The Cruizer class Brig was the most numerous class of warships built by the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. A total of one hundred and ten were build. The only class of vessels built in larger number was the smaller ten gun Cherokee class brig. The Cherokee class only ten guns while the Cruizer class was armed with eighteen guns. The Cruizer class had excellent sailing characteristic, were fast, and had an extremely powerful short range battery. Unfortunately for historians, no Cruizer class brigs survived until the coming of the Rifts with some being sunk in action, others foundering, and many being sold into civilian service.
No plans appear to have survived until the coming of the Rifts. Still, a few models and some fragmentary information was recovered. These were used by a group of British techno-wizards to develop a small but powerful class of ley line vessel. It is larger than the "Speedy" class brig but far smaller than the "Unicorn" and "Pandora" class of techno-wizard ley line vessels. The closest in size is probably the American "Hornet" class Ley Line Sloop although the American ley line vessel is slightly larger and heavier armed.
One advantage that the smaller ley line vessels have over the larger vessels is that they are less expensive. They also require less time to build compared to the larger vessels. While some techno-wizard vessels are almost thrown together and are not actually sea worthy, the Eclipse class are finely constructed and are quite sea worthy. They are each works of art and while extremely similar, each vessel is different in various details. Many captains like to customize their vessels in various manners. They do have two masts compared to most larger vessels, which have three masts.
The wood that these vessels are constructed from is a mixture of naturally growing and wood created by earth warlocks. In some cases, the original trees that the wood of these vessels were built from is not readily available. Some experiments have been done on using magically created teak instead of oak when building these ships. There boats are enchanted with the spell of "Ironwood" so that they are able to withstand the damage of modern weaponry. This enchantment makes the vessels the equal in strength of any high tech alloy or composites. They are enchanted after the vessels are basically complete because otherwise the wood would be far more difficult to shape properly.
Even though capable on the open water, these ships rarely travel on the surface of the oceans. Instead these ships travel along the ley lines of the world. While limited to fourteen or fifteen knows on the surface of the water and at the mercy of the winds, on ley lines the boats can travel at speeds up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour, almost ten times faster. They can fly up to around a thousand feet and like most ley line vessels, they use the levitate enchantment to be launched into the sky.
Main weaponry are eighteen enchanted cannons. Unlike conventional cannons, these weapons do not require gun powder and can be fired faster than conventional weaponry. There are two nine pounder bow chasers and each broadside has eight thirty-two pounders. Originally the Cruizer class mounted a pair of six pounder guns but these were replaced by nine pounder guns in the Eclipse class. The nine pounder bow chasers are long guns while the much heavier broadside batteries are shorter ranged carronades. Each long gun and carronade has a total fifty rounds, a mixture of magical Dragonball, Dragonfire, and Grape Shot.
Four small lightning blasters are mounted to deal with smaller targets. While they do not inflict as much damage as the larger light blasters mounted on many ley line vessels, having four mounts is often more effective against missile volleys and other airborne threats. Limited fire control allows the tracking of missiles and other fast moving targets. The enchantment on the guns needs to be reactivated each month if the weapons are used or not.
In addition, the crew is normally armed with a variety of small arms, most designed to have the appearance of weaponry from the age of sail. T.W. Firebolt Pistols and Firebolt Rifles are commonly carried weaponry.
Similar to many similar techno-wizard ley line vessels, the vessel has a variety of enchantments. One is a techno-wizard battery to provide magical energies to the various enchantment. The battery stores magical energies while the vessel is on a ley line or ley line nexus. Because the ship usually operates on ley lines, the battery is usually constantly recharged. However, if the ship operates on the oceans, the battery does not recharge normally. Members of the crew who are spell casters can also recharge the battery. As far as built in enchantments, the ship has an "Armor of Ithan" force field which can be activated three times per day. Finally, there are the enchantment of invisibility and impervious to energy. There are also enchanted optics that allow the captain and crew to see invisible opponents.
The ship is designed around a crew of just over a hundred and twenty. As small as the ship is, this means that crew quarters are extremely cramped. Modern naval vessels have far more space for the crew than the brig. Officers do have far more space but even their quarters are cramped. The crew themselves sleep on hammocks. The ship normally has at least two techno-wizards as part of the crew and usually several other crew will also be spell casters. Usually these spell casters are the senior officers aboard the vessel but not always. A small marine compliment are usually embarked. Commonly a small number of mystic power armors are part of the marine compliment. Magical sanitary and water facilities are part of the enchantments on the boat making it more comfortable than the original boat would have been.
Model Type: "Eclipse" Ocean & Sky Ship
Vehicle Type: Ocean & Sky Sail Brig
Crew: 121 with at least two techno-wizard, two air warlocks,
and two other spell casting types recommended but not absolutely needed.
Troops: 30 (Normal of 10 pilots for Mystic Power Armors, 20
soldiers in body armor)
Robots, Power Armors, and Vehicles:
| 30 | Mystic Power Armors (Possible) |
M.D.C. by location:
| 9 pounder Long Guns (2, Bow): | 80 each | |
| 32 pounder Carronades (16, 8 on each side) | 150 each | |
| Light Lightning Blaster Mounts (4, main deck): | 60 each | |
| [1] Foremast (Forward Mast): | 240 | |
| [1] Mizzenmast (Rear Mast): | 260 | |
| Sails (12): | 50 each | |
| Rudder: | 280 | |
| [2] Main Body: | 1,800 | |
| [3] Armor of Ithan Force Field (Three Times per Day): | 400 |
Notes:
[1] Destruction of a mast reduces ocean and ley line speed by 1/2 for
each mast lost.
[2] Destroying the main body causes the ship to lose structural integrity,
causing the ship to sink if in the water. There are enough life preservers
and inflatable life boats (one of the few items of technology added) to
accommodate everyone on the ship. The ship does have the Techno-Wizard
addition of impervious to energy. Specifics are listed in Weapon systems.
[3] As per the spell - Magic, fire, lightning, and cold all inflict
one-half damage. Each activation lasts for 30 minutes.
Speed:
Ocean Surface: 15 knots or higher depending on the wind (approximately
17.27 miles per hour or 28 km per hour)
Ley Lines: 150 mph (240 kph). Requires the Telekinesis Spell
(double cost at 16 P.P.E.) or 20 I.S.P. to initiative take off and Telekinesis
Spell (double cost at 16 P.P.E.), Levitate Spell (double cost at 10 P.P.E.)
or 20 I.S.P. to land the ship. Otherwise, the ship will float away slowly
(2 mph) at about 100 feet (30.5 meters) off the ground. The ship can only
travel through the air along ley lines and can switch directions at ley
line nexus points.
Height: While Flying, maximum of 1000 feet (305 meters)
and minimum of 200 feet without landing
Range: Effectively Unlimited. The ship carries three months
worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 100 feet 6 inches (30.63 meters) overall and 77 feet
3.75 inches (23.56 meters) at the keel.
Beam: 30 feet 6 inches (9.30 meters)
Draft: 12 feet 9 inches (3.89 meters)
Displacement: 388 tons
Cargo: 25 tons (22.68 metric tons) of nonessential equipment
and supplies. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammo, armor,
troops, weapons, sails, and other equipment.
Power System: Magic and sails.
Market Cost: 150 million credits, there is a long waiting period
and the cost to get one will often involve many extra costs as well.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Special Systems:
[Golden Age Weaponsmiths is a trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Copyright © 2011, Kitsune. All rights reserved.
