So... Rifts-y...
JUICER O.C.C.
Role: Steroid Punkers (I hate punkers), Action Junkies, Mercenaries
PL 9 (127)
STRENGTH 3/6
STAMINA 3/6
AGILITY 3/6
FIGHTING 8/10
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Mercenary) 8 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Investigation 3 (+3)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+8)
Technology 5 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)
Advantages:
Equipment 10 (Juicer Gear), Ranged Attack 4
Powers:
"Juicer Bio-Comp System"
Enhanced Strength, Stamina & Agility 3 [18]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Enhanced Advantages 8: Diehard, Evasion, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Seize Initiative, Uncanny Dodge [8]
"Elite Athletes"
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Regeneration 2 [2]
"Saving Throws"
Enhanced Fortitude 1 [1]
Enhanced Will 2 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Psionics) [1]
Equipment:
"Juicer Gear"
"Juicer Assassin's Plate" Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 5) (7)
"Mercenary Gear" Assorted Stuff 5 (5)
"Vibro Blade" Strength-Damage +2 (Extras: Penetrating 6) (8)
"JA-11 Juicer Assassin's Energy Rifle" Blast 10 (Feats: Range) (Extras: Multiattack) (31) -- (32)
- AE: "S.D.C. Bullet" Blast 4 (8)
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Vibro-Knife +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
SDC Bullet +8 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Energy Rifle +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +10
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +6 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +4 (+8 Juicer), Will +5 (+7 vs. Psionics)
Complications:
Responsibility (Early Death)- Juicers must engage in the dangerous "Detoxification" process or die- a Juicer's lifespan is between five and seven years after they join the O.C.C., with no exceptions.
Addiction (Action)- Juicers are touchy, nervous and exciteable. They crave action, danger and adventure. Some have tossed themselves off of buildings for kicks.
Responsibility (Cannot Sleep)- Juicers cannot sleep without sedatives or tranquilizers.
Responsibilty (Owes Money)- Becoming a Juicer costs a pretty penny, and most people who take the process are quite poor. This means they usually owe money to someone.
Power Loss (Juicer Abilities)- If a Juicer Detoxes, they will not only lose all their Powers, but drop BELOW their baseline stats on occasion! They will also look ten years older than normal. Most Juicers crave the lifestyle, and many become suicidal or addicted to other drugs instead.
Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 6 (127)
Juicers- Iconic Rifts Class:
-Nothing says
Rifts to me like the goddamn Juicers. They just say SO MUCH about this world, the mentality of the creators, and the kind of world they wanted to build, that one of the iconic Character Classes is made up of Action Junkies who think that a six-year lifespan is preferable to life as a normal person. It means that Rifts Earth is a violent, dangerous place, and someone would rather doom themselves to an early death than be a victim. Or it just draws psychopaths who don't care about the quick death. Or it tells the sad story about people who wish to gain temporary power, then try to "Detox" and survive like a normal person, never QUITE being able to afford it.
-The world of the Juicers is pretty much an illegal one- most "proper" civilizations ban the process, so they typically have to go to "Chop-Shops" and illegal Cyber-Docs for the process. Or they pay their way in through a feudal state's armed forces.
"Last Call":
-If a Juicer doesn't detox and become normal (a huge possibility; few Juicers ever manage it), they are doomed to die 5 years and several months after undergoing the process. It can either be rather painless and sudden (
Juicer Uprising features a short paragraph about a guy's buddy just keeling over like he had no idea it was coming one day), while others are doomed to heacaches and other such maladies. Naturally, there are charts for both the number of months you have left over five years, and whether or not you'll suffer any symptoms.
Detox:
-Juicers may choose to undergo "Detox" at some point. This involves removing their cybernetic harness and the chemicals, and going through the horribly-painful detoxification process. As action, strength and the drugs themselves are highly addictive, this is fraught with peril- most Juicers are complete wreckes as a result, and many commit suicide or die chasing other drug highs. And once you DO detox, your stats are even lower than they'd been BEFOREHAND.
Juicer Stats:
-The Juicers pack a huge boost to S.D.C. & Hit Points in
Rifts, which is hilarious given how useless those things are unless everyone's fighting with baseline melee weapons (which nobody ever is, unless you're in a specific location that takes away all your gear). Normal "Men-At-Arms" combat classes will have 20-50 S.D.C., but Juicers add 1D4x100, which makes them about four times tougher and stronger than any normal human. They're more or less the equivalent of one of Disney's Gargoyles (leaning towards Goliath or Hudson over Brooklyn & Lexington). Descriptions in the books indicate that a Juicer can easily snap the neck of a human being with one punch; even one high on strength-boosting chemicals like "Crash". The Physical Prowess also goes up, making them very agile, and their Speed is enhanced to far beyond human capacity (doing the math, they can probably hit around 75 mph if they absolutely roll the best possible 2D4). This effectively makes them a class of mini-Spider-Men.
-Juicers use pretty basic gear (even a little weaker than the MDC Armor of most other classes- I figure that for Toughness +8, though it looks weird here, since it's barely providing a boost to the Juicer's toughness), but are REALLY hard to hit- they get "Automatic Dodge" as a Class Feature, which is one of the "God Stats" of the game. Similarly, they also gain an extra attack, which I reflect by good close combat skills and accuracy with their firearms (since M&M has only one Action-Per-Turn, no matter what).
-I was going for a PL 8 "Basic" Juicer, but the high force of damage from their Energy Rifles made me give up and just make him a PL 9 P.C. type. Juicers typically don't have a lot of smarts or interpersonal skills- they're action-junkie fighters, and this build reflects that.