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

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catsi563
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by catsi563 »

Batgirl III wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:55 pm Interesting... How many Super Powers does he get and what category (Major/Minor)?
One major and one minor, or three minors subject to GM approval of course
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Batgirl III »

catsi563 wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:57 pm
Batgirl III wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:55 pm Interesting... How many Super Powers does he get and what category (Major/Minor)?
One major and one minor, or three minors subject to GM approval of course
Not a bad mix... Especially with a decent skill set. Not as good as going with a “real” Heroes Unlimited character, but pretty good.
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Master Assassin

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Nothing says "Palladium" quite like re-using an old piece of art for a totally different game because it's somewhat relevant.

MASTER ASSASSIN O.C.C.
Role:
Undercover Agent, Contract Killer
PL 8 (107)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 7 (+9)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Assassin) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 6 (+10)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (MDC Body Armor +8), Improved Critical (Weapon of Choice), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Cybernetic Implants"
Senses 2 (Infravision, Extended Hearing) [2]
Communication (Electronics) 1 [4]

Equipment:
"Body Armor" Protection 5 (Extras: Impervious 5) (10)
"Energy Pistol" Blast 7 (Feast: Range 2) (16)
"Vibro-Blades" Strength-Damage +4 (Extras: Penetrating 6) (10)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Vibro-Blades +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Gun +9 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+8 Armor), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Reputation (Criminal)
Motivation (Greed)

Total: Abilities: 58 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 6 / Defenses: 8 (107)

-The Master Assassin would normally carry the unmistakable air of "I Want To Play This", but for some reason, they just cut & pasted a piece of art from Ninjas & Superspies as the O.C.C. Picture, and then gave a really tiny bio about how they typically just snipe their targets from afar. They get a good bunch of Skills, though- more than your typical "Criminal" O.C.C.s, and a good assortment of weaponry.
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Special Forces

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

AGH OH GOD WHO LET ROB LIEFELD DRAW ART FOR THIS BOOK?

SPECIAL FORCES O.C.C.
Role:
Elite Soldiers, Infiltrators
PL 8 (95)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+5)
Expertise (Soldier) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Intelligence Operations) 6 (+8)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)
Technology 4 (+6)
Treatment 2 (+4)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 12 (Gear), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Low-End Cybernetics"
Senses 1 (Infravision) [1]
"Radio Jack" Communication 2 (Radio) [8]

Equipment:
"Dead Boy-ish Body Armor"
Protection 7 (Impervious 5) (12)
Immunity 6 (Radiation, Vacuum, Hot, Cold, Suffocation 2) (6)
Mini-Computer (2)
Tinted Visor, Loudspeaker, etc. (3)

"Heavy Assault Rifle" Blast 10 (Extras: Multiattack) (30)
"Assorted Gear" Gas Masks, Radios, etc. (4)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Assault Rifle +6 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +2 (+9 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Variable

Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 8 (95)

-The Special Forces class is pretty much explicitly mentioned as being a Coalition class with the serial numbers filed off. It's said that non-CS nations produce these guys, who are highly sought-after by mercenary armies, as they specialize in the kind of low-cost wetwork that doesn't require a lot of infrastructure- they're good at small, cheap operations.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 29, 2018 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

From the Fatal & Friends review:
They get a lot of sneaking, flipping, and picking skills, but are a little low on the free skill picks. They get all sorts of thief equipment, plus forged papers for several local places. Wait... the Smuggler doesn't get those! That... means the Thief is actually a better smuggler than the Smuggler. G'damn.

As with the last O.C.C.s, there are attribute requirements! Strict ones, too, so here are your chances of randomly rolling a human...
Bounty Hunter = 23%
Forger = 6%
Freelance Spy = 46%
Master Assassin = 20%
Safecracker = 1%
Smuggler = 20%
Special Forces = 13%
Super-Spy = 8%
Professional Thief = 8%
Yes, this means a lot of the classes will never show up in any game, and that Forger and Safecracker, arguably the worst classes in the book, are near-impossible to roll up. Usually I'd complain, but who'd want to play them anyway?
I really want to know if anyone's ever actually tried to roll up the Forger or Safecracker now.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Sidious »

I'm waiting for the South American builds honestly. The commentary alone should be worth it.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by MacynSnow »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:59 am From the Fatal & Friends review:
They get a lot of sneaking, flipping, and picking skills, but are a little low on the free skill picks. They get all sorts of thief equipment, plus forged papers for several local places. Wait... the Smuggler doesn't get those! That... means the Thief is actually a better smuggler than the Smuggler. G'damn.

As with the last O.C.C.s, there are attribute requirements! Strict ones, too, so here are your chances of randomly rolling a human...
Bounty Hunter = 23%
Forger = 6%
Freelance Spy = 46%
Master Assassin = 20%
Safecracker = 1%
Smuggler = 20%
Special Forces = 13%
Super-Spy = 8%
Professional Thief = 8%
Yes, this means a lot of the classes will never show up in any game, and that Forger and Safecracker, arguably the worst classes in the book, are near-impossible to roll up. Usually I'd complain, but who'd want to play them anyway?
I really want to know if anyone's ever actually tried to roll up the Forger or Safecracker now.
All of us from Weyland-Yutani(tm) tried when making our secondary(RE:Tournament/Convention) characters.Out of all of us,only i got the stats for anything in here at all(and that was due to me deciding to play a non-human for a change).out of all 5 of us(our GM decided to try his hand at it,just in case),if only 1 of us JUST got the requirement's,then that's a 20% chance out of 100% to get any class out of this book.That should tell you what CJ and Sembia actually wanted this book to be used for.... ;)
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by greycrusader »

Jab, will you be statting up the individual NPCs who appear in the Mercenaries book?
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Oh, God no. WAY too much work. Also, that's pushin' my "copywrite law" button too hard. Reprinting NPCs feels like going too far.
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Mystic Magic

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MYSTIC MAGIC O.C.C.
Role:
Minor Mage
PL 8 (109)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 6 (+7)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Magic) 4 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 6 (Gear), Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist

Powers:
"Sense Evil" Senses 3 (Evil Awareness- Ranged, Radius) [3]
Features 1: May Become a Medium For Another Being [1]

"Magic & Psionics"
"Befuddle" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Ranged, Extra Condition, Limited Degree) (16) -- [29]
  • AE: "Blinding Flash" Dazzle Visuals 6 (15ft. Burst) (16)
  • AE: "Cloud of Smoke" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Attack, Ranged) (8)
  • AE: "Fear" Affliction 8 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Controlled) (Ranged, Fear Only) (16)
  • AE: "Detect Concealment" Senses 4 (Vision Counters Concealment) (4 points)
  • AE: "Turn Dead" Mind Control 8 (Burst, Ranged Only, Limited to Animated Undead) (16)
  • AE: "Telepathy" Mind-Reading 4 Linked to Communication 1 (Mental) (Flaws: Limited to Brief Messages) (11)
  • AE: "Mind Block" Immunity 20 (Mental Powers) (Flaws: Fades) (10)
  • AE: "Sixth Sense" Danger Sense & Uncanny Dodge (2)
  • AE: "Clarevoyance" Precognition (4)
  • AE: "Astral Projection" Remote Sensing (Vision) 6 (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (6)
  • AE: "Exorcism" Nullify Possession 8 (Reach) (9)
  • AE: "Healing Touch" Healing 4 (8)
  • AE: "Psychic Purification" Nullify Drugs 6 (6)
Equipment:
"Light Body Armor" Protection 4 (Extras: Impervious 3) (7)
"Energy Rifle" Blast 7 (Multiattack) (21)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Gun +7 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Magical Afflictions +7 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Blinding Flash +6 Area (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3 (+7 Armor), Fortitude +4, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (The Coalition)- The CS actively hate Magic, and will kill any sorcerers they can find.
Power Loss (Magic)- Magic requires the internal energies of the Sorcerer to work- too many Spells will wear them out.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 8 (109)

-The Mystic is said to be an intuitive, unlearned Sorcerer- one whose spells just COME to them, without any training or learning required. Sort of like D&D's Sorcerer class, but also with a smattering of Psionics. They know only low-level spells at first (the first two levels don't have any damage-dealing properties), but will slowly improve with time, gaining 20+ Spells by the time they reach their maximum. Their base spells are said to reflect the Wizard at that point in their life- greedy sorts will get spells to help thievery, angry men will gain offensive spells, etc. Their Psionics appear to never improve. Mages in Rifts were notoriously underpowered at first, lacking durability, Force Fields or even much in the way of combat spells. Despite their versatility, a City Rat or Rogue Scholar could still take them out.

-Mystics gain six spells at Level 1, and never change. Every level therafter, they gain additional ones, gaining four, then three, then two for every level after the third, corresponding to their own level (so they have to reach their maximum before getting Level 15 Spells). Their great versatily comes at the cost of Skills, which are VERY minimal, and their armor and weaponry are quite low. But how many D&D Wizards can tank a Rail Gun with their armor?

-My Mystic here chose spells based around "Helping Others"- therefore, he has a lot of disabling Afflictions to target the enemy, as well concealing smoke, Detection spells and other things.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Fri Jun 29, 2018 8:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

heh- this quote from a Fatal and Friends review of the Main Rulebook:
Oh, you thought I wasn't going to nitpick this time? Guess again! Those vampires? They're mentioned but never statted. The druid? Mentioned but not statted. That demon? Yep, no details on it. And that doesn't look much like a "cyber-knight" to me. It looks like a regular knight.

I think a lot of Rifts™ was more artist-driven than it gets credit for. I wouldn't be surprised if a many of the game concepts come from clever sketches and incidental designs.
Yup- someone else has picked up on the "Sketchpad Character"-nature of the game itself.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:54 pm Semibedia has always struck me as a guy who could have done great work as a game designer if he’d been working for TSR, Steve Jackson Games, or FASA... He was clearly a creative dynamo during Palladium’s first decade or so, but he had some sort of weird combo of ADHD and OCD that kept him bouncing from idea to idea to idea, often with an oddly persnickety amount of detail on things that don’t need it and rushing through things that should be explained in detail when he hurries on to the next idea.

We’ve already beaten the S.D.C. horse with Mega-Damage bats with regard to his management style and business practices.

A common complaint about comic book writers is that some of them get so big they develop “Protection from Editors,” which is how you end up with Frank Miller. Seimbedia didn’t just have protection from the bosses, he was the boss.
He really comes off as nuts. In Rifts Japan, he announces that the writer turned in a "great manuscript" that Kevin nonetheless had to re-write 80% of because he "got an idea" for Brigadoon-style teleportation of Old Japan cities, allowing for a High Tech Japan as rivals to the Low-Tech Japan of the setting. I mean, that adds in most of my favorite "Riftsy" stuff about that book (Ninja CRAZY?!?!), but imagine being that freelancer (who, by the way, never wrote for Palladium ever again. Wonder if there's a fun story there?).

The big diatribe by Bill Coffin really paints that interesting picture of Kevin- in particular, how Kevin is the nicest guy in the world... until he's crossed or feels like he's been crossed, at which point he becomes this angry, vulgar, woe-is-me whiner. And he more or less describes your issues there- Kevin can't see the forest for the trees, will hammer out page after page when he's supposed to be working on OTHER projects, yet refuses to see any issues with the very core rules of the setting!
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:15 pm
Sidious wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:03 pm
It's horrible in the way most Rifts books are but so much setting and ideas that it's to good to pass up.
That's pretty much Rifta in a nutshell.

And it isn't even that KS lacks the funding to really go after anyone, its that he has no real legal grounds to do so. We would have to somehow be profiting off of his work, which we aren't. We don't even run ads here. Plus, if he tried and lost, it would set a legal precident for all future threats.
The TVTropes page for Rifts asserts that "Kevin likes to send out C&D orders. Thankfully, he doesn't have the financial resources to carry out his threats." It's still a concern, of course, but I'm pretty sure just converting stuff breaks no laws. And the "poking fun" is done everywhere.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Sidious wrote: Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:09 pm I'm waiting for the South American builds honestly. The commentary alone should be worth it.
heh- I might push that one ahead. I was working on converting the Felinoids, but they have a TON of minor stat additions. The T-Rex Cock Gun picture must be statted, however...
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dragon & Splugorth Juicers! Burster! Mind Melter! Crazy!)

Post by Batgirl III »

I always found South America kind of flat; As Rifts Worldbooks go, it’s certainly more interesting than England or Africa... But it’s kind of just this static collection of “Planet of Hats” style countries.

South America 2, on the other hand, introduces a four-sided Cold War between the returned Incan Pantheon, an invading alien empire, a multiverse-spanning private military contractor, and a country best described as “C.S. Banana Republic.”

Palladium never did anything with the two South America books, so all of these plot threads are left dangling. But I kind of like that it’s all a big “blank slate” and you don’t need to worry about the metaplot that Palladium suddenly decided to get for themselves with the War on Tolkeen and Demon/Deevil War books.
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