Shadow Warship:
As far as starships of war are concerned, this ships only equals are
the corresponding Vorlon warships and other First Ones ships. While there
was at least one race that older than the first one (A being know as Lorien
is the only remaining representative of that race) the Shadows are the
oldest race of the group of races know as the First Ones. In many ways,
the Shadows are the most technologically advanced of the First Ones. They
are certainly the first race from the First Ones to experiment with FTL
drives and Hyperspace. Their racial age is at least 100 million years,
but they may be more than a billion years old!
The Shadow warship comes in three different sub sizes. The first size
is 800 meters long, the second size is 1500 meters long, and the largest
are 3000 meters long. All ships have similar ability but the larger one
have increased armor. This description describes the 800 meter long design
but can be used to represent all three designs by increasing the MDC of
various hit locations (Increase hit locations by a factor of 2 for 1.5
km versions and by a factor of 4 for the 3 km versions) and increase the
number of fighters (70 for the 1.5 km versions and 100 for the 3 km versions).
The shadow warships look very organic and have been described as Spiders
or Crabs because of their appearance.
The Shadow Warship is armed with a Shadow type Quantum Gravitic Discharge
Cannon for its only normal weapon. The only real difference with the Vorlon
weapon of the same type is that the frequency of the Gravity waves it fires
is different, which gives the beam a slightly different appearance. This
weapon gives the Ship a unexpectedly large fire power. This weapon is so
powerful that the Ship can attack a half a dozen warships of any of the
younger races and devastate them. The ship is also armed with a special
weapon that can actually collapse a Jump Point. This weapon can easily
destroy any size ship and it is simply how close to the effect and the
luck of the ships crew for the ships to survive.
The entire ship is alive, a single large living organism without any
mechanical features. The skin of this creature is a strong adapting armor,
not unlike its Vorlon counterpart. Backing up this armor are shields consisting
of interwoven energy fields and layers of gravitational distortion. These
shields are capable of absorbing large amounts of energy, be it directed
energy or kinetic in nature.
The ships sublight propulsion consists of a powerful gravity drive system
that is used for maneuvering and main thrust. this gives the Warship superb
maneuverability and acceleration. This drive can also be used as a tractor
beam. Because of their long experience with FTL physics they have a hyperdrive
system that allows them to move in and out of hyperspace at will, at whatever
position they wish to appear at. This gives them a great advantage in ambushes
etc. they can also use the to pass into being between hyperspace and real
space and be virtually invulnerable there.
Since the ship is alive it has an intelligence similar to that of a
sentient AI and so can perform difficult maneuvers on its own. It needs
a crew, although its more apt to call that single unfortunate individual
a computer core. Take note that the smaller and medium sized Warships are
usually drones and will normally have no Shadows are onboard (they always
have the unfortunate victim or they are inert). On sensor readings the
ship will read as built out of organic materials rather than the metal
alloys that most starships are built out of. When its ECM is engaged it
is almost impossibly hard to detect.
A special trait of these ships is the way they launch their fighters:
Unlike the Vorlons, who transfer their fighters through the hull of their
ships, the shadow Warship actually splits off a spiked ball of organic
matter which is hurled at the enemy at a immense acceleration (3% of light
per melee). Once this mass is close to the enemy it "explodes" scattering
the Warships fighters in all directions. One minute you`re safe, the next
you`ve got 40 fighters buzzing around your ship. This is attack is also
very disconcerting and the captain of the ship being attack must make a
saving throw against horror factor of 15 or panic.
As the Shadows are agents of chaos, meeting a Shadow Warship is often
perilous: they`re liable to shoot on sight and forget about the questions,
although if you`re lucky and retreat before the ship decides what to do
with you, you may survive.
This writeup of the Shadow Warship uses modified modified starship speed
and ranges. See Revised
Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model: Shadow Warship
Crew: One, the ship is flown by a living computer core. Boarding
parties have a problem as there are no corridors or open spaces inside
of the Shadow Warship! Should the Warship have a crew onboard (for game
terms: 200 shadows) it will form corridors and such. Bear in mind that
Shadows are as powerful as a low powered supernatural intelligence although
not quite as powerful as the Vorlons on an individual basis.
Vehicles: 40 Fighters
M.D.C. by location:
| Dimensional Disruptor (situated in upper hull) | 15,000 |
| Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon(situated in lower hull): |
20,000 |
| [1] Gravity Drive Spines (14): | 10,000 each |
| [2] Main Body: | 260,000 |
| [3] Variable Force Field: | 15,000 a side (90,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] Destroying one of the spines means that sublight acceleration and
maneuverability are reduced by 5 % each. In order to completely destroy
its drive system all the spines have to be blown off and main body must
have sustained 20 % damage. Blowing one of the spines off also means that
there is a 10% chance (not cumulative) the ship will go berserk with pain,
obsessed with chasing and destroying its tormentor at all costs (additional
+3 to strike -5 to dodge, ECM halved)
[2] Depleting the MDC of the main body will destroy the Dreadnaught,
putting it out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including
life support and internal gravity The ship itself will be an unsalvageable
floating wreck. Both the hull and the ships systems have the ability to
repair themselves. The ships hull and ships systems regenerate damage at
the rate of 2D4x100 MDC per minute. The ship can only repair up to half
the total MDC of a system or the main body.
[3] Shield positions are variable and can be combined into one shield.
The shields regenerate at a rate of 5% (4500 MDC) per melee round.
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Gravity drive allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent
of the speed of light. The ship can accelerate/ decelerate at a whopping
rate of 1.5 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is mach 10. Can enter
atmosphere and leave the atmosphere of a planet easily.
Stardrive: Unlike the Vorlons, the starships of the Shadows
do not need to use or create a Jump Point to enter into hyperspace. Instead
they can create a tiny effect that passes the ship into hyperspace without
any jump point being formed. The ship can also travel into a pocket dimension
that the ship is between normal space and hyperspace. The ships can use
this to evade mines or missiles. The Shadow Warship is incredibly fast
in hyperspace. The ship can travel the equivalent of 200 light years per
hour in distance in real space. This means that the ship could actually
cross the Galaxy in about three weeks. The shadow warship can pass into
and out of hyperspace within the atmosphere of a planet as well as in space.
Shadow Warships will occasionally use previously established jump points
to deceive an enemy into thinking that they cannot pass out of hyperspace
without a jump point.
The Shadow Warship has enough power to make the transition to or from
hyperspace every round, should this be desired. The entire phasing takes
just seven seconds, and always occurs as the LAST action that round.
Maximum Range: Unlimited by all drive systems. It is not known
how much supplies it carries with it, but it is safe to assume several
years worth.
Statistical Data:
Length: 1330 feet (400 meters)
Height: 660 feet (200 meters)
Width: 2660 feet (800 meters)
Weight: 16 million tons (14.5 million metric tons)
Power System: Hyperspace Tap with an unknown duration.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 200,000 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition
Market Cost: No Shadow ships have ever been for sale anywhere.
Should someone get their hands on one, they will probably die (see the
series). Actually any race would pay hundreds of trillions of credits for
a living Shadow Warship (although they will probably regret it Very Much
a little later)
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
- Shadow Quantum Gravitic Discharge Cannon (1):
This weapon
is virtually identical to those mounted on the Vorlon Dreadnought but has
three setting instead of two. The setting must be selected at the start
of the melee round and cannot be changed during the melee. The weapon is
focused and aimed through the manipulation of gravitic fields. This gives
it a very large field of fire (a cone of 180 degrees in front of the ship)
and makes it possible to swing the beam through the entire field of fire
in a single melee turn. This weapon system functions by firing a beam of
coherent gravity waves at a target, which disrupts the very molecules of
the target at a quantum level. Any target area hit by the beam is literally
torn apart at the subatomic level, reducing the affected area to a very
hot cloud of quarks and mesons. The first beam is low powered and can be
used against fighters without size penalties and has +4 to strike and can
be aimed at up to six targets per melee. The second setting can be aimed
at up to three targets per melee but is far more powerful. The second setting
is the standard setting and has normal penalties to strike small targets.
The final setting involves shutting down the engines that allow the ship
to pass into hyperspace. If this is done, the hyperdrive needs 3 minutes
to recharge. The weapon can only be aimed at one target and the setting
also has standard penalties to strike small targets. The advantage is that
the weapons damage is greatly increased. Also This Quantum Gravitic Discharge
Cannon is far more powerful than those mounted on the Minbari and Ranger
White Star class gunboats and Drahk Raiders. This weapon does have standard
penalties to use against small targets such as fighters. Due to the weapons
nature it does full damage to targets protected by the spell "Invulnerable
to energy".
Range: Low Powered Setting: 19 miles (30 km) in an atmosphere
and 18,700 miles (30,000 km) in space.
Standard and Overcharged:
187 miles (300 km) in an atmosphere and 187,000 miles (300,000 km) in space.
Mega-Damage: Low Power Setting: 3D6x1,000 Standard:
2D4x10,000 M.D. Overcharge: 8D6x10,000 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Special, Beam can only be fired once per melee
but Low Powered setting can be directed at up to six different targets
per melee, Standard Setting can be directed at up to three targets
per melee (Damage is tripled if concentrating on one target for the full
melee), and Overcharged setting can only be directed at one target.
Payload : Effectively Unlimited.
- Dimensional Disruptor:
This weapon disrupts a dimensional
transfer point, or places of high space/time distortion. A ball of energy
that looks like ball lightning is formed between the forward spines of
the Shadow Warship. This is launched into a Jump Point. Any ship passing
through the disturbed Jump Point undergoes massive dimensional shear and
can easily be torn apart by these forces. to a lesser extent this also
applies to other methods of FTL-flight like the Macross space fold
machines. This weapon draws so much energy that for two melees the Hyperspace
Fusion beam cannot be used, the ship cannot leave real space, and the ship
will only have half the normal number of dodges.
Range: 93,300 miles (150,000 km) in space, 93.3 miles (150 km)
in atmosphere
Mega-Damage: Unlike most weapons, this weapon targets the whole
starship and only by luck can a ship survive the collapse of a jump point.
The damage is a percentage of the damage the main body of the ship has
if the ship is undamaged. This damage is then applied to the ships shields
first and all remaining damage is passed to the main body. If the ship
does not have shields, the ship takes full damage. If the damage exceeds
the main body, which is very likely in most cases, the ship is completely
obliterated. If the ship survives, damage is applied to all hit locations
on the ship. This is done by taking the damage to the main body and dividing
it by the undamaged main body of the ship. This is the percentage all hit
locations will loose in damage.
For example, a Centauri Vorchan Cruiser is caught in a collapsing
Jump Point. The weapon does 120% of the Main body of the ship. This is
144,000 MDC for the Vorchan. The shield protection is then subtracted from
the damage (144,000 - 36,000 = 108,000). The ship received 108,000 MDC
of damage to the main body. All other locations will then be reduced by
90% of their original values (108,000 / 120,000 = 90%).
The ship will effectively be almost a wreck.
This weapon will also effect ships using many other means of FTL propulsion.
The weapon is aimed at the fold area for fold drives but must be aimed
at the ship itself for CG Drives and Warp Drives. The worst effected other
than ship that use jump points are those that use fold engines such as
those that Macross and Robotech use. CG engines and warp drives are not
effected as much as Jump Point or Fold Engines are. Because of the Unique
nature of Phase Drives, they are not effected, and Rifts Jump Drives are
not effected because they are magical in nature.
Percentage of Damage taken:
Jump point physics (B-5): 3D6 x 10%
Fold engines (Macross, Zentraedi etc.): 2D6 x 10%
CG Drive, warp engines (Phase World, Star Trek ): 1D6 x 10%
Rate of Fire: weapon can be fired once ever 20 melees. The weapon
takes the full melee to charge. During this time, the ship may no pass
into or out of real space or fire the Hyperspace fission gun. Consider
the weapon to be able to be fired on the first melee that the ship enters
combat.
Payload : Effectively Unlimited.
Special equipment:
- Adaptive Hull: The Shadow Warship has the ability to adapt to attacks
on it. Once a specific attack has been used against the ship, it will adapt
to that attack and any attack of that type that is encountered afterwards
will only be at twenty percent effectiveness in the next engagement. Variable
frequency weapons such as variable frequency lasers can be reset to do
full damage once this is discovered. The adaption takes about five hours
to be completed.
- Advanced Sensors: The shadows are masters of FTL physics. The Shadow
Warship has sensors that can see from hyperspace into normal space, but
these are -20% to all Read Sensory rolls to detect targets that are in
normal space. The Shadows also have a 30% chance of being able to detect
a Jump Point forming before the actual formation of the jump point. The
sensors can also detect any ship using any non magical cloaking or ECM
without penalties. This included the most advanced Earth or Centauri ECM.
It includes all ECM systems used in the Three Galaxies, Rifts Earth, and
other alternate universes.
- ECM: The Shadow Warship is very stealthy, and fitted with ECM. This
ECM prevents targeting systems from ships of the younger races from being
able to lock on. An attacker would be at -10 to strike the ship and only
if within visual range (approximately 500 miles). Missiles would have a
98% chance of being unable to achieve a lock on target as well. Rifts
Earth and Mutants in Orbit would be treated to be at the level
of technology of most of the younger races. The only exceptions among the
younger races are the Minbari and Centauri races who are far more advanced
than any of the younger races but are still no where close to the First
Ones level. The Shadow vessel would be detected as little more than a ghost
on either races sensors and they would have penalties of -10 to strike
beyond visual range and -6 to strike at visual ranges. Missiles would also
be more effective, at first engagement missiles would have a 90% chance
of being unable to achieve a lock, but after several engagements, the jamming
could be partially adjusted for, with missiles being able to achieve lock
with a 50% chance of being unable to achieve lock. Phase World,
Macross 2, and Robotech sensors would be treated to be at
the level of technology of the Minbari and Centauri. Battlestar Galactica,
Star Trek, and Star Wars would also be treated to be at this level of technology.
The sensors of the races of the First Ones would not suffer any penalties
and would be able to strike normally. This included the Minbari / Ranger
White Star class and the Drahk Raider as well.
- Hyperspace Phase Cloaking Device: The Shadow Warships have the ability
to phase between real space and hyperspace. While in this state, the Shadow
Warship is immune to all weapons (In Phase World, they can still be effected
by Phase Beams and some spells) and is almost impossible to detect. In
this cloak form, the ship cannot be detected by any races except for the
first ones (Included The Minbari / Ranger White Star and the Drahk Raider.
- Sentient Ship: Unlike the Vorlon, the Shadows use actual sentient
living being as a core for sentient computers for their starships. Without
this being melded to the computer, the ship is inert and will not function.
With a sentient living being in the ships computer, the ship is both alive
and sentient but the mind of the being that is acting as the ships computer
is destroyed although memories of the being will remain. The only exception
to this is a master psionic with Mind Block auto defense. When they are
put into the ships computer, the psionic gets a save vs possession, if
they make their save, they are in control of the ship. The ship will only
take orders from the Shadows and only the Shadows can remove a being from
the ship. In these cases though, the person loses all identity and is a
puppet of the shadows (except in the above case). Supernatural and magical
being cannot be merged with the ship and in Rifts, some of the incredibly
powerful supernatural being can remove a being from a Shadow Warship and
restore their personality.
The weakness of having a living sentient is that the ships computer is
that the functioning of the ships computer may be disrupted through telepathy.
Only major and master psionics with telepathy can effect the ship but have
much greater range than normal. Give the telepathy a range of 4,000 miles
per level of the telepath for purposes of effecting the functioning of
the computers core. This is because the ships computer is hypersensitive
to telepathy. The telepath must make a saving throw against psionics each
melee round in order to disrupt the Shadow Warship. This is because the
telepath will see horrible visions of a living being that has been partially
imbedded within the Shadow Warship and is suffering greatly (This might
actually be someone the character knows, but who has mysteriously vanished).
If the ship is disrupted, the ship will be mostly inert (the Shadow Warship
will not dodge and the attacker on the shadow ship will have half penalties
to strike and will have half normal penalties to achieve missile lock.
The ship should be considered to be a combination of a powerful neural
intelligence and a transferred intelligence in terms of Rifts. This computer
can pilot the ship at 98%, has 6 attacks per round, and has +10 to strike,
+8 to dodge, and +10 to initiative (these include all bonuses). If a crew
is on board this changes to +12 to strike, +11 to dodge, and +14 to initiative.
[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin
Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Babylon 5 is copyright © Warner Brothers Television. ]
Technical Information from Babylon
5 Technical Manual!
CGI of Ship by Evelio Perez-Albuerne. More of Evelio's
CGI pictures of B-5 Ships at
Evelio's Babylon 5 3d Model Index
By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa)
Revised By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune
).
Rifts Conversion Copyright © 1998 & 1999, Mischa & Kitsune. All rights reserved.