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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Mystic Russia Complete

Post by Jabroniville »

BOOK SUMMATION:
-So yeah, Mystic Russia sucks complete ass. One of the worst Rifts books I've ever read, to the point where this really hurt my desire to do any more books in this list. Like, this was an IMMENSE piece of shit, to the point where I'm almost offended that Kevin S thought to release it in this form. The twin Russia books just BLEED of what Bill Coffin talked about, and speak to Kevin's stupidity in that he'd allow his entire release schedule to fall out of whack because he promised these two books and was then immensely disappointed with his poor freelancer's work. And this whole thing to me makes it VERY clear what Coffin was specifically talking about, re: Kevin's design process and behavior towards freelancers- a book he called "disappointing" IN THE FREAKING FOREWORD, then Kevin "rolls up his sleeves" and does it himself. While Kevin admits he shouldn't have promised the book so early in the release schedule (something Coffin also called him out for- Kevin tends to announce a release date before pencil has touched paper), there was no need for this.

So when you add both books together, you might have had a solid book. The Warlords concept is good for many stories- players have multiple "bosses" and can lead one against another, etc. Combined, the books give you hordes of unique Cyborgs and a bunch of Demons. But APART...? This is where things fall apart.

Warlords of Russia is OKAY. Sub-par but fine. Pretty art and a lot of work in designing 'Borgs. But it was page upon page of "unique" statblocks for things that had incredibly minimal differences between them- a single statline and "modifications" could have turned 30-40 pages into 10. And the DEMONS IN THIS BOOK JESUS CHRIST. Statline after staline of nigh-identical things with identical weaknesses... until one randomly doesn't have a weakness to birch for whatever reason. Tons of the same number of attacks or similar M.D.C. amounts. Completely unimaginative, boring creatures, with so much filler. This was a Monster Manual with the least amount of original thought ever- nary a single thing in the "Demons & Spirits" section is the slightest bit interesting. Again, better off combining the two books to create a "Cyborg Section" and a "Demon Section".

More importantly to me specifically, these were BORING TO STAT. The 'Borgs were easy enough and took only a minute or so each- just quick modifications to movement & Mega-Damage, whatever. But the DEMONS? Each one took absolute ages to read through all of the assorted powers, most of which were incredibly boring. This bled more out of "SHIT, need page-filler!" than anything in Rifts so far, even that part of Spirit West that made sure there were 3-4 kinds of every single Spirit so they could justify a page count of 200 or so.

This one piling on numerous spellcasting classes with page after page of uninteresting Spells doesn't help. Maybe I'd play a Fire Sorcerer, and the Mystic Kuznya is a fine idea, but the rest are trash. Fatal & Friends notes that "Mystic Russia continues to be what's the curse of the Palladium line - magic-centric books. England is considered by Siembieda himself to be the most disappointing Rifts book, while Africa and Spirit West are probably the worst books I've had to cover." Essentially, this pretty much puts a fine point on the fact that Rifts books about magic SUCK DONKEY BALLS- only Federation of Magic seems even halfway decent (and even then it's mostly the art and a few group concepts).

The fact that they released Spirit West and the two Russia books so close together, crossing 1997-1998, then hit the minor set of Australia, Splynn Dimensional Market and Xiticix Invasion... jesus, no WONDER Palladium became an industry joke and an also-ran after the hot start Rifts had in the early 1990s. This completely squandered the entire line, and the disappointing sales of the Coalition Wars led to an overall halt, exacerbated by the "Crisis of Treachery" or whatever that involved internal theft, and you had Palladium miss out on the start of the Internet Age of Gaming. Thankfully, this ended their "Shovelware" period for the most part, and most later books just boost the setting or add new cities or O.C.C.s- more to the point, they never released another "Magic-Centric" book again, which after the '97-98 stretch of three of them, tells me that they sold like ass and so they never risked it again. After this, pretty much every book centers around an entire setting, not just "Magic Stuff".

NOW... I suppose if I'd just looked at this book and flipped through it, I wouldn't care so much. But I took on this project for fun and ended up with THIS piece of shit coming along and being the worst thing ever that was authentically boring and mind-numbing to do. So I end up offended on a personal level. Even worse, this boring book killed comments in this thread so I had almost nothing to respond to, lol. Screw you, Kevin Siembieda. Screw your page filler sooooooooooooooooo much!

So you might say I did not like this book.
Jabroniville
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Rifts: Skraypers

Post by Jabroniville »

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RIFTS DIMENSION BOOK 4- SKRAYPERS (1998):
-So for years, I wondered what the hell this book was. Skraypers means nothing to me and I never saw this book anywhere where it wasn't wrapped up in a baggie so you couldn't read it. I just saw that evocative sci-fi cover with the faceless chick with the blue donk shooting out a stream of energy. Pretty solid work, to be honest. Turns out this is a "Pile of Aliens" book, and also fits Heroes Unlimited, meaning there'll be a lot of duel statlines. While the twin Russia books almost put an end to this thread, I remain committed to at least peeking at the other stuff, and at least want to see China or Australia to complete things, so this will be a "bridge" to those.

This came out in 1998, when the Rifts line was busy filling out the rest of its world. North America itself got a TON of books of focus, featuring New & Spirit West, Lone Star, Federation of Magic and more, showing us what all of North America looked like at last. Africa, England, Europe & South America were all seen, though most of those sucked. Rifts Japan was awesome sci-fi ninja weirdness, though. But now we enter a down-period as the line slows, various names leave (CJ Carella, notably, is gone, bringing with him his sense of what the setting could be- a wild mix of magic & technology and all these weird mini-nations fighting each other), and releases are now VERY sporadic.

So Skraypers is another Kevin S joint (uh-oh), based on the art & ideas of John Zeleznik, one of the staff artists. Aaaaaaaaand Kevin does one of his usual "LOL I had to save the manuscript cuz the other guy fucking SUUUUUUUCKS at writing them!", pointing out that John is a great artist, but had never roleplayed before (yes, Kevin gave writing duties to someone who HAD NEVER ROLEPLAYED BEFORE, never mind being unfamiliar with the system- what is he, a modern Marvel editor?), and so he was doing things very slowly. So after four years (!!) of planning finally comes Skraypers, a setting about an alien world of superheroes invaded and conquered by aliens. Well at least THAT'S unique.
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Ares
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Russia Done! Skraypers!)

Post by Ares »

Skraypers is a pretty fun and unique setting. Having an alien world with its own superheroes would be unique enough, but using the setting to explore what happens when an alien invasion wins and the superheroes must become an underground resistant movement is also a lot of fun. This book introduced the Blahze, a character concept you can tell was meant to allow for more high-powered cosmic heroes in the vein of the Cosmo-Knights, but with a Wildfire/Energy Being in a Containment Suit schtick that made them more unique.

I know you've said you've got no interest in Heroes Unlimited (and believe me, given how clunky that mess of a game is, I don't blame you), but I'd sincerely recommend you check out both Century Station and it's companion book, Gramercy Island. Century Station is another unique take on superheroes, one that has a very Civil War feel to it despite pre-dating Civil War by about 3 years. The idea there is that shenanigans have caused a thriving superscience metropolis on Earth to suffer a lot of issues, so now there's a strong divide between officially sanctioned superheroes and unsanctioned vigilante superheroes. It's got some unique history, some different takes on classic superhero character types, and rather than a character class book it'd be more akin to the kind of straightforward character conversions you do with comics characters.

Gramercy Islandy is likewise a fun take on the classic superhero prison while also being a Bad Guy Book of the various prison inmates, including a few superheroes who are also imprisoned (some justly, some unjustly).

Definitely don't want to push, but I'd still recommend it. It'd honestly be fun to see these characters done up in a proper RPG system.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Russia Done! Skraypers!)

Post by catsi563 »

Ares wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:37 am Skraypers is a pretty fun and unique setting. Having an alien world with its own superheroes would be unique enough, but using the setting to explore what happens when an alien invasion wins and the superheroes must become an underground resistant movement is also a lot of fun. This book introduced the Blahze, a character concept you can tell was meant to allow for more high-powered cosmic heroes in the vein of the Cosmo-Knights, but with a Wildfire/Energy Being in a Containment Suit schtick that made them more unique.

I know you've said you've got no interest in Heroes Unlimited (and believe me, given how clunky that mess of a game is, I don't blame you), but I'd sincerely recommend you check out both Century Station and it's companion book, Gramercy Island. Century Station is another unique take on superheroes, one that has a very Civil War feel to it despite pre-dating Civil War by about 3 years. The idea there is that shenanigans have caused a thriving superscience metropolis on Earth to suffer a lot of issues, so now there's a strong divide between officially sanctioned superheroes and unsanctioned vigilante superheroes. It's got some unique history, some different takes on classic superhero character types, and rather than a character class book it'd be more akin to the kind of straightforward character conversions you do with comics characters.

Gramercy Islandy is likewise a fun take on the classic superhero prison while also being a Bad Guy Book of the various prison inmates, including a few superheroes who are also imprisoned (some justly, some unjustly).

Definitely don't want to push, but I'd still recommend it. It'd honestly be fun to see these characters done up in a proper RPG system.
let me add my agreement o Ares statement above Ive played HU and know its rough for standard super heroics but does fiarly good for low level steet stuff and scryapers has a great concept to it
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Russia Done! Skraypers!)

Post by Sidious »

Yeah the Skraypers book is one of the top dimension books. Not only does it give SDC and MDC ratings for the powers, the setting is very interesting. The relatively low level of a HU supers powers matches the invasion and resistance aspect very well. Where in any other game all it would take to throw off the occupation would be some high level heroes, this game makes it so you actually have to work to do it.

I also enjoyed the past history portion of Seeron (that's the Skraypers planet). Having not one but three races of humanoids. With the main human branch allegedly being a lost Atlantean Clan. Harkening back to the planets past as a super dimensional nexus that is now dormant. This removes the entire Magic power grouping as options for character creation while re-enforcing the single origin of the biological weapon being the root cause of super powers. As with most of the Palladium setting the past history is what I find most intriguing, it's a shame they never stepped back into this setting to release any other books for it.
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The Tarlok (Overview)

Post by Jabroniville »

THE TARLOK:
-So the alien invaders here are the Tarlok, who were initially a slave-race on their homeworld, dominated by a race of giants. Their world was ruled by theropod-like dinosaur creatures, specifically ones like "Dromaeosaurs, Velociraptors and Deinonychus". Wow HOLY SHIT look at the coincidence- Jurassic Park had come out a couple years before the creative process got started on this book and put Raptors into the public consciousness- imagine the luck!

Interestingly, the giant Lonar used the Tarloks as slave-warriors to clear the planet of dino-beasts, but the rapid education and social enhancement of the numerous slaves eventually led to them controlling all society, and the transfer of power was peaceful and gradual (for a warrior race, that's kinda weird, honestly)- the last Lonar died out 600 years ago. The Tarlok spent thousands of years building a space-empire, and now sit top-tier conquerors. Females hold almost no power and are not permitted in battle, despite being only 15% weaker.
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Tarlok (Baseline)

Post by Jabroniville »

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TARLOK R.C.C.: ST +8, STA +6, FIGHTING +2, AWA +1, PRE -2, Intimidation +6, -2 Stealth, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Ranged Attack 2, "Sleg" Regeneration 2, Leaping 1 (15 feet) [39]
-Tarlok are big, strong-looking guys covered in spiky crests. They have three fingers (the middle is a spiky nub called a "king finger" that is removed to denote some egregious crime), big carapaces, spikes, etc. In Rifts, they are quite mighty- expect the average one to do +10 damage unarmed and have 80-ish M.D.C. (about +9 Toughness). Their energy axes do +13 damage and they have armor bringing the up over 200 M.D.C. (Toughness +11). Overall, a starting warrior is about a PL 8 powerhouse.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Russia Done! Skraypers!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:37 am Skraypers is a pretty fun and unique setting. Having an alien world with its own superheroes would be unique enough, but using the setting to explore what happens when an alien invasion wins and the superheroes must become an underground resistant movement is also a lot of fun. This book introduced the Blahze, a character concept you can tell was meant to allow for more high-powered cosmic heroes in the vein of the Cosmo-Knights, but with a Wildfire/Energy Being in a Containment Suit schtick that made them more unique.

I know you've said you've got no interest in Heroes Unlimited (and believe me, given how clunky that mess of a game is, I don't blame you), but I'd sincerely recommend you check out both Century Station and it's companion book, Gramercy Island. Century Station is another unique take on superheroes, one that has a very Civil War feel to it despite pre-dating Civil War by about 3 years. The idea there is that shenanigans have caused a thriving superscience metropolis on Earth to suffer a lot of issues, so now there's a strong divide between officially sanctioned superheroes and unsanctioned vigilante superheroes. It's got some unique history, some different takes on classic superhero character types, and rather than a character class book it'd be more akin to the kind of straightforward character conversions you do with comics characters.

Gramercy Islandy is likewise a fun take on the classic superhero prison while also being a Bad Guy Book of the various prison inmates, including a few superheroes who are also imprisoned (some justly, some unjustly).

Definitely don't want to push, but I'd still recommend it. It'd honestly be fun to see these characters done up in a proper RPG system.
I love the Pantheons of the Megaverse book, and I don't even want to do conversions of THAT- transferring characters from one RPG setting's stats to another holds no interest for me, especially one that means nothing to me emotionally like Heroes Unlimited. Just looking at the Gramercy Island stuff I'm seeing characters with insane numbers of attacks (often 6-8) combined with piles of powers they don't actually explain, which reminds me that HU has every single person with the same powers have them at the same levels. I just don't see this happening, ever, ESPECIALLY with direct character conversions.
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Tarbull

Post by Jabroniville »

TARBULL R.C.C.: ST +10, STA +6, AWA +2, PRE -2, Intimidation +6, -2 Stealth, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, "Sleg" Regeneration 2, Leaping 1 (15 feet), "Psionics" (at level 3: Meditation, Mind Block, Psi-Shield +1, Psi-Sword +11 Damage [39]
-Tarbulls are the elite warrior caste- the most devoted to working out, fighting, and getting stronger. They see themselves as the "true" Tarloks who have stayed the closest to their old ways, and comprise 33% of the entire race. Every 3-5 levels, they gain an extra attack, making them pretty brutal, but that strength bonus is a killer- +2D6 right out of the gate, which counts as supernatural so they're doing +10-12 unarmed. At Level 3, they develop Psionics, though the cool powers are probably only 1-2/day thanks to the low I.S.P. they get.
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Shertar

Post by Jabroniville »

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SHERTAR R.C.C.: ST +6, STA +5, INT +1, AWA +1, PRE -1, Intimidation +2, Science +6, Technology +6, -2 Stealth, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, "Sleg" Regeneration 2, Leaping 1 (15 feet) [35]
-Shertar are a smarter, more educated variant of the Tarlok, and considered an embarrassment to the warrior classes, who consider them traitors to their culture, possibly created by the enemy. They maintain a careful diet and excercize regimen, making them tall and lean, and they are less brutish in combat. Most controversially, they shave down their race's huge crests and spikes. They are no less vicious, though- they are the ones who engage in torture and interrogation should they take military O.C.C.s. They do less damage and are slightly less tough, meaning they're a PL lower, but they have access to a lot of Skills the others won't get.
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Teklok Cyborg

Post by Jabroniville »

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TEKLOK CYBORG R.C.C.: As Tarlok or Shertar +2 Toughness (to +11, +12-13 with Armor), Arm Blade +1, "Built-In Blaster" Blast 12, Leaping +1, Immunity (Fortitude Effects), Bionic Lung, Extended Hearing, Infravision, Ultravision, Loudspeaker, Communication (Radio) [71]

-As a Proud Warrior Race, Tarlok are proud of their physical gifts and will refuse bionic augmentation, generally unless their life is at stake, or the alternative is paralysis or life as a cripple. However, a small handful will agree to further bionic conversion (most are Shertar, who have less of an issue with all that). Shertar are fine with their conversions and are calculating war machines, while Tarlok are violent savages, infuriated by their unnatural bodies.

-Overall, the Cyborg R.C.C. is a Template added to a Tarlok or Shertar. They gain some of the highest toughness of their people- 400+ M.D.C. at the start. They are said to be immune to anything that affects the body, meaning they have Construct-like Immunities, plus a bunch of cybernetic enhancements.
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Dreadlor

Post by Jabroniville »

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DREADLOR R.C.C.: ST +11, STA +10, FIGHTING +4, INT -1, AWA -1, PRE -2, Parry +2, Dodge +6, Intimidation +6, -2 Stealth, Close Attack 2, Improved Initiative, Tracking, Ranged Attack 4, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, "Sleg" Regeneration 2, Leaping 2 (30 feet), Acute Scent [68]

-Tarlok society deems that all cripples should be put out of their misery at birth, but the rebellious, intellectual Shertar thought better, creating genetic monsters out of these unfortunates. The Dreadlors are now the most-feared of the Tarlok. A random assortment of them develop super-powers- this is not understood by the Shertar, and they have engaged in horrible vivisection of thousands of people on Seeron (the main planet in this setting) to understand how powers develop.

-Dreadlors have low intelligence and animal instincts, and can barely speak- they act like robots and have to be led by skilled Dreadmasters, to whom they are emotionally dependent- if their Dreadmaster is killed, 50% will be so despondent they will not move, even if attacked, and will allow themselves to be killed. 1/3 will go berserk on the spot.

-Dreadlors are incredibly strong, having 300 M.D.C. to start (about +12 Toughness) and insane hitting power- +13 or so. They also have five attacks baseline, meaning they're gonna be about PL 11 on offense & PL 12 defense to start with.
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Dreadmaster

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DREADMASTER R.C.C.: ST +8, STA +6, FIGHTING +2, AWA +2, PRE -1, Intimidation +6, -2 Stealth, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Ranged Attack 2, "Sleg" Regeneration 2, Leaping 1 (15 feet), "Empathy With Dreadlor" Mind-Reading 4 (Extras: Area- 250ft. Burst) (Flaws: Touch Range, Limited to Dreadlor, Limited to Emotions), "Psioniocs" (Empathy, Telepathy, Mind Block, Bio-Manipulation, Bio-Regeneration, Empathic Transmission, +3 Sensitive, +2 Super-Psionic) [49 + Psionics]

-Dreadmasters are ultra-rare Tarlok born with Major Psionics. They are made the leaders of Dreadlor in groups, and are also sent out in small elite death-squads. They actually don't have that many Psionic powers, and their empathy power with Dreadlors is limited, but they're still powerful Tarlok, and gain extra attacks quickly.
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Re: Dreadmaster

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:14 pm Image
God he looks silly. "I am a fearsome alien psychic! Boy before my high-crotched pants and suspenders!"
"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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Glinerach

Post by Jabroniville »

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GLINERACH R.C.C.: ST +3, STA +5, AGI +1, FIGHTING +2, DEX -2, INT +3, AWA +3, PRE +3, Insight +4, Art +6, Ranged Attack 4, Slithering, "Hallucinogenic Spines" Affliction 4 (Fort; Dazed & Impaired/Prone & Disabled/Incapacitated) (Reaction +3, Limited to Against S.D.C. Targets), Infravision, Swimming 1, Comprehend Languages 2, Regeneration 1, "Psionics" (Telepathy, See Aura, Object Read, Mind Block, Mind Block Auto-Defense, Group Mind Block, Mind Bolt, Telemechanics, TK, TK Push, Float, Levitate, Ectoplasm, Machine Ghost, Mask ISP & Psionics, Telemechanic Mental Operation & Paralysis, Read Dimensional Portal, +2 powers or +1 Super-Psionic) [66 + Psionics]

-Glinerach are an unfortunate slave-race of the Tarlok, often used as administrators. They are slithering flatworm-like creatures, but have the "souls of artists" and were in the midst of a scholarly, low-tech society when the Tarlok took them over. They have a lot of Psionics, are about +8 Toughness, and have excellent Ability Scores.
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