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sir_pudding · 01-18-2010, 05:17 PM

Remember that the Palladium system uses M.D.C to explain modern weapons and armor. It isn't some special property of technology in RIFTS, it is a very unrealistic abstraction of anti-vehicular weaponry. In particular note the example given in several books of the tank, which cannot be defeated with rubber bouncy balls or 9mm pistols but can be killed with an Anti-Tank Weapon. In Palladium a tank is invulnerable to small arms because small arms do "S.D.C" and it is vulnerable to anti-vehicle weapons because these do "M.D.C". In Palladium an AT-4 kills a T72 by ablating all the armor off and then killing the crew. In GURPS the AT-4 puts a tiny hole in the armor and damages interior components (including personnel depending on where it hits). Which is pretty much what happens in real life

Palladium thus leads to all manner of unbelievable things. The armor ablates evenly over all surfaces regardless of the origin of the attack, so that if I shoot somebody in the front I can ablate is armor enough for you to shoot him in the back. Furthermore it doesn't matter where the armor is, all attacks will hit. There is an illustration of M.D.C body armor in a RIFTS book that shows a number of examples. Most of which are not full coverage sealed armors (at least one "Huntsman" IIRC, consists of a corslet, skirt, and corinthian style helmet), but all attacks still automagically ablate the armor. I always wondered why people couldn't just carry a small disk of M.D.C material instead of wearing body armor.

I was always especially irritated by the Robotech games in which it was impossible to actually replicate the source material. For example, the death of Roy Fokker, who was shot through the canopy of his fighter, and bled to death after completing a combat mission and RTB; in the Robotech RPG his fighter's armor would have to be completely disintegrated and then he would have exploded as he took M.D.C. to his S.D.C body.

There is hardly any good reason to retain anything of the mechanics of the Palladium system at all, IMO.

I apologize for willfully flaunting the forum rules concerning rules bashing, but it's very difficult to discuss the flaws in Palladium otherwise.

01-18-2010, 05:17 PM	#57
sir_pudding Wielder of Smart Pants Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ventura CA	Re: GURPS Rifts? Remember that the Palladium system uses M.D.C to explain modern weapons and armor. It isn't some special property of technology in RIFTS, it is a very unrealistic abstraction of anti-vehicular weaponry. In particular note the example given in several books of the tank, which cannot be defeated with rubber bouncy balls or 9mm pistols but can be killed with an Anti-Tank Weapon. In Palladium a tank is invulnerable to small arms because small arms do "S.D.C" and it is vulnerable to anti-vehicle weapons because these do "M.D.C". In Palladium an AT-4 kills a T72 by ablating all the armor off and then killing the crew. In GURPS the AT-4 puts a tiny hole in the armor and damages interior components (including personnel depending on where it hits). Which is pretty much what happens in real life Palladium thus leads to all manner of unbelievable things. The armor ablates evenly over all surfaces regardless of the origin of the attack, so that if I shoot somebody in the front I can ablate is armor enough for you to shoot him in the back. Furthermore it doesn't matter where the armor is, all attacks will hit. There is an illustration of M.D.C body armor in a RIFTS book that shows a number of examples. Most of which are not full coverage sealed armors (at least one "Huntsman" IIRC, consists of a corslet, skirt, and corinthian style helmet), but all attacks still automagically ablate the armor. I always wondered why people couldn't just carry a small disk of M.D.C material instead of wearing body armor. I was always especially irritated by the Robotech games in which it was impossible to actually replicate the source material. For example, the death of Roy Fokker, who was shot through the canopy of his fighter, and bled to death after completing a combat mission and RTB; in the Robotech RPG his fighter's armor would have to be completely disintegrated and then he would have exploded as he took M.D.C. to his S.D.C body. There is hardly any good reason to retain anything of the mechanics of the Palladium system at all, IMO. I apologize for willfully flaunting the forum rules concerning rules bashing, but it's very difficult to discuss the flaws in Palladium otherwise. Last edited by sir_pudding; 01-18-2010 at 06:17 PM.