Extended Range Rules (For M.D.C. Weapons):
In the Palladium RPG, there are a lot of direct fire (essentially what-you-see-is-what-you-hit) weapons that are supposed to do enormously much more damage than contemporary weapons, and yet they often have only a fraction of the useful range of weapons of our own time. Even large weapons, like those mounted on tanks suffer from this problem. A range of 6000 feet for the cannon on a tank sounds great, but if you consider that modern tanks like the Leopard and the Abrams can hit targets at ranges of more than 30,000 feet, the Palladium ranges suddenly sound rather anemic.
Another perfect example of this are railguns. A popular model like the Triax X-500, has a range of 4000 feet, and should be considered a crew-served weapon if used by unaugmented people. A Conventional weapon like the .50 caliber Browning heavy machine gun, which fills a similar niche, has a range of more than 6000 feet, well over a mile!
The answer is off course, that as distance increases, accuracy suffers. With a conventional machine gun the gunner will be hard put to hit anything (smaller than a tank...) at a range of over a mile, while the projectile itself has plenty of killing power left. The modern tank will often only be able to hit targets at extreme range if they (tank and target) are standing still. Yet the Mega Damage weapons have the same To Hit rating over their entire range. The logical conclusion, and the answer to give such weapons a slightly more reasonable range compared to conventional weapons, is that the given range for a Mega Damage weapon is really the range over which it accurate enough to be fired without penalties.
Penalties for extended range would be as follows:
- Up to 2 times the stated range: -2 to hit OR any bonuses from weapon
negated.
Up to 3 times the stated range: -4 to hit AND any bonuses from weapon negated.
Up to 4 times the stated range: -6 to hit AND any bonuses from weapon negated.
Beyond 4 times the stated range it would be assumed that the weapon really is beyond its useful range, and would be too inaccurate or have too little power to be a threat.
This would give the Triax X-500 a maximum range of up to 16,000 feet (4800 meters), with a -6 penalty to hit.
Exclusions to these rules:
- Battlefield artillery.
Most of such weapons have a clearly noted maximum range for different types of ammo. This includes weapons like howitzers but also weapons like unguided missiles like the MLRS and artillery like the M-109 mobile howitzer.
The 16" cannons on the Chi-Town Class carriers would also be counted under this rule, since they are modern-day weapons. Novak described what were essentially the 16" guns of the Iowa class battleships.
Generally any "current" (2001 era) weapon or weapons like them, whose described range is equal to the range it would have in real life.
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Writeup by Mischa (E-Mail Mischa) and by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Copyright © 2001, Mischa & Kitsune. All rights reserved.