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Not-Really-OSSR: Rifts (R) Ninjas/Samurai/Weeb Stuff

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:13 am
by Koumei
I was going to do an OSSR of RIFTS (R) Japan. But here's the thing: Palladium books are full of so much faff. Entire chapters of backstory and population density that nobody actually reads because they want to skip to the OCCs and Equipment sections, and then those sections have a lot of junk as well.

So instead, here's what we're doing: we're going through various books (off the top of my head that's 2 books and a Rifter) to cover everything with "Ninja" in the name alongside other things that are particularly weeaboo warrior such as Tengu and Samurai. The drink of choice is obviously Nikka from the Barrel, bringing strong traditional-style whisky from the mysterious Far Ea... er, Close North. I mean, I live in Australia. I'm in the Far East.

Part 1: Traditional Stuff of RIFTS (TM) Japan

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No surprises here, after the apocalypse Japan immediately reverted back to what people secretly suspect Japan still wants to be (or indeed what some suspect it secretly still is). So instantly it's local daimyo ruling over provinces, Shinto deities roaming around fighting against Oni and haunted umbrellas, mystic samurai with magical katanas that eat souls, megacorps creating futuristic robots that look like Asian dragons, and everyone using magical kung fu powers. Also fifteen types of ninja.

Traditional Samurai Warrior OCC

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Is this racist?

This has ten thousand pages of background info and explanation of codes of conduct, most of which is based on post-reformation bullshit that had nothing to do with actual samurai. You don't actually have an Alignment restriction, but you have to follow the Gojo and Gorin, so that's a lot of rules there. You get a Living Samurai Sword, which is a minor rune sword. These can be created by 12th level Samurai, and by Shinto master sword makers (not covered). And takes 1000+ PPE. Nothing is actually stopping a giant tentacle monster from making a rune katana, though. I bet they secretly taught the Shinto masters in exchange for a regular supply of school girls.

Anyway, because your sword is a major class feature, let's take a look at it: it is basically indestructible, and has an independent personality (if you have a daisho, they have the same alignment), and IQ 3d4+2. So only slightly dumber than a normal human on average, and closer to the average range. It has a telepathic link to the wielder, and the ancient pre-rift ones can even dream-speak.

The Katana does 6d6 MD (8d6 if it's a rare ancient pre-rift one), and a Wakizashi deals 4d6 MD (or 6d6 if an ancient one). However, they then list the damage again, changing it, because go fuck yourself. Katana is now 6d6 (SD to mortal foes and MD to supernatural beings and creatures of magic - presumably it can't hurt power armour though, because those are actual categories and not a generic "MDC stuff" term). Wakizashi is 4d6 (either). Ancient weapons instead do 1d6x10 and 1d4x10.

Also grants +1 to all saves, and lets you parry energy blasts at -5. So we're not talking "fires energy blasts, summons elementals, instantly kills anyone it cuts and eats their soul" or other Rune Weapon powers, but it's not terrible. Just... not as good as piloting a giant robot. Man, if only Japan had giant robots.

The samurai also gets magic MDC armour that offers 100-180 MDC.

You get training in all of the samurai fighting styles: special horsemanship, mounted archery, dodges arrows at only -2 and blasts/bullets at only -4 (or free parry for only -5, see above). And replaces normal Attacks per Round for Archery with its own progression that is almost definitely worse than what you normally have (3 at level 1, then +2 at level 3, +1 at levels 4, 6, 9, 12, 15). Paired weapon fighting with the daisho and extra bonuses for fighting with the daisho specifically. And can use an iron-ended fan for special parrying or, if necessary, stabbing people for minor damage. Also gains a bonus to Save vs Mind Control and Horror Factor, and some extra PPE. That's specifically part of samurai training, for the record.

Chi MD Death Blow: takes 2 actions and counts as a magic attack, and only works specifically against supernatural creatures, and with melee weapons. It deals double normal damage (including PS and similar), as MD, and the damage can't be regenerated for 1d4 hours, which makes it actually useful as a "takes 2 attacks" thing against some foes.

You also get the special Zanji Shinjinken-Ryo martial art that nobody else gets. You start with 2 attacks per round (or rather, 4, because that's 2 for existing +2 from your HtH), and gain extra attacks at a pretty fast rate. Grants very basic combat moves, extra SDC, PP, PE and ME, and Paired Weapons which you already have because you're a Samurai. Bonuses to Initiative, and the strike/parry/dodge bonuses are also pretty swish. You eventually crit like a scimitar, and at one point you double your PPE. Note: there is a way to flat-out say "I can take any skill, fuck you my mage has samurai training". But that's at level 14 so w/e.

As well as rolling on your family background (all of these are flavour except for the 01-10 roll which gives you an ancient daisho), you choose your Family Skills, which helps flavour your skill choices based on whether you're a politician or farmer/landowner or whatever. You get a whole bunch of cultural skills including Go (a Chinese game). You can't take many other skills, and can't take Acrobatics but that's the only Physical one you can't take.

The Samurai kind of reminds me of the D&D monk: they get a lot of things that take up space on the character sheet, but they're still not that good. I mean, their fighting style means lots of attacks at a good bonus... that deals zero damage to robots and doesn't deal "holy shit" damage against everyone else. They have their uses, but they're not actually that special.

Females are taught Kendo instead of Zanji (which for the most part is not as good, though at level 14 apparently every attack is a deathblow?), and don't get archery, instead gaining WP Spear and more PPE (not used for things).

Ronin OCC
This is just a slightly different skillset for the samurai (and has no innate income but the same starting gear), but works exactly the same - indeed if you become a ronin as a level X Samurai, you just turn into a level X Ronin. That means you get to use more technology over time (a good thing - you can end up as a cyborg with samurai training and a daisho) and can start learning more Technical skills.

Mystic Ninja OCC
This is another one that takes a lot of space in the book and on your sheet. Firstly, you get to spend 35 PPE to turn into an MDC creature (HP + SDC are added together and converted 1:1) for 3 min/level. Doesn't give supernatural strength.

Mystic Arts of Stealth are gained over time, at the exact rate D&D characters get Feats.

Becomes a master escape artist. Not very good for escaping a grapple, mind you - can slip out of a hold in one action, but takes a full round to escape a joint lock. If the improved choke rules are used, that's good though. And just escaping handcuffs, straitjackets and cells... it's not terrible but how often is it really coming up?

The Ninja is a psionic character, with 1 Physical power per level, Bio-Regeneration, Induce Sleep, and then at level six gains Psi-Sword. So we start with "okay, sounds like traditional mystic ninja stuff, and it's standard psionics and not vaguely racist Oriental Chi Power Not For Gaijin". And then they get a mystic energy blade. Okay.

Has a bunch of PPE, some save bonuses, the ability to create false identities, and a crappy version of samurai horsemanship and archery. Does not have mounted archery though.

Hand to Hand: Taijutsu/Ninjutsu is their special thing. Has some strikes, holds, flippy shit, some small stat boosts (+2 MA stands out as unusual), reasonably good attack rate... a doubling of PPE, the same "Death Blow!" (number not specified, and this is granted after a previous "Death Blow on natural X") as Kendo, Paired Weapon training "Also see Samurai Hand to Hand Combat". Wait what?

Doesn't get many Other skills, but gets a fair number of OCC skills. Equipment is just pitiful. A whole bunch of gimmick things like fake wounding and climbing gloves and breathing reeds, but basically they can't hurt Mega Damage things. They are supposed to adapt to their environment and live in the woods, and not blend in to cities and use all resources available such as computers and railguns.

Bishamon Monk OCC

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Typically you get mega-damage leaf armour from a sacred tree, and a daito sword (4d6) and bisento spear (3d6 damage).

He has at least 100 SDC (+90) and natural AR of 18, and for 1 PPE per 2 minutes, can transform all his HP and SDC into MDC. Gains the Chi death blow and gradually access to Body Hardening, Mystic Invisibility and Zenjoriki powers (that last one is just one, at level 14). Also gets a very specific schedule of psionics rather than choosing ones. Mostly situational powers, but at level 3 you get Mind Block and at level 6 you get See the Invisible. You do get some Super powers much later (Pyrokinesis and Psi-Shield). Gains minor save bonuses as well.

Also gains special training in Begging, Fasting, Meditation and Oriental Philosophies. Steepest requirement is ME 14, has to be a male human, any alignment. Hand to Hand: Aikido, not that many skills, but can take Mystic Herbology (see: England). Starts with some non-magical herbs and a basic millennium tree staff. Can gain other magic items later on (level 6+ just sort of gives you a special magic staff). Yes really it says you are able to gain other items through playing the game. No fucking shit. Or is this a stealth-nerf to everything that doesn't explicitly have that text, and they can't loot enemy corpses?

Aikido: holds (no locks?) and flippy stuff, +1d4 ME as well as regular stuff, throws people like a scimitar, doubles PPE eventually... it's not that good. HtH training doesn't innately grant martial arts powers in Rifts, you get that from your class. Unless, of course, you use some kind of method of snatching up a non-Rifts art that was designed for Ninjas & Superspies. Sneaky sneaky~
As an aside, -do means "the art/sport/style of" and -jutsu means "killing people via". Hence judo (wrestling sport) and jujutsu (killing someone when you don't happen to have your sword on you). Kendo (wooden-sword duelling sport) and kenjutsu (killing fools with a sword). Is there an aikijutsu where you grab people and twist their neck in half? Is there a Nintenjutsu where you kill people with a console?

Sohei Monk and Warrior Nun OCC

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Sohei look pretty rad, and get special staff/spear training. If you declare an attack as a temple strike, then on an 18+ (total, not natural), you deal extra damage, cause them to lose Initiative and 1 attack, and they have a 50% chance of dropping their weapon. If you roll under 18 but still hit, then it's still a regular hit, so just declare every attack to be that.

Can parry arrows and bullets (at -2 and -6) with the staff, gets a bonus attack per round when using the spear or staff. Has a magic staff from the M-tree, and this is the one the previous Bishamon gets as well. Has a lot of MDC, regenerates, possesses a bunch of PPE the owner can use, deals 2d6 SD to mortals and 3d6 MD against supernatural beings. Also gets M-tree leaf armour (eventually gets better bark armour and a better staff), and has the special class feature of being able to get other items later.

Has the Chi death blow you know and maybe love. Gains a few Body Hardening Powers over time, and at level 14 a Zenjoriki power. Training in Begging, Fasting, Feng Shui/Geomancy, Meditation and Oriental Philosophy. Basically no attribute requirements, no racial requirements (says even dragons and shit can learn it), no alignment restrictions. HtH Jujutsu, though you can swap that for Teng-jutsu if you spend three other skills. You only have 8 of those to begin with, but you can't take Acrobatics or Boxing, so maybe that's a thing you want to do? Let's have a look at that:

Jujutsu: an assortment of attacking things, and again no locks so maybe "holds" includes all of that. Doesn't get mental bonuses, and you can't be principled/aberrant, even though it's automatically granted to certain OCCs that can be. So... what? Same number of attacks as Aikido, no chi boosting, a few more moves learned and grappling ends up with a 17-20 crit.

Teng-Jutsu: striking, not grappling, and with a bunch of movement and escape powers. Same number of attacks, gains a lot of kicks and ends up with all kicks being critical hits. That can be pretty crazy, not going to lie. Also, unlike other arts, this explicitly does give you some mystic powers even if you're not a Tengu: you get Acrobatics without the stat boosts, exceptional balance, really good leaping, and a special Leap Dodge (Each one uses up one melee attack, but can be done indefinitely to avoid attacks as if it were a parry. What?) Special dodge that's designed to make enemies punch rocks and things. Nobody cares. Humans deal +1d6 SD with their kicks, Tengu deal the equivalent in MD, and humans can spend two actions to deal 2d6 MD on a kick. Also a crappy Power Punch that takes 2 actions and does less damage. So depending on how good grappling is in your game and whether or not this is your only way to damage a robot, it might be worth the trade.

Female Sohei are almost the same but have slightly different OCC skills. They get more skills, specifically cooking and sewing and singing and stuff, but don't get land navigation. Am I right, guys?

Yamabushi Mountain Priest OCC
Gains the ability to heal people when on mountains or touching giant boulders. Costs 10 PPE each time, and does minimal actual healing but helps prevent bleed-out, and heals 1 person + 1 per 2 levels. Can't heal himself.

Can dunk people in water at the same cost to cure poison/drugs/disease, and is also immune to possession while doing that.

Can meditate to become absolutely immune to fire and plasma and "talk to volcanoes" - admittedly that's like the entire surface of Japan.

Can also heal himself by stripping down and hanging upside down from a tall place. And can also do this to activate various powers like Purification, Water to Wine, Summon Storms, Close Rift and whatever. Or gain skill boosts.

Can turn mountains and boulders into holy sites that bless the surroundings, and can swallow stones to basically turn into stone. HP and SDC turn into MDC, and +6 MDC per stone eaten (up to 2 stones per level). This reduces speed and attacks per round, becomes very strong for the purpose of lifting or resisting movement, but doesn't gain the ability to deal MD. +1d6 to damage.

Chi Death Blow as before. And gains Kangeiko & Shochu Geiko, saving 15% on car insurance. Adds to SDC and HP (ie MDC when eating rocks), immunity to stun and paralysis (nice), half damage from Fire and Cold. Can see and speak to Elementals. Cannot be a psychic. Learns Meditation and Fasting. Any gender, any race, any alignment, any attributes.

Only six other skills, 3 can be used to upgrade Martial Arts to Teng Jutsu. Has almost no equipment.

The Demon Queller is actually pretty decent and gets better gear, but my eyes are starting to glaze over so I'm excluding it based on the fact that it doesn't have a Japanese name.

Tengu RCC

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MDC creatures that deal mega-damage. They can shape-change into human forms, possess people, and have a small amount of spellcasting. Player characters get HtH: Teng-Jutsu. NPCs of level 6+ also get a second martial art (any except zanji and ninjutsu) at half level. No, Rifts does not explain how that works, you just have to be familiar with N&SS. And it's not broken (though is perhaps cumbersome and time-consuming) for players to have, it's just "fuck you, you can't be a fancy master".

They can fly and have Horror Factor 10, always see the invisible, half damage from fire, and slow bio-regeneration. Fair number of pre-selected skills, only six others that you can choose. Is allowed to start with magic weapons including an MD staff and/or a living katana.

Techno-Stuff comes next post. I am so glad the other books only have one or two relevant things.

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:18 am
by Longes
This needs to be moved to a different sub-forum.

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:34 am
by Koumei
...that it does. I swear I was posting in "In My Humble Opinion".

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 2:22 pm
by Nebuchadnezzar
I've begun editing pdfs of palladium garbage in an attempt to make the crunch, if not actually useful, then at least nominally compiled. This thread(once moved) is therefore relevant to my interests. Beyond World Books 8&25, Dimension Book 3 and Rifter 3 have Ninja-y stuff. I have yet to see Rifter 71-77, which is mainly of interest for Splicers crap.

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:34 pm
by Koumei
I don't actually have World Book 25. Rifter 3 has a bunch of martial arts, but not any OCCs as far as I recall. Rifter 29 on the other hand has the Cyber-Ninja (one of the better things with Ninja in the name) as well as the Yakuza. I was indeed going to mention what Dimension Book 3 has (also a good choice for something called a Ninja).

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:55 pm
by Wiseman
This'll be interesting. I'm currently running an oriental based campaign.

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 4:57 pm
by Whipstitch
I'm always more excited about Rifts books when they're about the Coalition because that way you end up looking at a bunch of shit that was apparently designed by Dr. Wily.

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 6:28 am
by Koumei
Part 2: Electric Ninja

So obviously most of Japan is ruled by corporate techno-giants that own people like it's Shadowrun. Because I mean, this was written in the 90s about Japan. Also, society is very right-wing (in the sense of being insular, racist, fascist and generally against human (and D-Bee) rights). Which isn't surprising - not because "Japan" but because "Rifts". That's the major society of every country.

In this instance, the corporate overlords are called H-Corp. Yes really. Stop snickering, you in the back of the class there. Stop it. I'm not sure if H meant Hentai back in 1999, at least, I'm not sure if Westerners were aware of that. But let's just get that out of the way: it sounds like a porn company rules the country, and that's another weird thing a lot of people believe about Japan.

Note: a google search reveals there are a few things called H-Corp, all in the West, and not one of them is related to porn. Also there's a picture of Triple H beneath the WWE corporate logo.

Anyway, H-Tech have a variety of awesome techno-ninja things, and these are all better than the mystic ninja. By far.

But first we have the Tech-Samurai/Cyber-Samurai/False Samurai.

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You can be any alignment, but need ME and MA of 10 or more. I know, crazy right? They don't get that many OCC skills, but the ones they do get are typically useful. Their HtH is Karate or Jujutsu, or they can spend 2 other skills for Zanji Shinjinken-Ryu. They can also spend 2 to swap "Archery and Targeting" for "Samurai Archery". Of these Other skills, they get 9 and remember that Physical skills aren't going to be much use because they have robot bodies.

So they have bionic limbs and internal organs, and 180 MDC. As cyborgs they need to get repaired at workshops or whatever, they can't just heal it up normally or through magic. They have PS 22 (Augmented I assume?), PP 18 and Spd 50. Up to five cyber implants of choice (except cyber-armour), and other accessories can be gained later on. Special skills/powers are not gained, but 10% have an ancient Rune Daisho and 15% have a more recent Rune Daisho. The others need to use Vibro-Weapons and such. I bet H-Corp produces Vibro-Tech.

They start with high tech armour that has 1d6x10+60 MDC "or one of the other types available in Japan". I bet you'll want one of the other types. Longbow with 20 regular arrows and 10 high-tech ones, one E-weapon + 1d4 spare E-Clips, 2 Vibro-Blades or Ancient Weapons (choose the former), and a normal daisho. Also they can have a horse, robo-horse, motorbike, hovercycle, jet pack or similar open vehicle.

Not terrible, but not the greatest choice.

Tech-Ninja

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PP 10 and MA 12 are all you need, and then you can basically be a pretty solid ninja: you get a pile of skills, including computer hacking, voice imitation, disguise, prowl, climb, and so on. 3 WPs of choice, and then HtH: Assassin. One Other skill can be spent to swap that to Karate, Aikido or Jujutsu. Or three for actual Ninjutsu. For the record, you have thirteen Other skills because you're a fucking ninja.

For equipment, they get basic camo-gear and outfits, some personalised MDC armour (most use IA-100 Infiltrator armour that has 60 MDC and hidden vibro-blades that deal 2d4 MD). Handheld PC, portable CD player, vid-disc player... okay they get a bunch of gadgets that are good for spying and electronics. They also get an E-Weapon of choice with 4 reloads, two smoke/riot grenades, a vibro-blade and an ancient weapon. Additionally, they have cyber-armour and 1d4 implants of choice. Also a tracer chip. Doesn't actually start with the sweet bike in the picture. But they start with a fair amount of cash and demand a high wage so it's expected they can but what they want.

For being a ninja who has Ninjutsu and also can do the stealthy stuff and not just the "Revenge of Shinobi" stuff, this is a good choice.

Ninja Juicer

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I like it in general, but I swear that ninja is doing the ^_^ face

For the record, there's a brand of juicer called a Ninja. As in the thing that turns fruit into fruit juice. So that's a thing. Anyway. You basically get the same changes as a regular juicer, except slightly less PS, the ability to suppress the super-reflexes penalties with meditation, and enhanced balance and stealth. "Penalties: the juicer cannot turn his grace and silent movement off; his quietness will tend to startle and scare people around him (can sneak behind most people automatically, which will make most civilians suspicious and afraid)."

That's less than ideal, but it's also fucking hilarious.

Very few OCC skills (mostly useful ones though, along with 4 WPs and HtH Assassin, Aikido, Jujutsu or Karate - no upgrade cost there). But 13 Other skills, which is pretty good. Personalised MDC armour (usually the IA-100), and in fact most of the same stuff that Tech-Ninjas get. 2 E-Weapons, 8 extra E-clips, 2 Vibro-Blades of choice (which may include the vibro-nail glove in the drawing, deals 3d4 MD. Thanks, I didn't know what "of choice" meant, you couldn't just include that weapon write-up in the equipment section could you?), 2 non-energy weapons and 3 ancient weapons. I assume non-energy weapons would be things like regular ballistic firearms, seeing as normal swords and kama and shuriken fall under ancient weapons. So your stealthy ninja probably has a shotgun and heavy machinegun.

Doesn't start with a vehicle, does start with a tracer chip and a bunch of cash. Money is basically provided on an as-needed basis, with living expenses taken care of by the Foot Clan. They spend most of their lives in hidden camps. Around level 3 they might gain some other cybernetic implants, if ordered to by the clan, but most prefer to rely on "their natural abilities". You know, the natural abilities gained from drugs.

UFCBorkLaser.jpg

Ninja Crazy
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I've said before how much I fucking hate the Crazy OCC and everything related to it. This one is basically the same (slightly better agility maybe? Bonus to Climb, Prowl and Athletics), slightly more psionic (6 from Sensitive/Physical). Can use meditation to suppress their insanity. Actually need ME 14+ in order to qualify because basically they only choose people who seem like they'll be good at resisting the madness and harnessing the psionic powers they get.

14 Other skills, and a bunch of relevant OCC skills. HtH Assassin, which can be swapped for Karate, Aikido or Jujutsu for free. They get Demolitions, and to be honest here, training mental people to use explosives doesn't sound so great.

Same basic ninja gear as the other H-Corp Ninjas. 1 E-Weapon, 4 spare clips, 1 vibro-blade, 1 ancient weapon, a chunk of cash and the same living conditions as the Ninjuicer. Has a tracer chip and isn't afraid to purchase additional implants later.

Ninja Borg

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Full Borg, with 280 MDC (nice if you have someone who can repair you), 24 PP, 30 PS, 176 Speed. -40% to Prowl, and only has 43% sense of touch. I love how it's 43 specifically. That three there is needed.

Has a Sound Suppression System that only works when wearing Light MDC armour (as written, it won't work when they take the armour off) and reducing their Speed to 10, negating the above penalty.

Also has one or two multi-optic eyes, amplified hearing, motion detector, bionic lung, climb cord, garotte wrist wire, concealed laser rod (1d6 MD), retractable vibro blades (2d6 MD), concealed particle beam in the torso (GEKIGEN BEEEEEEEEEAM! 6d6+6 MD out to 1000 feet). May also have a modulating voice-synth, chemical spray, additional arm, additional tail appendage, or bionic fire breath: requires an E-clip to be inserted in a body compartment (I bet H-Corp has you covered there!), and fires plasma out of the mouth. 500' range, 1d4x10 MD, makes the voice scary because the whole face and throat need to be armoured and robotic.

Also 1d4 implants of choice plus the Tracer chip.

Has a bunch of ninja skills, only HtH: Assassin (no other options), 12 Other choices, basic H-Corp ninja gear. 1 E-Weapon, 4 reloads, 1 vibro-blade, 1 ancient weapon, and the Juicer style living conditions.

Ninja Techno-Wizard

It's mostly a more limited regular one, where they kill you if you go and learn new spells without their permission. So you know, if you do what wizards are supposed to do. Anyway I just want to show you this very ninja-like picture they used:

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Again, is this racist?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:21 am
by OgreBattle
Erik Wujcik wrote a really accurate guide to East Asian racism in Mystic China so I give a free pass to Palladium on anything they write about sci-fantasy East Asia.

RIFTS Japan was cool as hell and a formative part of my Japanophile upbringing.

I wish they made Crazies the equals of Juicers instead of "we made them intentionally weak and SO RANDUM". Perhaps make Juicers, Crazies, and Borgs somewhat equal but each with their own unique resource management system/fluffy penalties.

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:00 pm
by Mask_De_H
Koumei wrote:
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Again, is this racist?
It's either racist or a really hard core Misfits fan.

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:29 pm
by DrPraetor
I assume that the Bishomon Monk's power that he "can gain items" is in reference specifically to millenium tree items, which the trees sometimes give their friends? (Likewise for the Sohei?)

If there are some other spellcasters in the party willing/able to share PPE with you, Mystic Herbology is fucking nuts: you can make an Alder Wand, which summons an Air Elemental. It costs 450 PPE to make the summoning wand and then 20 PPE per elemental you summon (you can only have one at a time). There's a random smattering of other high-level effects available through herbs, but they tend to cost too much to make the wand.

It's not just that the crazy is bad (although, boy is it) - crazy heroes are bad in RPGs. This is not to say that Don Quixote is bad in literature; lots of things are (at least sometimes) good in literature but bad in an RPG - like splitting up the party, for example.

In the best case, if your crazy hero is really cool and well done, you are deadpool and the other players are spider-man: you hog the narrative to deal with your internal stimuli, but at least it's funny. In any other case, you're a CN barbarian or a fishmalk or something and even more destructive to the whole cooperative narrative structure. There's a reason that every Marvel character is eventually part of a superhero team except deadpool.

Anyway, Juicers and Borgs aren't remotely balanced, depending on which sourcebooks you feel like using - but nothing in Rifts is remotely balanced, so why is that an issue?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:17 am
by Koumei
Oh right, I should also mention that H-Corp can also create Mega Juicers (which is the correct option if you want to be an MDC creature, and is also a good option if you want to do hand-to-hand mega-damage), and the Hyperion Juicer (which is the correct option if you want to shoot fools). In either case, you use the basic stats of that thing from Juicer Uprising, but you use the skills and equipment of the Ninja Juicer.

And seeing as some guys get HtH Karate I should summarise that: you get a bunch of strikes at slightly better damage than normal, and some boosts to SDC, PE, PS and Spd. Attack rate is about normal for these advanced martial arts, and you end up with Death Blow on a natural 20 (level 7) followed by, at level 13, the "Death Blow!" thing, which I will continue to assume means every successful attack ever is an automatic deathblow, so as to make it useful. Jump kicks are gained at level 10, meaning they're taught after you learn to cause heart attacks with your punches. Also crits like a scimitar at level 7. So it's slightly better than HtH: Martial Arts but nothing special.

Next post will finish Rifts: Japan's stuff, just showing the fucking awesome dragon cyborg bodies. Note: that's for human borgs to look like dragons - dragons can't become borgs because their bioregeneration will heal their bodies up, shoving the mechanic parts out.

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:39 pm
by OgreBattle
I think RIFTS Japan cyborgs only get augmented strength, after Ultimate Edition combat cyborgs get Robot strength.

Did they ever address how hand to hand strike damage like "2dx kick" works for cyborgs and supernaturals with MDC body slams?

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:27 pm
by Koumei
Pretty sure that if your normal hand to hand attacks (so not including MD Power Punch options for Augmented PS or specific MD bites or whatever) deal SDC, then you use it as written (so a kick for 3d6 would do 3d6 + PS bonus).

If your normal attacks deal Mega-Damage, there are two paths it can take: the first is your MD strike thing is just used regardless of what type of move it is (as implied by the dot points hastily jotted down for the specific creature/Supernatural PS section).

The second, specifically for mega-damage martial artists, involves a table from Rifter 3.

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So let's say you have Chagi Kick Practice which lets your kicks do 6d6 MD (even for normal PS).

Now let's say you have a Supernatural PS of over 50 because it's Rifts and you can just do that.

So now you're rolling 12d4x10 or ~300 MD per superkick. Sure it's point-blank range and can be parried and single target, but still, that means each foot does somewhere between a medium nuclear warhead (1d4*100) and a heavy nuclear warhead (1d6*100), single-target, multiple times.

This isn't a theoretical build, I'm doing it in a game as we speak.

So those are basically the options available: literally don't use the martial art rules and be kind of bland and underpowered, or have your body banned as a weapon of mass destruction.

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 2:08 am
by Judging__Eagle
Koumei wrote: Ninja Juicer
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I like it in general, but I swear that ninja is doing the ^_^ face
That's one 20mm firearm away from looking the spitting image of a 40k Eversor Assassin. At least, the: vaguely skeletal cybereye, the skintight black outfit w/ cybernetics, the clawed fingers & sword weapon combo; give me that impression. The fact that they're also a drugged up combat junkie is either: uncanny coincidence; or someone at Palladium secretly sneaked it in.

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 7:56 am
by Koumei
Thanks, I didn't really notice that until you said it and now I can't unsee. That's kind of cool, really. Honestly any of the Imperial Assassins are things you could see a player wanting to be.

So let's talk about giant robots.
I LOVE GIANT ROBOTS, YOU LOVE GIANT ROBOTS, WE LOVE GIANT ROBOTS, CHICKS DIG GIANT ROBOTS~

Dragon Cyborg Bodies!

Essentially, Japan is so comfortable with cyborgs that you don't need to go out of your way to make them small and humanoid, so this was the natural conclusion. I can't argue the logic. For any of these you use the Borg Soldier OCC but just have a very specific robo-body.

Wing Blade
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Designed for spying, as you would expect of a cyber-dragon that stands at 7' tall when hunched over. Because you see, it has a long, flexible neck that allows it to peek around corners and look over walls without showing its full body.

:I

Main Body has 270 MDC (with 36 hours of life support after destruction), Neck has 120, Head has 90 (small and difficult target, but instant death if destroyed), but it has another 887 MDC in assorted extras and limbs. In case you were wondering about annoying "Did you shoot off a knee-mounted camera?" mechanics. PS 24, PP 22, Spd 176 (120mph running), and has a jet pack for flight - the wings help with manoeuvrability but don't enable flight on their own. Can fly about then switch the jet pack off and continue gliding silently.

Has a bunch of the usual features you might expect a borg to have, and a 20 year nuclear power system, coming in at a bargain for 6 million credits.

Has a blunt SDC tail slam, a basic tail vibro blade (1d6 MD) that can be used to help climbing, and six tail blades (4x 2d6 and 2x 3d6 MD) that can be launched and guided and then return. Particle Beam Cannon in the mouth deals 1d4x10 MD, grappling hook-shot in the nose does 1d4 MD or is used for climbing, cheek blades deal 1d6 MD, and has four arms that can be used to wield weapons normally. +2 attacks per round (this is supposed to include at least some number of tail/face attacks but nobody says you can't use it to just add 2 shots to your plasma gatling gun payload or whatever). Basic combat attacks are all SDC except for the "uses 2 attacks" options when are MD, but whatever: you have a beam weapon and vibro blades.

Tsunami Borg
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8' tall stooping, 10' tall standing proud. 320 MDC for the main body, 100 for the head/neck, and 784 more in assorted bits and pieces. PS 26, PP 23, Spd 176, jet pack flight, 20 year nuclear battery, 8 million credits.

Tail has an SDC slam, MDC vibro-blade, and MDC particle beam. One arm has the hand replaced with a mini-gun (1d4x10 MD) plus a 4d6 MD vibro-axe. Also has a pair of mini-missiles, and EYE BEAMS (4d6 MD if both eyes are active, 2d6 if only one can fire).

Imperial Borg
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Stands on all fours, only 5' tall at the shoulder doing this. 9' tall rearing up. 350 MDC main body, 100 head, you know the deal. Can't fly. PS 30, 20 year battery, 10 million credits.

Triple Barrel Particle Beam deals 1d6x10+10 MD, 2 mini-missile launchers with a capacity for 3 shots each. Has two laser turrets, each deals 4d6 MD or you can use two attacks to fire them together for 1d6x10 MD. Also has three head lasers and a smoke/gas dispenser. For some reason it's in the underbelly and not the mouth/nose. Also has vibro blades.

Flame Cloud
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Same size as the Imperial, slightly less MDC, can fly. Costs 12 million credits. This one has a fire breath plasma system, 1d6x10 MD and starts fires. Has side-mounted lasers that do 4d6 MD each, and a tail double particle beam cannon that deals 1d4x10+10 MD. And the usual vibro blades as well.

Robots/Power Armour

Japan also has a lot of robots and power armour. I mean in Rifts. We all accept that this is true in the real world. Most of these look 1/3 old mecha anime (like mass-produced enemy units in Gundam at best, Getta Robo at worst), 1/3 samurai armour, and 1/3 stupid. Some of the smaller suits remind me of the Knight Sabers, if anyone has watched Bubblegum Crisis. And then we have something that will appeal to the Gaming Den and fans of Sony press conferences.

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Strike the weak point for massive damage!

There's also a 50' tall giant robot dragon that takes a crew of 4 people (+1 passenger) and has 1000 MDC for the main body. Its main forms of damage tend to weigh in at 1d4x10 MD, but you can load it up with 24 mini-missiles for 1d6x10 MD each and 12 medium or long range missiles - typically 4d6x10 or 5d6x10 but if you take it overseas, nothing is stopping you from putting nuclear missiles in it.

Next episode we'll go all the way to Phase World!

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 7:50 pm
by Judging__Eagle
I'll admit that they Ninja Juicer is looks like they're making a ^_^ face.

Interesting that there's some variety in terms of Dragon 'Borgs, but that they're either humanoid, or Chinese styled Lung dragons; feels like a missed mark.

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2017 5:27 am
by Koumei
I'm disappointed that there is no mecha-Gyarados. Even if they write in that it takes 4x damage from electricity.

Anyway, here we go:

Phase World Sourcebook

This introduces a D-Bee (alien) race called the Oni, not to be confused with the actual demons from Rifts Japan called Oni (except Earthlings in-setting will confuse them).

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They all have black hair and red skin, and name themselves after the Japanese monsters. They are all muscular in a Bork Laser kind of way, and while they are bigger and stronger than humans, they are not supernatural. They are part of the Bushi Federation, and pattern their culture after medieval Japanese society - their oldest stories reference Amaterasu and there is some speculation that they actually did originate on Earth Japan.

They are basically space Japanese in culture, complete with the honour fixation, seppuku, and racism.

Physical stats are pretty good for a non-supernatural, with 4d6+10 PS, 3d6+10 PP, and 4d6+10 PE. Even base SDC is 3d6x10 and HP are PE x3 plus 2d6 per level. If only there were a way to make them supernatural beings (keep reading). That said, they can use a Power Punch/Kick to inflict 1 Mega-Damage in a pinch. Also they are used to cold places so they lose their racial bonuses and 1 attack per round at temperatures above 80F.

There is nothing stopping them from taking most OCCs, however they do have two special ones just for them.

Oni Cyberai
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Cyber Samurai. In case you couldn't tell by the picture or the name. The only original parts remaining are the brain and some parts of the spine. They get a Robotic PS of 50 (basic punches and kicks do 3d6 and 4d6 MD respectively), PP 22, 420 MDC for the main body and 100 for the head (with 520 from the other segments combined). They also get special body armour that gives 480 MDC, so if you just keep shooting the main body, that's 900 total. They also have nano-machine regeneration, meaning with enough time you can heal back up to full.

One hand can turn into a mono-katana made from nano-machines. It deals 5d6 MD if used one handed, 1d4x10 if used two-handed (still one attack) or 1d6x10 if used in a two-handed two-attack power slash. Also they get an extra attack per round, which is always nice.

Decent sensory systems, only a few other bionic features though. Not many OCC skills (starts with Martial Arts or Assassin as standard) but has 13 "Other" choices.

For equipment, a corporate cyberai gets 3 energy weapons of choice, a personal vehicle (anything smaller than a spaceship, so if you can find a robot with a big enough crew compartment, go for it), and a luxurious apartment as well as a bunch of cash. Military ones receive standard issue gear, ronin don't get much. All of them get their special armour and a jet pack attachment and can have 1d4 extra cyber systems of choice. Pro-tip: go corporate, sell out.

Oni Ninja

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Using their innate psionic powers and martial arts training, around 5% of the Oni can harness awesomeness. So they get Supernatural PS, with damage based on whatever their PS happens to be and optionally using the Rifter 3 table with their martial arts. They also get +6 to PS, PE and Spd, and +3 to PP, and they become MDC creatures (PE x5). +1d6 per level, and SDC gained from skills is added as MDC. So we're talking an average of 150 MDC already before adding skills and martial arts powers.

They are all Master Psionics with a good chunk of ISP and a small number of Sensitive Powers. Also they can heal themselves 1/hour by meditating for a minute and spending some ISP. It's 1d6x10 MDC healed, too, so not bad.

Not many OCC skills, but HtH: Assassin and the others are generally good. And 12 Other skills. The only equipment they're explicitly given is a ninja jumpsuit with 65 MDC.

Anyway, they also get special Ninja Techniques - 3 to start with, +1 per level thereafter (except level 2, fuck level 2). The powers available are:
-Automatic Dodge (5 ISP permanently lost to learn this)
-Art of Defence (5 ISP spent per round, +4 Parry/Dodge/Roll With Impact, -1 Initiative, -2 Strike, Skills -10%)
-Art of Offence (5 ISP per round, +3 Initiative, +2 Strike/Pull Punch, +1 Attack, +1d6 damage, -2 Parry/Dodge/Roll)
-Art of Stealth (5 ISP per minute, even masks heat signature, +25% Prowl, thermal sensors are at -50%)
-Face of a Friend (20 ISP per minute, if people don't have a Mind Block up and fail a Save vs Psionics they believe you are someone they trust - not in the Charm Person sense, in the "Oh, you're my friend Dave" sense)

-Body Hardening (needs Art of Defence first, 15 ISP permanently lost to learn it, +2d4x10 to MDC, impervious to normal fire/cold, half damage from MD fire/cold, bonus to mega-damage inflicted from punches and kicks)
-Dragon Fist (requires Art of Offence, 5 ISP spent per strike, uses 2 attacks "and can be combined with a power punch", deals a bonus 1d4x10 MD to supernatural things but not to just robots and crap)
-Inner Strength (requires Art of Defence, costs 5 ISP per round, you don't fatigue, +6 PS and Speed, bunch of saving throw bonuses as well)
-Fast Hands (needs Auto Dodge and Art of Defence first, 10 ISP per round to get a simultaneous Parry of as many attacks per round as you like)
-Spirit Fist (needs Art of Offence first, 10 ISP per strike to punch people from a range of 5' per level)
-Unnoticed Walker (requires Art of Stealth and the Prowl skill, which you automatically have from the OCC, costs 10 ISP per minute, provides basic out-of-combat invisibility against living creatures, and most sensory powers do not pick up a clear image, and he is +1 to Save against them, even gaining a save against powers without saves)

-Dragon Leap Attack (needs Dragon Kick first, 10 ISP per kick, 3d6x10 MD to supernaturals, uses all attacks for the round, booooooo)
-Aura of Defence (needs Inner Strength first, 10 ISP permanently lost to learn it, 10 ISP spent per minute, grants 50 MDC +10/level)
-Death Strike (needs Dragon Leap Kick and Aura of Defence first, spend all ISP (minimum 30) on it and basically exhaust yourself for the rest of the day. Attack deals 2d4x100 damage, and causes paralysis to survivors.)
-Vanishing Act (needs Face of a Friend and Unnoticed Walker, spend 15 ISP for a flash of light and smoke. Those who save against Psionics see the ninja but are -1 Initiative, against others the ninja is invisible for 1 minute, but can just spend another 15 ISP to increase the duration by a minute each time - moving will end the effect, so you basically use this then activate Unnoticed Walker).

So some of these are clearly better than others, but also it suggests looking at all of their other Weeaboo Fightan books to get ideas for other supernatural martial arts powers they could learn. So presumably you could make a case for just about any of them.

Oni Ninja is a pretty good choice if you want to call yourself a ninja, to be honest.

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:55 am
by Koumei
So to finish things off, we have Rifter 29

It has a fairly detailed section on Yakuza and a few different gangs and Yakuza families. They also give us the Yakuza Clansman OCC, which notably gains one of the following:
1. Either a very average Dragon Strength Tattoo (very average) or straight-up become a Tattooed Man (reduced number of OCC-Related skills in this case). It is assumed that they gained this knowledge from the Splugorth (or ship them out to get the inking done directly by Splugorth), presumably in exchange for Japanese schoolgirls to work those mega-damage tentacles.

2. HtH Jujutsu or Assassin, plus Chi-Gung (bunch of SDC which can be temporarily turned into MDC), Iron Hand (MD punches), and Chagi Kick Practice (MD kicks). Plus some combat bonuses, including an extra attack.

3. Psionic Training - specifically, if you create a character with this option, then they identified your psychic potential and brought your potential out. You can't teach psychic powers into someone. Anyway, you get 3 from each minor category, TK Body Field, and each level you get another minor choice, with a Super Power also gained at a few levels. Gain a bunch of ISP (less than Mind Melters and such, but not terrible), and reduced number of OCC-Related skills.

4. Mystical Enlightenment: gain PPE equal to 6d6+6+PE, +1d6 per level, and gain the ability to use TW devices. Then gain concealed body armour with 2 TW effects. It's like removable magical cyber-armour, with 50 MDC and AR 16, so kind of shit.

5. Actual Magical Training: less PPE than dedicated casters but more than Mystical Enlightenment above, and only a few spells are automatically learned but they can learn from others the normal ways. Fewer OCC-Related skills, and HtH options are limited to Expert, Judo and Karate.

6. Magic Equipment: Splugorth Talisman of Armour, and a Ring of Superhuman Strength, and an additional charm or medallion of GM choice. Optionally also regenerating magical chain mail.

7. High-Tech Equipment: Naruni Fore Field, and potentially phase weapons, MDC clothing, access to the best weapons and armour, even light power armour and exoskeletons.

8. Cybernetics - partial conversion or full conversion borg.

So that's a lot of options, though some are better than others. It's sort of a reminder that Rifts could really save time and space if it had people selecting a "skills, background and training package" and a "source of power". That way "Yakuza" would just be the skills bit and you'd glue that to "Borg" or "Caster" or whatever.

Anyway, can't be Good or Unprincipled. Gain a bunch of skills, even Prowl and HtH: anything except Zanji or Teng-Jutsu. Ninjutsu costs 3 Related skills though. 16 Other skills total, which is pretty swish, and access to almost all the skills. Free housing and dining at 2d4 different places around the city. Access to clan vehicles (civilian vehicles), top of the line business attire, 5K a month. Bunch of weapons and E-clips, and armour is issued when necessary for a given mission. Also they can just take 1d4 implants if they want (obviously magic users won't do this).

And then the Cyber Ninja

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Full Conversion Borg - PS 25 (can't be raised higher), PP 20 (ditto), PB 1d6+16, Speed 73 (can be tuned up to 132 if you really want). 200 MDC for the main body, 80 MDC for the head, and 310 in limbs. Can also wear body armour normally because they look human outwardly (see picture above).

Synthetic flesh shell that looks properly human and attractive (can be made to look different, even D-Bees and Oni), and will bleed or bruise if damage, though even 1 MD reveals machinery underneath. They also tend to be heavier than their size would suggest, due to the whole "made of metal" thing going on.

Sound Suppression system like the Ninja Borg, except the lighter frame lets them move up to Speed 20, and with +10% to Prowl. Also a bunch of the usual handy features, and 14 choices. They also get a bunch of concealed weapons - retractable finger blades or wrist needle & drug dispenser, retractable knuckle blades or forearm blades, laser eye. Normal punches and kicks do SD. They get a good bunch of OCC skills, with HtH Assassin or Jujutsu, and 10 Secondary skills and access to almost all of them to choose from. They start with a bunch of weapons and E-Clips, and a suit of environmental body armour (usually NF-100 Infiltrator). Naturally they also get the tracer chip.

As things called "Ninja" go, this works pretty well.