Palladion – Emanuel

Design Notes

We will start with designing Emanuel, our Pankration practitioner in Palladion.  I want to design this character with a heavier focus on Grab or Grappling maneuvers than other characters but decided not to use Wrestling, Sanbo, or Native American Wrestling and wanted to use The Pankration from the Contenders supplement.  As with most Street Fighter characters, Physical Attributes are going to be the priority. Because I want Emanuel to be more of a Learned Warrior, I am going to choose his Mental Attributes as Secondary leaving his Social attributes as Tertiary.  This leads to a starting attribute scores of Strength 4; Dexterity 2; Stamina 4; Charisma 2; Manipulation 2; Appearance 2; Perception 3; Intelligence 3; and Wits 2.

For his Abilities, we will go with Talents primary, Knowledges secondary, and Skills tertiary.  When initially assigning abilities, you cannot start with more than 3, so I will choose Alertness 2; Interrogation 1 as he has learned ow to ask questions; Intimidation 2 from his large size; Insight 2; and Streetwise 1 to reflect his upbringing.  For skills, it’s Bling Fighting 3; and Drive 1 so somebody can actually drive a getaway car if needed. His knowledges are Arena 1 from studying the styles of the current World Warriors; Investigation 1; Medicine 1 from his background; Mysteries 1; and Style Lore 3.

When making a Street Fighter Character, sometimes you look at the Special Maneuvers you want to have and then work backwards to the Techniques needed.  I know that I want to start with Throw as a gateway maneuver to a lot of the ones that follow. Suplex is a better version of Throw and Bear Hug is a sustained hold that can be used to wear down opponents.  Each of these costs 1 Point and then I will round out the starting Maneuvers with the Ducking Fierce Punch from Secrets of Shadaloo that provides an upgrade from the normal punches. Between these four Maneuvers, I need to make sure I have Punch 2 and Grab 3 to meet the prerequisites.  That means the starting Techniques will be Punch 2; Kick 0; Block 2; Grab 3; Athletics 1; and Focus 0.

For his backgrounds, Emanuel has a Sensei of 3 who has been training him, a meager Resources of 1, and Allies of 1 in the form of an old friend of his Sensei.  For Pankration, he starts with 1 Chi and 6 Willpower and the common 10 Health levels. I’ll start his Renown as 2 Honor and 1 Glory.

Finally, we add the Freebie Points to customize Emanuel.  The first thing is if you want to make an expert, you do it here and now.  Freebie points let you buy an additional point or dot of an attribute for a flat rate while experience multiplies it.  For Emanuel, though, I’m going to start by improving his Intelligence to 4 for his concept of a Learned Warrior, add two levels of health, increase his Alertness to 3, and give him an Arena of 2 to represent the corner lot he is using in his old neighborhood.   I’m also providing a free level of Linguistics for all characters to cover Emanuel knowing Spanish and English. All in all, Emanuel is a pretty good starting Street Fighter, if a little one sided as the slow grappling type of fighter.

Advancement Notes

For fun, though, we are advancing the entire Team a bit to show how to develop the characters with Experience.  50 Experience gives us plenty to work with. One of the first things to notice is that Emanuel really needs to round out some of his combat abilities, so he has added two ranks in the Kick Technique (6XP) and improved his Grab Technique to 4(9XP) and Athletics Technique to 2(3XP). Coupled with increasing his Dexterity to 3(10XP), he has seen a drastic improvement in his in-ring ability! (28)

Adding the Pin Maneuver (8XP) gives him another sustained hold he can use to wear down his opponents and the Flying Knee Thrust (4XP) is a surprisingly quick maneuver for someone his size to use. Personally, I always found Flying Knee Thrust to be an excellent choice for an early signature maneuver with its bonuses to speed, damage, and move coupled with a low prerequisite cost. His travels have certainly opened his eyes a bit so we will increase his Arena Knowledge to 2(2XP), Investigation to 2 (2XP), Drive to 2 (2XP), and Repair up to 2 (4XP).  

Overall, Emanuel is a balanced character who doesn’t stand out too much yet in the ring.  He doesn’t have a signature maneuver or combination, but is setting himself up well as the next steps on his advancement will probably be increasing his Block Technique to start getting specialized defensive maneuvers. He is at a crossroads where he needs to start taking better defensive care with his blocks buy also add some Health if he expects to really rise in the ranks.

Character Notes

Kids these days are not always the nicest.  When you are tall and gangly before your peers and smart enough to be the teacher’s pet, you are going to have a hard time of it.  Emanuel grew up in New York, the son of Puerto Ricans who were searching for the American dream on the mainland. As Emanuel grew up, he was always the but of the jokes and bullys, even though he was bigger than them.  He knew where his strengths were – in the library and in getting a ticket out of New York on an academic scholarship.

Even as his neighborhood fell a little behind, with gangs pushing deeper into the residential areas, Emanuel persisted.  Even when the gangs started sporting colors that said Shadaloo, he didn’t pay it any mind – get to school, get the grades, and get out of NYC.  That was the plan. Even the gangs shake downs for what little cash didn’t really shake him out of his awkward phase, until their apartment building burned down.  Nobody was killed, but the Landlord hadn’t paid up and these new gangs were not settling for half measures. Walking to their friend’s apartment after the fire, Emanuel saw something he hadn’t seen before – Pop’s Gym.  It was a generic name for a generic looking door, but the crotchety older man saw something in Emanuel’s eyes.

Pop saw yearning and potential.  He saw resiliency and determination.  Emanuel started coming to Pop’s Gym now that it was on the way home from school and he started training.  First it seemed pretty normal, but Pop’s accent got in the way of understanding sometimes so Emanuel didn’t really listen until Pop started talking about Ancient Greek Myth.  This wasn’t wrestling or boxing – this was Greek Pankration. Emanuel heard the story that this Style came from Theseus combining Boxing and Wrestling to defeat the Minotaur. He heard Pop’s talk, even as his own toughness was tested in the training, about how the other Style’s got it wrong.  And Emanuel listened.

His studious nature kicked in as Pops continued to train him, never asking for more than $5 at a time, and Emanuel read about the other Styles.  He went and watched the other styles. He knew Pops was right about Pankration. And he would prove it. It was about this time that Emanuel graduated from high school and Pop all but pushed him out the door.  The gangs had receded from their previous high point, and Emanuel was reclaiming the lot where his family’s old apartment burned. Pop finally told Emanuel his real name was Papadopolos and he had retired from Street Fighting a decade back as Talos.  He saw Emanuel as able to do better than he ever could and put in a call to his old friend Dumpling who showed Emanuel the Street Fighting ropes and even got him a management contract with Transmarco, Inc. Dumpling still gives Emanuel pointers, and laughed mightily when Gunter joined Palladion.

Emanuel has started to come into his own as a Street Fighter.  In his time with Palladion, he has been across the world to fight, to learn, and to do some odd jobs here and there.  The more he fights, and tests himself, the more he sees his own flaws. He knows it’s time to branch out from just throwing his opponents to the ground, and to take them seriously – as seriously as he takes his own studies.

In the ring, Emanuel wears long green trunks with a small white frog on the side as decoration. His boots are a matching white with a green stripe. He keeps his hair cut short on the sides and has a little bit of a boyish charm as his broad shoulders take people’s attention.

Emmanuel Sheet Here

Palladion Overview Here.

Fillable Character Sheet from SFRPG.com

Capcom, Street Fighter, Final Fight, Metro City, The World Warriors, and the names and likenesses of the World Warriors are trademarked, copywritten, or both to Capcom Co., Ltd. The Storytelling System or Storytelling Game system are copyright White Wolf, Inc. This is a noncommercial fan work and no use of these copyrights or trademarks is meant to be or intended as a challenge of ownership. 0

T-Balls Pack – Audacious Smith

Design Notes

Next we are going to make a Juicer for the party – another iconic Character Class from Rifts.  Juicers are humans who are enhanced through a combination of nanotechnology and drugs to create something stronger, faster, and tougher than anything else.  The downside is that it burns out the human body guaranteeing death in only a few brief years. Palladium expanded on Juicers significantly in the Juicer Uprising book, but I am sticking with what is available in the first book.  

To start with our stat rolls, we have IQ – 13, ME – 14, MA – 8, PS – 15, PP – 17, PE – 16, PB – 17, and Spd – 15.  Other than being an uncharismatic or untrustworthy guy with that low Mental Affinity, it is a pretty good start! That 17 for P.P. becomes a 19, while the P.E. 16 only becomes a 17 with the bonus dice but the P.B. comes through to a 23 from a 17 making a truly beautiful physical specimen.   Juicers get significant bonuses to their Physical Attributes meaning that before we get to skills, Audacious actually starts with a P.S. of 25, a P.P. of 22, a P.E. of 27, and a Spd of 65. Yes, 65. You’ll also note on the character sheet that Juicers get hundreds of S.D.C. on top of that!  

Aside from the enhanced attributes, Juicers have an Auto Dodge and Auto Parry ability.  They may roll to dodge or parry any incoming attack without sacrificing a subsequent attack.  This even applies to surprise attacks and is one reason Juicers are so formidable. I also added some of the equipment and skill interactions to the O.C.C. Abilities section to show how they can interact such as the Sniper skill providing +2 on Aimed Shots, the JA-11 Rifle providing +1 for its targeting Laser, and the Multi-Optic Helmet providing a targeting sight for another +1 that all stack with the Weapon Proficiency training so that Audacious will have a +7 to Strike with a sniping shot even though modern weapons don’t use the P.P. bonus.  

Juicers are created almost exclusively to be killing machines and mercenary soldiers.  They skill list reflects that. When looking at Other skills, I went straight for the 4 Physical skills that have the largest impact on attributes – Acrobatics, Boxing, Gymnastics, and Wrestling.  This just pushes Audacious even further over the top. Prowl and Sniper both seemed to be skills that follow the natural idea of the Juicer’s utility as a special operator and the Secondary skills provided a good place to add a handful of more weapon proficiencies and the useful Detect Ambush.  By the time we are done with skills, Name is a P.S. 33, P.P. 24, P.E. 31, and Spd. 73 character.

Obviously, the eponymous Juicer Plate will be one set of armor for Audacious.  It is a medium armor that provides a very low prowl penalty. For a second set, needed in case a high combat situation is anticipated, I added the Explorer armor from the Rifts Sourcebook.  Aside from having a much higher amount of M.D.C., I just like the way it looks and think it is a very snazzy looking suit of armor. For weapons, Audacious starts with the Juicer JA-11 rifle which has multiple settings and functions from an ion blaster to a laser rifle for sniping to a single chambered bullet for delicate S.D.C. work. I added a Wilks 320 Laser Pistol as a good side arm for him while a Browning Semi-Automatic Pistol seemed appropriate.  Every good juicer needs a sword and a vibro-knife to complete the classic look. I added nunchaku and imported the Kusari Gama from Ninjas & Superspies to round out the weapons using his W.P. Chain.

For his vehicle, the Highwayman Motorcycle from page 227 of the First Edition Rifts Core book makes the greatest amount of sense! It is fast, flashy, and it is easy to see a classic Juicer bopping along on this.  

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character:

  • Birth Order: Last Born 
  • Weight: Average 
  • Height: Average 
  • Disposition: Wild man, cocky, overconfident, takes unnecessary risks (as all good Juicers are) 
  • Family Origin: Earth native. Character is human 
  • Type of Environment: small to medium city 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Wary.  Heard lots of things about the Coalition and the bad seems to outweigh the good 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans:Hates demons, but will give other non-humans the benefit of the doubt.  Still, tends to be wary and suspicious of non-humans.

In the next section, these will be worked into Aud’s character description

 

Character Notes

Audacious “Aud” Smith, if that is his real name, is the youngest of his family.  As close to a middle class family and upbringing as you can find in the world of Rifts, his father works in Whykin for a manufacturer while his mother spends her days raising their children and foraging or trading for more food.  All in all, there isn’t much in his background before he turned 18. Being the youngest, though, meant there was not as much immediately available for him in his future. As a teenager, he had been blessed with a superb physique and dashing good looks coupled with the impetuousness all teenagers have. Despite the Coalition State’s overtures in Whykin, he didn’t want to become a CS citizen; he wanted something different.  This led him to strike out on his own and try to make a name for himself away from his parents and from Whykin. His older siblings were settling into a routine there, and following in his parents footsteps but he was restless and didn’t want to just be the next iteration of his parents.

With a backpack and some basic weapons, Audacious struck out on his own but not long after found out how woefully unprepared he was for the world outside Whykin’s gates.  If it hadn’t been for a passing Juicer, he would have been prey for a monster from a Rift and what he saw set his mouth agape. Stronger, faster, better than anything he had ever seen, the Juicer made short work of the creature.  By the age of 20, Audacious had decided to trade longevity for the the benefits that come from Juicer augmentation – it is better to burn out than fade away after all. It was Northern Gun that provided the augmentation in Ishpeming in exchange for two years of service.  A not insignificant price to pay as he became 22 on his discharge and now called “Aud” with 5 years left to live at most.

After growing up in Whykin, Audacious still has some trouble acclimating to all of the magic and D-Bees in the world, but that may be changing now that he is part of T-Ball’s Pack.  When T-Ball sent word to him that she needed some help with Iron Heart on her tail, he came running – it was a chance to show off! Now, he impatiently taps his foot while T-Ball plans their next move but can’t help but smile when he saves Jorj’s hoop over and over.  Maybe this “family” will end up meaning more to him than just going out in a blaze of glory.

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

 

Audacious – Juicer RiftsCharacter Sheet

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechaonid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

T-Balls Pack – Mikal

Design Notes

I’ve always loved the versatility of the Wilderness Scout O.C.C. from Rifts.  It includes a long list of skills with great diversity in what can be chosen in keeping with the idea of an individual who can scout, survive on their own, and explore the wild and dangerous world of Rifts.  To start with our stat rolls that became Mikal, we have IQ – 16, ME – 13, MA – 11, PS – 14, PP – 16, PE – 13, PB – 12, and Spd – 7. Another excellent bonus set of bonus rolls means that he starts with an IQ of 21 and a PP of 22.  For the first time, we have a character roll up minor psionic abilities as well. This means he will get more Inner Strength Points and two psionic powers. His Hit Points start at 13 and he has PPE in the normal human range. Rifts also includes Structural Damage Capacity, or S.D.C., to reflect non-life threatening injuries and as a non “Man of Arms” O.C.C., he starts with 4D6 S.D.C., or 20.

Wilderness Scouts have a long list of O.C.C. skills as you can see in the attached character sheet.  These are what you would expect from a Wilderness Scout like Land Navigation, Track Animals, Identify Plants, Hunting, and Fishing but also include a set of Weapon Proficiencies and several languages.  For Mikal, I added languages that other members of the party hadn’t covered just to make sure it was covered . Looking at the “Other” skills, I wanted to make a more mercenary Wilderness Scout instead of a purely living off the land type of character.  Because the Wilderness Scout is required to take several Physical skills, I started with Boxing and Gymnastics because they cannot be taken as Secondary skills and provide a significant amount of bonuses and skills to use. I added swimming and Boat Building because I like the idea of running away from angry people by making a quick raft.  Despite the Lore skills being repeated across different characters, it only made sense for Mikal to have them as well. In the Secondary skill category, I made sure to include a few more ancient weapon proficiencies, Piloting Boats, Botany, and Anthropology. These are fun sort of character points that drive home the Wilderness Scout’s purported knowledge base.   

As a minor psychic, Mikal gets to have two psionic powers and I chose two from the Physical Psionic list.  Keeping up with the Wilderness Scout idea, I selected Resist Thirst and Resist Fatigue. This enhances the resilience and ability to keep moving through the wilds of the Earth.  

I wanted to make use of the Bow and Arrow, so the Weapon Proficiency: Archery was chosen specifically to work with the expansion of high tech arrowheads in the Rifts: Sourcebook. I added several different kinds of arrows, including Mega Damage Capacity explosive arrows even though they are markedly expensive to be able to play up this aspect of the character.  Other weapons include a Wilks Laser Rifle for overall utility and the slight bonus the Wilks design provides and an Assault Rifle for S.D.C. damage. For his armor, I am choosing the Huntsman light armor because it seems to fit thematically. The Crusader armor provides a better amount of M.D.C. as well as less of a prowl penalty, but we already have a suit or two of that in the party. In his regular gear, I added a Sonic Flea and Tick repellant from the Rifts: Sourcebook because it just makes sense.  Despite the tempting desire to make a robot horse (mentioned in the Rifts First Edition book but not available) using the Robot creation rules in the Sourcebook, I will stick with the A.T.V. Hover Cycle as a fast, relatively quiet vehicle that can be used on lots of different terrain.

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character:

  • Birth Order: First Born of twins 
  • Weight: I rolled skinny, but the stats don’t support that so I am going to change it to Average 
  • Height: Tall 
  • Disposition: Shy, timid, tends to be a loner 
  • Family Origin: Human 
  • Type of Environment: Wilderness town or city with magic and/or psychics 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Dislike and Distrust the Coalition.  Well informed and know a lot about the CS’s philosophies, laws, and activities, and they seem to be pretty unjust if not outright evil 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans: Is wary of demons, but has had mostly good experiences with non-humans and treats them as equals, without doubt or suspicion.

In the next section, these will be worked into Mikal’s character description

 

Character Notes

Some people are born to be outsiders, but the world conspires to push them into groups. Mikal was born a twin, the first of the pair, to a nice couple in a small wilderness town.  Mikal grew up playing in the outdoors, chopping wood, and otherwise roaming just a little further away from town than his parents were comfortable. He and his brother were extraordinarily bright, but his brother, Piter, wasn’t nearly as taken with the call of nature as Mikal.  It’s a story that is almost as old as time itself as the two grew in similar but distinct directions. Mikal was more comfortable alone in his thoughts while in the wilderness and Piter grew more social especially when his parents moved them to Lazlo.

It was a simple choice for Mikal’s parents.  Lazlo wasn’t too far away and was a place that promised safety and understanding.  A bustling city of nearly half a million that welcomed all D-Bees, magic users, and others into the fold, Lazlo was a huge shift for young Mikal.  He was no longer surrounded by the woods and animals that he had grown accustomed to. He was instead in the middle of a city with all of the people, noises, smells, and bustling that entails.  It wasn’t what he wanted. Piter went on to become a Body Fixer in Lazlo, plying his trade to heal humans and D-Bees alike to the best of his ability while Mikal found a way to spend time in the wild away from the noise and the people that left him feeling exhausted.  He became a Wilderness Scout by avocation and eventually vocation.

Leaving his family behind, but without any malice, he ventured to make his way across the continent using his skills to be hired as a scout and guide for the people who lacked his affinity for the world as it is, instead of as it they want to make it. For a time, he found this to be a good way to make his life his own.  The Coalition State of Iron Heart interfered with what would have been a quiet life. Iron Heart had always been particularly violent and opposed to the people of magic, D-Bees, and people of learning which left Mikal with a cold feeling. After all, he was raised around D-Bees, magic users, and people of learning in Lazlo and seeing the persecution they felt under Iron Heart’s cold rule left him shocked. He was never the brunt of this persecution as a normal human, but when he came across a ragtag group struggling through the wilderness pursued by Iron Heart, it forced him into action.  T-Ball gets him and his desire for solitude, often asking him to scout ahead and gain some space from the rest of them and his timid nature means he doesn’t really get along with Audacious but if Iron Heart wants them dead, they must be doing something right. His parents taught him to do what is right, not what is easy and so he has stayed with T-Ball’s pack thus far.

 

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

 

Mikal – Wilderness Scout Character Sheet

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

T-Balls Pack – F’arlum

Design Notes

The next character in our Rifts write up is F’arlum, the Ley Line Walker.  In Rifts, the ley LIne Walker is the traditional or classic magic user through the filter of the Ley Lines of magical energy that have surged back into the world.  To start with our stat rolls that became F’arlum, we have IQ – 17, ME – 18, MA – 14, PS – 10, PP – 11, PE – 13, PB – 13, and Spd – 14. With some truly good fortune, that IQ of 17 became a 22 and the ME of 18 became a 23.  He doesn’t roll any random psionic abilities, and I didn’t select the Mystic O.C.C. that blends magic and psionics so his ISP is a normal human range and his Hit Points start at 13. As a Ley LIne Walker, though, he has an astounding 93 P.P.E. from which he will power his spells. Rifts also includes Structural Damage Capacity, or S.D.C., to reflect non-life threatening injuries and as a non “Man of Arms” O.C.C., he starts with 4D6 S.D.C. to start, or 13.

The special abilities of the Ley Line Walker are all tied to the Ley Lines that criss-cross the planet with magical energy. Specifically, this means that he can sense ley lines, sense ley line nexuses, sense rifts at those nexuses, as well as generally sense magic and P.P.E. Additionally, a Ley Line Walker has the ability to transmit messages across ley lines, sense the direction and destinations of those ley lines, pull energy from the ley line to heal himself or drift along it, and even teleport further down the ley line.  This is a significant set of abilities that can really be used to enhance an adventure and the ability to transport across the ley line is a great way to get further along a story literally as well as figuratively.

Turning to skills, a Ley Line Walker does not have as many skills as other characters because they are the pre-eminent magic using O.C.C. The O.C.C. skills are pretty contained to general utility skills liked climbing, basic math, and a few few languages.  In fleshing out F’arlum, I first wanted to add a few literacy skills in both American and Dragonese. As someone with markedly high intelligence, I looked to adding Faerie Lore, Archaeology, and Astronomy to his Other skills. Secondary skills included a handful of weapon proficiencies because a fight will inevitably happen, Preserve Food for his background, Art because he needs an outlet and a character hook, and finally Pilot Jet Pack because a jetpack wearing magic using character throwing spells around is just cool to me.  

Ley Line Walkers start with three (3) spells from each spell level 1-4 for a total of 12 starting spells.  Because I wanted to make a little bit of a classic mage, I tried to cover a lot of the “expected” spells in the list.  First, I will note that the Fourth Level spell Fire Bolt was an immediate choice because it is the sole ranged Mega Damage spell available to start.  I added the Third Level Energy Bolt spell for the SDC equivalent to use for direct offense. With that out of the way, indirect offense choices went to Level 1’s Blinding Flash and Thunder clap, Level 2’s Befuddle; and Level 4’s Magic Net.  On defense, I added Armor of Ithan from Third Level to create MDC armor for himself or others and turn dead for those pesky vampires that inhabit the Rifts world. The remaining were general utility, or just spells that I think are cool for a Ley Line walker – Globe of Daylight, Levitation, Telekinesis, and Astral Projection.

Starting with armor, the Urban Warrior medium armor is a great lighter suit for a Ley Line Walker balancing protection with weight.  F’arlum has only a few weapons (since the spells will take care of most of it), so I chose the Triax TX-11 Sniper Rifle from the Rifts: Sourcebook because single aimed shots seem more likely for him and a Walther PPK pistol for an S.D.C. weapon.  His equipment is almost entirely from the Rifts main book list of equipment for a Ley Line Walker. Looking at vehicles, the aforementioned Jet Pack gets involved for sure! The Wilks jetpack fulfills my mental image but I also tossed on a Technowizard Glider/Wing Board (Technowizardry is the blending of magic and technology primarily accomplished by the Technowizard O.C.C.) for him to use when gliding along a Ley Line.

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character:

  • Birth Order: First Born 
  • Weight: Average 
  • Height: Tall 
  • Disposition: Schemer; gambler that likes to chances 
  • Family Origin: D-Bee: human (or close to it), but parents came through a rift from another dimension 
  • Type of Environment: Small wilderness town 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Hates the Coalition.  You have seen the Coalition in action and know them to be cruel and vindictive nor can you abide by the CS’s human supremacist attitude and horrible actions they inflict on non-humans 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans: Is wary of demons, but has had mostly good experiences with non-humans and treats them as equals, without doubt or suspicion.

In the next section, these will be worked into F’arlum’s character description

Character Notes

It’s hard to always explain that you are not from around here.  F’arlum looks like every other human on the planet, but he isn’t.  He came through a rift with his parents as a baby … but he doesn’t know his place of birth.  His parents were running from something, and stepping through a glowing magical gateway to Earth was the good escape.  As with so many others, though, his life on Earth has been anything but easy.

For a while, things seemed fine.  His parents settled into a small wilderness town in what was the Rust Belt of the United States Pre-Rifts.  His skills reflect that combination of being an outsider and a wilderness living – He learned to preserve food to stretch the supplies and his parents taught him Astronomy and Archaeology to help piece together where they were and how it came to be what it is. Their background from another dimension means that he has insight in the D-Bees called demons and as to the Faerie.  In this strange new planet that his family called home, he also felt a stirring, a calling, a veritable power that would surge through him periodically – he was a latent Ley Line Walker.

All this changed when the Coalition States began to look at their home as a place of expansion.  Despite being somewhat removed from Coalition States sphere of influence, the rust belt’s proximity to Tolkeen meant that more and more attention was paid to it by “exploratory patrols” of Coalition Dead Boys.  The simplest of acts, asking the troopers not to parade through town in heavy armor with weapons at the ready, brought a stinging rebuke. The village was razed for harboring subversives. The first hand experience crystallized F’arlum’s hatred of the Coalition as his father and many others died in the one-sided slaughter.  He escaped with his mother, vowing revenge, and this set him on the path he is on today. Journeying into the magic zone, he found tutelage from the Federation of Magic – a group of magic users and psychics opposed to the Coalition States but little more than a terrorist organization giving the CS a boogie man to point at to justify their stance.  

He learned the ways of the Ley Line Walker from the Federation and set out to increase his power and also to see what a single man of magic cold do to disrupt the Coalition.  He had previously met Jorj and worked with him to take down a Coalition base in old Pennsylvania when he got a call that Jorj needed help running from Iron Heart. He heeded this call and found a motley crew that all had reason to take a stand against the Coalition, but first why were they so specifically being targeted by Iron Heart? F’arlum wanted to know, and he was in awe of Annie and her positive outlook she maintained despite years of mistreatment at the Coalition’s hands.  

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

F’arlum – Ley Line Walker Character Sheet

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

T-Balls Pack – Annie

Design Notes

We are moving on to the Dog Boy R.C.C. write up for Annie.  In the world of Rifts, the Coalition State of Lone Star has created mutant dogs, reminiscent of the mutant animals from Palladium’s T.M.N.T. and Other Strangeness, that have psychic powers and are used to help patrol the Coalition States. Palladium has published a Lone Star supplement, but I am just working with the first two books of the Rifts series for this card catalog.  

To start with our stat rolls, we have IQ – 15, ME – 17, MA – 9, PS – 15, PP – 15, PE – 15, PB – 10, and Spd – 11.  That 17 for M.E. becomes a 21 with the bonus die and all Dog Boy R.C.C.s get bonuses to P.S., P.P., and Spd bringing us to 17, 18, and 19 respectively.  As a Psionic R.C.C., Annie is considered a Master Psionic and we will get to her hit points after the Optional Character Tables for dog breed and potential bonuses there.  Rifts also includes Structural Damage Capacity, or S.D.C., to reflect non-life threatening injuries and as an R.C.C., she has 3D6 S.D.C. to start, or 12 but gets a +20 S.D.C. from the R.C.C. to start at 32.

The optional character tables provide a random chart for Height, the Type of Dog that was the underlying subject of the mutation, and a mutant abnormality.  She rolled a respectable and average 5’6’ tall and is derived from a boxer breed! Boxers are described as stocky and powerful getting bonuses to track, I.Q., P.S., P.P., and S.D.C.! Annie has gotten pretty stout from her background.  Finally, her random mutant abnormality is that she is near full human appearance and can speak like any other human. That will help her blend in and not obviously be an escaped Dog Boy when push comes to shove!

The R.C.C. abilities and psionic powers are pretty standard across all Dog Boys so we will note the ability to sense both Psychic and Magic Energy, Sense Supernatural Beings, the superior sense of smell that allows tracking by scent as well as a handful of bonuses to combat and physical statistics mentioned.  All Dog Boy R.C.C.s have the following powers from the Psionic Sensitive list – Sense Evil, Sense Magic, Sixth Sense, and Receptive Empath. For the one optional power I choose See Aura to work on the idea of an intelligence gathering or information gathering type of character.

Because Annie started as a member of the Coalition in their Dog Pack units, she has been trained like a Coalition Soldier with the skills reflecting that including Intelligence, Weapon Systems, Running (further boosting her Spd. to 31), and combat abilities.  In her Other skills, I made the choice to include Literacy as well as writing creating a kind of scribe that would certainly be frowned upon by the Coalition. To keep going with the information gathering theme, between the Other and Secondary skills, I loaded Annie down with radio and communications skills like Surveillance Systems, Radio – Scramblers, and Optic Systems.  A few other skills rounded her out including Swimming and Cooking as well as a bit of First Aid training necessary while she was out in the world away from the Coalition.

For armor, it is pretty simple to give her a suit of Light Coalition Armor, repainted and patched of course.  While most Dog Boys on patrol inside Chi-Town and the burbs have an even lighter armor that isn’t environmental, we’ll go with the CS-2 Light Armor for use on the long range patrol we’ll write into the background.  Weapons are pretty easy to identify since the vibro-blades and Neural Mace are standard. To this, I added a Coalition C-18 Laser Pistol and a Barracuda revolver for S.D.C. damage. Yes, she is running a little light on weapons, but that is part of the start for a Dog Boy R.C.C.  For equipment, aside from the usual survival gear, I went after more of the communications equipment like Radar detectors, Field Radios, bugs, and other gear that will keep playing into our theme of the “Comm” or “Intel” type character.

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character and where I didn’t use them for this character:

  • Birth Order: One of a Lone Star litter of genetically engineered dogs 
  • Weight: Husky (which works out well for the description already given from the Boxer Breed) 
  • Height: Average 
  • Disposition: Nice guy [gal], friendly, courteous and hospitable
  • Family Origin: Made by Lone Star 
  • Type of Environment: Coalition State of the Burbs, Lone Star and then transferred to Chi-Town 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Indifferent.  Never personally had a bad experience with them [I’ll work on this in the story notes] 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans:Prefers the company of non-humans over humans.

In the next section, these will be worked into Anie’s character description

 

Character Notes

Annie is a Dog Boy.  Even the female Dog Boys are called Dog Boys by the Coalition States.  It is another sign of how they are seen as disposable gear rather than sentient creatures.  Created by the Coalition State of Lone Star, the Dog Boys patrol in packs under the command of a Psi-Stalker using their formidable psychic powers in service of their masters.  That was the life Annie was born into and seemed to be well suited for. Her quick mind and able service meant that she received extra training in the radio systems non-psychics used to keep track of everyone and was the deputy communications officer when she went into the field with her pack. She didn’t really have a name, just a designation with the Coalition.

Annie didn’t see anything wrong with how the Coalition treated her and her pack – that was what she was raised to believe.  She still holds some fondness for the imagery of the Coalition that raised her and brought her into being. She isn’t part of the Coalition anymore, though.  When tracking a dangerous Ley Line Walker outside the confines of the Burbs of Iron Heart, her pack and psi-stalker were ambushed. She can’t recall if it was the Ley Line Walker who summoned these shadow demons or if he just led them into a trap, so focused on him that they all overlooked the danger they found.  She is the only one who made it out alive as far as she knows. Bleeding, in shock, and hardly able to know what to do, Jorj came across her and saved her life.

She wasn’t used to a human showing such kindness for her.  That wasn’t how the Coalition taught them. It left her confused but thankful.  Without her pack, she decided to try to return the favor and protect Jorj but the truth was that she was curious.  Jorj’s deviant ways, from the Coalition standpoint, intrigued her because she had been learning how to read and write quietly … she had been breaking the word of the masters and recording what she saw and felt.  Now she had someone who could read it. And she got a name, “Annie” which Jorj said had something to do with her being an orphan of her old pack.

Her curiosity spurred her onward with Jorj as he tried to delve into what secrets Iron Heart had been keeping from its citizens. He had a way with computers that she could scarcely fathom, but her knowledge of the comm systems the Coalition used proved invaluable.  Her mutation appearing more like a human than a dog also came in handy as she was able to blend in far more easily than other Psi-Hounds that had slipped the yoke of the Coalition. It was on one of these quixotic quests that the trouble started – Iron Heart found out about their attempt to infiltrate the base and they were quickly on the run.  Being chased by the forces of the Coalition that raised her, Annie was truly at a loss when they stumbled upon T-Ball running from the opposite direction, also chased by the forces of Iron Heart. In the heat of the escape, the three of them bonded and slipped away. She has stayed with T-Ball’s Pack since then, finding a pack to once again call her own and to try to help them as best she can. To try to record what she is seeing the best she can.  To write what it is to be a Dog Boy unshackled from the servitude of the Coalition States.

 

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

 

Annie – Dog Boy Character Sheet

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

T-Balls Pack – Jorj Porgey

Design Notes

The mix of high-tech and wilderness is one of the endearing parts of the Rifts setting and I wanted to make a character who would be useful when dealing with the high-tech settings.  The idea of a computer hacker and data liberator stuck in my mind so I glanced through my book and used the Rogue Scientist O.C.C. to create this character. To start with our stat rolls that became Jorj, we have IQ – 17, ME – 14, MA – 13, PS – 12, PP – 14, PE – 15, PB – 12, and Spd – 7.  With a 6 on his bonus roll, Jorj has an I.Q. of 23 to start putting him at the top of the list for T-Ball’s pack appropriately. His stat line is otherwise unimpressive but not horribly deficient either. His Hit Points start at 15 and he has normal I.S.P. and P.P.E. as he is neither psychic nor magically active. Rifts also includes Structural Damage Capacity, or S.D.C., to reflect non-life threatening injuries and as a “Scholar or Adventurer” O.C.C., he starts with 4D6 S.D.C., or 15.

Rogue Scientists have a fairly limited amount of O.C.C. skills because they make up for it in their Other and Secondary skill lists.  There is the obvious need for Advanced Mathematics, Literacy, Basic Radio Operation, and Computer Operation to start. When looking towards using Computer Hacking as one of his “Other” skills, Jorj already has the prerequisites of literacy, mathematics, and computer operation taken care of but we need to add Computer Programming to his skill set. I added Computer Repair and then looked at filling out the other required science skills.  This party didn’t have a good investigator type, so I looked at getting into the Criminal Science & Forensics skill which required Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Biology as well making this a truly well rounded scientist. For the rest of his “Other” skills, I picked up more technical style skills like Cryptography and additional Literacies before turning to his Secondary Skills. In my head, this character grew up in the Burbs around a major city and could have been a City Rat if things went a different way, so his Secondary list reads like an escaped City Rat with Hand to Hand Basic, Weapon Proficiencies, Prowl, Streetwise, and Pick Locks.

For his equipment, a Rogue Scientist has a lot of the necessary gear to start so I just kept the standard list for the time being.  On the weapon side of things, I went with the Wilks Laser pistol and Wilks Laser Rifle. Since Jorj isn’t that great at combat, the little bonuses from the Wilks weapons go a long way to helping him in combat. Similarly, while most Rogue Scientists start with an Automatic Pistol, I went with a Revolver because of the additional +1 bonus to strike and chose .38 Service-Six Ruger Revolver.  Finally, a reinforced cudgel that can double as a walking stick rounds out his weapon choices. Because he wants to sneak around a bit, Jorj also went with the Crusader armor because it is actually one of the lighter armors while providing no Prowl Penalty and better M.D.C. than all but the Gladiator, Bushman, Heavy Deadboy, and Explorer Heavy armors.

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character:

  • Birth Order: Fourth Born 
  • Weight: Thin
  • Height: Average 
  • Disposition: Paternal, overbearing, overprotective of others, especially younger characters 
  • Family Origin: Human 
  • Type of Environment: I’m picking the Coalition City or the Burbs for his character 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Dislike and Distrust the Coalition.  Well informed and know a lot about the CS’s philosophies, laws, and activities, and they seem to be pretty unjust if not outright evil 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans: Hates demons, but believes that all races can live and work in harmony together. Treats humans and non-humans equally but is a bit suspicious of creatures who are supernatural or whose appearance is extremely inhuman.

In the next section, these will be worked into Jorj’s character description

 

Character Notes

Say what you will, but the Coalition is a bastion of humanity’s tenacity.  On what’s left of the North American continent, Coalition CIties and their Burbs house the vast majority of humans left even if they are an unjust if not outright evil society.  The Porgey’s grew up in the Burbs of Iron Heart waiting to be let in as full Coalition Citizens. A large family, well suited to working the mines, Jorj was the fourth child of six and he was always a trouble maker.  Young enough to not be on the forefront of causing problems for his parents, but old enough that he wasn’t the baby, Jorj was often left to his own devices.

In the shadow of Iron Heart, Jorj taught himself how to read – a crime if that was ever discovered.  He was enchanted by the stories of the past and how the Pre-Rifts world looked from other Burb dwellers and the occasional wandering adventurer who came through.  Teaching himself to read also left him with a knack for figuring out computers and electronics – one logical relationship was the same as another in his eyes. He grew up in the streets and slums full of hard luck cases and it shouldn’t ever be said that Jorj is an angel.  He can throw a punch, slip the psi-hound’s trail, and pick locks with the best of the urchins. As the Porgeys grew older, waiting for their citizenship, Jorj began to try to tap into the computer systems left ever so available in the arrogance of the Coalition’s leadership.  What he found shaped who he became.

He learned that Iron Heart once had great reservoirs of knowledge and history, but that the price of Coalition membership shipped that knowledge back to Chi-Town and Emperor Prosek. He understood that the intent of keeping the Coalition citizens illiterate was to blind them to the past as history and as a prologue to the future.  A 15 year old Jorj swore to himself that he wouldn’t let those stories go untold and he threw himself into acquiring all the knowledge he could.

He had to leave home for this, of course.  His parents were sad to see him go, but Jorj wasn’t cut out for the physically demanding work of a miner or manufacturer so it really meant one less mouth for them to feed.  They still didn’t know that their son was the “data terrorist” that has been causing fits for the Dog Pack patrols in the Burbs. Jorj kept travelling and learning – seeking out places like Lazlo and finding buried history for himself.  He was always drawn back to cities as his place of comfort. Whykin and El Dorado were two of his favorite places to visit, even if the Coalition had a presence in both. They were big enough to hold hidden secrets, but small enough that the security wasn’t top notch.  In El Dorado, he found a piece of information that set him on his path back to Iron Heart, and along the way he found his best friend.

Jorj came across Annie the remnants of her Dog Pack but he couldn’t just leave her to die.  She may have been Coalition, but when you are down and out you help everybody else on the block.  You’re only as strong as your weakest neighbor in the Burbs. Caring for this Dog Boy, well Gal, brought a smile and warmth to both of them and when she needed a name, Jorj picked one from his Pre-Rifts anecdotes – Annie. She was a fantastic radio operator and knew her way around communications systems in ways that even Jorj didn’t, but even more surprising was that she kept a journal.  A Dog Boy, er Gal, that could not only read but that could write meant that Jorj’s quest to share the stories and history of the world was larger than just himself. A friendship with few peers was forged in the recognition of both of their curiosity.

And so the data liberation quest began between a former applicant for Coalition citizenship and a curious Psi-Hound.  It wasn’t long before they made a mistake and found themselves running away from Iron Heart forces! As luck would have it, they ran right into T-Ball who had done …. Something else.  She has never been too clear on what she was up to that day. The three of them worked together to escape, each being labeled with the other’s crimes and called in help in the form of Audacious the Juicer and F’arlum, who Jorj had met in his travels around the Magic Zone.  Once Mikal shook his head at their inept wilderness survival skills and helped them vanish into the countryside, T-Ball’s Pack was effectively formed. Jorj still has his doubts about F’arlum but he brings some needed magical power to the group, while he worries that Audacious will get all of them killed with his reckless behavior.  For now, though, there is a mystery to piece together about what it is any of them know that makes Iron Heart so nervous.

 

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

 

Jorj Porgey – Rogue Scientist Character Sheet

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

Card Catalog – T-Ball’s Pack

Welcome back to Card Catalog where we walk through creating a series of characters in different gaming systems! This set of characters is coming from Palladium Book’s Rifts game! Rifts was released in 1991 and provided a multigenre setting that synthesized aspects of the previous Palladium mechanics and created what would become known as the Megaversal system.  Rifts is set in a postapocalyptic future that has significant horror, survival, and sci-fi components. It brought together and harmonized rules for psionics dating back to The Mechanoids, the Potential Psychic Energy (“P.P.E.”) based magical system in Beyond the Supernatural, the Mega Damage Capacity (“M.D.C.”) concept from the Robotech series, and the alien intelligences foreshadowed by The Old Ones in the Palladium Fantasy RPG.  While the Rifts world has had an unbroken history of publication for over 25 years with dozens and dozens of books, these characters will be made solely with the first two books from 1991 – The Rifts Core Rulebook and the Rifts Sourcebook (Now referred to as Rifts Sourcebook One).  One of the first products Palladium published for Rifts was the Rifts Conversion Book (Now referred to as Rifts Conversion Book One) that provided hundreds of ways to enrich the setting with conversions from the other Palladium games, new races and creatures, and truly setting up the Megaversal system for what it became.  Before we talk about the system itself, I do want to note that I am doing things a little differently out of respect for Palladium’s Intellectual Property and their professed preferences – Palladium does not support a fillable PDF of the Rifts Character Sheet, so I am converting the character generation spreadsheet I used into a PDF to display the characters; and I am limiting the amount of information from the books being used, for example I will give a brief description of a power armor suit but will refer you to the book for more information.  

 

System Notes

Rifts, and the Megaversal system, start from a randomly generated set of eight attributes – I.Q.; M.E. (Mental Endurance); M.A. (Mental Affinity); P.S. (Physical Strength); P.P. (Physical Prowess); P.E. (Physical Endurance); P.B. (Physical Beauty); and Spd. (Speed).  A normal human rolls 3D6, but a result of 16-18 adds an additional 1D6 to the total. In the Conversion Book, you could have further exceptional attributes if that bonus d6 rolled a 6, you could roll again for a maximum of 5D6 or 30 on any stat. This group doesn’t use the extra bonus and is capped at 4D6 or 24. Rifts characters have both I.S.P. (Inner Strength Points) that fuel Psionics and P.P.E. (Potential Psychic Energy) that fuels magic.  After you roll your stats, you choose an O.C.C. (Occupational Character Class) that provides the framework for your character including the O.C.C. skills, a list of “Other” skills that may be selected with bonuses, and “Secondary” skills that round out your character without bonus. Skills are expressed as a percentage to roll under, with bonuses from high I.Q., O.C.C.s, and advance by level with the character. This includes choosing your Weapon Proficiencies because, while your P.P provides a bonus in melee combat, it provides no bonuses to modern weapons at range. The character gets to be rounded out a standard gear list for each O.C.C. with some extra credits to buy and personalize your equipment.

Rifts, and Palladium in general, have always included a bevy of optional random charts to determine things like disposition and family history to help flesh out your character.  I’ll be making use of those a well in building out this little group including the roll for all characters who have the potential for psionic powers in the Rifts setting. To be honest, after getting these old books out, I think 2018 is going to see me buying more of the recent Rifts books and playing around in that world! Maybe we will even revisit the world of Rifts in a future Card Catalog with some of the more recent options. (ETA – After I did this series, I went and picked up a dozen newer Palladium books including the updated Rifts Core book).

 

Setting Notes

The world of Rifts is set after a near extinction level event that reawakened the magical ley lines that criss cross the Earth.  In the wake of humanity nearly falling out of existence, and magic returning through the newly opened rifts at the ley line nexuses, Atlantis returned to Earth and dimensional beings, or D-bees, came through the Rifts.  Some of these D-bees were nearly human and just another race on the planet but others were like monsters or demons of lore and they proceeded to further place humanity’s future at risk. In 101 P.A., there are few pockets of urban civilization like Northern Gun and the Coalition States, where power armor, giant robots, and bionic conversions flourish.  Psionically gifted and magically active humans and B-Bees have banded together in different communities as well especially in light of the Coalition State’s hatred and distrust of magic, psionics, and D-Bees in general. In Rifts, humanity and population is scarce but on the planet you will find full conversion cyborgs, magic wielding Ley Line Walkers, the awesome mental powers of Mind Melters, Dragon hatchlings, and scholars and adventurers trying to survive from one day to the next. The Coalition States are preparing for an assault on the city of Tolkeen, a magically rich city that exemplifies everything they distrust and hate about the world. Welcome to the world of Rifts!

 

T-Ball’s Pack

 

This group, though it doesn’t have an official name, has come to be called T-Ball’s Pack because the Headhunter ended up in charge.  Of course the Headhunter ended up in charge even if she didn’t want to be in charge. T-Ball hasn’t revealed a lot of her background to her companions yet, but it’s pretty clear she has formal military training and some kind of a past with Audacious. While trying to get out of an Iron Heart controlled area, she stumbled onto Jorj and Annie who were up to no-good of their own and their respective crimes against the Coalition became commingled. T-Ball put a call out to Audacious for help, while Jorj leaned on his acquaintance F’arlum. A chance encounter with Mikal meant that this little group had someone better suited to guiding them through the wilds and for some reason, the timid and loner Wilderness Scout thought it would be good to lend a hand.

Now, they are trying to figure out what it is that Iron Heart wants with them, how to stay one step ahead of the most powerful, advanced, and organized empire on the continent in the Coalition States, and maybe manage to make this world just a little bit better while they are at it.

Theresa “T-Ball” Chandler – Headhunter

A headhunter, or mercenary warrior, that seems to be almost cut out of central casting, she is the nominal leader of this merry band of subversives.  With a heavy leaning on Northern Gun equipment, and a dialect of American that seems to suggest that as her background, T-Ball may have spent time with the Northern Gun military. She is a bit gruff and by nature a loner, but has been corralled into being the “leader” of this pack of subversives all on the run from the Coalition State of Iron Heart.  She may know more about why they are after them than she lets on, but for now T-Ball is just trying to stay one step ahead of the dangerous predators in the world – magical and human.

Jorj Porgey – Rogue Scientist/Hacker

Jorj used to be on the waiting list to be a Coalition citizen.  Instead, he found answers and more importantly questions while living in the Burbs and teaching himself not only to read but how to get into the Coalition computer systems.  Insatiable curiosity and a need to tell the stories of the past has led this city boy to venture through the wild from outpost to outpost trying to unearth more of the story of the Pre-Rifts times and even what really happened in the recent past.  A timely meeting with Annie has led to an intrepid duo that above all else just wants to know more.

Annie – Dog Boy

A Boxer Breed Dog Boy with an uncommon curiosity, the Psi-Hound now called Annie fell into T-Ball’s Pack by way of Jorj.  She had been trained as a radio and communications specialist in her Dog Pack and when they were tracking a dangerous Ley Line Walker the entire pack was wiped out.  Annie would have been dead if Jorj hadn’t found her. Jorj’s own quest for knowledge spurred something in this curious and illegally literate Psi-Hound and she has stuck around ever since.

F’arlum – Ley Line Walker

F’arlum is not a happy camper.  This Ley Line Walker learned to work his magic from the Federation of Magic after his father was killed by the Coalition.  The Federation of Magic’s strident anti-Coalition viewpoint lends them to being called terrorists by many but that didn’t matter to F’arlum.  He struck out to not only increase his own power but to begin striking at the Coalition on his own. When Jorj reached out to him on the run from Iron Heart, F’arlum jumped at the chance to help them and thereby indirectly striking against the Coalition.

Mikal – Wilderness Scout

A twin who was raised in a wilderness town who never felt quite right when his family moved into Lazlo.  The bustling city didn’t do much to help his love of the wild while his twin Piter flourished around people and the energy of the city.  While his brother stayed in Lazlo to become a Body Fixer, Mikal set out as a Wilderness Scout to find and keep some part of him alive in the wilds of Rifts Earth.  It was sheer serendipity to run across the rest of T-Ball’s Pack as they were on the run from Iron Heart. Mikal decided to help them because they had no clue how best to get away in the wilds and he has no love lost for the Coalition.  Now, he helps guide them to and fro while maybe warming up to a more sociable life.

Audacious “Aud” Smith – Juicer

Almost stereotypically, Audacious Smith is a loud, cocky, and reckless man pushing his enhanced Juicer powers to the limit before he burns out.  Coming from Whykin, this youngest son set out to make a name for himself and is an imposing figure with a mane of black hair and a physique that was obviously impressive before the Juicer augmentation.  With only a few years left to live, he wants to make his mark on the world while he shows the rest of T-Ball’s Pack what it means to be alive!

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

 

T-Balls Pack – Theresa ‘T-Ball’ Chandler

Design Notes

The first character in our Rifts write up is T-Ball, or Theresa Chandler, the Headhunter and de facto leader.  To start with our stat rolls, we have IQ – 14, ME – 10, MA – 14, PS – 13, PP – 16, PE – 15, PB – 10, and Spd – 13.  That 16 for P.P. becomes a 21 with the bonus die giving us a solid stat line for a primary combat character. She doesn’t roll any psionic abilities on our first random table, so her PPE and ISP are normal human range and her Hit Points start at 15.  Rifts also includes Structural Damage Capacity, or S.D.C., to reflect non-life threatening injuries and as a “Man of Arms” O.C.C., she has 1D4x10 S.D.C. to start, or 30.

Turning to skills, if you check the attached character sheet below, you’ll see that Head Hunters have a lot of skills to start and they are primarily focused around combat including multiple Weapon Proficiency slots, Hand to Hand: Expert, and other skills you would expect.  For her optional piloting skills, I wanted to have a power armor pilot, so I gave her Robot Combat Elite in the Northern Gun Samson Power Armor as well as Tanks because that may be helpful. In choosing her Other skills, Headhunters only get 4 so I looked at skills that may reflect a possible military background and selected Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, and Intelligence.  The final Other skill is Boxing because it provides significant bonuses to her physical stats, increased combat abilities, and cannot be selected as a Secondary skill. Her Secondary skills round out her interests but specifically include the general Robot Piloting skill to be able to hop into any form of Powered Armor and be able to use it, Paramedic, and the rare but often useful Literacy skill.  

For gear, first we look at weapons and armor.  With two separate suits of Mega Damage Capacity Armor, the best choices are hands down the Gladiator and the Crusader.  The Gladiator is a heavy suit with significant protection but very few drawbacks and penalties that other heavy armor has while the Crusader looks like medieval armor but is a medium suit that doesn’t have any prowl penalty for sneaking around! For weapons, the Northern Gun focus also comes out and we look at the NG Ion Pistol, Heavy NG Particle Beam rifle, and the over-under NG Laser and Grenade Launcher combo.  This is bolstered with a Triax built Pump Action explosive round TX-16 (from the Sourcebook) and a number of S.D.C. weapons for lighter action. Head Hunters also start with a few bionic and cybernetic components! The classic picture from the Rifts book shows a cybernetic arm, and I think that is a good fit. The added benefit is that the Bionic arm is strong enough to use the oversized NG Super Laser Pistol/Grenade Launcher without any penalties. We will add some S.D.C. forearm blades into the arm for a hand to hand weapon that isn’t M.D.C.  The rest of the systems are great choices for overall effectiveness – the Cybernetic Advanced hearing provides some additional bonuses in combat and especially to Initiative while the Bionic Lung can prevent succumbing to gas attacks and the chemical spray gives her a lot of options for non-lethal payloads. Her general gear doesn’t need much in the way of tweaking but for vehicles she is going to get two. First, I mentioned that I wanted somebody to have a suit of powered armor in this group, so the NG Samson Heavy Infantry Power Armor is the way to go, complete with rail gun and mini-missiles.  Second, to be able to carry it all around, she has a Big Boss A.T.V. that would normally seat for but is crammed full of this gear instead! For pictures and better descriptions, check the Rifts First Edition Book as indicated!

Looking at Page 18 of the Rifts First Edition book, here are the results of the Optional random tables to round out the character:

  • Birth Order: Second Born 
  • Weight: Husky (which makes sense for a Boxing trained soldier)
  • Height: Average 
  • Disposition: Tough guy[gal], self-reliant, cocky, a lone wolf 
  • Family Origin: Earth native. Character is human 
  • Type of Environment: Small to medium city (which works into the Northern Gun backstory concept) 
  • Sentiments towards Coalition: Dislike and Distrust the Coalition.  Well informed and know a lot about the CS’s philosophies, laws, and activities, and they seem to be pretty unjust if not outright evil 
  • Sentiments towards Non-Humans: Hates demons, but believes that all races can live and work in harmony together.  Treats humans and non-humans equally but is a bit suspicious of creatures who are supernatural or whose appearance is extremely inhuman.

In the next section, these will be worked into T-Ball’s character description

 

Character Notes

Theresa Chandler was born just outside of Ishpeming, or Northern Gun, in the year 75 P.A..  She grew up idolizing and respecting her older brother, especially after her parents passed away when she was only 12 leaving her alone with Johnni to carry on.  Johnni did his best but the sad truth of the world is that your best isn’t always enough. When she was 15, she was left alone in the world after her brother was killed in a freak Northern Gun weapons testing accident.

This hardened her and left her with the belief that she could only rely on herself.  She misses her parents and her brother, but came to terms with the harsh reality that is the day-to-day struggle of Rifts Earth. It wasn’t long before she signed up with Ishpeming military – she didn’t have any real skills to sell and it was three square meals and a warm cot.  Besides, she could get enough out of Northern Gun to make up for the loss of her brother. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise, but she excelled in her training leaning heavily on her firm belief that she was the only person she could trust in this world. Somewhere between 91 P.A. and 97 P.A., she left her service to Ishpeming taking with her the nickname “T-Ball”, training, some weapons, and a bionic arm she “earned”. It is hard to leave Northern Gun behind, even if you leave Ishpeming, and she still has contacts that she sends messages to on a regular basis.

As the Coalition began to mass troops and become more expansionist, she set her sights on the Coalition State of Iron Heart.  For her own purposes, or maybe at the bidding of Northern Gun, she took jobs and explored the area around Iron Heart. During one of these expeditions, she ran directly afoul of Iron Heart, though she still won’t say what she was doing to earn their wrath.  While trying to escape, she stumbled onto Jorj & Annie who were also poking around the Coalition State and their crimes became each others. On the run from a well organized military, she put a call out to Audacious Smith for some backup while Jorj had a Ley Line Walker who could lend a hand.  A Wilderness Scout bristling from Iron Heart’s overbearing reach found them just as Iron Heart was going to catch them and that changed the tide of the battle. T-Ball ended up in charge for reasons that still escape her. Despite being uncomfortable with the leadership role, she has taken charge of keeping this “pack” of people away from Iron Heart’s clutches while they try to work out just what has made them a high profile public enemy of one of the most powerful nation-states on the Continent all the while keeping her secrets close to her chest.

 

T-Ball’s Pack overview Here.

 

T-Ball – Headhunter Character Sheet

 

Palladium Books, Rifts, The Mechanoids, The Mechanoid Invasion, and Megaverse are registered trademarks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda. Mega-damage, M.D.C., S.D.C., P.P.E., Triax, Xiticix, Splugorth, Erin Tarn, Victor Lazlo, and their likenesses, The Palladium Role-Playing Game, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Ninjas & Superspies, and other titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda.

Any brief excerpts and descriptions of the contents of the book are done for review purposes through the fan creation of example characters.  No claim of ownership is intended or implied to the copywritten and trademarked works and marks.

The Lost Companions – Klatulmayter

Design Notes

For the final character of the Lost Companions, I wanted to make a distinctly alien character. The benefit of an RPG is that there is not a weekly budget so you can make a recurring alien without concern for costs. we will keep it generally humanoid but with an equine face, mane, and hooves.

This means that we will take the Alien special trait that opens up additional options but also lets a character go over 6 in an attribute. Looking over our characters so far, we are definitely lacking a charmer so Klatulmayter is going to be a priority Presence character. As an alien, let’s go ahead and just get to a 7 Presence. We will go ahead with a 4 Resolve and 3s in Coordination and Strength. That leaves a 2 in both Awareness and Ingenuity.

Aside from Alien (2), let’s add Attractive (1), Charming(1), and in proper Doctor Who fashion Run For Your Life(1) and Screamer (1). A Natural Weapon(1) with hooves rounds out the positive Traits. For Negative Traits, we will start with the Alien Appearance (1) and then add Clumsy(1), Forgetful(1), and Impulsive(1) to make a rounded character.

Convince and Subterfuge at 5 each are the first skill choices. A single rank of Transport and Craft each. Knowledge of fashion and etiquette seems appropriate at 2 and the final 2 skills in Technology coming from her higher tech level.

Character Notes

One of the scions of a noble house of the Peraxia, Klatulmayter truly has had very little to actually do with her life.  In her brief time so far, she has run free and been a most excellent entertainer. In fact, she has focused greatly on “living a good life” by which she would entertain and make small talk with all the most interesting Peraxians. Her position of privilege left her without the cares of the other Peraxians.  A carefree existence led to a care-free filly.

The problem with a carefree existence is that it can lead one to be resistant or unreceptive to change.  Klatulmayter has these problems in spades as she will often lose her cool when confronted with something new or unexpected, despite her being drawn to leap before she looks. This combination of impulsivity and fear led her to wonder just what was inside a strange blue box that she found when taking her morning constitutional.  An alien came out, but he was … well … magnetic. She followed him into the box and has been whisked around on a whirlwind of adventure since then.

She is slowly overcoming her fears, realizing that this adventure will help her Live a Good Life by experiencing so much more …  but Sgt. Armstrong still frightens her gentle soul and Fen is just too far in her own head. She seems to see things more clearly than the others and for whatever reason, the others seem to listen to her especially when she screams as another alien confronts them all.

The Lost Companions Overview Here. 

Klatulmayter Equine Alien Sheet.

Fillable Character sheet by Michael Lewis available at RPGGeek.com  (Registration required)

BBC Logo © BBC 1996. Doctor Who logo © BBC 2004. Tardis image © BBC 1963. Dalek image © BBC/Terry Nation 1963. Cyberman image © BBC/Kit Pedlar/Gerry Davis 1963. Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space produced by Cubicle 7 under license by BBC Worldwide Limited. Seize the GM is a fan production. No claim of ownership or challenge to the copyrighted work is intended or implied.

The Lost Companions – Fen

Design Notes

I wanted to have someone who was more of a peer of the Doctor in The Lost Companions, not unlike the original Romana.  I thought about making another Time Lord, but settled on something equally exotic as the idea of this group being in the Eighth Doctor’s time solidified – an Initiate of the Sisterhood of Karn.  

The Sisterhood of Karn was first glimpsed by the audience in the Fourth Doctor’s episode – The Brain of Morbius, which added a significant amount of history to the Time Lords and Gallifrey, as well as creating some conundrums about the Doctor’s personal history but that  is a different story. Because they came from that era, though they become important for the Doctor in the relaunched Doctor Who as well, information is found in Cubicle 7’s Fourth Doctor Handbook. 

Being an Initiate of the Sisterhood of Karn is a significant special positive trait, so we will actually stay with that before we go through the rest of the character generation.  As an Initiate, Fen gets a package deal on a number of traits including Psychic, Telepathy, and Immortality but it costs 4 Story Points in addition to the 2 Character points reducing the ability to change the narrative flow of the game on a whim. I also want to add Precognition for the story basis, but I will leave off the Telekinesis and Teleportation reasoning that the distance from the Sisterhood makes it harder for her to pull off the truly impressive feats for now.

We’ve already spent 3 Character Points and reduced our Story POint availability when we turn to the attributes.  As you may able to guess from that list of traits that come with being an Initiate of the Sisterhood, Awareness, Resolve, and Ingenuity will be the three highly prized attributes. If we start the other three attributes at 2, or slightly below human average, we can have this three all start at a 5.  Sisters of Karn get a 1 point bump in their Resolve bringing us to 6. We may need some negative Traits to round out this statline as well as make a more interesting character.

Part of the Sisterhood of Karn package deal comes with a Major Negative Trait in the Obligation to the Sisterhood to protect the Sacred Flame. As a seer, Fen is often rather distracted even when not using the power as mechanically defined, so we’ll take Slow Reflexes (1) and Forgetful (1) to reflect that even though she is taking in the information with her high Awareness. Her view of the future seems to make it hard to connect with other life forms making her an Outsider (1) as well. Using these additional points, let’s raise her Presence to 3 and take the Minor Hypnosis Trait as well!

For skills, the Sisterhood of Karn’s well established abilities are in the biochemical field, so we will put at least 5 ranks into Medicine which then gets another point from the Sisterhood of Karn Special Trait. From their three points in both Science and Subterfuge seem reasonable to round out her major skills.  A few ranks in Craft (woodworking) and Knowledge to bolster that and a single rank in Survival make for a good character to challenge the Doctor’s knowledge. One extra character point left will let us choose an Area of Expertise in Science for Biology!

 

Character Notes

The Sisterhood of Karn had been reduced, but were still powerful.  Leaders in the cosmos in biogenetics with psychic powers that made them the peers of the Time Lords in their day.  On Karn, the Fourth Doctor faced down Morbius, hidden away from the rest of the Time Lords. The High Priestess of the Sisterhood saw a future, a terribly future, and knew that the Sisterhood had to set into motion plans to save the Universe from the Time Lords own arrogance.

The High Priestess chose wisely when picking  a Sister to be thrust upon the Doctor. Fen was a relatively new initiate, only a century old, when she was tapped for the task.  She had been graced with the power of prophecy by the Sacred Elixir when she became an Initiate and that ability would be instrumental in keeping the romantic, quixotic, and dashing Eighth Doctor on track for his tragic end. Fen had always been curious, but she often seemed lost in her own mind.  The power of her prophecy often overwhelmed her as she took in too much from this world and the worlds that may yet be. Her mind, as powerful as it was, could scarcely handle the web of possibilities she could see leading her to seem removed, forgetful, or distracted. She calmed herself working with wood – the physical act of shaping such a definite creation would give her a respite from her visions.  The physical act of shaping the wood would ensure something was left behind.

Fen was charged with accompanying the Doctor, in a face and demeanor so very different from the one who fought Morbius,, and guiding him to the point in time the High Priestess saw.  Fen’s task was to make sure the Doctor would die on Karn so that the War Doctor would be able to put a stop to the Time War. Fen’s goal is simple – help the Doctor live long enough to die the way the Sisterhood wants him to.  The Doctor seemed intrigued when a Sister of Karn stumbled across his path, but a the Sisterhood knew he would,couldn’t refuse her company. Another quick wit and immortal on the TARDIS energized this Doctor and it helped thrust him forward even as she would argue with Sgt. Armstrong trying to keep the Doctor from falling into war before he should.

 

The Lost Companions Overview Here. 

Fen Karn Sister Sheet.

 

Fillable Character sheet by Michael Lewis available at RPGGeek.com  (Registration required)

 

BBC Logo © BBC 1996. Doctor Who logo © BBC 2004. Tardis image © BBC 1963. Dalek image © BBC/Terry Nation 1963. Cyberman image © BBC/Kit Pedlar/Gerry Davis 1963. Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space produced by Cubicle 7 under license by BBC Worldwide Limited. Seize the GM is a fan production. No claim of ownership or challenge to the copyrighted work is intended or implied.

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