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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Sidious
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Nikari! Lashreg! Blhaze! Seeron!)

Post by Sidious »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:28 pm
Harnos wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:27 pm I've heard the setting but didn't look into it before. It has some neat ideas. I liked that a small nuclear war brought the magic back and triggered the apocalypse. Kind of like GURPS-Technomancer. Earth as an inter-dimensional nexus bringing all kind of aliens and supernatural beings, full of wilderness and feudal kingdoms is a quite adventure friendly setting too. I also liked Steelheart's post-apocalyptic setting where superhumans are feudal rulers. Rifts share the kitchen sink nature of many superhero worlds, so some of the ideas can be adapted to such a world ı guess.

Atlanteans and Lemurians on exile is a sweet idea, so is vampires ruling and indoctrinating humans. Glitter Boys sound and look really cool. Blind Warrior Women have some nice fanservice art. The setting has some likeable concepts indeed. The thing that disturbs me most is that people are able maintain and even improve high-tech robots with a long gone industrial infrastructure.

I didn't look into the system after reading the term Mega-Damage though :) If the average foot soldier has the firepower of a tank with +10 damage,it must be a dangerous world. By the way, seeing the same name dude's name printed on every book i've seen is kind of annoying. You are the alpha male sir, people must have gotten it before World Book 32-Lemuria. :)

Overall,there are some nice ideas that can be imported to a (if post-apocalyptic) M&M setting. Nice work on converting all these stuff.
Thanks! It's a lot of fun, though some books are just a boring slog, haha. Magic-based ones are almost always horrible. But there's usually a good idea or two per book, and the art is often among the best of the era. But holllllllllllly cow is Kevin Siembieda infamous for a reason.
Yeah standard Palladium is a slog and a half. I've been checking out Savage Rifts for a while now and finding it a direct 180 from the slowness of the traditional Palladium system. Character creation is faster and so is game play. Plus they have VTT support so that's a bonus.

Right now they are focusing on Rifts Earth mainly, then they may branch out into the megaverse. The neat thing is that with them including it in the Savage Worlds tool Box, any and all of their other settings are available as alternate dimensions.
Jabroniville
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Skraypers Villains

Post by Jabroniville »

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VILLAINS:

So first up we get a bunch of random villains.

The Burning Scythe: A Talus who used his powers to attempt a global takeover, but was arrested. When the Tarlok invaded, he feigned allegiance and turned on them at the last second, becoming a freedom fighter. He faked his death for 30 years, only to return leading a superhuman army in an attempt at taking the Eastern quarter of the planet- he is adored by some, but most of his agents are still criminals. Skraypers working for him often find themselves in morally-gray areas and thinking "The ends justify the means". +10 Toughness, +13 Energy Blades, Blast 14, Ageless, TEN ATTACKS (+16-18 to hit). So basically a PL 16 warrior.

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Three Eyes Klynt: Scythe's #2 man- given total freedom. A megalomaniacal Master Psionic, but a realist who deeply respects and trusts his boss, and knows he can do better with him than without him. +9 Toughness, Tons of Psionics, +15 to hit.
Pytr Piper: Klynt's chief hitman. +9 Toughness, Master Psionic, +15 to hit.

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Booma: Cyborg heroine who went insane with rage after being tortured and vivisected by Tarlok agents. Was kicked out of her Skraypers team for fighting crazily and hurting bystanders, and ultimately sided with Scythe. Hates the Tarlok to the extreme. Sports an absolutely insane amount of M.D.C. if you translated the S.D.C. like it says you're supposed to- 900-ish! +17 Toughness, Claws +9, Blast 14, +15 to hit.
DangerDespair: Insane serial killer who Scythe won't hire, but others will. Loves to target pretty people and do "cat & mouse games". Intangibility, Disruptive Touch, Wingless Flight & Negate Super-Abilities. +11 to hit.
Dark Quorn: Went insane under torture and became a super-villain. Has three personalities: Evil, Nice & Stupid. +13 unarmed, +13 Toughness, Wingless Flight, Blast 14, +11 to hit.
Fightstik: A former stick-fighting champion (product of genetic experiments to make him the perfect specimen) who turned to crime for kicks when he retired. Was found out and joined the Tarlok, but this turned the public against him. Natural Combat Ability means he can mimic someone's accuracy and add to it, and also to Mega-Damage against M.D.C. foes. Nine attacks again- +16-18 to hit.

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Shok: Supermodel-turned-Tarlok ally. Turns into electricity- Blast 12-14, Flight 7, +12 Toughness, +11 to hit.

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The Power Brigade:
* A group of super-villains from the Western sector. Hate Tarlok & Seeron equally.

Nightwitch: Extremely driven woman who gave up on morality in the hell that is Seeron, instead begin in it for herself. Minor Psionic, Control Air & Darkness, Nightstalking, +15 to hit.
Hammerjack: Bio-Freak enforcer acting as the "Executioner" to Nightwitch's "Enchantress". +14 unarmed, +11 to hit.
The Slinger: Freedom fighter who gave up the cause for crime. +12 Toughness, Healing, Manipulate Kinetic Energy, +11 to hit.
Skullknocker: Silly would-be "God" of a band of Bio-Freaks, convinced to be worshipped on a world stage by Nightwitch, whom he "lets" make the decisions. +12 Toughness, Gravity Powers, Blast 14, Flight 7, +13 to hit.
Six-Shot: "Inside Man" at a robotics firm who was killed during a firefight and placed himself inside a robotic body. Has begun losing his humanity, enjoying torturing his opponents and leaving them maimed but alive way too much. +13 Toughness, Speed 6, Leaping 3, Blast 9-11, +13 to hit.
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The Skraypers

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE SKRAYPERS:

Victor: A Bhlaze paragon of sorts- the greatest hero on Seeron, and a symbol for people to gain inspiration from. ST +11, +13 Toughness, Blast +15-16, Flight 5, +15 to hit.

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Nebular: A Bhlaze freedom fighter who hates the Tarlok and wants to wipe out their entire empire. Feuds with Victor and speaks against him publicly because of his notions of mercy and restraint. ST +12, +12 Toughness, Blast +14, Flight 5, +13 to hit.

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Dragon Eye: Seerman hero of the Tarlok wars, and now the biggest freedom fighter leader on Seeron. Second only to Victor in fame and respect, even though he is a Bio-Freak (the Norms often forget this). ST +13, +13 Toughness, Control Fire, Mental Stun, +13 to hit.

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Spike Tail: Cocky young Talus hero- was revenge-obsessed when the Tarlok killed his parents for his criminal behavior, but Dragon Eye put him on the straight & narrow. He didn't work well in a group so is now a loner, but the two remain friends. A Bio-Freak who takes dangerous situations lightly, he is a respected hero. ST +10, Healing Factor, Adhesion, +13 to hit.

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Truk: Super-strong Seerman freed from Shertar experimentation by Victor. Now leads his own team. ST +14, Toughness +14, Extraordinary Mental Endurance, Speed, Adhesion, +13 to hit.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Control Agent

Post by Jabroniville »

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CONTROL AGENT O.C.C.
Role:
Mooks, Foot Soldiers, Race Traitors
PL 7 (75)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Espionage) 4 (+6)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Technology 4 (+6)
Treatment 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Rank- Control Agent), Equipment 9 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1

Equipment:
"Republic of Japan Gear"
"Trooper Body Armor"
Protection 6 (Impervious 3) (9)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor (1)

"Energy Pistol" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Assault Rifle +5 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (The Tarlok)- Control Agents are normal Seeronians who must do what the Tarlok say.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (75)

-The agents of Control are the Tarlok's eyes and ears, and are usually loyal to them, though some were forced into service. They have a pretty great Skill spread for a "Mook" class, but not many secondary Skills.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Freedom Fighter

Post by Jabroniville »

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FREEDOM FIGHTER O.C.C.
Role:
Mooks, Foot Soldiers, The Rebels
PL 7 (72)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 3 (+5)
Expertise (Espionage) 2 (+4)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Technology 4 (+6)
Treatment 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Rank- Control Agent), Equipment 9 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1

Equipment:
"Republic of Japan Gear"
"Trooper Body Armor"
Protection 6 (Impervious 3) (9)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor (1)

"Energy Pistol" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Assault Rifle +5 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +3, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (The Tarlok)- Control Agents are normal Seeronians who must do what the Tarlok say.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 6 (72)

-The counterpoint to Control Agents are the Freedom Fighters- essentially the Rebel Alliance of Seeron. Slightly less focused towards Military Intelligence but basic otherwise.

---

ELITE FREEDOM FIGHTER O.C.C.
Role:
Elite Mooks, Foot Soldiers, The Rebels
PL 7 (79)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 5 (+7)
Expertise (Espionage) 5 (+7)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+6)
Perception 5 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Technology 5 (+7)
Treatment 3 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit (Rank- Control Agent), Equipment 9 (Gear), Ranged Attack 1

Equipment:
"Republic of Japan Gear"
"Trooper Body Armor"
Protection 6 (Impervious 3) (9)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor (1)

"Energy Pistol" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Assault Rifle +5 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Responsibility (The Tarlok)- Control Agents are normal Seeronians who must do what the Tarlok say.

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (79)

-Classic Rifts and a Kevin element here- "The last class, but BETTER!".
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Skraypers Done

Post by Jabroniville »

CONNECTION TO RIFTS:
-Okay, so this is where John Zeleznik puts all this work into creating a unique bunch of worlds and then Kevin S swoops in and goes "LOLZ they're such a minor part of the Rifts Multiverse!", completely dissing them. The Tarlok are seen as "entertainment value" by the Splugorth, as they are cruel and megalomaniacal, and desperate to get space-warping technology. So they might be a part of the Minion Races at some point! Quite the fate for the Big Bads of this setting. Seeron and the other worlds are so insignificant that most have never even heard of them- it's only the Tarlok showing up on Phase World that alerted anyone. So everyone's just kinda giving a half a look to the place.

True Atlanteans are apparently CERTAIN that Seeronians are the Lost Tribe of Atlantis, and are desperate to teach them their ways. The Seeronians will be kind of "WTF?" about this, not even realizing that they're aliens to their own world.

SKRAYPERS AS A WHOLE:
-As a minor setting, it's fine- a handful of worlds, different ecologies, and a bunch of focus on one world. I find the races too similar, though- we don't really need the Lashreg lizard-people AND the Tarlok, and way too many of the aliens have tails- it's very same-y. Nobody really stands out in any particular way. The superhero situation on Seeron seems interesting enough, with bands of superheroes and vigilantes and freedom fighters occupying the underground fighting an Evil Empire- like Star Wars mixed with Marvel. Most of the OCs are pretty similar, though, with the same power-sets popping up- Strength/Invulnerability/Healing Factor/Blasts being the big ones.

Despite having a bunch of planets around, there's very few animals- only two? Granted, I make fun of some books for over-doing the Bestiaries to fill space but this is a weird one for having worlds that don't feel "real" because we don't even know what the wildlife is like.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Seeron Heroes & Villains! Freedom Fighters!)

Post by catsi563 »

i just got the ultimate edition a couple weeks back been using it to update some of my old characters and a couple new ideas working on getting the beastiaries next also got triax 2 some neat stuff in there
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Catsi stories
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Seeron Heroes & Villains! Freedom Fighters!)

Post by Jabroniville »

So with Skraypers done, my next one in the line will be Rifts Australia! Which was supposed to be three books, but the two promised sequels (naturally mentioned in the very book that was supposed to precede them) never happened.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Nikari! Lashreg! Blhaze! Seeron!)

Post by Harnos »

Sidious wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 6:36 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:28 pm
Harnos wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:27 pm I've heard the setting but didn't look into it before. It has some neat ideas. I liked that a small nuclear war brought the magic back and triggered the apocalypse. Kind of like GURPS-Technomancer. Earth as an inter-dimensional nexus bringing all kind of aliens and supernatural beings, full of wilderness and feudal kingdoms is a quite adventure friendly setting too. I also liked Steelheart's post-apocalyptic setting where superhumans are feudal rulers. Rifts share the kitchen sink nature of many superhero worlds, so some of the ideas can be adapted to such a world ı guess.

Atlanteans and Lemurians on exile is a sweet idea, so is vampires ruling and indoctrinating humans. Glitter Boys sound and look really cool. Blind Warrior Women have some nice fanservice art. The setting has some likeable concepts indeed. The thing that disturbs me most is that people are able maintain and even improve high-tech robots with a long gone industrial infrastructure.

I didn't look into the system after reading the term Mega-Damage though :) If the average foot soldier has the firepower of a tank with +10 damage,it must be a dangerous world. By the way, seeing the same name dude's name printed on every book i've seen is kind of annoying. You are the alpha male sir, people must have gotten it before World Book 32-Lemuria. :)

Overall,there are some nice ideas that can be imported to a (if post-apocalyptic) M&M setting. Nice work on converting all these stuff.
Thanks! It's a lot of fun, though some books are just a boring slog, haha. Magic-based ones are almost always horrible. But there's usually a good idea or two per book, and the art is often among the best of the era. But holllllllllllly cow is Kevin Siembieda infamous for a reason.
Yeah standard Palladium is a slog and a half. I've been checking out Savage Rifts for a while now and finding it a direct 180 from the slowness of the traditional Palladium system. Character creation is faster and so is game play. Plus they have VTT support so that's a bonus.

Right now they are focusing on Rifts Earth mainly, then they may branch out into the megaverse. The neat thing is that with them including it in the Savage Worlds tool Box, any and all of their other settings are available as alternate dimensions.
Thanks. But I'm just reading some parts for the lore. I don't know the SW system either, after seeing that cards are used I didn't give it a further look.
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Rifts Australia

Post by Jabroniville »

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RIFTS WORLD BOOK 19- AUSTRALIA (1999):
-So yeah, like I said, 1998 was a huge-ass year for Rifts. We got the Wild West & Texas figured out, the Federation of Magic got focus, and we had Japan and Russia. So by 1999, most of the "big parts" of the world were laid out, minus China, South Asia & the Middle East... and the two nations that finally got focused on in this year- Canada & Australia. Both famously-large wildernesses, but with completely different climates.

Things were kinda looking iffy for the line, though, I gotta say- there were many strong books, but two utterly HORRIFIC Magic-themed books had come out, wrecking a lot of the goodwill from their tech-based siblings (Russia & Wild West: decent sci-fi books, AWFUL magic books). Skraypers was fine but didn't matter much to the rest of the setting. CJ Carella had gone. We hadn't gotten to the Coalition Wars yet. And now we were left with lower-interest things like Rifts Canada and Rifts Australia. A lot was hanging on whether or not they could make anything out of these. Canada was fine, if a bit focused on "Bounty Hunter" stuff for whatever reason. You had Time-Tossed Sci-Fi Mounties, tons of talking 'Squatches, and some pretty good art. But what would Australia bring?

Australia is, largely, independent from the rest of the world. With oceanic & air travel nearly impossible because they don't know what's in future books yet... I mean, because of monsters & stuff... there is a lot of open territory and nobody goes there. And OF COURSE Because Rifts, it means the natives have gone back to the "Old Ways", while white folks are now... yeah, you had to know they were ripping off Mad Max. This would mean more if they hadn't JUST ripped off Mad Max for Warlords of Russia and, like, half the Rifts line thus far, but still, Australia pretty much HAD TO.

Only two cities remain on the continent, and both walled themselves off from others, desperately safeguarding what they had. Melbourne has become an island-state, while Perth also survived, and is smaller.

The book is written by an actual Australian, so at least has a hope of getting cultural stuff right. Ben Cassin Lucas has absolutely zero other RPG credits to his name, far as I can tell, which certainly bodes ill. He says it was inspired by his own game, where players went there and he was left having to make stuff up. So this might just be the practical "this ACTUALLY GOT PLAYTESTED!" kind of thing that the setting needs. Heck, for all I know, Lucas accidentally critiqued something Kevin once wrote and was blackballed from the industry, so he might be entirely competent! I mean, Kevin didn't give him the passive-aggressive "Well he needed LOTS of help, and of course I had to edit in my own ideas" junk here, so at least he didn't piss him off circa 1999.

It seems fine overall- a bit too much time spent on "Outback Communities" and Aborigines are treated exactly like Native Americans- a "Noble Savage" that lives with the land and is great at conservation over wasteful whites. You know the drill by now. Ramon Perez is on art again, and draws a bunch of gritty-looking frontier people once more. The classic Rifts-y "overdoing it" happens with a Bushman, BushRANGER, Guide & Jackaroo all being different types of the same thing (outdoorsmen), while there are a Merchant AND a City Trader O.C.C. (geez, no wonder Kevin liked this guy's manuscript- redundant classes nobody would ever play are BELOVED by him). The "Roadganger" is the same kind of Mad Max evil motorcyclist we've seen a million times, but the "Road Sentinel" seems like a kind of Aussie Sheriff of sorts and seems kinda interesting. A "Songjuicer" and a mage revolving around faking his skills- those are pretty unique. There's a bunch of O.C.C.s based around the cities, giving us the exact same 4-5 classes that appear in every single "split-off setting" in the line- cops, administrators, soldiers & sailors. But then OH MY GOD YOU CAN PLAY MAGICAL SENTIENT KOALAS THIS BOOK IS BACK TO AMAZING.

Kevin promises that "this should be just the first of several Rifts Australia books", and promises one on the Dream Time among the "next books", but thankfully this never materialized and so we were spared from a horrible Mystic Australia. Oh my god I just read a bit further in this book and they were ACTUALLY GONNA CALL IF THAT. I'm guessing piss-poor sales on other Mystic-related books killed that one. It was supposed to come out in late 1999 (the year this one came out), so obviously SOMETHING happened. HOLY FUCK THERE WAS GONNA BE AUSTRALIA DREAMTIME, TOO!! Fall 1999! Man, something DEFINITELY happened.

From Fatal & Friends:
However, rumor has it that Palladium actually got two manuscripts from Ben Lucas for the next two Australia books that were then shelved by Palladium, to his chagrin. Another rumor says that Mystic Australia and Dreamtime were shelved by Siembieda, who felt it went too far and would likely offend people. (Which sort of people is less clear.) There's also talk that Siembieda made some last-minute changes, like changing the Molokoi from an S.D.C. race with acid guns to the terrifying (for the Australia setting) techno-wizards they became. But all that's - and I'll emphasize this - only rumors. It also could have been fan backlash on the lower power level and frog-based villainy that caused Siembieda to want to turn things back towards the Americas, or just generally low sales on the book. Either way, it's likely the last we'll see of Rifts Australia in the foreseeable future.
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Overview

Post by Jabroniville »

AUSTRALIAN OVERVIEW:
-Australia here is split up into several parts on a map. The North is covered in rivers thanks to rising tides. A huge swath of Western Australia is desert and scrub, with Perth being one of the few population centers. Not much vegetation overall. Bana-land, in Northern Australia, is so riddled with "alien radiation" that Magic has a near-limitless supply to draw from for spellpower, at the cost of the mage's health- meanwhile, Psionisc are hampered. Queensland has the "Great Reef"- a sentient benevolent force, but also the worst of the "Outbacker" gangs and demons, as it's a vast desert. York Station is a large pre-Rifts spaceport that has been turned into a makeshift shelter for thousands- it's hidden by rainforest and ocean on all sides, and even Perth & Melbourne don't know about it (which is how these paranoid folks like it). South Australia is mostly flooded.

New South Wales (the southeast) is mostly reduced to old-school ways, as Canberra is now a lake-filled crater that may hold tons of M.D.C. treasures, but the region is mostly Aborigines. 59,000+ live in "Ol' Sydney Town", which is mostly reclaimed by wilderness and is pockmarked by gangs and ne'er-do-wells- thousands of Brodkil & Gargoyles also claim it, but actually kinda get along with the human population there, seeing kindred spirits. Gangs can even be mixed up of humans & subdemons alike. Melbourne also resides here, as the largest city on the continent. Tasmania is mostly deserted.

Outback communities are all over the place, and very low-tech. Everyone is all-S.D.C., meaning anyone should be able to effortlessly wipe them out. They desperately hold onto everything they have, so freeloaders are often exiled. There's a billion pages about "Building your own community" that I skipped, but might be useful for GMs.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Skraypers Done! Rifts Australia!)

Post by Jabroniville »

One thing Fatal & Friends pointed out about the Tarlok of Skraypers, which I often miss because I don't use Palladium's dumb toughness system:
It bears mentioning that there are no alterations to the damage values to cope with the fact that the average character is going to be much more durable in this setting, due to the addition of powers. Did I mention the average Tarlok (going by the average age of 200 years and 8th level from the tables provided) has 520+ M.D.C.? Man, I already thought fighting Coalition soldiers with 90 M.D.C. body armor was sloggy, but an armored Tarlok warrior (not the kind you can play, which are way weaker, of course) will have 600-700+ M.D.C.! That's verging on Glitter Boy or Invulnerable superhero levels of durability, and is nearly unplayable in terms of actual repeated conflict. If you're firing a Seeronian Double-Rifle, it's going to take about 20 to 30 successful hits to bring down a Tarlok. Even if you're equivalent (8th) level and can shoot lasers from your hands, you can only do about 10d6 damage, which means it'll still take 15-20 blasts to bring down one of these baddies. It's exceedingly bad design, making players have to rely solely on dirty tricks like gravity manipulation or status effects to win fights. Doctor Laserhands is way, way better off blinding his Tarlok foes than actually trying to hurt them, and that's a real problem.
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Bushman

Post by Jabroniville »

BUSHMAN O.C.C.
Role:
Generic Outdoorsman, Wild Man
PL 7 (79 + Psionics)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+8)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 10 (+12)
Expertise (Animals & Monsters) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Aborigine Culture) 5 (+5)
Expertise (Traps) 3 (+3)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 6 (+8)
Treatment 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Eidetic Memory, Equipment 4 (Trappers' Gear, M.D. Gun), Ranged Attack 2, Tracking

Powers:
"Psionics" (Summon Inner Strength, Resist Thirst, Empathy- animals only, Hypnotic Suggestion- animals only; get Sixth Sense & 1 sensitive/physical power at 3rd Level)

Equipment:
"Energy Rifle" Blast 9 (18)
"Homespun Armor" Protection 5 (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Energy Rifle +5 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +6

Complications:
Motivation (The Outback)- These are men who love the wilderness.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 0 + Psionics / Defenses: 8 (79 + Psionics)

-YUP- another book, another "Outdoorsman Survivalist" class. These are pretty necessary in the game, but man... they shoulda just had some kind of Super-Survivalist Guy O.C.C. in the Main Rulebook so they didn't need this kind of page bloat over and over again. They are white men who "are almost Aboriginal themselves in the way they have embraced the wild as their home." Cultural appropriation! CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!

-They are stereotyped as being a bit weird, having "gone bush" in Aussie slang. They're enigmatic and quirky, but have their uses to Outback communities, as they're good liaisons to the Aborigines and know the wilderness. They are gritty and take their work seriously, unlike the "Jackaroo" who is explained later. Some are Explorers, just out to find new things and travel about. Others are Desert Bushmen/Nomads who defend the Outback from evil. Standard Bushmen will sometimes visit towns, and have regular friends. Most tend to disrespect people dependent on technology.

-Bushmen are pretty standard "Outdoorsmen" with a lot of skills focused around that, but lack Mega-Damage stuff for the most part (only one M.D. weapon to start), and no armor to speak of. How they survive, I have no idea.
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catsi563
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Skraypers Done! Rifts Australia! Bushman!)

Post by catsi563 »

YUP- another book, another "Outdoorsman Survivalist" class. These are pretty necessary in the game, but man... they shoulda just had some kind of Super-Survivalist Guy O.C.C. in the Main Rulebook so they didn't need this kind of page bloat over and over again.
its called the wilderness scout :)
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Jabroniville
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Bushranger

Post by Jabroniville »

BUSHRANGER O.C.C.
Role:
Criminal, Highwayman
PL 7 (75-78)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 8 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 5 (Guns & Stuff), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Choose One:
"Extra Tough" STA +1 (2)
"Sharpshooting" Ranged Combat +2 with one weapon type, Ranged Attack +1 (2)
"Horseman" Athletics +3 (Limited to Riding), Vehicles +2, +1 Dodge When Riding (3)
"Survivalist" Survival +4 (2)
"East" Improved Initiative, Athletics +2 (2)
"Expert Boxman" Technology +4 (2)
"Safecracker" Technology +6 (Limited to Safes) (2)
"Charmer" PRE +1, Attractive (3)
"Impersonator" Deception +6 (3)
"Psionic" 50/50 shot at Major/Minor Psionics

Equipment:
"Energy Rifle" Blast 9 (18)
"Homemade Armor" Protection 5 (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Vibro-Blade +5 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Energy Rifle +5 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2 (+8 Homemade Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 0 + Choices / Defenses: 7 (75-78)

-Bushrangers sound like they should be Ranger/Scouts, but are in fact criminals, the "Highwaymen" of Australian lore. Ned Kelly, an infamous criminal, was apparently called this, so I guess it's a thing. Bushrangers are said to be extremely spontaneous, avoiding making excessively detailed plans. Despite the fact that they are notoriously greedy and hedonistic, some are swashbuckling types who will rescue fair maidens, while others keep "day jobs" and commit crimes only in secrecy.
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