Jab's Rifts Builds (Rifts- A Final Summation!)

[Jabroniville]

EXPLORER O.C.C.
Role: Superflous Scout Class, Rifts Indiana Jones
PL 8 (86)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 8 (+10)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+10)
Expertise (History) 7 (+9)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 3 (+5)
Treatment 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Equipment 7 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1

Equipment:
"Body Armor"
Protection 5 (Impervious 5) (11)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor, Loudspeaker, etc. (3)

"Laser Rifle" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack, Penetrating 3) (27)
"Laser Pistol" Blast 6 (12)
"Assorted Gear" Gas Masks, Radios, etc. (4)
Knife +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vibro-Blade +5 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
NG Rifle +5 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Adventure)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (86)

-Yes, an EXPLORER. How is this different than a Wilderness Scout O.C.C.? Um... wanderlust? They're like the paw in Little House on the Prairie- always wandering about and seenig new things, I guess. Even though Rifts Earth is IMMENSELY dangerous and doing this is insane. There's stuff about questing for lost treasures, so I guess they're also Indiana Jones. Most are said to be foreign to Russia- wanderers from the New German Republci and such.

-Explorers are similar to Wilderness Scouts, except they have more "Archaeology" and less Survival. Some may have Cybernetics.

[Jabroniville]

HUNTSMAN/TRAPPER O.C.C.
Role: Superflous Scout Class, Rifts Indiana Jones
PL 8 (91)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 8 (+10)
Expertise (Survival) 9 (+12)
Expertise (Demon & Monster Lore) 7 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+8)
Technology 3 (+5)
Treatment 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefits (Respect of Woodland Beings), Equipment 7 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1, Tracking

Powers:
"Ley Line Rejuvenation" Regeneration 2 (Flaws: Source- Ley Lines) [1]

Equipment:
"Body Armor"
Protection 5 (Impervious 5) (11)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor, Loudspeaker, etc. (3)

"Laser Rifle" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack, Penetrating 3) (27)
"Laser Pistol" Blast 6 (12)
"Assorted Gear" Gas Masks, Radios, etc. (4)
Knife +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vibro-Blade +5 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Rifle +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Adventure)

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 6 (91)

-Yep, ANOTHER outdoorsman-type O.C.C. in this book. Two years later, Rifts Canada would make another equivalent class as a woodsy lumberjack type. This one is a kind of moody, intense tracker who hunts Demons as well as animals. These are adventure-seekers who live for challenges and live where everyone (even War-Knights) fears to tread. These guys act crude and convince everyone they're louts when they're deviously intelligent. They're often hired to get rid of Dragons, animals, monsters and other creatures... kinda like Ectohunters but not just demons & ghosts. They're also not mere "slayers"- they study their subject for days, usually observing ways to take it out.

-Huntsmen wear low-M.D.C. armors but have a ton of skills and a low-tier Regeneration power.

[MacynSnow]

So, a Russian version of The Huntsman from Animaniacs but with a lot less Humor?

[Batgirl III]

Rifts would be a really fun setting to play with as a survivalist sandbox, if they had kept the focus on Badass Normals with wits, skills, and some good gear... But they went and put Glitter Boys, SAMAS Pilots, and Dragons in the first book. With Demigods and Superheroes in the second book. What can ya do?

[MacynSnow]

Rifts would be a really fun setting to play with as a survivalist sandbox, if they had kept the focus on Badass Normals with wits, skills, and some good gear... But they went and put Glitter Boys, SAMAS Pilots, and Dragons in the first book. With Demigods and Superheroes in the second book. What can ya do?

As GM? Remove all of it but the Survivalist "Humanity crawling back" sandbox. You COULD keep the SAMAS Pilots, though as NPC's at first.

[Batgirl III]

If I ever do decide to run a Rifts game, I’m definitely going to use the Savage Worlds rules for the setting... and I probably won’t even tell the players it’s Rifts at first. Just tell them to make Savage Worlds PCs with some bonus character points to build them for a “post-apocalyptic survivalist” campaign.

Have them start out in some sort of hardscrabble fortified town, like the oil refinery in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior or Megaton in Fallout 3. Somewhere on the outermost edges of the Coalition States... and then spring a patrol of Deadboys and Skele-Bots on them two or three sessions into things after they’ve become attached to their town.

[MacynSnow]

If I ever do decide to run a Rifts game, I’m definitely going to use the Savage Worlds rules for the setting... and I probably won’t even tell the players it’s Rifts at first. Just tell them to make Savage Worlds PCs with some bonus character points to build them for a “post-apocalyptic survivalist” campaign.

Have them start out in some sort of hardscrabble fortified town, like the oil refinery in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior or Megaton in Fallout 3. Somewhere on the outermost edges of the Coalition States... and then spring a patrol of Deadboys and Skele-Bots on them two or three sessions into things after they’ve become attached to their town.

To add a bit of Punch, not only make it "Mutation inclusive"(Re:Deebees) but pull a Beastmaster: the PC's are out Scavenging for stuff & see smoke rising from where the Town was. They arrive to find it completely decimated and find a couple of KIA Deadboys in the carnage....

[Jabroniville]

“Sit back and hear the tale of the unprofessional, closed-minded and incompetent game developer who creates classes that nobody but himself would ever play!”

TRAVELLING STORY TELLER O.C.C.
Role: Dumb Class
PL 7 (77)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Expertise (Survival) 3 (+6)
Expertise (History) 7 (+9)
Expertise (Current Events) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Oratory) 6 (+9)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Technology 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1

Equipment:
"Body Armor"
Protection 5 (Impervious 5) (11)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor, Loudspeaker, etc. (3)

"Laser Rifle" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack, Penetrating 3) (27)
"Laser Pistol" Blast 6 (12)
"Assorted Gear" Gas Masks, Radios, etc. (4)
Knife +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vibro-Blade +5 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
NG Rifle +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Adventure)

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (77)

-.... SIGHHHHHHH. So yes, they filled pages with THIS. A "Story Teller" O.C.C. They're also future-newspapermen of a sort, sharing news and current events with others. They are highly-respected by Russian communities, and are mediators who also give Faerie Folk and D-Bees the benefit of the doubt, making them worrisome to the Warlords. So yeah, these guys are also REBELLIOUS, which totally makes you want to play them in Kevin S's fantasy world.

-Travelling Story Tellers are a pretty tame "scholar" class- some good Skills by low-tier everything else.

[MacynSnow]

This is a Stupid class and i feel Kevin S was just Trolling us with this one. I understand the Idea behind it(they had something similar in the 17-1800's with Travelling Newsmongers. The newest Tom Hanks movie is based on it), but it doesn't fit as an O.C.C....

[Davies]

There are games where this would be a fun role -- TORG comes readily to mind -- but Rifts is not that game.

[Batgirl III]

In a game with a sane skill system, this would also be a role a character from any class would be able to fill (to varying degrees of success) by investing points in lore, history, and oratory skills.

But, no. We gotta have 24,601 skills, many of which are heavily redundant and almost all of which are ill-defined, and we gotta lock some of them into being usable only by some O.C.C.s.

At least D&D and its clones give the Bard magical powers and unique abilities that are done via song and story.

[Jabroniville]

WARLORD CAMPS:
* Warlord "Camps" have a hierarchy as follows:

1) The Warlord (supreme power)
2) Special Advisors (counselors/courtiers)
3) Smoke Soldiers (espionage)
4) War-Knights (elite Knights)
5) Cyborg Shock Troopers (15-20% of combat forces- the elite cyborg warriors)
6) Soldati/Knights/Infantry (respected "grunts")
7) Cossacks (country people living by their own rules)
8) Reavers (wild, random fighters joining the cause)

[Jabroniville]

THE WARLORDS:
-The titular Warlords... actually manage some nuance. It's described that they run the gamut- some are bloodthirsty brutes, some are military geniuses, and otherse are wise and benevolent. Almost all are power-hungry to a degree, but almost all of them engage in defense of humankind against Demons and their ilk. In short, they can be kinda like the Coalition- "Man's Last Best Hope" no matter how they act. The notion of the people accepting such things (and the problems that come with military rule and "Camps" of warriors traipsing about) is a fair bit quintessentially "Russian". They're a cynical, "meh, people die anyways, what can you do?" kind of people, from most of what I've read.

The Warlords and their Camps (aka armies) consider themselves to be, and are mostly treated like, brave knights, far above common men. Some are more feared by the general populace, while others worshipped. They're on a social strata above everyone else, in any case- morale is high and cowardice low. The Warlords compete with each other- sometimes ruthlessly. Plans to unite the empire nearly always fail as one or two are extra power-hungry and want power only for themselves.

A Camp controls a "Sphere of Influence", travelling nomadically through it to look over things, collect tribute (10% of earnings) for the Warlord, etc. Small infractions are accepted so long as it's kept quiet and harmless, but openly talking smack about the Warlord, learning magic, dealing with criminals, etc., is responded to with great brutality. Warlords themselves typically rule from afar- they are aging heroes most likely, and like to diffuse blame by making underlings take the fall for them (even if they themselves made the orders that resulted in calamity).

The Warlords actually have pretty decent personalities, running the gamut from "Terrifying But Honorable" to "Chaotic Evil Psycopath" to "Scholarly & Smart". Sadly, Breaux's art makes most of them look pretty plain, often like Kevin S just took art of normal people and decided these were his "Warlords".

Warlords:
* The book gives us many Warlords, but their Camps' unique Cyborg types are explained later, so I'll do them all at once.

Warlord Alekseyevna: The "last of the first great Warlords", now a 101-year old Cyborg Heavy Machine. Canny, conniving & ruthless, but old-fashioned and underestimates others. Gets by on reputation and the fact that his realm is largely inhospitable, cold, and huge. "General Winter" remains a Russian's best friend. Units: Tempest



Warlord Burgasov: Went up the chain of military command quickly. Was accepted as leader and heir over the dying Warlord's own sons, who took up arms- he slaughtered them ruthlessly, then did the same to a rival Warlord (promising his men a place if they defected- a quarter did, as Burgasov was seen as more competent and was a man of his word). He was relentlessly brutal to everyone who refused, torturing and killing them all. Rules the largest army in Russia, and is feared by the others- the "Bear of Moskva" is a cold-hearted, obsessive warrior. Units: Butcher & Ripper.



Warlord Kolodenko: More of a King & bureaucrat skilled in motivating & leading people instead of a military man- "the only genuine statesman and politician in the batch". Has specialized cyborgs built in hidden mountain fortresses. Known as the least vindictive Warlord, which makes him a somewhat easy target, but his gear is generally the best (he has the best Wingriders, having built that gear). He has the smallest, but most well-trained Camp, and the best relations with the Cossacks, who would come to his aide gladly. Generally at war with Warlord Sokolov, who hates him. Units: White Tiger.



Warlord Orloff: A crazed psychopathic cyborg. Every other Warlord hates him. "Orloff is one of those wicked people who only feels powerful and important when he is bullying and hurting others." Considers his subjects his property, and invades other territories and steals their land. Has some of the best gear and the second-biggest army because they allied with some lost aliens and then murdered them all after they built advanced cybernetics. Units: Holocaust & Aftermath.



Warlord Romanov: The only female Warlord, claiming descent from the Romanov family of Czars. Grew up in humble beginnings as an orphan, but became an elite War Knight after impressing the army. Visions of a "Russian Palace" led to rumors of her being possessed, but she became a prophet of sorts, leading a revolt against the previous Warlord, who was cavorting with Necromancers- she called him out and heroically faced him in battle (even after he attacked before she'd recovered from beating one of his champions), as was tradition. She nearly died, but a Rune Dagger revealed that he had become inhuman- she passed out, but he was executed by his own men, and she was named Warlord. An idealist with a happy kingdom, but dreams of a United Russia, which is impossible. Units: Avenging Angel.



Warlord Seriyev: Appears to be smooth, suave and sophisticated, but is a bloodthirsty, duplicitious liar. Actually has Warlord Romanov fooled, but he's actually come to like and respect her- turning on her (which is probably inevitable) will actually make him sad. Rules by assassination and making things look like accidents. Units: Assassin & Mantis.



Warlord Sokolov: A "savage brute" brought up in a world where only the strong survive. Everything thinks he's psychotic, but he's well in control when he's engaging in slaughter. Rules via fear and considered exceptionally lucky. Paranoid to the point of insanity about Warlord Kolodenko, who plays him like a harp. Units: Demonfist (and Heavy 'Borgs in general).

[MacynSnow]

The Romanov/Seriyev story sound's like it'd be a neat way to introduce Player's to a true "Russian Romance"(ESPECIALLY if one of the PC's save's Romanov's life from an Assassination attempt)...

[Batgirl III]

And of course Kevin seems to have just swiped the name Romanov from Marvel Comics’ Black Widow... and also getting the patronymic wrong.