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

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Gamebook
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Re: Whale Armor

Post by Gamebook »

The artwork of the whale armor looks a hell of a lot like the spaceships of the Eldar and Dark Eldar from Warhammer 40,000.
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Re: Whale Armor

Post by Jabroniville »

Gamebook wrote: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:50 pm The artwork of the whale armor looks a hell of a lot like the spaceships of the Eldar and Dark Eldar from Warhammer 40,000.
Huh, now that you mention it, they really do. Any particularly close similarities for 1995’s Warhammer output?
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Whale Singer

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

WHALE SINGER O.C.C.
Role:
Minor Mage
PL 8 (106 + Magic)
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)
Expertise (Oceans) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Demons & Monsters) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)

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

Powers:
"Whale Singer Abilities"
Senses 1 (Sense Water Purity) [1]
Immunity 2 (Pressure, Drowning) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

"Read Ley Lines" Senses 7 (Ley Line Awareness- Ranged 2, Analytical, Acute, Distance Sense) [7]
"Sense Magic" Senses 2 (Magic Awareness- Ranged) [2]
"Ley Line Channeling" (all have Source- Ley Lines)
"Ley Line Blast" Blast 9 (9) -- [13]
  • AE: "Ley Line Hopping" Teleport 5 (Limited to Another Ley Line)
  • AE: "Ley Line Transmission" Communication (Mental) 3 (Flaws: Limited to Sending) (6)
  • AE: "Read Ley Lines" Remote Sensing (Touch) 12 (Flaws: Limited to Natural Disasters)
  • AE: "Ley Line Rejuvenation" Healing 6 (Flaws: Limited to Self)
"Whale Spellsongs" (Select Four)
"Ocean Magic" (Water Pulse, Speak Underwater, Float Underwater, Float on Water, Armor of Neptune, 2 Others)

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: 40--20 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 24 + Magic / Defenses: 8 (106 + Magic)

-Whale Singers are given a LOT of talk in this book, and are made up of dozens of races who might be loyal to whales- Human, Simvan, Naut'Yll, Lemurian, etc., but most are Pneuma-Biform cetacean species. They get as many Whale Spellsongs as the best PBs, which makes me wonder if they stack. The books suck soooooooo much for clarity in these cases. Whale Singers are said to be well-liked and needed on many missions, and so they get in for cheap, like the hot girl at the club.

-For the sake of simplicity, this build assumes a human baseline form, as usual.
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catsi563
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Re: Whale Armor

Post by catsi563 »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:17 am
Gamebook wrote: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:50 pm The artwork of the whale armor looks a hell of a lot like the spaceships of the Eldar and Dark Eldar from Warhammer 40,000.
Huh, now that you mention it, they really do. Any particularly close similarities for 1995’s Warhammer output?
Mostly the same lean fishlike lines and fins lot of the same protrusions

the Eclipse and Shadow cruisers come to mind and the hellebore escort ships
They get as many Whale Spellsongs as the best PBs, which makes me wonder if they stack. The books suck soooooooo much for clarity in these cases.
They do stack by the way its one of those race class combos that were designed to work together
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Whale Spellsongs

Post by Jabroniville »

WHALE SPELLSONGS:
* The book lists about twenty-ish Whale Spellsongs, meaning you can get about a quarter of them to start, and more later. The best ones (and some are REALLY mighty) will take more PPE than any character is likely to have- a Pneuma-Biform Whale maxes out at 240 PPE plus a bit; some of these cost 500. The others are pretty weak. This isn't the kind of stuff you take to be a powerhouse, though some Afflictions are neat.

"Song of Calling" Long-Range Communication.
"Song of Danger" The above, but a radius with a specific mention of what's being warned about.
"Song of Doubt" Area Skill & Initiative Drain.
"Song of Fear" Area Emotion Control.
"Song of Grief" Just... a sad song. More of a character thing.
"Song of Joy" The opposite of above, but Lords of the Deep and their minions are -1 to combat.
"Song of Life" Regeneration/Resurrection in a long ritual. 750 PPE will wipe almost anyone dry.
"Song of Protection" +60 MDC, Immunity to Environments.
"Song of Revenge" Blast 10-12 (larger to MDC creatures) to person guilty of a specific crime, -1 to combat. PERMANENT changes and they are "marked" with a whale symbol, and must repent to avoid it. All Incurable. 400 PPE.
"Song of Reversal" Changes a minion of the Lord of the Deep to their original form. 500 PPE.
"Song of Severing" Will sever a Reacher of the Deep, and do insane damage to the Lord of the Deep to the tune of thousands of MDC (Blast 30-ish at least), but has never been enough to kill it.
"Song of Sea Sickness" Affliction.
"Song of Sleep" Sleep.
"Song of Strength" Power-Lifting (Affects Others), Turn Undead.
"Song of Summoning" Instantly teleports someone to them; saving throw for unwilling targets. 200 PPE.
"Song of Weaving" 90 MDC Body Armor made of kelp.
"Sonic Boom" Blast 13 & Dazzle Hearing 8.
"Sound Blast" Blast 6.
"Sound Spike" Blast & Stunning Affliction 9.
"Stormsong" Creates or Calms Storms (Environment) over a huge area. 250 PPE.
"Valorsong" Boosts to saves against fear, poison, disease or Mind Control/Illusions.
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Ocean Wizard

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

OCEAN WIZARD O.C.C.
Role:
Minor Mage
PL 8 (103 + Magic)
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) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Oceans) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Demons & Monsters) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

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

Powers:
"Ocean Wizard Abilities"
Immunity 2 (Pressure, Drowning) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]

"Read Ley Lines" Senses 7 (Ley Line Awareness- Ranged 2, Analytical, Acute, Distance Sense) [7]
"Sense Magic" Senses 2 (Magic Awareness- Ranged) [2]
"Ley Line Channeling" (all have Source- Ley Lines)
"Ley Line Transmission" Communication (Mental) 3 (Flaws: Limited to Sending) (6) -- [8]
  • AE: "Read Ley Lines" Remote Sensing (Touch) 12 (Flaws: Limited to Natural Disasters) (6)
  • AE: "Ley Line Rejuvenation" Healing 6 (Flaws: Limited to Self) (6)
"Ocean Magic" (Speak Underwater, Float Underwater, Breathe Underwater, Ride the Waves, 5 Others)

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)
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: 46--23 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 18 + Magic / Defenses: 8 (103 + Magic)

-Ocean Wizards are said to be the "Ley Line Walkers of the Seas", which makes them... also valuable explorers and helpers on ships. So redundant with the Whale Singers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Sea Druid

Post by Jabroniville »

SEA DRUID O.C.C.
Role:
Minor Mage
PL 8 (97 + Magic)
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) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Oceans) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Demons & Monsters) 6 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

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

Powers:
"Sea Druid Abilities"
Senses 5 (Sense Water- Acute, Ranged, Sense Water Purity, Danger Sense) [5]
Immunity 2 (Pressure, Drowning) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
Morph 1 (Animal Form) (Feats: Metamorph) [6]
"Useless Summoning Ability" Summon Common Aquatic Animal xx (Feats: Mental Link) (Extras: Controlled) (Flaws: Source- Animals) [xx]

"Magic" (Any Two Ocean Magic or Dolphin Spells)

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)
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: 46--23 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 12 + Magic/Summon / Defenses: 8 (97 + Magic)

-A Sea Druid is basically a weaker Mage who can transform into one particular kind of animal. Which is hilariously weak in a setting where multiple things can Metamorph, and have MDC. I mean, you can turn into ONE ANIMAL. Turning into a fur seal when your teammate is a dragon is utter weaksauce.
Jabroniville
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Ocean Magic

Post by Jabroniville »

OCEAN MAGIC:
* Ocean Magic is like an extra-useless-in-combat version of regular Magic (itself underpowered in Rifts), though some of it's fairly useful from a roleplaying perspective, aiding aquatic or non-aquatic allies.

"Abilities of a Snail" Wall-Crawling, Power-Lifting, Immunity to Pressure, Enhanced Sense
"Air Swim" Flight- Low Ceiling.
"Armor of Neptune" 15 MDC per Level, Immunity to Drowning & Cold.
"Black Water" Animals will avoid dark water patch.
"Breathe Air" Allow Water or Air-Breathing.
"Calm Waters" Remove Environmental Hazards in Water.
"Change Current" Reverse currents.
"Communicate With Sea Creatures" Comprehend.
"Coral Armor" 15 MDC per Level, causes light damage to touch it.
"Float Underwater" Will not Sink.
"Float on Water" Buoyant.
"Flying Fish" Leaping.
"Grow Tentacles" Two 60 MD Limbs.
"Healing Waters" Light Healing in Water.
"Impervoius to Cold" Immunity.
"Impervious to Electricity" Immunity.
"Impervious to Ocean Depths" Immunity.
"Metamorphosis Crustacean" Metamorph into Normal or 15 MDC/Level Crustacean. Damage 10 w/ Pincers.
"Metamorphosis Fish" Metamorphosis into any Fish.
"Metamorphosis Shark" Metamorphosis into any Shark or Monster Shark. 3D6x10 MDC if a Monster.
"Mystic Sea Horse" Summons Magical Seahorse.
"Ride the Waves" Swimming on the Surface.
"Sense Direction Underwater" Senses.
"Senses of the Shark" Senses 6 (Extended 2 & Acute Scent, Tracking-Scent, Low-Light & Extended Vision, Ranged Touch, Detect Electrical Signals- Acute, Accurate & Ranged), But Becomes Frenzied if Blood is Smelled
"Sonar Hearing" Accurate Radius Hearing.
"Sound Sponge" Area Concealment Hearing.
"Speak Underwater" Features.
"Strength of the Whale" Doubles Strength & Depth Tolerance. Doubles or Adds 50% to Toughness.
"Summon Sea Friend" Summons a Friendly Sea Creature to Help.
"Transmute Water" Transform (Solid to Fresh Water or Vice-Versa)
"Travel Above Water" Water-Walking, Resist Movement.
"Walk Like a Humanoid" Creates Legs.
"Water Envelope" Gives Water Covering to Aquatic Creatures out of Water.
"Water Nourishment" Create Water.
"Water Pulse" Blast 2-ish Water.
"Water Spout" Create.
"Water Rush" Move Object Line Area.
"Water Seal" Makes Anything Airtight.
"Water Wall" Create.
"Weed Snare" Snare.
"Whirlpool" Area Damage & Affliction.
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Dolphin Magic

Post by Jabroniville »

DOLPHIN MAGIC:
* Hilariously, Dolphin Magic is much more impressive and powerful than Ocean Magic. Getting some of these is actually quite useful.

"Air Doubler" Doubles Available Air.
"Electro-Magnetic Pulse" Disables Technology.
"Psi-Flash Warning" Telepathic Warning.
"Ride Ley Lines" Quadruples Speed Along Ley Lines.
"Sense Food" Senses Whatever Food They Need.
"Sense Predator" Detection.
"Sense Weather" Senses.
"Sonic Blast" 1D6 MD Damage.
"Sonic Stun" Ranted Paralyzed Affliction.
"Speed Doubler" Doubles Speed.
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The Lord of the Deep

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE LORD OF THE DEEP
Role:
Alien Intelligence, Totally Not Chthulhu
PL 18 (390)
STRENGTH
23 STAMINA 30 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 5

Skills:
Expertise (Magic) 11 (+18)
Insight 4 (+9)
Intimidation 6 (+11, +18 Size)
Perception 7 (+12)

Advantages:
Benefit (Ambidexterity), Close Attack 5, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Languages 3 (Several), Ranged Attack 6, Ritualist

Powers:
Impervious Toughness 13 [13]
Extra Limbs 8 [8]
Movement 1 (Slithering) [2]
Senses 10 (Darkvision, Extended Vision 2, Radius Sight, Vision Counters Concealment 5) [10]
Regeneration 14 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [15]
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]

Growth 20 (Str & Sta +20, +20 Mass, +10 Intimidation, -10 Dodge/Parry, +2 Speed, -20 Stealth) -- (250 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [41]

"Reachers of the Deep" Elongation 20 [20]
Swimming 4 [4]
"Transform Living Things" Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed) (Extras: Continuous +3) [48]

"I Ain't Writing All This Magic Crap Down"
Variable 14 (Magic Powers) [98]

(All Magical Spells 1-10, plus Calm Storms, Summon Entity, Summon Storm, Close Rift, Dimensional Portal & Teleport- Superior)
(One Extra Area of Magic- Bio-Wizardry, Shifter, or Diabolist)
(Psionics: All Sensitive Powers)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+23 Damage, DC 38)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +30 (+7 Impervious), Fortitude +30, Will +12

Complications:
Motivation (Power)
Vulnerable (Silver, Magic)- Both types of weapons do double-damage.
Vulnerable (Rune Weapons)- These do triple-damage.
Vulernable (Holy & Millennium Tree Weapons)- These do ten-times damage!

Total: Abilities: 90 / Skills: 28--13 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 247 + Magic/Psionics / Defenses: 22 (390)

-You can tell it's one of the early Rifts books, because the Big Bad in it is an Alien Intelligence- they LOVED sticking those into things in the early days. Residing in the Marianas Trench, the LOTD is a mysterious monster that mutates individuals into becoming its slaves, and acts as a "PPE Vampire", absorbing the essences of its victims in order to grow bigger and stronger. It's made enemies across the world, with even the Naut'Yll, Tritonians, New Navy and SPLUGORTH being against it, though the latter have made few actual inroads, as it typically only bumps off the occasional Sploog Minion.

-Individual tentacles are so long that these "Reachers of the Deep" could be considered solitary characters, being about +18-20 Toughness and having Radius Sight. They will appear at random, and pick a random victim (or sometimes hundreds), disappearing only once it captures something, or is severed (no mean feat).
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dolphins & Whales! Whale Magic! Lord of the Deep!)

Post by greycrusader »

If I remember correctly-my RIFTS days are WAY in the rear view, and I never even owned most of the books-the Lord of the Deep's tentacles could actually emerge from ANY body of water, anywhere in the world-any part of the oceans, lakes, or rivers! I found that aspect to be really creepy and unnerving-I've always had kind of a weird dread about what cannot be seen under the surface of water, especially since being in the ocean means being part of the food chain.

All my (shudder) best.
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dolphins & Whales! Whale Magic! Lord of the Deep!)

Post by Jabroniville »

greycrusader wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 2:49 am If I remember correctly-my RIFTS days are WAY in the rear view, and I never even owned most of the books-the Lord of the Deep's tentacles could actually emerge from ANY body of water, anywhere in the world-any part of the oceans, lakes, or rivers! I found that aspect to be really creepy and unnerving-I've always had kind of a weird dread about what cannot be seen under the surface of water, especially since being in the ocean means being part of the food chain.

All my (shudder) best.
Pretty close- the tentacles are actually attached to the Lord, but are literally miles long, to the point where something happening to them doesn't "register" with the Lord for several minutes!
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catsi563
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Re: Jab's Rifts Builds (Dolphins & Whales! Whale Magic! Lord of the Deep!)

Post by catsi563 »

They can actually pop up in any body of water that's one of he more nightmare fuel aspects of the bloody things
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Jabroniville
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Servants of the Deep

Post by Jabroniville »

SERVANT OF THE DEEP R.C.C.:
"Year One" +6 Toughness, 4 Spells from 1-3 [6 + Magic]
"Year Three" ST +2, STA +2, 4 Spells from 1-4 [8 + Magic]
"Year Five" STA +1, 6 Spells from 1-5 [2 + Magic]
"Year Seven" STA +1, 4 Spells from 1-6 [2 + Magic]
"Year Ten" STA +1, STA +1, Swimming +2, Immunity 2 (Drowning & Pressure), 4 Spells from 1-8 [8 + Magic]
"Year Fifteen" STA +1, STA +1, Swimming +1, Senses 12 (Extended 2 & Acute Scent, Tracking-Scent, Low-Light & Extended Vision, Ranged Touch, Detect Electrical Signals- Acute, Accurate & Ranged), 4 Spells from 1-10 [20 + Magic]

-Servants of the Deep are people from all walks of life who've encountered the Lord of the Deep in some way- sometimes they meet a Reacher, or see a vision of the Lord in their dreams. Many are driven insane, or die from shock. Others become obsessed with the Lord, and begin to worship it. They form cults of the deep, growing more and more inhuman with each passing year, until later stages make them into inhuman beasts who can no longer speak.
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Psiren

Post by Jabroniville »

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PSIREN R.C.C.: ST +4, STA +4, AGI +1, FIGHTING +3, PRE -1, Damage +6, Protection 5, Immunity 3 (Starvation & Thirst, Cold), Low-Light Vision, Swimming 6, "Psionics" Empathic Transmission (10x range, Limited to Love, Trust or Confusion), Hypnotic Suggestion, Mind Bolt, Psi-Sword, Mind Block, Empathy, Telepathy, 1-4 Sensitive Powers [43 + Psionics]

-Like the Sirens of Myth, Psirens beckon people to their doom. Of course, this being Rifts, they are powerful Psionics and the image is of a seal-lady, because the artist (the guy who draws from photographs, so all his stuff looks soooooooooooo weird compared to the baseline style) drew one. They are creations of the Lord of the Deep, but act like simple hunters, killing and eating people, usually by luring one or two at a time. However, they are said to be sometimes entranced by acts of bravery, and others can fall in love with their intended victims- this rarely ends well, as they are still evil predators. Their statlines are a bit odd, as most of their Mental Stats have a really low die-roll, but give a huge bonus, giving them human-level stats, but with a low maximum.
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