VEHICLES, POWER ARMOR  
& BIG BADASS  
MOTHERJUMPIN' ROBOTS! 
Many have bemoaned the lack of vehicle rules for Feng Shui.  Where do we find such a place to begin the rules on our vehicles, you cry?  Hero games for the body stat.  Feng Shui for keeping them simple. Rifts for the heavily armed shit.  Mekton and Fuzion for the idea that robots, cars,  giant robots, assault jets and motorcycles are all just one vehicle with different special effects.
 

THE CHASSIS
Each vehicle has three main stats.  Body, Toughness and Movement.  The Dodge Bonuses and Debits are optional.  As well, many vehicles have a Weapons System, but not all.
 
Body: : The size, strength and sturdiness of the vehicle.  A Body rating gives you a specific size for your vehicle.  The Body is also what you roll when your named vehicle is about to snuff it while you're flaming out at 20,000 feet, and the bad guys are getting away.  Each vehicle can lift, move, or pull its Body rating in weight.  As well, when crashing into someone, or engaging in combat, Body determines collision or punching damage. 
 
Toughness:  Toughness is seperated from the Body.  Toughness is related to the size (larger objects can absorb more damage) of the vehicle.  How well armored or armed your vehicle is, your Toughness is what keeps the other guys from shooting it up. 
 
Movement Movement is different from character movement.  Move is determined by Top Speed in mph/10.  Simple as that.  If you wanna do KM, then divide by 16, and suffer for your metric ways... bwahahahahaha. 
 
Each vehicle also has a crew rating, with passenger capacity listed in parenthesis.
 

MANEUVERABILITY AND DODGE BONUS
Movement also helps to determine the basic agility of your craft, but Toughness does tend to bite deeply into that.  Here are the two rules of Maneuverability  and how they apply for each type of vehicle.
 

Aircraft:   For every 10 full Movement points, add a +1 to your AV for Dodging. The idea being the quicker you are, the more nimble you are. 
 
For every point of Toughness over 9, subtract a -1 from your AV for Dodging.  If your craft is tougher, it's less aerodynamic and most likely heavier, and thus dodges like a brick. 
Ground and  
Surface Craft: 
For every 4 full Movement points, add a +1 to your AV for Dodging. 

For every point of Toughness over 11, subtract a -1 from your AV for Dodging.  If your craft is tougher, it's less streamlined, and heavier which means problems in handling on various surfaces, and thus, dodges like a brick. 

Water Craft: Get no AV bonuses or penalties for dodging underwater. 
 
 
DETERMINING THE BODY & TOUGHNESS
RATINGS 
 
 Every sourcebook, from Car & Driver to ZZ Gundam, has the weight and height or length of the vehicles they feature recorded in them. (Choose whichever is the "deepest" stat for height or length.) 
 
Since all vehicles have to have a certain mass, for engine systems, controls, and the ability to survive harsh abuse, Body is based off of weight, not the space taken up by the vehicle.
 
WEIGHT  
OF VEHICLE
 BODY RATING
60 - 125 lbs BODY 5
126 - 250 lbs  BODY 6
251 - 500 lbs BODY 7
501 - 1000 lbs BODY 8
1001 - 1 Ton. BODY 9
Up to 2 Tons BODY 10
 
WEIGHT  
OF VEHICLE
 BODY RATING
Up to 4 Tons BODY 11
Up to 8 Tons BODY 12
Up to 16 Tons BODY 13
Up to 32 Tons  BODY 14
Up to 64 Tons  BODY 15
and so on, and so on...
 
 
 
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!! 
When comparing bonuses, choose the largest applicable bonus.  
DON'T add the bonuses together!  
This is RIFTS, and all, but let's not get into supreme munchkinville.
 
 
Power Armor and Robots Are A Different Kind Of Beastie 

As your average Cadillac, doesn't have arms and a carrying capacity (unless he's a Transformer)use the chart to the right to determine its strength.  
 

However, a 385lb SAMAS is a tough STRONG cookie. 

What to do, what to do... 
 

Robotic Strength 

 
Robot's 
Strength
FS Body
16 - 20
10 Body
21 - 25
11 Body
26 - 30
12 Body
31 - 35
13 Body
36 - 40
14 Body
41 - 50
15 Body
51 - 60
16 Body
... and so on...
 
Converting Power Armor and Robots depends on the ROBOT strength of the vehicle.  As the lifting abilities of the robot generally depend on the sturdiness of the vehicle  (a 15 ton sponge isn't gonna lift much, even with the mightiest arms), Body is determined by the strength of the vehicle.Its also important to remember that just because Robots and Power Armo are small it doesn't mean that they can't be tough. 

Whence some accounting for MDC... 
 
MDC
Toughness Bonus
1 - 250
+0 Bonus 
251 - 500
+1 Bonus
501 - 750
+2 Bonus 
751 - 1000
+3 Bonus 
1001 - 1500
+4 Bonus
Add + 1 to Toughness for every 500 level over 1500
 

 
Size Bonuses Based on Height/Length
1 - 10 feet 
No Modifier
11 - 20 feet
+ 1 TGH
21 - 40 feet 
+ 2 TGH
41 - 80 feet 
+ 4 TGH
81 - 160 feet
+ 8 TGH
and so on and so on...
Yes... this means Aircraft Carriers a kilometer long and weighing a few million tons are not things you want to be shooting at.  Never mind the hundreds of jet fighters and helicopters, nor the Marine Infantry battalion on board... if you get my drift
 
IMPORTANT EXTRA NOTE!
The Gun Schtick Eagle Eye, the Fu Schtick Dim Mak, and any other schtick which ignores armor ALSO ignores Toughness Bonuses and is figured against BODY.  It might not be much, but it could mean a world of difference between life and death.  A 9mm round or laser burst in the right vent, or in the nostril of the fanged demon, will make all the difference in the world.

How Does All of This Work with the Transformers Conversion that was Already Published Elsewhere?
 



 
 HIGH SPEED VEHICLE COMBAT

Invariably, with jet fighters, automobiles, motorcycles, and of course, flying armors and robots, you're gonna find yourself dogfighting.  Here are some general rules.
 

For every 10 Full Movement points over the Driver's REF rating, Driving AV checks are -1. 
For Ground Vehicles, this number is 5 Full Movement points. 
 
For every 5 Full Movement points you move faster than your pursuer, your Dodge rating is +1. 
For Ground Vehicles, this number is 3 Full Movement points 
 
For every 5 Full Movement points which you slow down, your Dodge rating increases by +2 for the first sequence in which it's used. 
For Ground Vehicles, this number is 3 Full Movement points. 
 
For every 5 Full Movement points you move faster than someone you're chasing, your attack AV is +1 as you close in on him. 
For Ground Vehicles, this number is 3 Full Movement points. 
 
By slowing 10 Full Movement points, you may strafe a stationary target at +2 AV for the first sequence in which you attack. 
For Ground Vehicles, this number is 5 Full Movement points. 
 
 



OF MOOKS AND POWER ARMOR

This also applies to vehicles, but since this is Rifts oriented, and quite easily can translate into anime, power armor is the example we'll use.

One day, the players are travelling in the countryside in their nifty little collection of cars and whatnot, when out of the sky come screaming a small squadron of POWER ARMOR!  Chances are, the GM who sics these guys on you has just had this as a random encounter.  The named pilots are at home, building their reserves for an upcoming conflict.

But Power Armor is more of a threat than mere mooks.  The same would apply to a Cadillac pulling up with mooks sticking their guns out of it.  What to do? Make the Power Armored troops a throwaway, and thus making the existence of them idiocy except for named pilots?  Nahhhhhhhhh.

Treat Mook Power Armor and vehicles as MINOR characters.

There are two range levels of Mook vehicles as far as durability is concerned.  Car or Power Armor range which has 20 Wound Points, and Tank or Robot range, which has 35 WP.

A Minor Vehicle has 20 Wound points, and does not roll snuffing it checks, but once it suffers its 20 WP, it's OUTTA THERE.  Remember, though, once you snuff the vehicle, one or more mooks may have survived inside.  If you exceeded the wound point count by 5 in the final attack on the vehicle, disregard annoying survivors.  If not, you now have irate mooks running at you with guns, presumably after being hammered with some heavy weapons.
 




Sample Mook Vehicles:
 
Mobster Cadillac 
Crew: 5 (1 driver, 4 gunmen)
BOD:11, TGH:12, Move:14, Dodge: +0
Wound Points: 20
Weapons Systems: 
1) Uzis, x4.  10 / 4 / 32  (plus 5 reloads).
The main artilery of a mobster vehicle, submachine guns sticking out the sides can be fired at as many as four characters.  The mooks manning these guns can be targeted and eliminated, but consider them behind 75% cover. Two gunners can fire at the same target, giving the Cadillac the ability Both Guns Blazing at the 3 schtick level, with no penalty.
 
(Note: When engaged in vehicle combat, to simulate the deadlier effectiveness of Mook vehicles, thus giving players a reason to run, give them a Mecha Combat or Driving and Guns combination of 8 - 10.  However, once their vehicle is trashed, feel free to return the mooks to a 5 - 7 level of combat.  After all, without being behind a ton of armor, they're now much more vulnerable, and less cocky.)

 Coalition PA-60A "Death's Head" SAMAS
Coalition PA-60A "Death's Head" SAMAS 
 
 
Crew: 1
BOD:8, TGH:8, Move:30, Dodge: +3
Wound Points: 20
Weapons Systems: 
1) C-40R SAMAS Light Rail Gun: 17 / - /50 
The main gun of the SAMAS Power armor, the C-40R is a well cherished weapon for fliers of power armor, or really strong (Body 8 or more) types.  Firing bursts of 40 rounds, this chopper is deasigned to tackle Dragons, tanks, and anything slower than an attack jet, and even then, that's what the mini-missiles are for.  Sure, you could have a weapon that has a damage rating 9 / 8 / 2000, but if you're gonna do nickle and dime damage, why even GET a gun weighing 92 pounds with an ammunition drum weighing 190 pounds?  BIG GUN = BIG DAMAGE.  Now go out there and stomp some ass, you know you wanna! 
 
2) CM-2 Rocket Launcher: As Per Mini-Missile Type / - / 2 
The CM-2 holds two shots.  But when you're firing an armor piercing round which can split a Cadillac in half, or a Plasma round which can burn down an entire building, you don't need a lightning reload, nor a lot of firepower. When you're packing two missiles on you, that's more than sufficient for a groovy action scene with plenty of fireballs.  And, if you want more fireballs, here's a hint... use the C-40R on the gas tanks.  BOOOOOOOOOOOM! 
 
 

  
Mook Drivers / Pilots
"OOOF!" (As you hit him over the head)
Body:5  Chi:Mnd:Ref:6
Skills: 
Driving or Mecha:9, Guns:6, Martial Arts:6 
Equipment:  
Cool ass vehicle worth stealing,clearance to get into said cool ass vehicle, a sidearm, the keys to said cool ass vehicle, . :) 
  
(Note, the pilots of Mook Power Armor are QUITE good.  Their combat ratings for Mecha Combat are from 8 to 10, with some elite, semi-named types getting as high as 12 if your mecha jockey seems a bit cocky with "Mooks."  However, peel away the armor, and they're just normal types.  Roll an outcome of 5 (or more if they have Megadamage armor), and you nailed them.  Also, remember all those movies where the hero doesn't even blink twice knocking out the pilot of that trillion dollar special airplane, then slips into his flight suit to steal it?  THIS is that guy he konks on the noggin.) 
 
 

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