Ghost T-34 Tank:


The tip of the barrel of a an ancient tank stuck from the deep swamp. Many areas of Russia are covered with vast swamps. Many tanks had been lost in the vast lands of the Soviet controlled territories. Some lost during wars, others used as targets, while yet others were simply left to rust away. Likely it had sunk into the mud slowly but somehow the barrel had broken the surface of the swamp.


No one knew it was there and even if they had, it is likely that nobody would have cared. The New Soviet government payed little attention to the relics of the past. Nobody had likely seen the ancient tank since it sank into the mud.


Something happened. The sky darkened and lightning flashed across the sky. Not a thunderstorm but something more. Intense beyond anything ever seen colors never seen. Grey, blue, and red lit up the sky. The Apocalypse had come with magic returning to the world


Several multi-colored lightning bolts appeared to hit the ground around the old wreck. At first it seemed to be an illusion but it appeared as if the barrel was getting longer. Something had awoken. Then it became obvious that the barrel was slowly rising from the earth with mud dripping from the barrel.


The sound of metal grinding could be heard under the ground. The gunning of a powerful diesel suddenly rocked the earth. The black mud began to split apart as the top of a tank emerged. Rust had taken anything which might have identified the tank but it was ancient, perhaps dating from the Great Patriotic War. Still, it was in surprisingly good shape. Great clouds of black smoke rose from the tank as it rolled off.



It had been an absolutely insane day for Sergeant Valentina Maximova. There had been no contact with any officers since earlier in the days. She had tried to call them dozens of times. She did not know what was happening. Did the Capitalist Americans launch nuclear weapons. There had been some tension but nothing which really made any sense.


In the end, she did not know if it really mattered. Her job, and the job of her troops, was to get the residents of this small town evacuated to emergency shelters and the people, many of them quite old, were extremely reluctant and did not want to move. Others were in a complete panic. She could ordered her troops to threaten to shoot them but was extremely reluctant. Only her own force of will had been keeping her own troops from panicking.


She could hear the clinking of a tank’s treads. Finally, there was some support coming. She turned in the direction of the tank coming. As it appeared, it was strange that she did not recognized the tank class. Maybe something which had been pulled from the reserves. As well, it was extremely rough shape.


There was a strange small, something like the smell of burnt meat but not quite. Suddenly, a machine gun on the tank opened fire on one of her troops. A green lightning stuck the man and he spun around and fell to the ground. Why the hell was the tank firing at her troops. What the hell was going on. She ducked immediately behind a barrier.



The T-34 Medium Tank was the second most produced tank in history. Only the T-55 Tank was produced in larger number. Huge number of T-34 tanks fought during World War Two, often known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War. Large numbers were lost during the war, some sinking into rivers and almost bottomless swamps. Others continued to serve after the war. Some were simply abandoned while others were used as targets, both for conventional weapons and for nuclear weapons. As such, finding lost T-34 tanks was never especially surprising.


After the coming of the Rifts, much which had been long dead rose from the grave. Military vehicles, such as tanks, often had large amounts of emotional energy pent up in them. Often the crew died in them and put their own energies in the vehicles. Death always leaves a metaphysical stain on whatever it touches and often fear and anger leave their own lasting impressions.


There appears to be an old T-34 tank which wanders the lands which were once the Soviet Union. What goals this vehicle have are unknown. It appears to attack targets virtually without explanation. Other times, it will leave targets alone without explanation. It will also sometimes begin attacking and break off the attack with little explanation. Some psychics have tried to contact the vehicle but none have been able to get any response from the vehicle and many have been attacked.


About the only thing consistent is that if it encounters anything which appears to have a Nazi or German symbol, it will always attack. It will also never break off an attack unless it appears to be about to be destroyed. Several times, opponents have almost gotten to the point where it should be destroyed but it just disappears and then reappears somewhere else.


There does not appear to be a crew in the vehicle although nobody really knows because no one has been able to get into the tank or even open one of the hatches. It could be inhabited by some kind of specter or could have nothing inside. A story was told of somebody seeing inside and there was a skeleton inside but the source does not seem to be credible. One only gets close to the vehicle at their own risk.


The tank has been damaged many times and had been in almost uncountable number of battles. Both the various warlords and the New Soviet forces have fought this tank in the past. Every time damaged, a few days later the vehicle reappears will all of the damage repaired. It seems to take far more damage than any tank built during the time it was built should be able to withstand. It seems to be able to withstand more damage than some refitted tanks which made the bulk of the tank forces when the Communist took control of the government.


The engine never seems to need fuel and seems to run forever. There are no marking visible on the tank which makes it unclear when it was built. The engine smokes quite a bit and makes quite a bit of noise as if poorly tuned and needing some serious maintenance. The tracks also appear to be in rough shape. Still, this does not effect the tanks ability to move. Still, most modern armor is much faster and one option is to simply get away from it instead oif engaging it.


The main gun appears to be an 85 mm cannon which seems to make it a later version of the T-34. It fires some kind of magical energy which can damage the heaviest armor. In addition to damaging the target the tank fires at, the energy will directly effect any crew member even under armor. The effects are similar to those of the havoc spell. There have been cases where the main cannon stops firing as if it runs out of ammunition with nobody having what seems to be a truly good explanation. There tank also often fires what appear to be machine guns which fires a similar type of magical energy although these do not have the ability to penetrate armor directly and effect a crew under armor.


Model Type: T-34/85
Vehicle Type: Ground, Ghost Medium Tank
Crew: Apparently None (Original had a crew of five)
Horror Factor: 16


M.D.C. by Location:

[1] Tractor Treads (2):120 each
Weapons Turret:320
85 mm ZiS-S-53 Main Cannon140
[2] Coaxial 7.62 mm DT Machine Gun:60
[2] Hull 7.62 mm DT Machine Gun:60
[3] Main Body:600


Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until it is replaced.
[2] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a “called shot,” but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[3] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and unsalvageable, but crew may survive in their reinforced compartments.
Note: The tank will regenerate at 20% of the hit locations M.D.C. per day, meaning all damage will be restored within 5 days of being damaged.


Speed:
Ground: Cruising speed on land is 34 mph (54.7 kph) on roads and 25 mph (40.2 kph) off road maximum. The vehicle is designed to traverse virtually all terrain and can climb at up to a 60% grade although at a much slower speed (About 10% of maximum road speed). It can also climb barriers and ford trenches. The vehicle can also handle side slopes of up to 30%.
Underwater: Tank can travel underwater at about half normal off road speed (12 mph / 19.3 kph) but is not water tight. Because there appears to be no crew, this seems to not be any serious problem. The water simply poors out of it when it leaves the water.
Maximum Range: Runs on magical energy, the tank appears to need no refueling and seems to run on magical energy.


Statistical Data:
Height: 8.92 feet (2.72 meters)
Width: 9.84 feet (3.00 meters)
Length: Main Body: 20.01 feet (6.1 meters) and With Gun Forward: 26.74 feet (8.15 meters).
Weight: 32 tons (29 metric tons)
Power Source: Magic, tank systems seem to work as if run by magic
Cargo Capacity: Minimal. Theoretically has storage space in pilot’s compartment; about three feet (0.9 m) in side dimensions for extra clothing, weapons, and personal items.
Black Market Cost: Not for Sale, due to the evil and haunted nature of the tank, it is doubtful anyone would want the tank and the vehicle is completely independent.


Weapon Systems:

  1. 85 mm ZiS-S-53 “Balefire” Main Cannon: Original cannon but “Ghost” energies cause the cannon to fire rounds constructed from magical energy instead of standard projectiles. Cannon must still be loaded each time by the tank’s loader. The entire can traverse through 360 degrees with fifteen seconds and the barrel can elevate up to 25 degrees and depress down 5 degrees. When rounds are being expended, the rounds will be restored at the rate of four rounds per minute. Rounds will effect both the target hit and any crew inside as if they are hit by the spell “Havoc”
    Maximum Effective Range: Direct Fire: 6,000 feet (1828.8 m) for direct fire and indirect fire range of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). Havoc effects a 20 foot (6.1 meter) area.
    Mega Damage: Round inflicts 2D6x10+20 M.D.C. directly to the target. Round also inflicts 1D6 Direct to hit points per melee (Inflicts double M.D.C. to Supernatural Creatures) to the crew and the target also needs to save vs magic or are -3 to initiative, strike, parry, and dodge. (has no sense of direction or time.) Secondary effect goes direct through power armor and vehicles. Duration of secondary effect is ten melees. Havoc effects a 20 foot (9.1 meter) diameter area.
    Rate of Fire: Four rounds per melee (Has +3 to strike).
    Payload: 60 rounds (Regenerates at the rate of one round every 15 seconds)
  2. 7.62 mm DT “Balefire” Machine Guns (2): The haunted T-34 tank has two mounts with one mounted coaxial to the main cannon with the other mounted in the hull on the right side. The hull mounted weapon is fired by the co-driver and has the ability to traverse 20 degrees to the left and 25 degrees to the right. The mount can also elevate up 20 degrees and depress down 10 degrees. The Coaxial mount moves with the main cannon. The cannons originally fired 7.62 mm ammunition but now fires magical energy.
    Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 meters)
    Mega Damage: Short Burst 2D6 and Long Burst 6D6
    Rate of Fire: Six attacks per melee (Has +3 to strike).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.


Special Abilities as a Haunted Vehicle:

Quirks:


[ Altarain TM, Bandito Arms TM, Brodkil TM, Chipwell Armaments TM, Coalition States TM, Cyber-Knight TM, Federation of Magic TM, Free Quebec TM, Golden Age Weaponsmiths TM, Horune TM, Iron Heart Armaments TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kydian TM, Larsen’s Brigade TM, M.D.C. TM, Mechanoids TM, Mega-Damage TM, Megaversal Legion TM, Millennium Tree TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Naut’Yll, New Navy TM, New Sovietskiy TM, NGR TM, Nog Heng TM, Northern Gun TM, Phase World TM, Psyscape TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Shemarrian TM, Splugorth TM, Stormspire TM, Sunaj TM, Tolkeen TM, Triax TM, Wellington Industries TM, Wilk’s Laser Technologies TM, Xiticix TM, and Zaayr TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]


Special Credit to Talis D. Merrill (taalismn@pop.tiac.net) for many of the concepts and enchantments / powers for Ghost / Haunted vehicles.


Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Copyright © 2009, Kitsune. All rights reserved.


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