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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Flame Panther

Post by Jabroniville »

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HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAH- Jesus.

FLAME PANTHER R.C.C. (129 points + Psionics):
Abilities: ST +1, STA +6, AGI +2, FIGHTING +2 [22]
Powers: Expertise (Demons & Monsters) +6, Athletics +4, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Extended Hearing), Claws +1, Speed 2, Favored Environment (Airborne), Immunity 10 (Fire), Immunity 10 (Plasma & Napalm, Limited to Half), Features 1 (Extinguish Open Flames), Flame Aura 10, Flame Bolt 10 (Ranged), "Rocket Jump" Leaping 6, Senses (Fire Detect- Ranged), "Psionic Field" Protection 2 (Impervious 7), Psionic Blast 10, Psionics (3 powers from Sensitive, Healing & Physical) [107 + Psionics]

-Hilariously, the Flame Panther is explicitly described as "Like the Burster, But Better", as they pack huge amounts of SDC, better natural flames, and more. It's like Carella looked at the Main Rulebook's class, and went "ugh, that's shit" and made a better version that's also a red-furred kitty-race. The art here is RIDICULOUSLY bad.
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Oracle Cat

Post by Jabroniville »

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ORACLE CAT R.C.C.: (29 points + Psionics)
Abilities: ST -1, AGI +2, INT +3, AWA +4, PRE +1 [18]
Powers: Expertise (Demons & Monsters) +6, Athletics +4, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Extended Hearing), Claws +1, Speed 2, Psionics (Clairvoyance, Empathy, Presnes sense, see invisible, mind block, sense magic, telepathy, empathic transmission, Force Field 10 MDC- 1 min per level, Aura of Calming Peace) [11 + Psionics]

-Oracle Cats have huge eyes and heads, making them look a bit silly (the book even admits this), but have great psionic powers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Hunter Cat

Post by Jabroniville »

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HUNTER CAT R.C.C.: (75 points + Psionics)
Abilities: ST +5, STA +5, AGI +3, FIGHTING +2 [30]
Powers: Expertise (Demons & Monsters) +6, Athletics +4, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Extended Hearing), Regeneration 4, Claws +1, Speed 2, "Psionic Field" +5 Force Field (Impervious 7), Psi-Blasts 9, Psionics (1D4 Psionics from Super & 1D4+1 from Physical) [45 + Psionics]

-Hunter Cats are the most savage, warlike Felinoids, combining large cats with gorillas and humans. They are great defenders of the cat cities... but also prone to going nuts and attacking non-cats.
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Sekhmet

Post by Jabroniville »

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SEKHMET R.C.C.: (41 points + Psionics)
Abilities: ST +5, STA +3, AGI +1, FIGHTING +2 [22]
Powers: Expertise (Demons & Monsters) +6, Athletics +4, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Extended Hearing), Protection 6 (Impervious 5), Magic (4 spells from Levels 1-3), Psionics (4 from Healing or Physical) [19 + Magic & Psionics]

-The Sekhmet are lion-headed D-Bees (I think), who worship Bast, and thus ally with Felinoids. M.D.C. beings, they're given some pretty awful art, looking more like that guy who surgically modifed himself to look like a tiger than a real lion-headed being- the big beard/moustache thing doesn't work.
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Werejaguar

Post by Jabroniville »

WEREJAGUAR/WEREPANTHER R.C.C.: (122 points + Magic & Psionics)
Abilities: ST +4, STA +4, AGI +1, INT -1, PRE +1, FIGHTING +2 [22]
Powers: Expertise (Demons & Monsters) +6, Athletics +4, Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent, Extended Hearing), Claws +2, Immunity 80 (All Damage, Except Silver), Morph 1 (Human, Jaguar or Anthropomorphic Forms), Magic (Tongues, Chameleon, Astral Projection, Repel Animals, Heal Wounds, Metamorphosis: Animal & Human) Psionics (Sixth Sense, See Invisible, Mind Block) [100 + Magic & Psionics]

-Given a teeny bio in the book, Werejaguars are native to South America, and allied with the Felinoids after the Great Cataclysm, though the two groups occasionally squabble. The bio is tiny, as there's apparently more detail in Rifts Vampire Kingdoms. Like most similar creatures, they are invulnerable to EVERYTHING, save silver weapons.
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JDRook
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Ninja Crazy! Ninja Juicer! Dragon 'Borgs!)

Post by JDRook »

Wow, this is quite the project, Jab. I just finished plowing through the 30 pages and 10 months of thread, but you made it an engrossing trip.

I had got into TMNT back when it first came out and jumped on all the "modern fantasy" setting Palladium was putting out and collected a bunch of Rifts before selling most of them when moving, so this is hitting all my nostalgia buttons.

I had no idea the backstory on Siembieda was so intense. I knew there were a few behind the scenes issues (for instance I'm looking at my original Nightspawn cover right now) but I didn't realize it's basically legendary.

I may likely go and run all these builds through HeroLab just to have them on file. I suppose I could also do some conversions as well if you need a hand, although I only have access to PDFs of my old books.

Looking forward to more. Cheers!
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Ninja Crazy! Ninja Juicer! Dragon 'Borgs!)

Post by Jabroniville »

JDRook wrote: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:11 am Wow, this is quite the project, Jab. I just finished plowing through the 30 pages and 10 months of thread, but you made it an engrossing trip.

I had got into TMNT back when it first came out and jumped on all the "modern fantasy" setting Palladium was putting out and collected a bunch of Rifts before selling most of them when moving, so this is hitting all my nostalgia buttons.

I had no idea the backstory on Siembieda was so intense. I knew there were a few behind the scenes issues (for instance I'm looking at my original Nightspawn cover right now) but I didn't realize it's basically legendary.

I may likely go and run all these builds through HeroLab just to have them on file. I suppose I could also do some conversions as well if you need a hand, although I only have access to PDFs of my old books.

Looking forward to more. Cheers!
Awesome- glad you like it :).

Yeah, the whole Bill Coffin thing with his "Rifts Greenland" example was very eye-opening. Coffin's really the only guy in the business to publicly call out Siembieda that way, but it's pretty well-known how nutso Kevin is & was.
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Soul Worm

Post by Jabroniville »

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SOUL WORM (NPC Race)
Role:
Worm-Like Con-Men
PL 14 (248)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 20 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (Business) 6 (+12)
Expertise (Demonology) 4 (+10)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+8)
Perception 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Benefit (Ambidexterity), Close Attack 5, Fast Grab, Improved Hold

Powers:
Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Vision Penetrates Concealment) [5]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
"Tentacles" Extra Limbs 8 [8]
Immunity 10 (Fire Effects) [10]
Concealment 2 (Vision) [4]
Regeneration 6 [6]
Impervious Toughness 9 [9]
Comprehend 3 (Languages) [6]
Growth 5 (Str & Sta +5, +5 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -5 Stealth) -- (18 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [11]

Teleport 12 (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (48) -- [50]
  • AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (6)
  • AE: "Soul Drain" Weaken Will 10 (Flaws: Distracting) (5)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Soul Drain +10 (+10 Weaken, DC 20)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +20, Fortitude +20, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 94 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 121 / Defenses: 10 (248)

-Cibola is a vicious city full of greed, a "Gilded City" containing countless scammers out to make a buck. It is ruled by an otherwordly worm-being named Inix, who is basically one of those 100% evil monsters that populate the setting. Inix likely has INT 10 & STA 20, judging by his inflated stats (a LOT of Rifts characters carry an aura of "you're not meant to kill this thing", and inflated MDC is usually the laziest, easiest method). His entire race, the Soul Worms, are soul-sucking addicts who engage in evil (only 3% are said to be "good"). Inix himself has four advisors- the unflappable Malkolm (said to have information on EVERYONE, so he's hated but untouched), loyal Rendell (one I always remembered- a Fire Dragon broken by torture who now lives as a drug addict. Completely sycophantic to Inix, who freed him from his centuries-long ordeal), vicious Iridna (a war-like demigoddess who is Inix's favorite) and Karthon (a former information-broken now demoted and resentful about it; schemes against the others).
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Ares
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds

Post by Ares »

Skaramine wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 9:06 pm
Ares wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 4:23 pm
Yojimbo wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 3:47 pm The appeal to Rifts is not hard to see. It's basically Thundarr the Barbarian: The Game.
I do love me some Thundarr the Barbarian. There was actually a fun fan RPG of it called "Under a Broken Moon", which is an AWESOME name for an RPG.

Though to be fair, Rifts is more like Thundarr meets Fallout meets Fist of the Northstar meets Captain Power and the Soldiers of the . . . you know what, give me a second . . . .
.
.
.
.
AH! Here we go:
*a giant mutant monster, equal parts centipede and cyborg, emerges from the ruins of a building*

Thundarr: *activates his sun sword* "Lords of Light! What is this foul creature?!"

Ariel: "It's a cyber-pede, Thundarr! I read about it my father's library. They-"

Kenshiro: *cracks knuckles* "It's just a worm. Waiting to be stepped on."

Ookla: *incoherent yelling*

Thundarr: "Enough talk! Ariel! Ookla! Kenshiro! Vault Dweller! Captain Power! RIDE!"

Vault Dweller: *revs up his mini-gun and sighs* "War never changes."
I'm laughing and crying at the same time.

Thank you, Ares!
Heh, I started re-reading this thread from start to finish, and I came across this again. Which made me remember I'd posted an updated version of that here, so I might as well share the fun.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble violently, causing some in the small, colorful band of characters to stumble momentarily, though none truly lost their balance. Already broken glass shook itself free of the windows they'd occupied for centuries to shatter even further on the cracked pavement beneath it. One already nearly collapsed building finally gave up its struggle and succumbed to gravity, thousands of tons of metal and mortar violently crashing into the ground with a sound like a localized avalanche. A thick cloud of dust billowed out from crash site, only to be swiftly dispersed by the thing that caused the quake to being with.

The ground between the heroes and the collapsed building exploded upwards and outwards like the birth of some new volcano, only instead of spewing lava, what came erupting forth was a monster. It was a hideous amalgamation of radioactive mutation and cybernetic abomination, equal parts giant insect and machine. It looked like a centipede, albeit one as thick around as a subway car, with metalic armored plates along its legs and body, and eyes that glowed with a malicious light. Over thirty feet of mechanical nightmare snaked itself out of the ground, swaying in the air as it looked down at the heroes, and still it was clear that more of the monster lay beneath the surface.

One of the heroes swiftly took point, placing himself between the monster an his allies. He was tall, ruggedly handsome, clad in furs that did little to hide his muscular build. From one golden armband he removed an equally golden sword-hilt, only for a blade of radiant energy to suddenly spring into existence.


"Lords of Light," Thundarr swore, eyeing the abomination in front of him. "What foul pit did this demon crawl up from?"

The heroes moved to stand beside Thundarr, one of them a beautiful woman in a blue leotard and a dark completion that contrasted the barbarian's pale skin. "It's a Cyber-pede Thundarr!" the Princess Ariel declared loudly. Her hands began to crackle with golden arcane light as she prepared to defend herself. "I read about them in my step-father's library. They-"

The tall man in a denim vest that left his massively muscles arms exposed slowly walked past Ariel, cracking his knuckles as he did so. The somber expression on Kenshiro's face changed not a bit as he simply stated, "It's just a worm, waiting to be stepped."

As if in enthusiastic agreement, Ookla the Mok roared incoherently while shaking both fists to the heavens.

"Enough talk!" Thundarr yelled in obvious irritation. "Ariel! Ookla! Kenshiro! Vault Dweller! Captain Power! Attack!" Raising his Sunsword, Thundarr charged forward, letting loose a battlecry of, "Aaaaaaaahhhhh—ee!"

One of the men who had remained silent up to this point touched a hand to his chest, activating the powersuit he wore beneath his coveralls. Captain Power yelled, "POWER ON!" as energy crackled along his body, plates of golden armor materializing around him.

The other man was clad head to foot in power armor that was much more worn and archaic compared to his friend's gleaming gold battlesuit. This man unslung a large chaingun from his back, the multiple barrels already beginning to whirl as he targeted the giant creature. The Vault Dweller gave an exaggerated sigh before simply commenting, "War never changes."

And then the battle was joined.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
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Gatherers

Post by Jabroniville »

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GATHERER
Role:
Bug People, Mooks
PL 9 (100)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 12 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+4)
Perception 6 (+6)
Stealth 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Benefit (Ambidexterity), Close Attack 2, Tracking

Powers:
Senses 5 (Low-Light Vision, Vision Penetrates Concealment) [5]
Extra Limbs 2 [2]
Concealment 2 (Vision) [4]
Regeneration 1 [1]
Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) [6]
Impervious Toughness 7 [7]
(Four Psionic Powers + Four Magic Spells)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +12, Fortitude +12, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 8 (100)

-The unimpressive-looking Gatherers (using Kevin Long art) are actually even TOUGHER than the more impressive-looking Pincer Warriors, having 1d4x100 +200 MDC. The creatures are Inix's primary minions, engaging in slave raids all across North America. Their Dimension-Hopping Abilities & Psionic Senses make them great trackers.
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JDRook
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (South American Cats! Soul Worms!)

Post by JDRook »

I'm through about half of your posted builds and I just realized you've done all of the major core OCCs except the Cyber-Knight. Is that just an oversight or do you not like them or is there a big reveal planned or what? I mainly ask because I got a chance to look through the Savage World Rifts and I realized I could make a Cyber-Knight/Psi-Stalker which I had somehow never considered before but sounds like I'd love to RP.

Also, I feel you on those endless Psionic and Spell conversions. You kept most of them pretty basic, which is smart since I tend to get caught in the details of how they might work in M&M (I think See Aura may be the worst). I've made characters using those P&S as a base concept but usually tweak or blend them together instead of keeping each one as a standalone power or AE slot; it's not hard to make a handful of the sensory powers into one thematically sound "Open to Psychic Emanations" power that's smaller than your big offensive Psi.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (South American Cats! Soul Worms!)

Post by Jabroniville »

JDRook wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:53 am I'm through about half of your posted builds and I just realized you've done all of the major core OCCs except the Cyber-Knight. Is that just an oversight or do you not like them or is there a big reveal planned or what? I mainly ask because I got a chance to look through the Savage World Rifts and I realized I could make a Cyber-Knight/Psi-Stalker which I had somehow never considered before but sounds like I'd love to RP.
Haha, yes- well-spotted! I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not, but I would have statted them up (as I went through the whole Core rulebook), but I read that they added a ton of powers to them for the "Cyber-Knights" book, so I wanted to wait until I hit that one. Though now that you mention it, that should probably be the next one, so I can finish up the Core Classes.
Also, I feel you on those endless Psionic and Spell conversions. You kept most of them pretty basic, which is smart since I tend to get caught in the details of how they might work in M&M (I think See Aura may be the worst). I've made characters using those P&S as a base concept but usually tweak or blend them together instead of keeping each one as a standalone power or AE slot; it's not hard to make a handful of the sensory powers into one thematically sound "Open to Psychic Emanations" power that's smaller than your big offensive Psi.
It's a frustrating mix of "90 powers" and "nothing useful", so you're digging through powers and cut & pasting to make what's essentially the Palladium equivalent of a versatile Skillmonkey. Plus stuff like "Detect Evil" is hard to really quantify in M&M- you just gotta go with the generic "Detect" for something that should be more... ambiguous, I think. But D&D & Rifts both work in the "Evil is EEEEEEEEEEEEVIL" kind of way, where it's a good Demon Detector and what-not.
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Pogtalian Dragon Slayer

Post by Jabroniville »

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POGTALIAN DRAGON SLAYER
Role:
Mooks
PL 11 (105)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+6, +8 Size)
Perception 6 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+6, +1 Size)

Advantages:
Close Attack 2, Equipment (Armor +4), Fast Grab, Favored Foe (Dragons), Tracking

Powers:
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
Immunity 10 (Fire Effects, Cold) [10]
Healing 6 (Flaws: Limited to Self, Unreliable- 3/day) [3]
Growth 5 (Str & Sta +5, +5 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -5 Stealth) -- (18 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [11]

"Force Field" Protection 1 & Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Source- Weapons) [2]
Impervious Toughness 7 [7]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Weapons +7 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +11 (+12 Force Field, +16 Armor), Fortitude +11, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 34 / Defenses: 13 (105)

-Not given a picture in the book, these D-Bees are the bulk of Inix's defense forces, along with the Pincer Warriors. They are a proud race of giants, hailing from a magic-heavy world ruled by Dragons, and so they gained magical immunities to counter-balance these. They look far less impressive than their allies at first glance, lacking proper MDC damage weapons and even the high strength (incredibly, these monstrous, 18+ foot beings are weaker than BOTH of their contemporaries!), but they pack 200-ish MDC baseline, a Force Field adds another 100, and then they can wear 200-300 MDC Dragon Hide Armor, boosting them up to some of the toughest characters in the game!
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ares
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (South American Cats! Soul Worms!)

Post by Ares »

JDRook wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:53 am Also, I feel you on those endless Psionic and Spell conversions. You kept most of them pretty basic, which is smart since I tend to get caught in the details of how they might work in M&M (I think See Aura may be the worst). I've made characters using those P&S as a base concept but usually tweak or blend them together instead of keeping each one as a standalone power or AE slot; it's not hard to make a handful of the sensory powers into one thematically sound "Open to Psychic Emanations" power that's smaller than your big offensive Psi.
Detect Evil is one of those things that really only works in a game like D&D where everything literally has Good, Evil or Neutral built in. Though that raises up questions, such as Paladins, Clerics, Wizards and the like literally being able to know if someone is evil or not. There's literally no reason why every government wouldn't have at least 4 Paladins to make sure no one evil is in any position of authority. Or why all trials don't include a Wizard casting Zone of Truth on whomever's in the witness chair.

In most other settings, I'd limit it to "Detect Supernatural Evil", since supernatural creatures generally don't have the kind of shades of grey morality most mortal beings do. A demon is almost always pure evil, a vampire is almost always pure evil, etc. Unless a human being is either a saint or completely, unrepentantly evil, then the vast majority of humanity has the potential to be good or evil, with the same potential to become corrupt or redeem themselves based on how they act. A mortal that is so evil as to trigger the "Detect Supernatural Evil" sense should be the stuff of nightmares and legends.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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JDRook
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (South American Cats! Soul Worms!)

Post by JDRook »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:14 am
JDRook wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:53 am I'm through about half of your posted builds and I just realized you've done all of the major core OCCs except the Cyber-Knight....
Haha, yes- well-spotted! I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not, but I would have statted them up (as I went through the whole Core rulebook), but I read that they added a ton of powers to them for the "Cyber-Knights" book, so I wanted to wait until I hit that one. Though now that you mention it, that should probably be the next one, so I can finish up the Core Classes.
I was just digging into that. I guess they incorporated a lot of material from supplements in the Ultimate Edition (plus the Elemental Fusionist who was apparently designed for the N-Gage game that came out in 2006). The Cyber-Knight has its own special combat that gives a lot of anti-tech bonuses. It's pretty intriguing. I may try statting one out this weekend.
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