Good foes for 1st-level characters?

[Procopius]

So I'm gearing up to run my first Rifts game since...oh, let's call it high school, back in 1997 or 98. That doesn't seem so long ago until you count the years -- and the subsequently released World Books, I guess.

Anyhow, my players are starting as 1st-level characters: the inevitable dragon hatchling, a RMB-flavor Rogue Scholar, and a Preacher from WB: New West. Possibly also an After the Bomb mutant Blue Jay (family Corvidae, so using the Crow template) with the Vagabond OCC, but the less said about that the better.

I want to keep a bit of the original wasteland/wilderness feel of the Rifts Main Book that I remember from my winsome and feckless youth, so I was thinking of a Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai-esque adventure where the PCs come across a small town that chose its protectors poorly and is now held in brutal serfdom by a few MD-capable villains. I want to do this to emphasize to my players the awesome power conferred upon them by their MD sidearms and armor compared to the normal people struggling to survive in the harsh world of North America in the PA era.

Now, my struggle is this: I know that Palladium generally prefers one powerful foe for the heroes to fight as a team, but I was hoping to have them fight equal or larger numbers of baddies with at least a 50/50 chance of success before factoring in player ingenuity (or lack thereof).

Can anyone recommend some good foes for my guys?

[kaid]

xiticix are always a good foe. They come in large numbers but most flavors are not that strong by themselves but they do have some specialty ones that are tougher or have different abilities.

With the minion war starting demon/devil scouting parties are also pretty good because while they have larger spell access a lot of demons/devils are not that physically powerful and pretty reasonable to fight in sizable numbers. Plus if the players get to fat and sassy you can show them that devils and demons have some power house variants.

[Procopius]

Thanks! My hope was more towards bad guys that simple townsfolk would have been credulous enough to hire on as protectors. I can't really see that with Xiticix or demons and dyvals.

[dragonfett]

1,000 Ancient Dragons!

This is tough because there is no formula which allows you to gauge how hard a potential enemy would be to defeat. There are a bunch of systems that don't, so that's not a huge thing, but still. I would start off with a number of bandits equal to the number of PC with light/damaged armor and weak weapons, using no tactics and no Hand to Hand sills or weapon proficiencies and build up the enemies capabilities from there.

[Killer Cyborg]

Random predators from the back of the RMB.

[Procopius]

Random predators from the back of the RMB.

Seem unlikely to have been initially hired as guardians of a town.

[Daniel Stoker]

Then go with a random assortment of 2nd or so level character's as NPC's. Or if you want a comedyish game do mirror versions of their characters with goatee's and all.


Daniel Stoker

[kaid]

Thanks! My hope was more towards bad guys that simple townsfolk would have been credulous enough to hire on as protectors. I can't really see that with Xiticix or demons and dyvals.

Note that quite a few demons/devils are very capable of taking on human appearance at least for long periods of time.

[Alrik Vas]

Then go with a random assortment of 2nd or so level character's as NPC's. Or if you want a comedyish game do mirror versions of their characters with goatee's and all.


Daniel Stoker

I was actually going to say "each other", but this works too.

[Killer Cyborg]

Random predators from the back of the RMB.

Seem unlikely to have been initially hired as guardians of a town.

I missed that part!


But hey, maybe they were used like guard dogs, until they got out of hand.

[Library Ogre]

Go with some human toughs in SDC armor with a smattering of MD weapons... and a big secret weapon.

Against villagers, these guys are pretty rough... MD weapons let them disintegrate villagers with a single shot, and tough (but SDC) armor means they can't be easily killed by Farmer Brown with his deer rifle. Most have, essentially, vibro-knives and laser pistols.

Their big secret weapon, that they bring out if someone tries to take the town away from them? Mini-missile launcher. Six-shot magazine, guarenteed to **** up the entire town if they start using it, but also going to really ruin the day of anyone they shoot with it.

PC-level armament will one-shot most of the bad guys, but there can be plenty of them, having a running battle through the town. Their leader is in actual EBA, with a full on energy rifle... still someone they can take out, but someone they're going to have to get, first.

If you want a bit more oomph, toss in a 1st level Line Walker... Armor of Ithan on various people makes them a lot tougher, even if it's only 10 MDC... they become two-hit mooks instead of one-hit mooks.

[Bill]

These guys.

[say652]

Spiny Ravagers.

[Procopius]

These guys.

I do love the Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah. I think this plus Mark's very cromulent suggestion is where I'm heading.

[say652]

Random predators from the back of the RMB.

I still use this chart for random creations

[Killer Cyborg]

I want to keep a bit of the original wasteland/wilderness feel of the Rifts Main Book that I remember from my winsome and feckless youth, so I was thinking of a Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai-esque adventure where the PCs come across a small town that chose its protectors poorly and is now held in brutal serfdom by a few MD-capable villains. I want to do this to emphasize to my players the awesome power conferred upon them by their MD sidearms and armor compared to the normal people struggling to survive in the harsh world of North America in the PA era.

Now, my struggle is this: I know that Palladium generally prefers one powerful foe for the heroes to fight as a team, but I was hoping to have them fight equal or larger numbers of baddies with at least a 50/50 chance of success before factoring in player ingenuity (or lack thereof).

Can anyone recommend some good foes for my guys?

Now that I've read your post more carefully, my suggestion is looking over these low-powered OCCs that I wrote quite a few years ago, the Raider OCC in particular.
I'll post them all, but put most in spoiler tags so as to not take up too much space for this one post.

Common traits for Non-Adventuring Occupational Character Classes:
-There are no racial restrictions.
-There are no alignment restrictions.
-There are no attribute restrictions.
-Base S.D.C. is 4d4.
-All non-adventuring classes use the Vagabond experience table.

Raider
Wherever there are people trying to prosper, there are also people who try to feed on or steal that prosperity. Communities trying to live in peace have to worry about raids not just from barbarian tribes, but also from more advanced forms of bandits as well. Raiders can come in the form of biker gangs, hover gangs, or any number of other forms. They are typically mobile in nature, roaming the land in convoys, looking for easy prey. They prefer to raid poorly defended communities of farmers or homesteaders, but they will content themselves with individual homesteads, trappers' cabins, or travelers on the road. They are not cowards by nature, but they will usually avoid armed bands of adventurers when they can. There is no profit or fun in getting killed, only in dominating people who are weaker than they are.
Raiders are typically of Selfish or Evil alignments, but Good aligned Raiders are not completely unheard of. There are some "Robin Hood" type bands of Raiders who prey exclusively on those that they see as being evil: Coalition farms and towns, or perhaps D-Bee communities, depending on the personal views of the particular band.
Note: There are many types of raiders roaming the face of Rifts Earth, and not all of them belong to the Raider OCC. In fact, as many as 60% of the bands of raiders are actually made up of barbarians. Even a band made primarily of people belonging to the Raider OCC will often have a Vagabond, Wilderness Scout, Mercenary, or Headhunter among them, often in a leadership capacity. Even the occasional Juicer or Crazy will form a band of Raiders around them, choosing to lead a gang of lesser warriors than to serve in a more organized and powerful group.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Size Up Prey
Raiders live to prey on the weak. They quickly learn to tell the difference between a disguised CS convoy and a caravan of legitimate merchants. They learn to tell which farms are well-defended, and they learn to sniff out an ambush or trap set by local law enforcement or adventurers. This ability lets them tell when a potential target will be worth the effort, whether the risk involved will be worth the potential gain in loot and excitement.
Base Skill: 15%+5% per level.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Wilderness Survival (+10%)]
W.P. Knife or Sword
W.P. Handguns
W.P. Rifle, Shotgun, or Heavy Military Weapons
W.P. One of choice
Radio: Basic (+5%)
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%) except for Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, and Laser Communication.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: None.
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Aircraft Mechanics, Automotive Mechanics, Basic Mechanics only (+5%)
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Physical: Any (+10%)
Pilot: Any (+5%) except Flight System Combat, Jump Bike Combat, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat: Elite
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+5%) except Computer Hacking.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation and Mathematics only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged travel clothing, survival knife and 1d4 combat knives, and other equipment as determined below. (Other equipment can be added by the Game Master).

Some gangs of raiders have access only to SDC equipment, but many gangs have limited MDC equipment.

Armor (Roll percentile dice)
1-65 A suit of SDC armor ranging from primitive medieval style to 20th century body armor.
66-85 A suit of light (often damaged and/or homemade) MDC body armor (35% chance that the armor is environmental). There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of its maximum MDC.
89-95% A suit of heavy MDC body armor (30% chance of the armor being environmental). Usually the armor is homemade from pieces of armor take from the dead during raids. There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of it's maximum MDC.
96-100 A suit of power armor (SDC construction or MDC with 1/3 of the normal MDC and 1/4 ammunition).

Weapons
Each Raider has an SDC pistol and an SDC rifle, with 1d4 clips/magazines of standard ammunition for each.
Alternatively, the Raider can choose a bow, crossbow, or spear-gun and 1d4x10 arrows/bolts/spears (SDC) instead of a gun (or instead of each of his guns).
-Each Raider has one SDC melee weapon of choice.
-Roll percentile dice 1d4 times on the following table:
1-10 The Raider owns a Vibro Blade.
11-20 The Raider owns 1d4 clips/belts/quivers of SDC armor-piercing or explosive rounds for one of his weapons.
21-30 The Raider owns 1 clip of Mega-Damage Ram-Jet rounds for one firearm (or 1d4 magical or high-explosives projectiles if they have a bow/crossbow/speargun).
31-50 The Raider owns an assault rifle. There is a 35% chance that the assault rifle has a grenade launcher with 2d4 (SDC) grenades. In addition, if there is a grenade launcher then the Raider has a 25% chance of having 1-2 Mega-Damage rifle-launched grenades.
51-60 The Raider owns 1d6 SDC hand grenades or 2d4 sticks of SDC dynamite.
61-65 The Raider owns 1-3 Mega-Damage hand grenades, or 1d4 sticks of Mega-Damage dynamite.
66-75 The Raider owns a Heavy (SDC) Military Weapon (such as a heavy machinegun or anti-tanke weapon).
76-85 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy pistol with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.
86-100 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy rifle with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.

Vehicles:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table:
1-40 No Vehicle.
41-55 SDC car, motorcycle, or truck.
56-75 Horse or other common riding animal.
76-85 MDC car, motorcycle, hovercycle, truck, ATV, or hover vehicle.
86-95 SDC military vehicle (Tank, APC, helicopter, etc.)
96-100 MDC military vehicle (1/2 MDC and 1d4 working weapons systems maximum).

Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or various local currencies, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market Salable Goods and stolen items.

Cybernetics:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table.
1-60 Has no cybernetics or bionics.
61-70 Has one replacement limb (usually cyber-snatched, with side-effects)
71-80 Has one cybernetic implant.
81-90 Has one cybernetic limb and one implant.
91-100 Has 1d4 cybernetic implants.

Spoiler:

Farmer
Class Ability/Bonuses:
1. Agriculture and Farming.
The character is familiar with different soil types and various kinds of edible crops, as well as other skills involved in growing large amounts of crops. Anybody can grow a small garden in order to supplement their diet, but Farmers can reliably grow enough crops to not only feed themselves and their families, but also to produce enough surplus to sell and/or trade.
Base Skill: 40%+5% per level
2. Weather Sense- Farming is dependent on weather, and good farmers develop a sense about what the weather is going to be like in the near future. A successful check can predict the weather over the next 24 hours. A Farmer can attempt to predict weather events further in the future, but there is a 10% penalty for every 12 hours after the first 24, and no predictions can be made more than 72 hours ahead. A failed check simply means that the farmer is unsure what the weather will be like.
Base Skill: 25%+5% per level
OCC Skills:
Animal Husbandry (+5%)
Cook
Speak Native Language
Preserve Foods (+5%)
Weapon Proficiency: One of choice

Other Skills:
Select eight Other Skills at level one, plus one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications- Any except Creative Writing, Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, or Performance.
Cowboy- Any (+5%), except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic- Any (+10)
Electrical- Basic Electronics and Electricity Generation only.
Espionage- None.
Mechanical- Aircraft, Automotive, and Basic only
Medical- Brewing (medicinal), First Aid, and Veterinary Science only (+5%)
Military- Demolitions and Demolitions Disposal only (-35%)
Physical- Athletics, Outdoorsmanship, Physical Labor, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot- Any except for Combat Driving, Flight System Combat, Jet Aircraft, Jet Packs, Jump Bike Combat, Military Vehicles, and Robot Combat.
Pilot Related- Navigation and Read Sensory Equipment only.
Rogue- None
Science- Botanym chemistry, Mathematics (Basic) only.
Technical- Any
Weapon Proficiencies (Ancient)- Any
Weapon Proficiencies (Modern)- Any, except Heavy Military Weapons and Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons
Wilderness- Any (+5%)
Secondary Skills:
The character gets to select six secondary skills at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment: Rugged work clothes, formal clothes for special occasions, one gun (likely to be an SDC hunting rifle or shotgun), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition, wallet with I.D., transportation (usually a rusty work truck, or a draft animal), various tools (for farming, carpentry, and other necessary chores), a hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 5% chance of owning a suit of light (likely damaged and/or homemade) Mega-Damage armor, or a 35% chance of owning a suit of conventional armor (A.R. 10+1d6, with 1d4x100 SDC). A Farmer has a 45% chance of owning a tractor, or a 10% chance of owning a robot, exoskeleton, or suit of power armor that is used for work around the farm (no weapons or military systems).
Wealth:
1d8x1000 in stored crops, local currency, and/or Credits.


Moneyman
The Moneyman is focused on business and financial gain. He might transport goods between wilderness towns, he might use a hover car or he might use an ox cart. He might run a shop in the Burbs, or he might run a company of his own in Chi-Town proper. Moneymen are the businessmen (and women) of Rifts Earth. They are the white-collar workers who keep the economy running. If there is money to be made, a Moneyman will be there to fins a profit. They have no interest in adventuring, but will work for (or with) adventures as long as there is more profit than risk. Successful Moneymen would even be likely to hire adventurers and mercenaries when the need arises.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Cost/Benefit Analysis- This represents the skill and natural talent that Moneymen have for assessing situations and determining the possible profit of an action or undertaking and compare it to the risks involved. Typically this skill is used for financial matters, focusing on monetary gain, but it can be used to assess almost any situation based on what the Moneyman knows about it, at a -10% penalty.
Base Skill: 20%+5% per level

OCC Skills:
Barter (+15%)
Speak Native Language (+5%)
Appraise Goods (+5%)
Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any (+5) except Laser Communications and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: None
Domestic: Any.
Electronics: None.
Espionage: Forgery only.
Horsemanship: General only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: First Aid only.
Military: None.
Physical: None.
Pilot: Automobiles, Hover Craft, and Truck only.
Pilot Related: Navigation only.
Science: Mathematics only (+5%)
Technical: Any (+10%)
Weapon Proficiencies: None.
Wilderness: Land Navigation only.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Traveling clothes, work clothes (business suit or the local equivalent), business equipment (pens, paper, pencils, calculator, etc.), wallet with ID, a horse or SDC car, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
Money: 1d12x1000 in any mix of Credits, local currency, trade goods, and/or Black Market salable goods.

Homesteader
Many of the people living on Rifts Earth are not lucky enough to live in Chi-Town, Lazlo, or some other city. These people make their homes in the wilderness, either on their own or in groups, trying to survive off the land. They try to carve out a decent existence for themselves and their families away from the civilized regions, away from the cities. Homesteaders tend to be more civilized than Barbarians, Raiders, or Trappers/Woodsmen. Many Homesteaders actually left large cities to strike out on their own, for one reason or another. Other Homesteaders come from families or clans that have been living in the wilderness for generations, usually in a family home or in a family compound.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Homeground Advantage
Homesteaders survive because of the land that they own. They raise crops, hunt, fish, dig wells, and gather wild foods. They get to know every inch of their land in the process, and they shape the land to suit their needs. After living on and working a plot of land for one year, a homesteader is fully settled in. After that point, they receive a +6% bonus on all skills while they are on their own land. This bonus increases by 1% for every additional year that they live there. While fighting to defend his/her home, a Homesteader has a combat bonus of +1 to initiative and all other combat rolls (except damage).

OCC Skills:
Wilderness Survival (+10%)
Speak Native Language (+3%)
Physical Labor
Gardening (+10%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Two of choice

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any (+5) except Cryptography, Laser Communications, Radio; Scramblers, and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: Any (+5%), except for Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Forgery only.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only (+5%).
Mechanical: Automotive Mechanics and Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, Brewing: Medicinal, First Aid, Holistic Medicine, and Veterinary Science only.
Military: Camouflage and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Athletics, Climbing, Juggling, Outdoorsmanship, Prowl, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Airplane, Automobile, Bicycling, Boats (All types), Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles, Robots and Power Armor, Tracked & Construction Vehicles, Truck, Water Scooters, Water Skiiing & Surfing only.
Pilot Related: Any except for Weapon Systems.
Science: Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Xenology, and Zoology only.
Technical: Any (+5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes, formal clothes, 1d4 guns (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or SDC pistols, but some of the more militant types have military grade SDC weapons), 1d10 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition per weapon, 1d4 other SDC weapons (often a bow or crossbow for hunting, along with 1d4x10 arrows/crossbow bolts), wallet with ID, transportation (usually a rusty work truck or a draft animal), various tools (for gardening, carpentry, and other necessary chores), hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 15% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor, or a 55% chance of owning SDC body armor (AR 12+1d6, 1d6x100 SDC).
A Homesteader has a 30% chance of owning a tractor, or a 5% chance of owning a robot or suit of power armor that is used for work around the homestead (Civilian model only, no weapons, usually a SDC structure).
Money: 1d6x100 in any mix of Credits, local currency, or trade goods, and 1d4x100 in Black Market salable goods.


Hunter
Rifts Earth is teeming with life. Some of this life is native to the planet, some is not. Hunters are the people who survive by killing the animals, both old and new, that inhabit the world around them. They kill for food, they kill for clothing, they kill for trophies, and they kill to protect people and livestock from predators. Sometimes they kill because they have to, sometimes because they enjoy it, and sometimes simply because they are good at it. Hunters may live in a small town or community, or they may live in the deepest parts of the wilderness. Sometimes they stay on the move, living a nomadic life as they follow game animals or search for interesting prey.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
+1d6 to physical SDC
+1 to PS
+2 on Perception Rolls

OCC Skills:
Sniper
Hunting
Lore: Cattle & Animals (+15%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. Rifle (or Archery)
W.P. Shotgun (or Crossbow)
Native Language
Land Navigation
Track & Trap Animals (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+5%)
Prowl (+15%)

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Creative Writing, Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, and Performance.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: None.
Espionage: None.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: First Aid (+5%), and Veterinary Science only.
Military: Camouflage and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Any except for Acrobatics, Fencing, Kick Boxing, and Boxing.
Pilot: None.
Pilot Related: None.
Rogue: Gambling, Imitate Voices & Sounds, and Tailing only.
Science: Mathematics (Basic), and Zoology only.
Technical: Breed Dogs, General Maintenance & Repair, Jury Rig, Leather Working, Lore only.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of three secondary skills may be chosen at first level, with one additional skill to be chosen at levels 5 and 10.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Casual clothing, camouflage clothing, 1d6 weapons (likely to be SDC hunting rifles or Ancient style ranged weapons such as a bow or a crossbow), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition (or 1d4x20 arrows/bolts) per weapon, wallet with ID, various tools (for skinning, tanning, carpentry, and other necessary chores), hunting knife (and a 15% chance of owning a vibro-knife), and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 10% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor (usually made from MDC skins/hides/chitin/leather).
Money: 1d4x100 in Credits or local currency, 1d4x1000 in Black Market salable goods and leather, preserved meat, fur, or other animal products.


Barbarian
Many of the people living on Rifts Earth exist in primitive tribes ranging from somewhat peaceful societies to groups of savage warriors. They have no agriculture to speak of, getting what they need by hunting & gathering or by raiding other communities. Often both. These tribes generally have strict codes of conduct regarding morality, but these codes only apply within the tribe itself. While murdering or raping another member would warrant a death sentence, it is fully permissible to commit such acts upon outsiders (the exception being formal guests of the tribe). To outsiders, they behave as if their alignment is Miscreant, Aberrant, or Anarchist. While uneducated and primitive, "Barbarians" are not any less intelligent than anybody else. They simply do not have access to any sort of formal education; their harsh lifestyle forces them to grip solely on the skills that they need to survive.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
+2d4 to physical SDC
+1 to PS
+2 to PE
+1 to Speed

OCC Skills:
Hunting
Native Language (-10% when talking to outsiders unfamiliar with the dialect of the specific tribe)
W.P. Ancient Weapon of choice
Wilderness Survival (+20%)]
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Barter, Language, Performance, Public Speaking, and Singing only (+5%).
Cowboy: Any, except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any (+5%), except Recycle.
Electronics: None.
Espionage: Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment, Sniper, and Tracking only (+5%)
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: Brewing: Medicinal, and Holistic Medicine only.
Military: Camouflage and Forced March only.
Physical: Any (+5%) except for SCUBA
Pilot: None.
Pilot Related: None.
Rogue: Imitate Voices & Sounds, Palming, Prowl (+5%), and Tailing only.
Science: None.
Technical: Breed Dogs, Leather Working, Lore, Masonry, Whittling & Sculpting only (+5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+10%)

Secondary Skills: A total of five secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Clothing made from animal skins and hides, one ancient weapon of choice, 1-2 other SDC weapons. Most tribes have access to Mega-Damage weaponry to varying degrees (usually between 55% and 85% of the adult males own some form of Mega-Damage weapon, if only a vibro-knife or vibro-spear, or a fetish weapon). Barbarian tribes also often have access to MDC armor, with as much as 10%-40% of each of the tribe's warriors owning a suit of light or heavy (usually damaged) MDC body armor, typically decorated with hides, horns, bones of various animals, and random trinkets from raiding or trade. Any warrior lacking Mega-Damage armor will have some form of SDC armor. There is a 70% chance of this armor being ancient style, or a 30% chance of the armor being modern (same as Homesteader).

Money: 2d4x100 in Black Market salable goods or stolen items.


Raider
Wherever there are people trying to prosper, there are also people who try to feed on or steal that prosperity. Communities trying to live in peace have to worry about raids not just from barbarian tribes, but also from more advanced forms of bandits as well. Raiders can come in the form of biker gangs, hover gangs, or any number of other forms. They are typically mobile in nature, roaming the land in convoys, looking for easy prey. They prefer to raid poorly defended communities of farmers or homesteaders, but they will content themselves with individual homesteads, trappers' cabins, or travelers on the road. They are not cowards by nature, but they will usually avoid armed bands of adventurers when they can. There is no profit or fun in getting killed, only in dominating people who are weaker than they are.
Raiders are typically of Selfish or Evil alignments, but Good aligned Raiders are not completely unheard of. There are some "Robin Hood" type bands of Raiders who prey exclusively on those that they see as being evil: Coalition farms and towns, or perhaps D-Bee communities, depending on the personal views of the particular band.
Note: There are many types of raiders roaming the face of Rifts Earth, and not all of them belong to the Raider OCC. In fact, as many as 60% of the bands of raiders are actually made up of barbarians. Even a band made primarily of people belonging to the Raider OCC will often have a Vagabond, Wilderness Scout, Mercenary, or Headhunter among them, often in a leadership capacity. Even the occasional Juicer or Crazy will form a band of Raiders around them, choosing to lead a gang of lesser warriors than to serve in a more organized and powerful group.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Size Up Prey
Raiders live to prey on the weak. They quickly learn to tell the difference between a disguised CS convoy and a caravan of legitimate merchants. They learn to tell which farms are well-defended, and they learn to sniff out an ambush or trap set by local law enforcement or adventurers. This ability lets them tell when a potential target will be worth the effort, whether the risk involved will be worth the potential gain in loot and excitement.
Base Skill: 15%+5% per level.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Wilderness Survival (+10%)]
W.P. Knife or Sword
W.P. Handguns
W.P. Rifle, Shotgun, or Heavy Military Weapons
W.P. One of choice
Radio: Basic (+5%)
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%) except for Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, and Laser Communication.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: None.
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Aircraft Mechanics, Automotive Mechanics, Basic Mechanics only (+5%)
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Physical: Any (+10%)
Pilot: Any (+5%) except Flight System Combat, Jump Bike Combat, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat: Elite
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+5%) except Computer Hacking.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation and Mathematics only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged travel clothing, survival knife and 1d4 combat knives, and other equipment as determined below. (Other equipment can be added by the Game Master).

Some gangs of raiders have access only to SDC equipment, but many gangs have limited MDC equipment.

Armor (Roll percentile dice)
1-65 A suit of SDC armor ranging from primitive medieval style to 20th century body armor.
66-85 A suit of light (often damaged and/or homemade) MDC body armor (35% chance that the armor is environmental). There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of its maximum MDC.
89-95% A suit of heavy MDC body armor (30% chance of the armor being environmental). Usually the armor is homemade from pieces of armor take from the dead during raids. There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of it's maximum MDC.
96-100 A suit of power armor (SDC construction or MDC with 1/3 of the normal MDC and 1/4 ammunition).

Weapons
Each Raider has an SDC pistol and an SDC rifle, with 1d4 clips/magazines of standard ammunition for each.
Alternatively, the Raider can choose a bow, crossbow, or spear-gun and 1d4x10 arrows/bolts/spears (SDC) instead of a gun (or instead of each of his guns).
-Each Raider has one SDC melee weapon of choice.
-Roll percentile dice 1d4 times on the following table:
1-10 The Raider owns a Vibro Blade.
11-20 The Raider owns 1d4 clips/belts/quivers of SDC armor-piercing or explosive rounds for one of his weapons.
21-30 The Raider owns 1 clip of Mega-Damage Ram-Jet rounds for one firearm (or 1d4 magical or high-explosives projectiles if they have a bow/crossbow/speargun).
31-50 The Raider owns an assault rifle. There is a 35% chance that the assault rifle has a grenade launcher with 2d4 (SDC) grenades. In addition, if there is a grenade launcher then the Raider has a 25% chance of having 1-2 Mega-Damage rifle-launched grenades.
51-60 The Raider owns 1d6 SDC hand grenades or 2d4 sticks of SDC dynamite.
61-65 The Raider owns 1-3 Mega-Damage hand grenades, or 1d4 sticks of Mega-Damage dynamite.
66-75 The Raider owns a Heavy (SDC) Military Weapon (such as a heavy machinegun or anti-tanke weapon).
76-85 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy pistol with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.
86-100 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy rifle with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.

Vehicles:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table:
1-40 No Vehicle.
41-55 SDC car, motorcycle, or truck.
56-75 Horse or other common riding animal.
76-85 MDC car, motorcycle, hovercycle, truck, ATV, or hover vehicle.
86-95 SDC military vehicle (Tank, APC, helicopter, etc.)
96-100 MDC military vehicle (1/2 MDC and 1d4 working weapons systems maximum).

Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or various local currencies, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market Salable Goods and stolen items.

Cybernetics:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table.
1-60 Has no cybernetics or bionics.
61-70 Has one replacement limb (usually cyber-snatched, with side-effects)
71-80 Has one cybernetic implant.
81-90 Has one cybernetic limb and one implant.
91-100 Has 1d4 cybernetic implants.


Townie
Unlike the Farmers, Trappers, Hunters and Homesteaders, some people live most of their lives within the relatively safe borders of a large town or even a city. These people, commonly known as Townies, are able to rely on the protection that the town gives them. This allows them to focus less on general survival and to focus themselves more toward specialized types of skilled labor. Townies are the doctors, mechanics, lawyers, blacksmiths, coopers, fletchers, gunsmiths, bartenders, innkeepers, and other skilled laborers of the towns of Rifts Earth. A Townie doctor might not be able to compare to a full-fledged Body Fixer or Cyber-Doc, but they manage to keep people alive more often than not. A Townie mechanic might not be able to compete with an Operator, but they keep the town's vehicles running and in more or less good condition.
Even in the safest towns, the citizens are usually expected to contribute to the local militia. This means that Townies are likely to have one or more weapon proficiencies, and some form of hand to hand combat training (if only boxing, kickboxing, or wrestling).

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
One skill of choice (from the list of Other Skills below) that the character focuses on to make his living (+35%).
Two skills of choice (from the list of Other Skills below) with a +20% bonus.
W.P. One of choice (whatever is appropriate to the tech level of the town).
Barter (+10%)
HTH Combat: None. HTH Basic can be learned as a secondary skill.

Other Skills: Select four skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 9, 12, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%).
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: Any (+5%)
Espionage: Escape Artist, Forgery, Interrogation, Pick Locks, Pick Pockets, Undercover Ops only.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Any (+5%).
Medical: Any.
Military: Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, Field Armorer & Munitions Expert, Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Athletics, Boxing, Climbing, Juggling, Physical Labor, Prowl, Swimming, SCUBA, Wrestling only.
Pilot: Any except Combat Driving, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat.
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+4%).
Science: Any.
Technical: Any (5%).
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of eight secondary skills may be chosen at first level, and one additional skill can be chosen at levels 4, 8, and 12. All new skills start at level one proficiency.

Standard Possessions/Equipment: Townies start with several sets of clothing for work, formal occasions, and relaxation. They will have an apartment or house (although they might not live by themselves). Whether or not they have a vehicle (and the type of vehicle if they do) will depend on what sort of town/community/city in which they live. They will likely have some sort of tools reflecting their occupation. They will have one (usually low-quality) weapon of choice that matches the average technology level of their community. If their particular community outlaws civilian weaponry, then they will only have access to weapons if they are a criminal or part of the community's militia or law enforcement.
Money: 2d4x1000 in Credits, local currency, various goods, and/or Black Market salable items.


Common Trapper/Woodsman
The forests of the world have replenished from the apocalypse, having grown for centuries undisturbed in the deeper areas of wilderness. The woods are filled with wildlife ranging from native deer and lions to strange D-Bee animals. Trappers make their living by trapping and killing these creatures for their skins, furs, teeth, claws, and meat. Trappers typically live deeper in the wilderness than other people do, seeking out the wilder regions where the most animals live. They avoid towns unless they need supplies or unless they have a load of goods to sell.
Woodsmen are a slightly different breed. A woodsman lives and operates in the forests much like Trappers do, but they are not as specialized in the arts of trapping game. They deal primarily with other areas of forest-dwelling. A Trapper might be hired as a guide from time to time, but a Woodsman might be a professional guide with regular customers and would be more likely to guide to unfamiliar places. On the other hand, other Woodsmen might not be willing to hire out as a guide under any circumstances. He might be a prospector, miner, boatman, or lumberjack. Woodsmen are simply people who live in (and make their living from) the woods and forests of Rifts Earth.
Woodsmen and Trappers are essentially the same in nature, so they are both included under the same character class. The only functional difference is that a Woodsman receives only half of the bonus on the skills of Trap & Track Animals and Skin & Prepare Animal Hides, and instead receive one additional Other Skill. Also, Woodsmen and Trappers receive different special OCC skills.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Trapping Route: A Trapper generally has a specific territory or rote in which they routinely operate. This territory is well-known to them, and that knowledge gives the Trapper special advantages. After working a route for one year, the Trapper receives a bonus of +6% on relevant skills while operating in his established territory or along his familiar route.
Tree Lore: Survival in the forest is heavily dependent upon trees. Trees are used as sources of food, fuel, building materials, and more, therefore a Woodsman must have an above-average knowledge of the various kinds of trees. This skill covers knowing the uses for different types of wood, as well as general knowledge about all trees in the Woodsman's area. Unfamiliar trees can also be identified or analyzed using this skill.
Base Skill: 30%+5% per level

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Track & Trap Animals (+16%)
Skin & Prepare Animal Hides (+16%)
Wilderness Survival (+15%)
Lore: Cattle & Animals (+15%)
Hunting
Land Navigation (+5%)
Prowl (+5%)
W.P. Two of choice

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, and 11. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, and Radio: Scramblers.
Cowboy: Any except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any
Electronics: Basic Electronics only.
Espionage: Detect Ambush only.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, First Aid , and Holistic Medicine only. (+5%)
Military: Trap Construction, Trap/Mine detection, Recognize Weapon Quality only (+10%)
Physical: Athletics, Climbing, Outdoorsmanship, Prowl, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles only.
Pilot Related: Navigation only.
Rogue: Find Contraband, Gambling, and Imitate Voices & Sounds only.
Science: Mathematics (Basic), Biology, Xenology, and Zoology only.
Technical: Breed Dogs, Firefighting, General Maintenance & Repair, Leather Working (+5%), Lore (+5% on Demon & Monsters), Rope Works, Whittling & Sculpting only.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any except Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons.
Wilderness: Any (+10%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes made from leather and furs, 1d4 weapons (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or pistols, or Ancient style ranged weapons such as a bow or a crossbow), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition (or 1d4x10 arrows/bolts) per weapon, transportation (usually a motorcycle, or a horse or other draft animal), various tools (for skinning, tanning, carpentry, and other necessary chores), chainsaw (and a 15% chance of owning a Mega-Damage chainsaw: 1d6+2 MD), a hunting knife, occasionally a Vibro-Knife (15% chance), traps and snares (20% chance of MDC traps/snares that work the same as normal versions, only are harder to destroy) and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
If the Trapper/Woodsman owns a MD chainsaw or Vibro-Knife, then he/she will also have a set of homemade MDC armor with 1d4x10 MDC, made from Mega-Damage hides/shells/chitin). Otherwise there is a 25% chance of owning a suit of strong SDC hide/shell/chitin or modern armor (AR of 12+1d6, with 1d6x100 SDC). If the character has no other armor, then they are likely to have a suit of homemade soft or hard leather armor.
Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or local currency, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market salable goods and/or meat, fur, or other animal products.


Hedge Witch
While true Witches have gained their powers through pacts with powerful supernatural beings, the label is commonly applied to any spell caster that lacks formal training, especially when people are suspicious or scared of them. A Hedge Witch is a a person with a certain knack for understanding and working with magic, but who is too limited to continue any formal training beyond a very basic level. Their intuition can only carry them so far, and it can not carry them to the point where they are able to actually cast incantations. They are often seen as failures by Men of Magic, and as dangerous dabblers by normal people. This does not stop normal people from seeking their help occasionally, however. Even formal Men of Magic are willing to deal with Hedge Witches from time to time, if necessary, though most mages generally prefer not to associate with them.
Hedge Witches usually live near a community, but are typically not an active part of that community. This is in part due to the suspicious and superstitious nature of many people on Rifts Earth, and to a somewhat shady reputation. Sometimes they will take on apprentices, but usually they work and live alone. It is quite common for them to earn a living as a healer, or by selling potions, teas, and other services. There have been some cases of Hedge Witches working openly among barbarian tribes, though. In almost every case, people treat a Hedge Witch with a measure of respect (often born of fear) and disdain.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Magical Abilities- Unable to cast incantations, Hedge Witches are left with only a few ways in which to exercise their natural talent for magic. Each Hedge Witch can choose one of the following two powers as their primary area of expertise (functions as normal), and the other as their secondary area of expertise (x2 cost, 1/2 effectiveness).
Ritualism- Hedge Witches are able to learn and cast ritual versions of any standard spell. They can figure out these rituals on their own, or be taught by a mage, or (if they are literate) learn from a scroll or spellbook.
Herbalism, Potions and Teas- Hedge Witches are able to learn how to brew potions and teas, similarly to the Herbalists in England. They can do this intuitively, and need little formal training, however they are not nearly as good at it as those with formal training, and they are unable to create any wands or staves, though they may use wands and staves with no penalty (likewise, they can use technowizardry devices).
Psychic Abilities- Hedge Witches also gain 1d4 psychic powers from the following list
(Roll randomly, or GM's choice)
1-6 Deaden Pain
7-13 Detect Psionics
14-18 Exorcism
19-24 Increased Healing
25-30 Induce Sleep
31-36 Meditation
37-42 Psychic Diagnosis
43-48 Restore PPE
49-54 Stop Bleeding
55-60 Ectoplasm
61-66 Impervious to Poison/Toxin
67-72 Mind Block
73-78 Clairvoyance
79-84 Presence Sense
85-00 Sense Magic

PPE: 1d4x10+10, plus an additional 2d4 per level starting with level 2. Recovery rate is 4 per hour of sleep/rest, or 8 per hour of meditation. A Hedge Witch can draw an extra 7 PPE per melee round when on a ley line, and 15 PPE per melee round when on a nexus. They may also gain PPE from blood sacrifice, or from living beings as per page 185 of RUE.
ISP: 3d6+ME, plus an additional 1d6+1 ISP per level starting with level 2.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Brewing: Medicinal (+10%)
Lore: Magic (+10%)
Holistic Medicine (+10%)
Identify Plants & Fruit (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: None. Hand to Hand Basic is available as a secondary skill.

Other Skills: Select four skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Barter, Language, Literacy, Literacy: Other, performance, and Sing only.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+10%).
Electronics: None.
Espionage: None.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, First Aid, and Veterinary Science only.
Military: None.
Physical: Climbing, Juggling, Outdoorsmanship, Physical Labor, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Boats: Paddle Types, Boats: Sail Types, Hover Craft (Ground), and Motorcycles and Snowmobiles only.
Pilot Related: Navigation Only.
Rogue: Concealment, Imitate Voices & Sounds, and Palming only.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation, Biology, botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Zoology only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any Ancient, as well as the modern Weapon Proficiencies of Handguns, Rifle, Shotgun, Energy Pistol and Energy Rifle.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of 4 secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Hedge Witches start with a set of work clothing (often cloaks, robes, and such), as well as clothing for other occasions. They will most likely have a place to live, away from other people, where they can life in peace. They may have a vehicle, usually a horse or other riding animal. They will have a number of tools that they regularly use: a bolene or sickle, knife or dagger, scissors, walking stick or staff, kitchen utensils and a cauldron for potion making, assorted jars and other containers for storing herbs, as well as bottles for potions, and cups or mugs for tea, a tea kettle, a basic medical kit (tech level varies), twine and string, a variety of sacks and bags, a lantern or flashlight, candles, some kind of divination tools, incense, some kind of fire-making device (from flint and steel to a fancy modern lighter) a wide variety of herbs, spices, and plant products. They tend to have 1d6 magic herbs or 1d4 magic potions. They typically do not own any weapons, other than their tools (staff, knives, etc.), but may own a bow or crossbow for hunting (4d6 arrows/bolts), or a weapon for self-defense (SDC pistol, shotgun, or rifle). They may also have any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
Money: 2d4x100 in herbs, potions, or other goods, or in local currency or Credits, or in Black Market items.

Scrap Miner
When the Rifts came, the world of humanity's Golden Age was reduced to rubble. In the ensuing centuries, much of this rubble was slowly buried under a creeping tide of earth and fauna, both hiding it from from the following generations of humanity's descendants, and preserving portions of it to incredible degrees. As time went by, the surface world was reduced further and further ruin, until eventually things settled and humanity began to rebuild.
One of the keys of building a new future was attempting to salvage remains of the past. The Coalition States grew fat and powerful by rediscovering the past's super-weapons. Rogue Scientists and scholars, searched for and salvaged lost and forgotten lore. Operators found and restored pieces of ancient technology.
And Scrap Miners emerged to capitalize on the vast un-plundered stores of Golden Age treasures that were yet undetected.
Unlike the other experts plumbing the wealth of the past, Scrap Miners have no formal education and little in the way of training. They are usually illiterate and poverty stricken, people desperate enough to stake their fortune on the hope of discovering occasional scraps of the world before the Rifts. A cache of old beer cans could be sold or traded for enough to keep a miner alive for few weeks. A stash of rusty tools or Elvis memorabilia might allow them to buy a dozen meals. Ancient documents can be sold on the Black Market, anything from old role-playing game guides to government or corporate papers. Weapons, no matter how old, whether capable of SDC or MD, always have a market.
Then there are the bigger finds, giant forgotten troves of war machines, or industrial equipment, even functioning factories hidden underground, or even stashes of precious metals
Most are lucky to eke out a living mining their way to and through the remains of landfills and garbage dumps, or by sifting through piles of rubble that remain from once mighty cities, finding a vacuum-sealed room here, or a stasis-storage chamber there, and obtaining handfuls of pre-apocalypse treasures.
Others, few of them, are lucky enough to actually find mostly intact ruins or even fully functioning underground bunkers or factories. Such discoveries might allow a lucky Scrap Miner to retire in luxury for the rest of his days (or at least until the money is gambled away).

(Scrap Miners also keep their eyes open for debris left over from more recent ruins or battles; they're equal opportunity scavengers)

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Scrap Mining
Methods and practices used in prospecting, sifting through rubble or trash, digging mine shafts, and other aspects of their profession. This includes the use of mining equipment, refining gear, cleaning/restoring artifacts, and a working knowledge of explosives (as Demolitions, but at -25%). This also includes a natural instinct for finding relics and refuse from the past that can help them know when, where, and how to dig.
Base Skill 35%+7% per level of experience.
(Any character with free access to technical skills may learn this skill, but only increase their skill at +5% per level)

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
One Language of Choice
Appraise Goods (with a 15% bonus and two of the excluded categories)
Excavation (+15%)
Physical Labor
Salvage (+10%)

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Creative Writer, Laser Communications, Radio: Scramblers, and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+10% to Recycle)
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Detect Concealment, Escape Artist, Forgery, and Wilderness Survival only
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Automotive Mechanics, Locksmith, and Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: First Aid, Holistic Medicine, and Paramedic only.
Military: Camouflage, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, Demolitions Underwater, Find Contraband, Forced March, Trap & Mine Detection, and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Any.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Boats (Motor, Race, and Hydrafoil and Paddle Types/Canoe/Kayak only), Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles, Robots and Power Armor, Tracked & Construction Vehicles, Truck, Water Scooters, Water Skiiing & Surfing only.
Pilot Related: Any except for Weapon Systems.
Rogue: Any.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation, and Mathematics only (-10%).
Technical: Any (-5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any except Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons.
Wilderness: Any.
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of two secondary skills may be chosen at first level. One additional secondary skill may be chosen at levels 2, 3, and 5.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes, 2 guns (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or SDC pistols, but some of the more militant types have military grade SDC weapons), 1d10 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition per weapon, 1 other SDC weapon (often a bow or crossbow for hunting, along with 1d4x10 arrows/crossbow bolts), wallet with ID, transportation (usually a rusty work truck or a draft animal, but some scrap miners have larger trucks or cargo vehicles), various tools (picks, shovels, cleaning utensils, prybars, pans, and other mining tools), hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 5% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor recovered from a dig, or a 25% chance of owning SDC body armor (AR 12+1d6, 1d6x100 SDC).
A Scrap Miner has a 30% chance of owning a tractor, bulldozer, backhoe or other form of heavy equipment, or a 5% chance of owning a robot or suit of power armor that was discovered during mining (Civilian model only, no weapons, usually a SDC structure, 50% total damage capacity remaining).
Money: 1d10x100 in any mix of Credits, local currency, general scrap, or trade goods, and 1d20x100 in Black Market salable goods.

[mercedogre]

simvan monster riders, a couple on velociraptor type creatures, a pair on flying creatures and a chieftain on a rhino-buffalo; they are SDC beings so you can use as many as needed and provide them with any amount of armor needed for a fun game,

[mercedogre]

or corrupt rogue power-hungry CS soldiers

[Mack]

For extra fun, toss in a Neuron Beast (SB1 original, p115; or SB1r, p143) lurking in shadows. It's an intelligent monster that enjoys using psionics to stir up conflict and "drink the strong emotions." It's also too tough for the party to directly take on (2D4x100 MDC) so they'll have to really think about how to deal with it. This could lead to some good role-playing problem solving instead of just trying to shoot their way to a solution.

EDIT - I just noticed the stats were changed in SB1r. The main body was raised to 1D4x100+420 MDC. Pretty good bump up. Still, you could use either one and just say they come in two related sub-species. Or if you want to tone it down farther, make it a juvenile where it's too tough for the party, but not if they can unite the townfolk and other antagonists against the beast.

[Blue_Lion]

bandits or a pack of wild vampires.

[guardiandashi]

IMO:
because of the way Palladiums power levels are all over the place unlike a system like D&D where power levels are fairly defined... Just about anything can be used against 1st level characters. The counter argument is that there are some things that really shouldn't be used because frankly they are VERY dangerous.

examples: A weak group might be a "rogue" coalition psi stalker with the remnants of a dog pack say 1-4 dogboys. to make them "weaker" the "pack" recently got formed, or taken down from 8-15 dogboys to the current 1-4 and so they are still shaking out the dominance issues, they may have damaged gear (reduced mdc on armor and be short on weapons and munitions)

a strong group the same psi stalker with an unshaken dog pack, where they all work together and use intelligent tactics and only use "suicidal" maneuvers as part of an overarching plan to setup a devastating surprise for the party. (like a dog boy suicide bomber who has multiple plasma grenades, fusion blocks, and Claymore style mines strapped to his armor that deliberately charges into the middle of the pc's under massive cover fire then pulls the "rip cord" setting all that stuff off and triggering a massive explosion (hopefully killing multiple defenders)

on the other hand a stock glitter boy is ALWAYS very dangerous to most pc's because of its capability to one shot just about anything short of a large robot vehicle or massive tank. (3d6 x10 mdc per shot tends to have that effect)

[glitterboy2098]

Human (or to use an idea from the old RMB, "human like D-bee's", that use human racial stats but have alien appearances) bandits are a good low level challenge. and if you use soem of the lower end equipment like the GAW weapons and armor from merc ops, or the conventional rifles and SMG's from NG and WI in mercenaries, you can even use larger groups of enemies. Ramjet ammo is a godsend in making lower power threats.

not to mention that you can use the GAW modified vehicle stats to fill out "mad max" style bandit gangs, and import the "homespun armor" from rifts austrailia (hand made MDC armor, created using scrap and other 'found materials' like tires, bits of old EBA, mdc leather, etc..) to give them armor that isn't super expensive high tech stuff.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

I dont really get the whole "first level characters are weak" vibe.

Power gains in Palladium are incremental - first level characters are more than capable of taking on equivalent level opponents. If they are smart (and have a decent party composition), a first level party can handle a party of first-level CS patrollers no problem and probably come out the other side little the worse for wear.

And as for a Neuron beast? If they catch it where they can use range to their advantage, a party of first level characters could handle one no problem. 800MDC really isn't that much when its just one thing and the entire party is going ham on it.

Which is not to say it isnt dangerous. It is.

[Fell]

Yeah I was going to say CS.

Rogue CS Special Forces guys, out on a long range patrol, they extort and terrorize the town. Always pretending that they are there to save the town.

[Blue_Lion]

Yeah I was going to say CS.

Rogue CS Special Forces guys, out on a long range patrol, they extort and terrorize the town. Always pretending that they are there to save the town.

Wait that sounds like normal CS what makes this group rogue?

[Nightmask]

Yeah I was going to say CS.

Rogue CS Special Forces guys, out on a long range patrol, they extort and terrorize the town. Always pretending that they are there to save the town.

Wait that sounds like normal CS what makes this group rogue?

They aren't cutting their superiors in on the profits?

[Library Ogre]

I dont really get the whole "first level characters are weak" vibe.

The big weakness of 1st level characters? Equipment. As you level up and collect stuff, you gain power. A 1st level character likely has a couple weapons, a few clips, and that's about it.

[guardiandashi]

I dont really get the whole "first level characters are weak" vibe.

The big weakness of 1st level characters? Equipment. As you level up and collect stuff, you gain power. A 1st level character likely has a couple weapons, a few clips, and that's about it.

that's why if you are a "nice" gm my suggestion of the psi stalker and thrashed dogboys can be a godsend of "cheap gear as loot" if you manage to off them there is a fairly good chance that they will have a number of "empty" E-clips just waiting to be recharged. Granted that's still a chunk of creds to recharge them but being able to go from say 2-4 clips per weapon to ~10 (maybe) constitutes a rather major firepower (or longevity) upgrade for the group... plus if nothing else eclips are effectively cash as far as trade is concerned, EVERYONE considers them to have value ... full or empty as long as they can be recharged.

ok granted the inn keeper or tavern owner might not be terribly interested in them... but there is almost guaranteed that someone in town would be willing to trade for them.

[Jerell]

You should run a pack of DB Goblin bandits attacking a farming village ala Seven Samurai.

[Alrik Vas]

Not all OCCs have the starting gear weakness though. Some are loaded for war right out of the gate. In any case, the real weakness of starting PCs is the starting spells and powers of mages and psychic characters, but even more so is the attacks per melee.

an entire group can have trouble with a single, well geared mega-juicer of mid-level because of his MDC and automatic dodge. Give him NE weapons and force fIeld and he'll be a kill machine just like any PC would be. Toss in a single caster to drop defensive spells when needed and you might be rolling a new group next game.

[Library Ogre]

You should run a pack of DB Goblin bandits attacking a farming village ala Seven Samurai.

THAT sounds like a lot of fun... especially if a number are cobblers. Some scraps of MD armor, maybe some odd magical weaponry...

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

I dont really get the whole "first level characters are weak" vibe.

The big weakness of 1st level characters? Equipment. As you level up and collect stuff, you gain power. A 1st level character likely has a couple weapons, a few clips, and that's about it.

Dunno about that, myself. Any character that starts with an energy rifle can start with a weapon that does 1d4x10-1d6x10; most have enough E-clips (only really need 2-3 additional) to make short work of an enemy party of similar level and numbers to the party. You cant really get a lot of weapons more powerful than that.

Couple that with decent strategy or (say, if fighting CS opponents) a single mage with Impervious To Energy and the enemies are basically free kills.

Power gains really only come via leveling, for the most part, unless the GM invents super-loot (especially for tech based characters). You can start with everything else.
Mages and Psychics gain a lot more from leveling (new spells, spells become more powerful).. but mostly its just a few more actions/attacks and bonuses.

First level characters in Palladium are extremely competent and powerful.

[Blue_Lion]

I dont really get the whole "first level characters are weak" vibe.

Power gains in Palladium are incremental - first level characters are more than capable of taking on equivalent level opponents. If they are smart (and have a decent party composition), a first level party can handle a party of first-level CS patrollers no problem and probably come out the other side little the worse for wear.

And as for a Neuron beast? If they catch it where they can use range to their advantage, a party of first level characters could handle one no problem. 800MDC really isn't that much when its just one thing and the entire party is going ham on it.

Which is not to say it isnt dangerous. It is.

To me the first level are week does not play out well. It is more the gear that determines what a player party can take than level. A first level charter can take out some one several levels higher if he has the right gear. The biggest over all difference is the number of attacks but a well geared party can take out a foe in less than a round. I have had a level 1 party 2 cyberknights and CS SF take out a greater demon in under a round.

[Alrik Vas]

Uh...dumping damage like it's a plummeting stock usually drains ammunition. It's great to be that strong for one round, but what about the next?

As to low level parties and 800 MDC mitt being that much, along with the range advantage...If something like a neuron beast is at a disadvantage, it will probably flee. If you see it again, it will be on it's terms most likely.

Damage can accomplish a lot, but it's usually pretty fleeting.

[Blue_Lion]

Uh...dumping damage like it's a plummeting stock usually drains ammunition. It's great to be that strong for one round, but what about the next?

As to low level parties and 800 MDC mitt being that much, along with the range advantage...If something like a neuron beast is at a disadvantage, it will probably flee. If you see it again, it will be on it's terms most likely.

Damage can accomplish a lot, but it's usually pretty fleeting.

When you are in a hard fight or against something powerful you do what you need to and worry about the next fight when it comes.(and hope you had a chance to reload.)

[Mech-Viper Prime]

I want to keep a bit of the original wasteland/wilderness feel of the Rifts Main Book that I remember from my winsome and feckless youth, so I was thinking of a Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai-esque adventure where the PCs come across a small town that chose its protectors poorly and is now held in brutal serfdom by a few MD-capable villains. I want to do this to emphasize to my players the awesome power conferred upon them by their MD sidearms and armor compared to the normal people struggling to survive in the harsh world of North America in the PA era.

Now, my struggle is this: I know that Palladium generally prefers one powerful foe for the heroes to fight as a team, but I was hoping to have them fight equal or larger numbers of baddies with at least a 50/50 chance of success before factoring in player ingenuity (or lack thereof).

Can anyone recommend some good foes for my guys?

Now that I've read your post more carefully, my suggestion is looking over these low-powered OCCs that I wrote quite a few years ago, the Raider OCC in particular.
I'll post them all, but put most in spoiler tags so as to not take up too much space for this one post.

Common traits for Non-Adventuring Occupational Character Classes:
-There are no racial restrictions.
-There are no alignment restrictions.
-There are no attribute restrictions.
-Base S.D.C. is 4d4.
-All non-adventuring classes use the Vagabond experience table.

Raider
Wherever there are people trying to prosper, there are also people who try to feed on or steal that prosperity. Communities trying to live in peace have to worry about raids not just from barbarian tribes, but also from more advanced forms of bandits as well. Raiders can come in the form of biker gangs, hover gangs, or any number of other forms. They are typically mobile in nature, roaming the land in convoys, looking for easy prey. They prefer to raid poorly defended communities of farmers or homesteaders, but they will content themselves with individual homesteads, trappers' cabins, or travelers on the road. They are not cowards by nature, but they will usually avoid armed bands of adventurers when they can. There is no profit or fun in getting killed, only in dominating people who are weaker than they are.
Raiders are typically of Selfish or Evil alignments, but Good aligned Raiders are not completely unheard of. There are some "Robin Hood" type bands of Raiders who prey exclusively on those that they see as being evil: Coalition farms and towns, or perhaps D-Bee communities, depending on the personal views of the particular band.
Note: There are many types of raiders roaming the face of Rifts Earth, and not all of them belong to the Raider OCC. In fact, as many as 60% of the bands of raiders are actually made up of barbarians. Even a band made primarily of people belonging to the Raider OCC will often have a Vagabond, Wilderness Scout, Mercenary, or Headhunter among them, often in a leadership capacity. Even the occasional Juicer or Crazy will form a band of Raiders around them, choosing to lead a gang of lesser warriors than to serve in a more organized and powerful group.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Size Up Prey
Raiders live to prey on the weak. They quickly learn to tell the difference between a disguised CS convoy and a caravan of legitimate merchants. They learn to tell which farms are well-defended, and they learn to sniff out an ambush or trap set by local law enforcement or adventurers. This ability lets them tell when a potential target will be worth the effort, whether the risk involved will be worth the potential gain in loot and excitement.
Base Skill: 15%+5% per level.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Wilderness Survival (+10%)]
W.P. Knife or Sword
W.P. Handguns
W.P. Rifle, Shotgun, or Heavy Military Weapons
W.P. One of choice
Radio: Basic (+5%)
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%) except for Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, and Laser Communication.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: None.
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Aircraft Mechanics, Automotive Mechanics, Basic Mechanics only (+5%)
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Physical: Any (+10%)
Pilot: Any (+5%) except Flight System Combat, Jump Bike Combat, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat: Elite
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+5%) except Computer Hacking.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation and Mathematics only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged travel clothing, survival knife and 1d4 combat knives, and other equipment as determined below. (Other equipment can be added by the Game Master).

Some gangs of raiders have access only to SDC equipment, but many gangs have limited MDC equipment.

Armor (Roll percentile dice)
1-65 A suit of SDC armor ranging from primitive medieval style to 20th century body armor.
66-85 A suit of light (often damaged and/or homemade) MDC body armor (35% chance that the armor is environmental). There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of its maximum MDC.
89-95% A suit of heavy MDC body armor (30% chance of the armor being environmental). Usually the armor is homemade from pieces of armor take from the dead during raids. There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of it's maximum MDC.
96-100 A suit of power armor (SDC construction or MDC with 1/3 of the normal MDC and 1/4 ammunition).

Weapons
Each Raider has an SDC pistol and an SDC rifle, with 1d4 clips/magazines of standard ammunition for each.
Alternatively, the Raider can choose a bow, crossbow, or spear-gun and 1d4x10 arrows/bolts/spears (SDC) instead of a gun (or instead of each of his guns).
-Each Raider has one SDC melee weapon of choice.
-Roll percentile dice 1d4 times on the following table:
1-10 The Raider owns a Vibro Blade.
11-20 The Raider owns 1d4 clips/belts/quivers of SDC armor-piercing or explosive rounds for one of his weapons.
21-30 The Raider owns 1 clip of Mega-Damage Ram-Jet rounds for one firearm (or 1d4 magical or high-explosives projectiles if they have a bow/crossbow/speargun).
31-50 The Raider owns an assault rifle. There is a 35% chance that the assault rifle has a grenade launcher with 2d4 (SDC) grenades. In addition, if there is a grenade launcher then the Raider has a 25% chance of having 1-2 Mega-Damage rifle-launched grenades.
51-60 The Raider owns 1d6 SDC hand grenades or 2d4 sticks of SDC dynamite.
61-65 The Raider owns 1-3 Mega-Damage hand grenades, or 1d4 sticks of Mega-Damage dynamite.
66-75 The Raider owns a Heavy (SDC) Military Weapon (such as a heavy machinegun or anti-tanke weapon).
76-85 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy pistol with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.
86-100 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy rifle with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.

Vehicles:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table:
1-40 No Vehicle.
41-55 SDC car, motorcycle, or truck.
56-75 Horse or other common riding animal.
76-85 MDC car, motorcycle, hovercycle, truck, ATV, or hover vehicle.
86-95 SDC military vehicle (Tank, APC, helicopter, etc.)
96-100 MDC military vehicle (1/2 MDC and 1d4 working weapons systems maximum).

Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or various local currencies, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market Salable Goods and stolen items.

Cybernetics:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table.
1-60 Has no cybernetics or bionics.
61-70 Has one replacement limb (usually cyber-snatched, with side-effects)
71-80 Has one cybernetic implant.
81-90 Has one cybernetic limb and one implant.
91-100 Has 1d4 cybernetic implants.

Spoiler:

Farmer
Class Ability/Bonuses:
1. Agriculture and Farming.
The character is familiar with different soil types and various kinds of edible crops, as well as other skills involved in growing large amounts of crops. Anybody can grow a small garden in order to supplement their diet, but Farmers can reliably grow enough crops to not only feed themselves and their families, but also to produce enough surplus to sell and/or trade.
Base Skill: 40%+5% per level
2. Weather Sense- Farming is dependent on weather, and good farmers develop a sense about what the weather is going to be like in the near future. A successful check can predict the weather over the next 24 hours. A Farmer can attempt to predict weather events further in the future, but there is a 10% penalty for every 12 hours after the first 24, and no predictions can be made more than 72 hours ahead. A failed check simply means that the farmer is unsure what the weather will be like.
Base Skill: 25%+5% per level
OCC Skills:
Animal Husbandry (+5%)
Cook
Speak Native Language
Preserve Foods (+5%)
Weapon Proficiency: One of choice

Other Skills:
Select eight Other Skills at level one, plus one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications- Any except Creative Writing, Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, or Performance.
Cowboy- Any (+5%), except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic- Any (+10)
Electrical- Basic Electronics and Electricity Generation only.
Espionage- None.
Mechanical- Aircraft, Automotive, and Basic only
Medical- Brewing (medicinal), First Aid, and Veterinary Science only (+5%)
Military- Demolitions and Demolitions Disposal only (-35%)
Physical- Athletics, Outdoorsmanship, Physical Labor, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot- Any except for Combat Driving, Flight System Combat, Jet Aircraft, Jet Packs, Jump Bike Combat, Military Vehicles, and Robot Combat.
Pilot Related- Navigation and Read Sensory Equipment only.
Rogue- None
Science- Botanym chemistry, Mathematics (Basic) only.
Technical- Any
Weapon Proficiencies (Ancient)- Any
Weapon Proficiencies (Modern)- Any, except Heavy Military Weapons and Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons
Wilderness- Any (+5%)
Secondary Skills:
The character gets to select six secondary skills at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment: Rugged work clothes, formal clothes for special occasions, one gun (likely to be an SDC hunting rifle or shotgun), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition, wallet with I.D., transportation (usually a rusty work truck, or a draft animal), various tools (for farming, carpentry, and other necessary chores), a hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 5% chance of owning a suit of light (likely damaged and/or homemade) Mega-Damage armor, or a 35% chance of owning a suit of conventional armor (A.R. 10+1d6, with 1d4x100 SDC). A Farmer has a 45% chance of owning a tractor, or a 10% chance of owning a robot, exoskeleton, or suit of power armor that is used for work around the farm (no weapons or military systems).
Wealth:
1d8x1000 in stored crops, local currency, and/or Credits.


Moneyman
The Moneyman is focused on business and financial gain. He might transport goods between wilderness towns, he might use a hover car or he might use an ox cart. He might run a shop in the Burbs, or he might run a company of his own in Chi-Town proper. Moneymen are the businessmen (and women) of Rifts Earth. They are the white-collar workers who keep the economy running. If there is money to be made, a Moneyman will be there to fins a profit. They have no interest in adventuring, but will work for (or with) adventures as long as there is more profit than risk. Successful Moneymen would even be likely to hire adventurers and mercenaries when the need arises.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Cost/Benefit Analysis- This represents the skill and natural talent that Moneymen have for assessing situations and determining the possible profit of an action or undertaking and compare it to the risks involved. Typically this skill is used for financial matters, focusing on monetary gain, but it can be used to assess almost any situation based on what the Moneyman knows about it, at a -10% penalty.
Base Skill: 20%+5% per level

OCC Skills:
Barter (+15%)
Speak Native Language (+5%)
Appraise Goods (+5%)
Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any (+5) except Laser Communications and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: None
Domestic: Any.
Electronics: None.
Espionage: Forgery only.
Horsemanship: General only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: First Aid only.
Military: None.
Physical: None.
Pilot: Automobiles, Hover Craft, and Truck only.
Pilot Related: Navigation only.
Science: Mathematics only (+5%)
Technical: Any (+10%)
Weapon Proficiencies: None.
Wilderness: Land Navigation only.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Traveling clothes, work clothes (business suit or the local equivalent), business equipment (pens, paper, pencils, calculator, etc.), wallet with ID, a horse or SDC car, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
Money: 1d12x1000 in any mix of Credits, local currency, trade goods, and/or Black Market salable goods.

Homesteader
Many of the people living on Rifts Earth are not lucky enough to live in Chi-Town, Lazlo, or some other city. These people make their homes in the wilderness, either on their own or in groups, trying to survive off the land. They try to carve out a decent existence for themselves and their families away from the civilized regions, away from the cities. Homesteaders tend to be more civilized than Barbarians, Raiders, or Trappers/Woodsmen. Many Homesteaders actually left large cities to strike out on their own, for one reason or another. Other Homesteaders come from families or clans that have been living in the wilderness for generations, usually in a family home or in a family compound.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Homeground Advantage
Homesteaders survive because of the land that they own. They raise crops, hunt, fish, dig wells, and gather wild foods. They get to know every inch of their land in the process, and they shape the land to suit their needs. After living on and working a plot of land for one year, a homesteader is fully settled in. After that point, they receive a +6% bonus on all skills while they are on their own land. This bonus increases by 1% for every additional year that they live there. While fighting to defend his/her home, a Homesteader has a combat bonus of +1 to initiative and all other combat rolls (except damage).

OCC Skills:
Wilderness Survival (+10%)
Speak Native Language (+3%)
Physical Labor
Gardening (+10%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Two of choice

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any (+5) except Cryptography, Laser Communications, Radio; Scramblers, and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: Any (+5%), except for Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Forgery only.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only (+5%).
Mechanical: Automotive Mechanics and Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, Brewing: Medicinal, First Aid, Holistic Medicine, and Veterinary Science only.
Military: Camouflage and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Athletics, Climbing, Juggling, Outdoorsmanship, Prowl, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Airplane, Automobile, Bicycling, Boats (All types), Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles, Robots and Power Armor, Tracked & Construction Vehicles, Truck, Water Scooters, Water Skiiing & Surfing only.
Pilot Related: Any except for Weapon Systems.
Science: Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Xenology, and Zoology only.
Technical: Any (+5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes, formal clothes, 1d4 guns (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or SDC pistols, but some of the more militant types have military grade SDC weapons), 1d10 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition per weapon, 1d4 other SDC weapons (often a bow or crossbow for hunting, along with 1d4x10 arrows/crossbow bolts), wallet with ID, transportation (usually a rusty work truck or a draft animal), various tools (for gardening, carpentry, and other necessary chores), hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 15% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor, or a 55% chance of owning SDC body armor (AR 12+1d6, 1d6x100 SDC).
A Homesteader has a 30% chance of owning a tractor, or a 5% chance of owning a robot or suit of power armor that is used for work around the homestead (Civilian model only, no weapons, usually a SDC structure).
Money: 1d6x100 in any mix of Credits, local currency, or trade goods, and 1d4x100 in Black Market salable goods.


Hunter
Rifts Earth is teeming with life. Some of this life is native to the planet, some is not. Hunters are the people who survive by killing the animals, both old and new, that inhabit the world around them. They kill for food, they kill for clothing, they kill for trophies, and they kill to protect people and livestock from predators. Sometimes they kill because they have to, sometimes because they enjoy it, and sometimes simply because they are good at it. Hunters may live in a small town or community, or they may live in the deepest parts of the wilderness. Sometimes they stay on the move, living a nomadic life as they follow game animals or search for interesting prey.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
+1d6 to physical SDC
+1 to PS
+2 on Perception Rolls

OCC Skills:
Sniper
Hunting
Lore: Cattle & Animals (+15%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. Rifle (or Archery)
W.P. Shotgun (or Crossbow)
Native Language
Land Navigation
Track & Trap Animals (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+5%)
Prowl (+15%)

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Creative Writing, Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, and Performance.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: None.
Espionage: None.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: First Aid (+5%), and Veterinary Science only.
Military: Camouflage and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Any except for Acrobatics, Fencing, Kick Boxing, and Boxing.
Pilot: None.
Pilot Related: None.
Rogue: Gambling, Imitate Voices & Sounds, and Tailing only.
Science: Mathematics (Basic), and Zoology only.
Technical: Breed Dogs, General Maintenance & Repair, Jury Rig, Leather Working, Lore only.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of three secondary skills may be chosen at first level, with one additional skill to be chosen at levels 5 and 10.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Casual clothing, camouflage clothing, 1d6 weapons (likely to be SDC hunting rifles or Ancient style ranged weapons such as a bow or a crossbow), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition (or 1d4x20 arrows/bolts) per weapon, wallet with ID, various tools (for skinning, tanning, carpentry, and other necessary chores), hunting knife (and a 15% chance of owning a vibro-knife), and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 10% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor (usually made from MDC skins/hides/chitin/leather).
Money: 1d4x100 in Credits or local currency, 1d4x1000 in Black Market salable goods and leather, preserved meat, fur, or other animal products.


Barbarian
Many of the people living on Rifts Earth exist in primitive tribes ranging from somewhat peaceful societies to groups of savage warriors. They have no agriculture to speak of, getting what they need by hunting & gathering or by raiding other communities. Often both. These tribes generally have strict codes of conduct regarding morality, but these codes only apply within the tribe itself. While murdering or raping another member would warrant a death sentence, it is fully permissible to commit such acts upon outsiders (the exception being formal guests of the tribe). To outsiders, they behave as if their alignment is Miscreant, Aberrant, or Anarchist. While uneducated and primitive, "Barbarians" are not any less intelligent than anybody else. They simply do not have access to any sort of formal education; their harsh lifestyle forces them to grip solely on the skills that they need to survive.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
+2d4 to physical SDC
+1 to PS
+2 to PE
+1 to Speed

OCC Skills:
Hunting
Native Language (-10% when talking to outsiders unfamiliar with the dialect of the specific tribe)
W.P. Ancient Weapon of choice
Wilderness Survival (+20%)]
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Barter, Language, Performance, Public Speaking, and Singing only (+5%).
Cowboy: Any, except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any (+5%), except Recycle.
Electronics: None.
Espionage: Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment, Sniper, and Tracking only (+5%)
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: Brewing: Medicinal, and Holistic Medicine only.
Military: Camouflage and Forced March only.
Physical: Any (+5%) except for SCUBA
Pilot: None.
Pilot Related: None.
Rogue: Imitate Voices & Sounds, Palming, Prowl (+5%), and Tailing only.
Science: None.
Technical: Breed Dogs, Leather Working, Lore, Masonry, Whittling & Sculpting only (+5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any (+10%)

Secondary Skills: A total of five secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Clothing made from animal skins and hides, one ancient weapon of choice, 1-2 other SDC weapons. Most tribes have access to Mega-Damage weaponry to varying degrees (usually between 55% and 85% of the adult males own some form of Mega-Damage weapon, if only a vibro-knife or vibro-spear, or a fetish weapon). Barbarian tribes also often have access to MDC armor, with as much as 10%-40% of each of the tribe's warriors owning a suit of light or heavy (usually damaged) MDC body armor, typically decorated with hides, horns, bones of various animals, and random trinkets from raiding or trade. Any warrior lacking Mega-Damage armor will have some form of SDC armor. There is a 70% chance of this armor being ancient style, or a 30% chance of the armor being modern (same as Homesteader).

Money: 2d4x100 in Black Market salable goods or stolen items.


Raider
Wherever there are people trying to prosper, there are also people who try to feed on or steal that prosperity. Communities trying to live in peace have to worry about raids not just from barbarian tribes, but also from more advanced forms of bandits as well. Raiders can come in the form of biker gangs, hover gangs, or any number of other forms. They are typically mobile in nature, roaming the land in convoys, looking for easy prey. They prefer to raid poorly defended communities of farmers or homesteaders, but they will content themselves with individual homesteads, trappers' cabins, or travelers on the road. They are not cowards by nature, but they will usually avoid armed bands of adventurers when they can. There is no profit or fun in getting killed, only in dominating people who are weaker than they are.
Raiders are typically of Selfish or Evil alignments, but Good aligned Raiders are not completely unheard of. There are some "Robin Hood" type bands of Raiders who prey exclusively on those that they see as being evil: Coalition farms and towns, or perhaps D-Bee communities, depending on the personal views of the particular band.
Note: There are many types of raiders roaming the face of Rifts Earth, and not all of them belong to the Raider OCC. In fact, as many as 60% of the bands of raiders are actually made up of barbarians. Even a band made primarily of people belonging to the Raider OCC will often have a Vagabond, Wilderness Scout, Mercenary, or Headhunter among them, often in a leadership capacity. Even the occasional Juicer or Crazy will form a band of Raiders around them, choosing to lead a gang of lesser warriors than to serve in a more organized and powerful group.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Size Up Prey
Raiders live to prey on the weak. They quickly learn to tell the difference between a disguised CS convoy and a caravan of legitimate merchants. They learn to tell which farms are well-defended, and they learn to sniff out an ambush or trap set by local law enforcement or adventurers. This ability lets them tell when a potential target will be worth the effort, whether the risk involved will be worth the potential gain in loot and excitement.
Base Skill: 15%+5% per level.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Wilderness Survival (+10%)]
W.P. Knife or Sword
W.P. Handguns
W.P. Rifle, Shotgun, or Heavy Military Weapons
W.P. One of choice
Radio: Basic (+5%)
HTH Combat: Basic (can be upgraded to HTH: Expert at the cost of one Other skill).

Other Skills: Select ten skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%) except for Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, and Laser Communication.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: None.
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Aircraft Mechanics, Automotive Mechanics, Basic Mechanics only (+5%)
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only.
Military: Any (+5%)
Physical: Any (+10%)
Pilot: Any (+5%) except Flight System Combat, Jump Bike Combat, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat: Elite
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+5%) except Computer Hacking.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation and Mathematics only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged travel clothing, survival knife and 1d4 combat knives, and other equipment as determined below. (Other equipment can be added by the Game Master).

Some gangs of raiders have access only to SDC equipment, but many gangs have limited MDC equipment.

Armor (Roll percentile dice)
1-65 A suit of SDC armor ranging from primitive medieval style to 20th century body armor.
66-85 A suit of light (often damaged and/or homemade) MDC body armor (35% chance that the armor is environmental). There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of its maximum MDC.
89-95% A suit of heavy MDC body armor (30% chance of the armor being environmental). Usually the armor is homemade from pieces of armor take from the dead during raids. There is a 50% chance that the armor will only have 1/2 of it's maximum MDC.
96-100 A suit of power armor (SDC construction or MDC with 1/3 of the normal MDC and 1/4 ammunition).

Weapons
Each Raider has an SDC pistol and an SDC rifle, with 1d4 clips/magazines of standard ammunition for each.
Alternatively, the Raider can choose a bow, crossbow, or spear-gun and 1d4x10 arrows/bolts/spears (SDC) instead of a gun (or instead of each of his guns).
-Each Raider has one SDC melee weapon of choice.
-Roll percentile dice 1d4 times on the following table:
1-10 The Raider owns a Vibro Blade.
11-20 The Raider owns 1d4 clips/belts/quivers of SDC armor-piercing or explosive rounds for one of his weapons.
21-30 The Raider owns 1 clip of Mega-Damage Ram-Jet rounds for one firearm (or 1d4 magical or high-explosives projectiles if they have a bow/crossbow/speargun).
31-50 The Raider owns an assault rifle. There is a 35% chance that the assault rifle has a grenade launcher with 2d4 (SDC) grenades. In addition, if there is a grenade launcher then the Raider has a 25% chance of having 1-2 Mega-Damage rifle-launched grenades.
51-60 The Raider owns 1d6 SDC hand grenades or 2d4 sticks of SDC dynamite.
61-65 The Raider owns 1-3 Mega-Damage hand grenades, or 1d4 sticks of Mega-Damage dynamite.
66-75 The Raider owns a Heavy (SDC) Military Weapon (such as a heavy machinegun or anti-tanke weapon).
76-85 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy pistol with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.
86-100 The Raider owns a Mega-Damage energy rifle with 1d4-1 spare E-Clips.

Vehicles:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table:
1-40 No Vehicle.
41-55 SDC car, motorcycle, or truck.
56-75 Horse or other common riding animal.
76-85 MDC car, motorcycle, hovercycle, truck, ATV, or hover vehicle.
86-95 SDC military vehicle (Tank, APC, helicopter, etc.)
96-100 MDC military vehicle (1/2 MDC and 1d4 working weapons systems maximum).

Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or various local currencies, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market Salable Goods and stolen items.

Cybernetics:
Roll percentile dice once on the following table.
1-60 Has no cybernetics or bionics.
61-70 Has one replacement limb (usually cyber-snatched, with side-effects)
71-80 Has one cybernetic implant.
81-90 Has one cybernetic limb and one implant.
91-100 Has 1d4 cybernetic implants.


Townie
Unlike the Farmers, Trappers, Hunters and Homesteaders, some people live most of their lives within the relatively safe borders of a large town or even a city. These people, commonly known as Townies, are able to rely on the protection that the town gives them. This allows them to focus less on general survival and to focus themselves more toward specialized types of skilled labor. Townies are the doctors, mechanics, lawyers, blacksmiths, coopers, fletchers, gunsmiths, bartenders, innkeepers, and other skilled laborers of the towns of Rifts Earth. A Townie doctor might not be able to compare to a full-fledged Body Fixer or Cyber-Doc, but they manage to keep people alive more often than not. A Townie mechanic might not be able to compete with an Operator, but they keep the town's vehicles running and in more or less good condition.
Even in the safest towns, the citizens are usually expected to contribute to the local militia. This means that Townies are likely to have one or more weapon proficiencies, and some form of hand to hand combat training (if only boxing, kickboxing, or wrestling).

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
One skill of choice (from the list of Other Skills below) that the character focuses on to make his living (+35%).
Two skills of choice (from the list of Other Skills below) with a +20% bonus.
W.P. One of choice (whatever is appropriate to the tech level of the town).
Barter (+10%)
HTH Combat: None. HTH Basic can be learned as a secondary skill.

Other Skills: Select four skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 9, 12, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any(+5%).
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electronics: Any (+5%)
Espionage: Escape Artist, Forgery, Interrogation, Pick Locks, Pick Pockets, Undercover Ops only.
Horsemanship: General, Equestrian, and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Any (+5%).
Medical: Any.
Military: Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, Field Armorer & Munitions Expert, Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Athletics, Boxing, Climbing, Juggling, Physical Labor, Prowl, Swimming, SCUBA, Wrestling only.
Pilot: Any except Combat Driving, Robot (and Power Armor) Combat.
Pilot Related: Any.
Rogue: Any (+4%).
Science: Any.
Technical: Any (5%).
Weapon Proficiencies: Any.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of eight secondary skills may be chosen at first level, and one additional skill can be chosen at levels 4, 8, and 12. All new skills start at level one proficiency.

Standard Possessions/Equipment: Townies start with several sets of clothing for work, formal occasions, and relaxation. They will have an apartment or house (although they might not live by themselves). Whether or not they have a vehicle (and the type of vehicle if they do) will depend on what sort of town/community/city in which they live. They will likely have some sort of tools reflecting their occupation. They will have one (usually low-quality) weapon of choice that matches the average technology level of their community. If their particular community outlaws civilian weaponry, then they will only have access to weapons if they are a criminal or part of the community's militia or law enforcement.
Money: 2d4x1000 in Credits, local currency, various goods, and/or Black Market salable items.


Common Trapper/Woodsman
The forests of the world have replenished from the apocalypse, having grown for centuries undisturbed in the deeper areas of wilderness. The woods are filled with wildlife ranging from native deer and lions to strange D-Bee animals. Trappers make their living by trapping and killing these creatures for their skins, furs, teeth, claws, and meat. Trappers typically live deeper in the wilderness than other people do, seeking out the wilder regions where the most animals live. They avoid towns unless they need supplies or unless they have a load of goods to sell.
Woodsmen are a slightly different breed. A woodsman lives and operates in the forests much like Trappers do, but they are not as specialized in the arts of trapping game. They deal primarily with other areas of forest-dwelling. A Trapper might be hired as a guide from time to time, but a Woodsman might be a professional guide with regular customers and would be more likely to guide to unfamiliar places. On the other hand, other Woodsmen might not be willing to hire out as a guide under any circumstances. He might be a prospector, miner, boatman, or lumberjack. Woodsmen are simply people who live in (and make their living from) the woods and forests of Rifts Earth.
Woodsmen and Trappers are essentially the same in nature, so they are both included under the same character class. The only functional difference is that a Woodsman receives only half of the bonus on the skills of Trap & Track Animals and Skin & Prepare Animal Hides, and instead receive one additional Other Skill. Also, Woodsmen and Trappers receive different special OCC skills.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Trapping Route: A Trapper generally has a specific territory or rote in which they routinely operate. This territory is well-known to them, and that knowledge gives the Trapper special advantages. After working a route for one year, the Trapper receives a bonus of +6% on relevant skills while operating in his established territory or along his familiar route.
Tree Lore: Survival in the forest is heavily dependent upon trees. Trees are used as sources of food, fuel, building materials, and more, therefore a Woodsman must have an above-average knowledge of the various kinds of trees. This skill covers knowing the uses for different types of wood, as well as general knowledge about all trees in the Woodsman's area. Unfamiliar trees can also be identified or analyzed using this skill.
Base Skill: 30%+5% per level

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Track & Trap Animals (+16%)
Skin & Prepare Animal Hides (+16%)
Wilderness Survival (+15%)
Lore: Cattle & Animals (+15%)
Hunting
Land Navigation (+5%)
Prowl (+5%)
W.P. Two of choice

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 3, 7, and 11. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Cryptography, Electronic Countermeasures, Laser Communications, Literacy, and Radio: Scramblers.
Cowboy: Any except Horsemanship: Cowboy and Trick Riding.
Domestic: Any
Electronics: Basic Electronics only.
Espionage: Detect Ambush only.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, First Aid , and Holistic Medicine only. (+5%)
Military: Trap Construction, Trap/Mine detection, Recognize Weapon Quality only (+10%)
Physical: Athletics, Climbing, Outdoorsmanship, Prowl, Running, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles only.
Pilot Related: Navigation only.
Rogue: Find Contraband, Gambling, and Imitate Voices & Sounds only.
Science: Mathematics (Basic), Biology, Xenology, and Zoology only.
Technical: Breed Dogs, Firefighting, General Maintenance & Repair, Leather Working (+5%), Lore (+5% on Demon & Monsters), Rope Works, Whittling & Sculpting only.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any except Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons.
Wilderness: Any (+10%)
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn, Expert costs two skills to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of six secondary skills may be chosen at first level.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes made from leather and furs, 1d4 weapons (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or pistols, or Ancient style ranged weapons such as a bow or a crossbow), 1d4 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition (or 1d4x10 arrows/bolts) per weapon, transportation (usually a motorcycle, or a horse or other draft animal), various tools (for skinning, tanning, carpentry, and other necessary chores), chainsaw (and a 15% chance of owning a Mega-Damage chainsaw: 1d6+2 MD), a hunting knife, occasionally a Vibro-Knife (15% chance), traps and snares (20% chance of MDC traps/snares that work the same as normal versions, only are harder to destroy) and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
If the Trapper/Woodsman owns a MD chainsaw or Vibro-Knife, then he/she will also have a set of homemade MDC armor with 1d4x10 MDC, made from Mega-Damage hides/shells/chitin). Otherwise there is a 25% chance of owning a suit of strong SDC hide/shell/chitin or modern armor (AR of 12+1d6, with 1d6x100 SDC). If the character has no other armor, then they are likely to have a suit of homemade soft or hard leather armor.
Money: 1d6x100 in Credits or local currency, and 1d4x1000 in Black Market salable goods and/or meat, fur, or other animal products.


Hedge Witch
While true Witches have gained their powers through pacts with powerful supernatural beings, the label is commonly applied to any spell caster that lacks formal training, especially when people are suspicious or scared of them. A Hedge Witch is a a person with a certain knack for understanding and working with magic, but who is too limited to continue any formal training beyond a very basic level. Their intuition can only carry them so far, and it can not carry them to the point where they are able to actually cast incantations. They are often seen as failures by Men of Magic, and as dangerous dabblers by normal people. This does not stop normal people from seeking their help occasionally, however. Even formal Men of Magic are willing to deal with Hedge Witches from time to time, if necessary, though most mages generally prefer not to associate with them.
Hedge Witches usually live near a community, but are typically not an active part of that community. This is in part due to the suspicious and superstitious nature of many people on Rifts Earth, and to a somewhat shady reputation. Sometimes they will take on apprentices, but usually they work and live alone. It is quite common for them to earn a living as a healer, or by selling potions, teas, and other services. There have been some cases of Hedge Witches working openly among barbarian tribes, though. In almost every case, people treat a Hedge Witch with a measure of respect (often born of fear) and disdain.

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Magical Abilities- Unable to cast incantations, Hedge Witches are left with only a few ways in which to exercise their natural talent for magic. Each Hedge Witch can choose one of the following two powers as their primary area of expertise (functions as normal), and the other as their secondary area of expertise (x2 cost, 1/2 effectiveness).
Ritualism- Hedge Witches are able to learn and cast ritual versions of any standard spell. They can figure out these rituals on their own, or be taught by a mage, or (if they are literate) learn from a scroll or spellbook.
Herbalism, Potions and Teas- Hedge Witches are able to learn how to brew potions and teas, similarly to the Herbalists in England. They can do this intuitively, and need little formal training, however they are not nearly as good at it as those with formal training, and they are unable to create any wands or staves, though they may use wands and staves with no penalty (likewise, they can use technowizardry devices).
Psychic Abilities- Hedge Witches also gain 1d4 psychic powers from the following list
(Roll randomly, or GM's choice)
1-6 Deaden Pain
7-13 Detect Psionics
14-18 Exorcism
19-24 Increased Healing
25-30 Induce Sleep
31-36 Meditation
37-42 Psychic Diagnosis
43-48 Restore PPE
49-54 Stop Bleeding
55-60 Ectoplasm
61-66 Impervious to Poison/Toxin
67-72 Mind Block
73-78 Clairvoyance
79-84 Presence Sense
85-00 Sense Magic

PPE: 1d4x10+10, plus an additional 2d4 per level starting with level 2. Recovery rate is 4 per hour of sleep/rest, or 8 per hour of meditation. A Hedge Witch can draw an extra 7 PPE per melee round when on a ley line, and 15 PPE per melee round when on a nexus. They may also gain PPE from blood sacrifice, or from living beings as per page 185 of RUE.
ISP: 3d6+ME, plus an additional 1d6+1 ISP per level starting with level 2.

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
Brewing: Medicinal (+10%)
Lore: Magic (+10%)
Holistic Medicine (+10%)
Identify Plants & Fruit (+5%)
Hand to Hand Combat: None. Hand to Hand Basic is available as a secondary skill.

Other Skills: Select four skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Barter, Language, Literacy, Literacy: Other, performance, and Sing only.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+10%).
Electronics: None.
Espionage: None.
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: None.
Medical: Animal Husbandry, First Aid, and Veterinary Science only.
Military: None.
Physical: Climbing, Juggling, Outdoorsmanship, Physical Labor, and Swimming only.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Boats: Paddle Types, Boats: Sail Types, Hover Craft (Ground), and Motorcycles and Snowmobiles only.
Pilot Related: Navigation Only.
Rogue: Concealment, Imitate Voices & Sounds, and Palming only.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation, Biology, botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Zoology only.
Technical: Any.
Weapon Proficiencies: Any Ancient, as well as the modern Weapon Proficiencies of Handguns, Rifle, Shotgun, Energy Pistol and Energy Rifle.
Wilderness: Any.

Secondary Skills: A total of 4 secondary skills may be chosen at first level.

Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Hedge Witches start with a set of work clothing (often cloaks, robes, and such), as well as clothing for other occasions. They will most likely have a place to live, away from other people, where they can life in peace. They may have a vehicle, usually a horse or other riding animal. They will have a number of tools that they regularly use: a bolene or sickle, knife or dagger, scissors, walking stick or staff, kitchen utensils and a cauldron for potion making, assorted jars and other containers for storing herbs, as well as bottles for potions, and cups or mugs for tea, a tea kettle, a basic medical kit (tech level varies), twine and string, a variety of sacks and bags, a lantern or flashlight, candles, some kind of divination tools, incense, some kind of fire-making device (from flint and steel to a fancy modern lighter) a wide variety of herbs, spices, and plant products. They tend to have 1d6 magic herbs or 1d4 magic potions. They typically do not own any weapons, other than their tools (staff, knives, etc.), but may own a bow or crossbow for hunting (4d6 arrows/bolts), or a weapon for self-defense (SDC pistol, shotgun, or rifle). They may also have any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master.
Money: 2d4x100 in herbs, potions, or other goods, or in local currency or Credits, or in Black Market items.

Scrap Miner
When the Rifts came, the world of humanity's Golden Age was reduced to rubble. In the ensuing centuries, much of this rubble was slowly buried under a creeping tide of earth and fauna, both hiding it from from the following generations of humanity's descendants, and preserving portions of it to incredible degrees. As time went by, the surface world was reduced further and further ruin, until eventually things settled and humanity began to rebuild.
One of the keys of building a new future was attempting to salvage remains of the past. The Coalition States grew fat and powerful by rediscovering the past's super-weapons. Rogue Scientists and scholars, searched for and salvaged lost and forgotten lore. Operators found and restored pieces of ancient technology.
And Scrap Miners emerged to capitalize on the vast un-plundered stores of Golden Age treasures that were yet undetected.
Unlike the other experts plumbing the wealth of the past, Scrap Miners have no formal education and little in the way of training. They are usually illiterate and poverty stricken, people desperate enough to stake their fortune on the hope of discovering occasional scraps of the world before the Rifts. A cache of old beer cans could be sold or traded for enough to keep a miner alive for few weeks. A stash of rusty tools or Elvis memorabilia might allow them to buy a dozen meals. Ancient documents can be sold on the Black Market, anything from old role-playing game guides to government or corporate papers. Weapons, no matter how old, whether capable of SDC or MD, always have a market.
Then there are the bigger finds, giant forgotten troves of war machines, or industrial equipment, even functioning factories hidden underground, or even stashes of precious metals
Most are lucky to eke out a living mining their way to and through the remains of landfills and garbage dumps, or by sifting through piles of rubble that remain from once mighty cities, finding a vacuum-sealed room here, or a stasis-storage chamber there, and obtaining handfuls of pre-apocalypse treasures.
Others, few of them, are lucky enough to actually find mostly intact ruins or even fully functioning underground bunkers or factories. Such discoveries might allow a lucky Scrap Miner to retire in luxury for the rest of his days (or at least until the money is gambled away).

(Scrap Miners also keep their eyes open for debris left over from more recent ruins or battles; they're equal opportunity scavengers)

Class Ability/Bonuses:
Scrap Mining
Methods and practices used in prospecting, sifting through rubble or trash, digging mine shafts, and other aspects of their profession. This includes the use of mining equipment, refining gear, cleaning/restoring artifacts, and a working knowledge of explosives (as Demolitions, but at -25%). This also includes a natural instinct for finding relics and refuse from the past that can help them know when, where, and how to dig.
Base Skill 35%+7% per level of experience.
(Any character with free access to technical skills may learn this skill, but only increase their skill at +5% per level)

OCC Skills:
Speak Native Language
One Language of Choice
Appraise Goods (with a 15% bonus and two of the excluded categories)
Excavation (+15%)
Physical Labor
Salvage (+10%)

Other Skills: Select eight skills at level one, and one additional skill at levels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 15. All new skills start at level one proficiency. These selections benefit from any bonus that may be noted below.
Communications: Any except Creative Writer, Laser Communications, Radio: Scramblers, and Electronic Countermeasures.
Cowboy: None.
Domestic: Any (+10% to Recycle)
Electronics: Any except for Electrical Engineer and Robot Electronics.
Espionage: Detect Concealment, Escape Artist, Forgery, and Wilderness Survival only
Horsemanship: General and Exotic only.
Mechanical: Automotive Mechanics, Locksmith, and Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: First Aid, Holistic Medicine, and Paramedic only.
Military: Camouflage, Demolitions, Demolitions Disposal, Demolitions Underwater, Find Contraband, Forced March, Trap & Mine Detection, and Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Any.
Pilot: Automobile, Bicycling, Boats (Motor, Race, and Hydrafoil and Paddle Types/Canoe/Kayak only), Hover Craft, Hovercycles, Motorcycles & Snowmobiles, Robots and Power Armor, Tracked & Construction Vehicles, Truck, Water Scooters, Water Skiiing & Surfing only.
Pilot Related: Any except for Weapon Systems.
Rogue: Any.
Science: Astronomy & Navigation, and Mathematics only (-10%).
Technical: Any (-5%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any except Heavy Mega-Damage Weapons.
Wilderness: Any.
Hand to Hand Combat: Basic costs one skill to learn.

Secondary Skills: A total of two secondary skills may be chosen at first level. One additional secondary skill may be chosen at levels 2, 3, and 5.
Standard Possessions/Equipment:
Rugged work clothes, 2 guns (likely to be SDC hunting rifles and/or SDC pistols, but some of the more militant types have military grade SDC weapons), 1d10 clips/magazines/belts/boxes of ammunition per weapon, 1 other SDC weapon (often a bow or crossbow for hunting, along with 1d4x10 arrows/crossbow bolts), wallet with ID, transportation (usually a rusty work truck or a draft animal, but some scrap miners have larger trucks or cargo vehicles), various tools (picks, shovels, cleaning utensils, prybars, pans, and other mining tools), hunting knife, and any additional equipment as determined by the Game Master. There is a 5% chance of owning a suit of light (and likely damaged) MDC body armor recovered from a dig, or a 25% chance of owning SDC body armor (AR 12+1d6, 1d6x100 SDC).
A Scrap Miner has a 30% chance of owning a tractor, bulldozer, backhoe or other form of heavy equipment, or a 5% chance of owning a robot or suit of power armor that was discovered during mining (Civilian model only, no weapons, usually a SDC structure, 50% total damage capacity remaining).
Money: 1d10x100 in any mix of Credits, local currency, general scrap, or trade goods, and 1d20x100 in Black Market salable goods.

Nice you send this into rifter, too bad it's not in PDF it be a nice way to full up the background in towns with decent occs.

[Shorty Lickens]

- Random mobs of unskilled humans and d-bees
- Big Animals
- Mutant animals (TMNT or HU2 style)
- Level 1 soldiers with low M.D. gear (Mercenaries)
- SDC robots (HU2 style) with man-sized body armor & weapons
- Mechanoid helper robots NOT in large groups
- Low power creatures from CB1, 2, and 3
- Unskilled Humans and d-bees with minor super powers (HU2, WB2, and SB3)
- SDC interdimensional beings (Dimension Books)
- Powerful brainwashed creatures who have forgotten their skills or spells

[HWalsh]

Having read the post... I suggest the following:

Robby's Rogues

Robby is a Glitterboy Pilot, he ran a small group of mercs. He has 2 lieutenants, a Juicer named Spaz and a Crazy named Blitz. They are all level 1.

Robby also has 6 mercs of low skill. They have energy pistols (2d6 MD) and rifles (4d6 MD) as well as light MD armor (25 MD) a few might have vibro-blades. (2d6 MD)

They were hired by the town as protectors and it wasn't bad. Then in an encounter Robby's Boom Gun got blown up. Now he's just angry. He's replaced it with a far less impressive Railgun (1d4x10) but he feels like a shell of his former self. He took the town over because he believed they wronged him by not replacing the Boom Gun (they couldn't afford 5-10 million!)

Bobby will start by sending Blitz out to explain to the PCs that they rightfully own the town and (if they know what's good for them) the PCs should leave. If they do then nobody gets hurt.

Engaging Blitz would make him flee if his armor is reduced by 50% if the PCs follow then it becomes and old west shootout. Mercs snipe at them through windows and from behind parked vehicles. Each miss blows huge holes in the scenery.

Once Spaz or Blitz, and at least 4 of the six Mercs have been dealt with, Bobby emerges. Once Bobby's down the PCs can see the massive devastation dealt to the town.