defenses weren't meant to stand off hardened professionals - just bandits, Simvan and wandering monsters.

3. Guards will need continous training (at least once per month) if they want to hit their targets, so they will need more ammo (normal ones for target prectice and against SDC targets, not the pricey ramjets). If you buy ammunition from the GAW, you can save a lot of money (they give more bullets for your money and they sell ramjet rounds cheaper than other manufacturers, for a mere 4-8 credits per round). If you don't want to buy normal bullets, you can buy tracer rounds for very low prices (cost only 45 credits for 100 such bullets at the GAW, see Merc Ops).

Guards will also need to be able to pick their own noses and walk on their own two feet, but i couldn't possibly cover ever single variable or detail of every persons life. Most of the families (should) already have shotguns and be proficient in their use. Buying SDC rounds to hunt with isn't the responsibility of the party setting up the towns defenses. If we assume the townsfolk are complete morons, then this entire exercise is moot. THat being said, there was budget left over for more ammo. You can safely assume some of it was for practice loads.

4. If I were you, I will change the .45 pistols to .22 revolvers for the following reasons.
These little fellows are cheaper (150 to 500 credits, so for lower price than an average quality .45 pistol you can have a rather good and simple weapon), may have the same ammo capacity, lighter, easy to maintain, carry and clean, have a simplier mechanism (lower amount of moving parts). With ramjet ammo they do the same damage as the ramjet loaded .45 pistols(if they come with longer barrel they can harm enemies from a little longer range).

Ill take the user-friendliness and parts interoperability of the M1911 any day over a .22; and the guns have far better SDC stopping power in the event that that is necessary.

I think those heavy .50 cal sniper rifles serve the defenders better in the town (from the towers and the walls). Those toys are too heavy and large to be carried with a normal man into the surrounding lands during a patrol, but provide excellent ranged attack when used from the towers of the settlement. Your scouts are already well-armed without these long range monsters (MDC arrows, normal arrows and handguns).

Those "long range monsters" only inflict 1d4 MD. They are there (and on the scouts) to be used against targets foolish enough not to be armored. Thats why they are on the scouts - to be used when bad guys are spotted away from town, potentially with their helmets off. They also make superior hunting weapons when armed with SDC shells, witch a range approaching a mile. They aren't that heavy to carry around during a patrol - if they were, the Australians, Canadians, and half of the EU wouldnt arm the snipers in their sniper/spotter teams with them. The Barret "short 50" isnt a lot larger or heavier than any other rifle.

Buy at least 1 weapon cleaning kit per unit and maybe some (not much, 2 to 5 total) repair kits. Without proper equipment they cannot clean and maintain their weapons which could lead to accidents over time.

Again, if i have to tell these people how to breathe or drink water, we're wasting our time. Presumably, this already-established wilderness town has plenty of people used to caring for at the very least SDC firearms.

While the NG-E4 seems a very good choice as a heavy energy weapon, there are better alternatives (the NG-45LP or NG-IP7 seems good alternatives) for lower price thad do nearly the same or better damage with similar/higher payload.

Keep looking around, you aren't going to find a better payload than 20 shots per long e-clip @ 6d6MD for anywhere near that price. I looked. My initial thought was the particle beam rifle from RMB/RUE, until i saw this bad boy. 24,000cr for a great payload, decent range, and durability.

Just look at the NG-IP7. Lighter, presumably smaller frame (easier to hide and carry), same range (1600 feet), excellent damage (1d4x10 per pulse), same payload (18 single shots or 6 pulse shots per E-clip against the E4's 6 shots per E-clip) for a mere 20K credits each (without the price reduction you mentioned).

The price reduction is irrelevant. It's available, therefore the weapon is only 24,000cr. At 20 shots per long clip (compared to only 10 pulses from the IP7 or 10 shots from from the P7 Particle Beam, it's a workhorse of efficiency.

The credits saved by weapon changes will be enough to buy ammo and additional sensor equipments/binoculars, weapon cleaning/repair kits.

Would, at best, be a 2,000cr savings per gun for less payload... so, not really seeing the point

Finally, as an anti-vampire measure buy or make several squirt guns and flash-bang grenades. The former can harm a vampire the latter can distract and slow down the monster and scare away many less intelligent monsters and animals.

5. Armor. Just a little tweak/addition of your already excellent work.
Mix the ironwood armors with home made leather armors (based on the skin of the nearby dinosaur skins). It can be done for free or minimal cost (need something to cut the MDC hide, like a very weak/low quality vibro scalpel/knife that do similar damage like a standard ramjet round) by a tanner (just kill a dino and bring it in) and provide the same or better protection with lower weight. Leather clothes/vests attracts less attention in the wilderness and the mixed use of wooden and leather armor gives poorer looks (which could be another form of defense).

This assumes skills that dont exist. As already came up on the forums, there's not really a skill that allows you to make MDC leather armor, otherwise, ALL of the armor would have assumed that MDC leather was available and would have been Ironwood Coat-of-plates and lamellar. Also, Ironwood doesn't put the townsfolk at danger hunting giant murderous dinosaurs - its free, created right out of thin air.

I appreciate the criticism, those are just my thoughts on your thoughts.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Re: MDC Leatherworking -

if such a thing were possible, i'd increase the MDC by 50% on both suits. A Coat-of-plates (the earliest form of medieval european plate armor) is a lot easier to wear than formed armor and the addition of MDC hide over and under the MDC Ironwood would increase the protection tremendously, and the mobility.

Similarly, with an MDC leather backing, the scouts could be armored in the equivalent of MDC Lamellar (leather with plates of bone/wood/stone/metal sewn flat onto it, similar to a brigandine) and easily get 50% more protection.

[sagajr]

Colonel_Tetsuya:
You mentioned the spotlight (not floodlights) but not count their price (or you include their price in the misc materials category?). That is why suggest several Wilks binoculars.

I think anyone with the skin and prepare animal hides and sewing can make leather armor even if its not counts as a true tanner. Those two skills do the job fine and most hunters already have it (and home made armors described in Rifts world books use animal hides and skins mostly).

About the E-4 payload. I don't found that high payload in the GMG only in the older Mercenaries book. However, the GMG printed after the Mercenaries which overwrite the high payload of the E-4 (similar nerf happend with the NG-P7 particle beam rifle when its 2d4x10 damage described in the GMG lowered to one-half in the RUE). So I calculate with the lower, 6 per standard E-clip and 12 per long E-clip.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Sourcebook 1 Revised, newer than the GMG. 20 shots per long clip.

Also the particle beam wasn't nerfed. It was never 2d4x10 prior to the misprint in the GMG. It was always 1d4x10 prior to that.. otherwise that thing would have been the single biggest no-brainer weapon in the world.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

There were a lot of misprints and errors in the GMG, at least the copy i've borrowed. The randomly changing ammo amounts on weapons like the E-4 is just one of the ways. (The weapon wasn't originally printed in Mercenaries, btw, it was originally in SB1 non-revised, where it was 10/20, just like it is in SB1:R). Given that evidence, i'd call the GMG stats an error, just like the P7.