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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Vampire Sourcebook! Moonseer Hawk & Hound!)

Post by Jabroniville »

neoX17 wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 12:59 am hello, cool monster you got there.
Thanks :).
That coloring job is far preferable to what gets done to whatever digital coloration Chuck Walton's work normally gets. I don't know if Palladium ever put out a coloring book, and several of the artists' work wouldn't be all that well suited to it, but that would make more sense than some of their merchandizing choices. I say this as someone that did strongly consider buying a Wilk's Laser Technologies t-shirt in the 90s.
Yeah... his art is very, very clearly "pen & pencil"-related, so digital colors placed over it always look weird.
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Woodclaw
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Vampire Sourcebook! Moonseer Hawk & Hound!)

Post by Woodclaw »

I can't decide if that... hound is more terrifying or adorable.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

WareHouse W (main build thread for M&M)
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JDRook
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Vampire Sourcebook! Moonseer Hawk & Hound!)

Post by JDRook »

Woodclaw wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 5:41 pm I can't decide if that... hound is more terrifying or adorable.
Kind of the Fizzgig effect going on there.

"Oh he looks mean, but rub his belly and he's your best friend!"
Jabroniville
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Silver Swords Militiaman

Post by Jabroniville »

SILVER SWORDS MILITIAMAN O.C.C.
Role:
Local Militia of Durango
PL 7 (64)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Vampire Lore) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Military) 6 (+6)
Insight 4 (+4)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+8)
Technology 4 (+4)
Treatment 2 (+2)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Guns, Armor, Silver-Bladed Broadsword, Machete & Bowie Knives), Ranged Attack 3

Equipment:
"Big Bore Shotgun" Blast 8 (16)
"MDC Armor" Protection 5 (5)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Gun +5 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Blades +5 (+3-5 Damage, DC 18-20)
Initiative +2

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

Complications:
Disabled (Under-Educated)- A huge majority of the human population is now illiterate and under-educated.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (69)

-Durango is the "Silver City" in Mexico, where everyone wears silver crosses, owing to old silver mines still in the region. Vampires frequently attack the mine and the town, but both are so well-defended that assaults have never proven victorious. Vampires, however, are relentless, and it's seen as inevitable that the town will one day fall. The Silver Swords Militia is the armed citizenry of the town (all who can are expected to at least train, and non-miners are expected to fight), patrolling the town and its region for Vampires and killing them.

-The Militia use silver-bladed broadswords, machetes & bowie knives as standard-issue. They're generic fighters, and have no Vampire-Hunting specialty powers- just some solid anti-Vamp gear.
Jabroniville
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Skaters of Vampire Hunters

Post by Jabroniville »

SLAYERS OF VAMPIRE HUNTERS:
-The Vampire Sourcebook contains a huge-ass description of life in the desert that I didn't care about, and also has a monster section for those mortals who hunt their fellow men and women on behalf of their Vampire masters. Hired guns, human-hating D-Bees, or simply those who assume Vampires will win and want their own place in the new order, they attack Vampire Hunters by various sneaky means. They start new Vampire infestations in order to lure eager Vamp-Hunters to new towns and ambush them, pretend to be weak victims in need of help, and more.
Jabroniville
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Deathspike Vampire Agent

Post by Jabroniville »

DEATHSPIKE VAMPIRE AGENT
Role:
The Middle-Tier Vampire, Stereotypical Vampire
PL 11 (247 + Psionics)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12)
Deception 6 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+9)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Stealth 5 (+8)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Close Attack 1, Daze (Persuasion), Fast Grab, Startle, Teamwork, Power Attack

Powers:
"Undead Monster"
Immunity 35 (Fortitude Effects, Mind Control) [35]
Immunity 80 (All Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Non-Magical/Wood/Silver/Moving Water/Sunlight/Holy Water Attacks) [40]
Immunity 10 (Fire & Cold Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [5]
Protection 6 [6]
Regeneration 5 (Feats: Regrows Limbs) [6]
Senses 6 (Low-Light Vision, Extended Scent 2, Tracking, Communication Link- Mind Slaves, Awareness of Maker & Masters) [6]
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2]

"Vampiric Powers"
"Summon Canines & Vermin" Mind Control 6 (Extras: Area- 120ft Burst +3) (Flaws: Touch Range -2, Limited to Canines, Bats, Insects & Rodents) (24) -- [28]
  • AE: "Vampire Pheromone-Induced Seduction Trance" Affliction 6 (Fort/Will; Dazed & Impaired/Stunned & Defenseless/Paralyzed & Controlled) (Extras: Extra Condition, Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Scent-Dependent) (18)
  • AE: "Vampire Mind Control" Mind Control 6 (Flaws: Vision-Dependent, Hearing-Dependent) (12)
  • AE: "Negate the Powers of Lesser Vampires" Affliction 8 (Will; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Perception-Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Vampires, Limited to Weaker Vampires, Limited Numbers) (4)
  • AE: "Vampiric Claws & Teeth" Strength-Damage +4 (4)
"Slow Kill" Affliction 6 (Fort; Impaired & Entranced/Disabled & Controlled/Transformed to Vampire or Mind Slave & Controlled) (Extras: Extra Condition, Continuous +3) (Flaws: Source- Three Consective Nights of Blood-Drinking -2) [18]
"Summon Fog" Environment 6 (Reduce Vision) [6]

Morph 1 (Bat) (Feats: Metamorph) (6) -- [9]
  • AE: Morph 1 (Wolf) (Feats: Metamorph) (6)
  • AE: Morph 1 (Mist) (Feats: Metamorph) (6)
  • AE: Morph 1 (Attractive Human Form) (5)
"Psionics" (Alter Aura, Induce Sleep, Death Trance, Mind Block, Deaden Pain, Presence Sense, Empathy, Sense Evil, Hypnotic Suggestion; Will have pre-existing powers at half their former level as humans)
"Magic" (None, Unless Vampire was a Mage in human form; Magic is stuck at half its former level)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Claws & Teeth +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Summons & Mind Control +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Vampire Mind Control/Seduction -- (+6 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Negate Powers -- (+8 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6, Fortitude --, Will +7

Complications:
Power Loss (Slow Kill)- Beings with Mega-Damage bodies cannot be turned into Vampires, nor can animals or Mutant Animals, Crazies, Juicers, Shapechangers, Creatures of Magic (Faeries, Dragons, etc.), or 25% to Full Conversion Cyborgs. A Secondary Vampire only has a 42% chance of creating another Secondary Vampire- otherwise, a Wild Vampire is created.
Vulnerable (Vampire to Vampire Mind Control)- A Vampire controlled by another Vampire's Mind Control attack will be controlled for a whole hour per level of their experience.
Vulnerable (Sunlight)- Vampires are fatally-vulnerable to sunlight.
Vulnerable (Water)- Vampires cannot cross moving bodies of water, and even tiny sprinkles or spray of it do tremendous damage.
Noticeable- Vampires have no reflection.
Power Loss (Regeneration)- Vampiric Regeneration will not work if staked through the heart. They will immediately begin healing if the stake is removed, however.
Responsibility (Arrogant)- Vampires are prone to thinking far too highly of themselves, owing to their nature as nigh-invulnerable ageless beings.
Enemy (Many)- Cyber-Knights, Reid's Rangers, Anti-Monsters and other Vampire Hunters are the worst enemies of Vampires. The Splugorth, Demons, Devils and others are rivals and enemies, too.

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 161 + Psionics / Defenses: 8 (247 + Psionics)

-Deathspike is the name of a "Vampire Hunter"-hunting organization formed by various rival Vampire Intelligences working together. The group is made up of Vampires and their agents, all fans of M.D.C. gear and the like, to make them even more devastating at fighting humans. After all, Vampires cannot be staked while wearing Mega-Damage Body Armor (which they claimed to dislike and avoid in Rifts: Vampire Kingdoms, likely for balance reasons). This is a highly-organized group with vast warehouses, training facilties, and advanced tactics, and meant to add a further wrinkle to the story that moves the "Vampire" part of the Rifts over-arching story along- while one Vampire Kingdom falls thanks to a death weapon from Reid's Rangers, THIS thing starts getting moving.

-Deathspike agents may attempt to lead Vampire Hunters on (with tales of where the Vampires are), seduce them, pretend to be experienced Hunters and get amateurs to follow them, etc. Some even booby-trap "fake Vampire lairs" and trap prospective Hunters inside. The Vampire Agents only get a minor increase over the Secondary Vampire basics- it's themed around Technology & Vehicles.
Jabroniville
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Deathspike Human Agent

Post by Jabroniville »

DEATHSPIKE HUMAN AGENT
Role:
Race Traitors

Template:
Stealth +2
+4 Boost to 1-2 Skills

-The "Human Agent" is an NPC Villain considered an evil race-traitor, luring their fellow mortals to their deaths. They can be made up of any O.C.C., and gain tiny amounts of skills based off of what that is. Human Agents typically worship their Vampire masters, and are useful because they can operate during daylight, and won't set off any Vampire-Hunting gear or Magic, nor are they vulnerable to weapons designed to kill Vampires.
Jabroniville
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Deathspike Vampire Cyborg

Post by Jabroniville »

VAMPIRE CYBORG
Role:
Race Traitors, Fake Vampires

Template:
+4 Boost to 2-4 Skills

-This one is rather ingenious: Deathspike Human Agents who gain cybernetic enhancements in order to FAKE being Vampires. They will depigment their skin, sharpen canine teeth, enhance their strength, and more, all to lure in Vampire Hunters, who will inevitably try wooden stakes against M.D.C. hides or throwing holy water at them. These are typically drawn from Headhunter and Combat Cyborg O.C.C.s, and have some Skill boosts from the looks of things.
Jabroniville
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Soulcraft

Post by Jabroniville »

SOULCRAFT:
-UGH OH GOD SO MANY PAGES. This is written by someone named Chris Kluge, and features some guy named the Craftsman who Rifted into the Yucatan Valley at one point and changed everything. Wielding dark "Soulcraft" armor, he pledged allegiance to Camazotz, God of Darkness & Bats, who had enslaved a Vampire Intelligence and ruled Chichen Itza, and made weapons only for him and his armies. Soulcraft is like Rune Magic, but takes life energy (tortured people placed into a round "Soul Forge", which harvests their life forces) and uses it for destructive purposes, called "Anti-Life". This creates weapons and armor alike.

Soulcrafting is so OH MY GOD SO EVIL YOU GUYS that even evil beings are said to hunt down practitioners of the craft, not just for moral reasons (those send the "Forces of Light" from miles around to fight these guys wherever they're found), but because the weapons can harm Dragons and even Gods. People trapped within the Forge are forever altered if they're freed- not only the List O' Insanities but physical stuff, alignment switches, their aura is different, etc. You can even become a Mega-Damage being!

The Craftsman himself is given a bio and statline, involving how he was recruited by a Demon Lord, but tricked him into his own Soul Forge. However, he had outsmarted himself- the Lord's own rivals moved against him, and he fled to Rifts Earth. But the book very bluntly points out that there is NO "Soulcrafter O.C.C.", probably because they are just SO villainous and perverse that players simply aren't allowed to do it. Given that the class is all about putting people through unimaginable torture for weeks, I can believe that would be a Kevin Siembieda edict

Dark Weapons: These are nearly always blades crafted over the Soul Forge. However, they do damage to not only M.D.C./Hit Points, but I.S.P. & P.P.E. as well! This means that every attack removes things from three categories- this is tricky to pull off in M&M terms, and likely would be best-suited a Weaken effect.

"Dark Weapon" Strength-Damage +xx (Feats: Affects Insubstantial) (Extras: Incurable- Limited to 24 Hours) Linked to Weaken Powers X (Extras: Incurable- Limited to 24 Hours) (Flaws: Limited to Magic & Psionics)
-Damage starts at +7 and moves to +12 (5D6). Throwing Knives & Arrows can be created, adding the Ranged Extra to the attacks, but the max damage is Blast 9.

Special Abilities: Certain innate special abilities of victims of the Soul Forge may be placed into weapons. But only via the blade, so that a Dark Sword might regenerate from harm or something. Mega-Damage hides, Teleport, Dimensional Travel, Flight (turns the weapon into a thrown one), Bio-Regeneration, Breath Weapons, Healing, Invisibility See the Invisible, Metamorphosis (the weapon can change shape), Poison, Energy Blasts, Extra Accuracy (from Extra Attacks), Extra Damage (strong beings allow 1D6 to be added to the damage), Swimming (the object is now an underwater thrown weapon), Minor Super-Powers (from Heroes Unlimited), etc. Only three powers may be added to any one weapon. You can also let the blade mimic an effect (like silver) that someone is weak to by placing someone with that weakness into the Soul Forge.

Dark Armor: Regular metal armor can be placed over the Soul Forge and be given powers as well. The person wearing the armor is burned on the Forge to turn them into an M.D.C. being, and THEN they're given armor, numbering in the hundreds of M.D.C. as well, usually at +11-12 depending on your baseline M.D.C. You also gain a Half-Immunity to Energy Powers (Immunity 20), and assorted other powers, drawn the same way as Special Abilities for Dark Weapons- you can gain Aquatic Powers, Running Speed, Bio-Regeneration, Life Support, Super-Strength, Dimensional Pocket, Flight, Increased M.D.C. (up to Toughness +18!). And also, you get the Mandatory Insanity Table.

-This section is... rather weird. Way too detailed and with too much descriptive fluff added, but at least it provides unique weapons that can actually have game-changing effects. One of the disappointments in the setting is just how often something is just "M.D.C. Plus Hitting Power", regardless of where it is on the scale of Power Creep, so giving guys weird weapons is a plus.

SOULCRAFT SPELLS:
* Only three are listed.

"Locate Iron"- Basic location spell.
"Refine Iron Ore"- Pretty much does what it says.
"Mentally & Magically Shape Iron"- Mentally-shape it instead of smithing it out.
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Davies
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Re: Soulcraft

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:28 pm Wielding dark "Soulcraft" armor, he pledged allegiance to Camazotz, God of Darkness & Bats,
<sigh> Harold Johnson has a lot to answer for ...
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Jabroniville
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Re: Soulcraft

Post by Jabroniville »

Davies wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:36 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:28 pm Wielding dark "Soulcraft" armor, he pledged allegiance to Camazotz, God of Darkness & Bats,
<sigh> Harold Johnson has a lot to answer for ...
My lack of sci-fi/RPG knowledge damns me. I have no idea who that is.
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Davies
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Re: Soulcraft

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:55 am
Davies wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:36 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:28 pm Wielding dark "Soulcraft" armor, he pledged allegiance to Camazotz, God of Darkness & Bats,
<sigh> Harold Johnson has a lot to answer for ...
My lack of sci-fi/RPG knowledge damns me. I have no idea who that is.
Guy who wrote The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, the AD&D convention adventure that featured Camazotz, which introduced him as an evil bat god.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Curbludgeon
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Moonseer Hawk & Hound! Deathspike!)

Post by Curbludgeon »

I don't think that guy can take too much of the blame; different depictions of Camazotz in Mayan myth were already pretty nasty, and bat/underworld focused by default. I think the picture of a Vampire Intelligence's familiar ruined me for the notion, though, since I wouldn't have thought before seeing it that I would find a giant humanoid bat so silly-looking.

The Soulcrafting stuff is a little unnecessarily involved. Chris Kluge was a PG forum poster who came up with a lot of good stuff for the Splicers game, much of which ended up being compiled from Rifter articles into a book accompanied with a fair amount of art from Chuck Walton. I don't know if his doing some entries in a different game line was an attempt to get some momentum going on Splicers, but it does allow for access to some effects otherwise generally unavailable. I think the Weaken effect detailed above as a way to handle the dark weapons' damage is pretty slick. While it's not something I'd include in most games, I've been wanting to run a gonzo one shot involving soulcrafting as part of a sevenfold synergistic sacrifice engine in space using most of the EEEVIL Palladium stuff, and a Sea Inquisitor/Enemy of Darkness Auto-G posing as a Malvoren Gun Master being the only thing standing in the way. The main stumbling block has been deciding what guitar solo on which to shread while jumping a mural-painted van through a ring of fire at the game's zenith.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Moonseer Hawk & Hound! Deathspike!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Curbludgeon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 6:18 am The Soulcrafting stuff is a little unnecessarily involved. Chris Kluge was a PG forum poster who came up with a lot of good stuff for the Splicers game, much of which ended up being compiled from Rifter articles into a book accompanied with a fair amount of art from Chuck Walton. I don't know if his doing some entries in a different game line was an attempt to get some momentum going on Splicers, but it does allow for access to some effects otherwise generally unavailable. I think the Weaken effect detailed above as a way to handle the dark weapons' damage is pretty slick. While it's not something I'd include in most games, I've been wanting to run a gonzo one shot involving soulcrafting as part of a sevenfold synergistic sacrifice engine in space using most of the EEEVIL Palladium stuff, and a Sea Inquisitor/Enemy of Darkness Auto-G posing as a Malvoren Gun Master being the only thing standing in the way. The main stumbling block has been deciding what guitar solo on which to shread while jumping a mural-painted van through a ring of fire at the game's zenith.
Thanks! Glad you liked it! I actually had it set up as an Affliction right up until the end, when I was like "Oh, duh- that's what WEAKEN is for, too!"- it seems much more elegant than what Affliction usually ends up being.
Jabroniville
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Re: Soulcraft

Post by Jabroniville »

Davies wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 2:00 am
Jabroniville wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:55 am
Davies wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 11:36 pm

<sigh> Harold Johnson has a lot to answer for ...
My lack of sci-fi/RPG knowledge damns me. I have no idea who that is.
Guy who wrote The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, the AD&D convention adventure that featured Camazotz, which introduced him as an evil bat god.
Hm, "Camazotz" literally means "Death Bat", apparently, but the God is little understood. It's likely that most references to the God are inspired by that very thing, though!
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