this is the start to the rifts campaign discussion thread...
put your ideas, rants, raves, b1thces, gripes, complaints, kudos and what not in here, please.
Currently, my question is about what character would be a better fit for this particular group of characters (once they are stated, that is) the Coalition Juicer, or the Mystic?
im not saying anything about who you should choose. i think that when you RP, it should be RPing with what you got & like to play, not what you think youll encounter or "what the party needs".
so go with what you want to play...
crap... just read the other post site. david fryer brought up a good point. you kinda need to decide wether to be other or coalition at the start.
so be the juicer. itll work better with the story arc...
Alright, character stats done, just gotta finish the history. Any info on if we are starting in Chi-Town or somewhere else?
I'll get my profile up soon.
Work in progress. My main question - since ol' Alfie's working for the Coalition, should I equip him more as a Coalition grunt specialist or as a freelancer with non-standard issue weapons/armor?
If there is an opening; I would like to play an Undead Slayer.
sorry for the lack of response. been having to deal with some family issues that have kept me from getting back on here to write all you back...
ok.
first off....NO UNDEAD SLAYER!!! never heard of it until now, so NO! thank you.
second, as i said before, just occ/rcc straight from the original rifts book, havent had a chance to buy the new ultimate rifts book (although i plan to buy it on the first of july with the pay check)
so, that said
3d6 for stats.
level 1 for all characters.
when you have made your character, please make up an alias and name it your characters name, posting the stats under the alias profile page. be sure to include a character background, and have 3 goals your character wishes to accomplish. once its ready for final review, please make a post with the character on this page
well use the website invisible castle for all neccessary rolls once the game starts.
**** please note, i will be away from my comp from friday till sunday evening***
thanks for your patience and i cannot wait to get this going
Okay, second pass at putting a character together that I like. This time, Coretta is a Psi-Stalker from the Lone Star Coalition State.
I still have to add the various bonuses to her stats (skills & RCC bonuses).
However, attribute rolls, skill choices, a simple background, and 3 goals are on the profile now.
Coalition Actual told me to meet you guys here...something about needing the best, but they didn't fill me in on the details.
Alfie's all done, with the exception of guns and armor - should I equip him with Coalition gear or can I use stuff from other manufacturers?
OK Malcolm is done, hopefully I'm in.
I took a Mountaineer ATV as my transport, I hope that's cool. (I took it because it can take 5 people in the crew compartment and has a large cargo space...and "Journey to the Sea" sounds like a travel campaign...can it have a solar recharge system? since it can normally only travel 600 miles, and this journey sounds like a few thousand mile journey...(maybe it only recharges 50 miles /day)
Malcolm has a tendency to name everything...He even named his bionic arm "Rosie" ;)
Malcolm is a bit like Jayne from Firefly, including the hat...only he's not so dense...So in actuality he's like a combination of Mal and Jayne...
Alfie's all done, with the exception of guns and armor - should I equip him with Coalition gear or can I use stuff from other manufacturers?
I would say equip him with nonstandard equipment. He may draw pay from the coalition, but confirming that they utilize and support methods that they have outlawed (M.O.M.) and rejected does not look good for their overall image.
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Alfie's all done, with the exception of guns and armor - should I equip him with Coalition gear or can I use stuff from other manufacturers?I would say equip him with nonstandard equipment. He may draw pay from the coalition, but confirming that they utilize and support methods that they have outlawed (M.O.M.) and rejected does not look good for their overall image.
That's why he has a wig ;)
That's why he has a wig ;)Alfie's all done, with the exception of guns and armor - should I equip him with Coalition gear or can I use stuff from other manufacturers?I would say equip him with nonstandard equipment. He may draw pay from the coalition, but confirming that they utilize and support methods that they have outlawed (M.O.M.) and rejected does not look good for their overall image.
Well, he already gets the option of using coalition armor, so who knows...
And it does say they "rarely" hire crazy mercs, this must be one of those rare cases...
(though gladiator is better armor if you want to prowl.)
That's why he has a wig ;)Alfie's all done, with the exception of guns and armor - should I equip him with Coalition gear or can I use stuff from other manufacturers?I would say equip him with nonstandard equipment. He may draw pay from the coalition, but confirming that they utilize and support methods that they have outlawed (M.O.M.) and rejected does not look good for their overall image.
Which he doffs like a hat when he bows low meeting someone LoL...
I would certainly be happy to coordinate backgrounds, tactical strategies/expectations, and so on with Coretta's Dog Pack members.
Feel free to look through my notes on Coretta in her profile.
I think my overall vision of her is "Western/cowgirl outrider" and "she-wolf". She isn't anti-civilization (she is a Coalition soldier), but she accepts and knows she is/will always be part of the uncivilized.
Coalition Dog Boy by Valegrim
Way to go there Sparky...
just need to finish up some details; dont have the book handy atm. hehe semi hope we are not doing Juicer Uprising; those juicer are mad wild tough. I had forgotten how all the skill really increase your stats in this game; but the big difference is mega str makes mine look tiny. Looks pretty cool to actually have a pack forming.
did my sdc as a major pion; but book says we are treated as Coalition dog boy grunts; so are we man at arms or psion for sdc, anyone know?
am curious why Samson has HtH Expert, my book says we get Martial Arts; wondering if I read something wrong; been a while.
hmm; am confused about another point; Dog Boy pg 110 says under Physical; no boxing or acrobatics or I would have taken it; so how can a dog boy have these skills?
I actually have to recreate my character. I only had the Rifts Ultimate Edition at my house. Been trying to get a copy of the original from a friend so I can make the changes to my character.
hehe I am borrowing one too; didnt see fencing in it; might be good for my claws; maybe is in another section than physical or in another book than the base one. Getting no rouge skills really negates my mutation roll for ambidexterity as it applies to most of those skills.
Sorry, still working on Ballard. I haven'ty had as much free time as I had hoped for.
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As everyone is finishing up their characters, I thought I'd go ahead and share a simplified combat system I've used in the past when running a tabletop Rifts game. With most characters having 4-7 attacks/round to start, combat can be pretty unmanageable. In a play-by-post - where d20 games with one move and one attack per character can bog down - I'm a little horrified even thinking about it.
The system below also tries to bring combat a little more in line with the more familiar d20 combat rules, as well as negating the need to keep track of some of the rather arcane combat rules sprinkled around in the Rifts book in no apparent order.
Anyway, here it is - let me know what you think.
Simplified combat system:
Goals:
1. Reduce number of rolls.
2. Move toward more familiar d20-style combat.
3. Reduce number of rolls.
4. See Goals 1 and 3.
General:
1. Divide number of attacks/actions by 2
2. If that leaves you with a fraction, you gain a floating +1 to apply to any one action or defense vs. one attack each round.
3. A roll of 1 always misses. A natural 20 is a critical hit and does double damage.
Movement:
Movement costs 1 action.(I usually go with a single move getting you Spd in yards - a Spd 10 has a d20-like Move of about 30 feet)
Melee:
Melee attacks normally cost one action.
Attacks are made with normal bonuses vs. a target number equal to 10+target’s Parry bonus (Parry Defense) or 10+target’s Dodge bonus (Dodge Defense), whichever is better.
Flanking: If target is attacked by more than one attacker, each attacker gains a +2 bonus to hit.
Flat-Footed: A target unaware of an attack (due to a successful Prowl, surprise, or an exceptionally long-ranged attack) gains no parry or dodge bonus to defense, meaning the attack is a straight DC 10.
Automatic Dodge: Targets with the automatic dodge ability are never flat-footed and add their class- or HtH skill-based automatic dodge bonus (not including the P.P. bonus a second time) to Dodge Defense.
W.P. Paired: Allows an attacker to make two attacks (one with each hand) per action, but they cannot parry and must rely on their Dodge Defense against all attacks. Alternatively, they may take only one attack with each action and gain a +2 bonus to Parry Defense that round.
Called Shots: A called shot to target a specific body part costs 2 actions and suffers a -4 (or more) penalty to hit. If an attack would have hit without the penalty, it instead hits the Main Body.
Roll with Impact: A target hit in melee may spend an action to roll with the impact. They roll a d20+any relevant bonuses from class or skills – if the result exceeds the attack roll, they take half damage. Rather than spend an action, the target may attempt to roll with impact by accepting a -5 penalty to all actions the following round. This penalty is cumulative if the target attempts more than one roll without spending and action.
Active Defense: A character may spend an action to gain a +2 bonus to either Parry or Dodge Defense for the rest of the round. Multiple actions spent on defense are cumulative for that round.
Ranged:
Ranged attacks normally cost one action.
Attacks are made vs. a target number equal to 10+target’s Dodge bonus (Dodge Defense).
Point-Blank Range: Any ranged attack made within 60’ gains a +4 bonus to hit.
Aimed Shot: A single, aimed shot gains a +3 bonus to hit (sometimes more with certain weapons). An aimed burst, possible with pulse weapons or those designed to fire a specific number of rounds as a controlled burst (ie., most rail guns) gains a +1 to hit.
If an attacker has not yet moved in a round, an Aimed Shot costs a single action. If they have already moved that round, an Aimed Shot costs two actions.
Short Burst: An attacker can fire a short burst (5 rounds/charges) as a single action with a -2 penalty to hit, causing double damage.
Long Burst: A long burst requires two actions (10 rounds/charges). The penalty to hit is the same (-2) but it inflicts inflicts triple damage.
Flanking: If a target is fired at by more than one attacker at point-blank range, each attacker gains a +2 bonus to hit.
Flat-Footed: A target unaware of an attack (due to a successful Prowl, surprise, or an exceptionally long-ranged attack) gains dodge bonus to defense, meaning the attack is a straight DC 10.
Automatic Dodge: Targets with the automatic dodge ability are never flat-footed and add their class- or HtH skill-based automatic dodge bonus (don’t double the P.P. bonus) to Dodge Defense.
W.P. Paired: Allows an attacker to make two attacks (one with each hand) per action, but each attack suffers a -4 penalty to hit.
Called Shots: A called shot to target a specific body part costs 2 actions and suffers a -4 (or more) penalty to hit. If an attack would have hit without the penalty, it instead hits the Main Body.
Roll with Impact: A target by a ranged attack may spend an action to roll with the impact. They roll a d20+any relevant bonuses from class or skills – if the result exceeds the attack roll, they take half damage. Rather than spend an action, the target may attempt to roll with impact by accepting a -5 penalty to all actions the following round. This penalty is cumulative if the target attempts more than one roll without spending and action.
Active Defense: A character may spend an action to gain a +2 bonus to either Parry or Dodge Defense for the rest of the round. Multiple actions spent on defense are cumulative for that round.
Reloading: Typically requires 1 action, more for things like rail-guns or missile launchers.
Hopefully that's all reasonably clear. What this does, essentially, is cut the number of attacks/character roughly in half, while reducing the number of rolls for each attack (which as written could be up to 4 - attack, parry, dodge, roll) to 1 or 2 (attack, maybe roll). At the same time, I've tried to set the target numbers and bonuses so the relative odds of hitting are close to what's laid out in the original system. It's up to Dewn if he wants to use it.
so far we have:
Malcolm del Grande - Headhunter (Xaaon)
Alfie Macklin - Crazy (tribeof1)
Coretta Young - Coalition Stalker (bref_weapon)
Ballard Roebuck - SAMAS Pilot (David Fryer)
Ianthe Jack - Dogboy RCC (Memori)
Sampson - Dogboy RCC (Mordulin)my question is, is everyone still watching?
ok, got the first thread going in the official story line.
ballard, i know your still a work in progress, so i have you penciled in.just read the post and reply and itll show me whos still ready to rock and whos not. please dont feel rushed to have to do this, i can work in new characters.
CooL!! reduce my 3 attacks by half...
how do you get 4-7 attacks at level 1?
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CooL!! reduce my 3 attacks by half...
how do you get 4-7 attacks at level 1?
I'm going off the Ultimate book, but I'm 99% certain this was the same in the original book (although the rules might not all have been in one place), but most of the hand-to-hand skills (Basic, Expert, Martial Arts and Commando) grant 4 attacks/melee to start. Hand to Hand: Assassin starts with 3, and someone without any HtH skill only has 1 or 2 attacks, but can take additional actions.
Boxing adds one, so Malcolm would have 5 attacks to start (2, with a floating +1 under my system), not 3. Several OCCs like Juicers, Crazies, robot pilots and some Dog Boy variants, get extra attacks on top of that - Alfie, frex, has 6 attacks (4 from HtH, +1 Boxing, +1 Crazy).
I think it may have been worded differently in the original Rifts book. Instead of plainly saying you got 4 attacks to start, it may have noted that all characters started with 2 attacks, then in another section noted that most HtH skills added another 2.
Character is about 95% of the way there. I'll probably post to the game/story thread tomorrow.
I think it may have been worded differently in the original Rifts book. Instead of plainly saying you got 4 attacks to start, it may have noted that all characters started with 2 attacks, then in another section noted that most HtH skills added another 2.CooL!! reduce my 3 attacks by half...
how do you get 4-7 attacks at level 1?
It's one of those unclear wording issues, with the "All characters start with 2 attacks" hidden under Psychic Attacks on page 37 of the original RIFTS rulebook.
well; I only have three melee attacks; two normal; one for breed; takes a level or two before I get another; Having more than three means your something special and it is fairly rare like having autododge, it can be done but then your a combat monster and cant do much else. Those with HTH assassin get extra attacks at level 2; but the rest of us wait until level 4. There are some spells and psions that give another attack but doubt any of us has those. hehe I thought most people would have one or two attacks; guess I need to do a rework. Been a long time since I read the rules, but I was thinking most people with 3 or 4 attacks would probably be blowing them on doing a dodge or parry. I guess i need to reread melee and ranged combat.
I didnt think pg 37 was confusing; every hth from basic to martial arts says two attacks per melee; assassin starts with one but makes it up during leveling.
Unless I read the rules wrong, which is possible; I cannot take boxing for the extra attack, or I would have. Pg 110, "available skill categories...Physical (any except acrobatics and boxing)." Did I read this wrong? I get mixed up between primary skills and secondary skill; thought those were just about bonus to rolls.
I cant think of any coalition guys that get 4-6 attacks at first level but I am no guru. Maybe borg do or someone with extra arms. That Ultimate rifts book must be really suped up.
Hehe, I like that you stated your goals; very cool. am good cutting attack in two or not.
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well; I only have three melee attacks; two normal; one for breed; takes a level or two before I get another;
No, you should have 5 attacks to start:
2 base (which everyone gets, see the next-to-last paragraph on p. 37, above "Saving Throws against Psychic Attacks"+2 from HtH: Martial Arts at 1st level
+1 from breed
This isn't completely clear in the original book, and there are some contradictory examples, but clarifications and combat examples in Conversion Book 1 and stat blocks in later books show this more clearly. Rifts Ultimate doesn't supe anything up, it just states it more plainly (it actually tones down HtH: Assassin somewhat).
wow I didnt know they added like that. thanks for the clarification, now I can see why you want to cut them down.
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wow I didnt know they added like that. thanks for the clarification, now I can see why you want to cut them down.
In regular Rifts combat a lot of those attacks get spent "buying" dodge rolls and roll with impact attempts, or spending two actions to make an Aimed Shot. What I basically did was cut actions in half but make dodges and Aimed shot automatic (while eliminating separate rolls for dodge and parry). The end result is pretty much the same, just less rolling.
Got the book from my friend so I will make the adjustments tonight and should be ready to go by tomorrow at the latest.
Got the book from my friend so I will make the adjustments tonight and should be ready to go by tomorrow at the latest.
Given that Dewn will have acquired the book by the time this game gets seriously underway, should we be using the Ultimate ed.? *kinda confused*
Well if we do, then I would roll with a differnet OCC possibly...but I'm sure I can get killed fast enough, I'm only 1 missile away from a grease stain...LoL
Here's a weird one for you, MDC weapons destroy SDC objects right? so if I do 6 MDC with my vibroclaws, does it reallllly make sense to completely destroy an SDC buidling??? LoL
I dont have the ultimates book; but have access to like 50 of the old books. Am not in favor of Ultimates as i cannot afford a new book just now.
Hello all, I was wondering if there was room for 1 more? Been a while since I played Rifts but I always liked the multi-genre games.
What were the differences between the change in editions? I noticed that some saves were changed, as well as some skills, but nothing that could not be managed on the fly provided that it is not so blatantly overpowering, right? Considering we are all working out of the core book --to which our DM has/will have both?-- any disparities could be reconciled by saying "A difference in training procedure/material construction", could it not?
I read about this on the RIFTS webpage for the company, it looks like a complete rewrite. The company went into bankrupsty and had a lot of internal problems with people absconding with finances and like that; looks like a rewrite and consolidation of all rules and so called "fixes" of classes and powers.
Other than that; I have no idea.
I think it would be cool to have another player; especially since we are going out on a limb far from home in the game. Some more backups would be cool
ACK! GM NEEDED! Any GM out there?