What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Axelmania »

Eagle wrote:People ln Africa live in close proximity to crocodiles, lions, and other lethal predators. And yes, some people get killed. But the populations of those areas aren't in critical danger. Those animals aren't mega-damage, but they might as well be to an unarmed human.


Crocodiles and Lions can be potentially injured by a human, particularly a human with a stick, so even if they could win the fight, they might hesitate at the potential of losing an eye or something. Not sure if MDC predators would have that fear.

It's our inability to hurt them, moreso than their ability to mist us, which is one of the major dangers.

Was there some rule about SDC bullets to MDC eyeballs in a Dino Swamps book somewhere which could apply to all creatures? Kind of like how eyeball shots ignore DR in GURPS?
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Eagle »

Except here are people who can hurt them, and they look just like the people who can’t. Animal intelligence predators don’t know the difference between a mega damage gun and a plastic toy. Intelligent monsters, sure, but your average MDC critter doesn’t know when it is safe to attack a human and when it is not.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

Getting Sick. Think European contact w/Native Americans and their introduction of unknown diseases. Unfortunately this will work both ways.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

ShadowLogan wrote:Getting Sick. Think European contact w/Native Americans and their introduction of unknown diseases. Unfortunately this will work both ways.



Yeah....wasn't there some discussion early on about the size of critters that could safely traverse Rifts? It was sort of a dodge to avoid situations like "A rift opens up, a gust of wind brings an alien bacterium through, all life on Earth dies-". Didn't say anything about bacterium tucked away inside critters that can pass through rifts.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Axelmania »

Eagle wrote:Except here are people who can hurt them, and they look just like the people who can’t. Animal intelligence predators don’t know the difference between a mega damage gun and a plastic toy. Intelligent monsters, sure, but your average MDC critter doesn’t know when it is safe to attack a human and when it is not.

I'm not talking about guns, I'm talking about that even though in a fight with a lion or alligator I would surely die, I bear some risk of jabbing my thumb into its eye and crippling it, and the animals are smart enough to know that when assessing me as prey.

MDC beasts would be smart enough to know most (SDC) creatures have zero risk of blinding them, so they would be much less hesitant to attack. Exception being any creature they've learned can inflict MD somehow.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Shopping at a d-bee grocery store, especially of the place has goods from an established d-bee run brand or franchise. Unless you can read the labels on canned goods and processed foods, and can identify the ingredients, you might be buying foodstuffs for entirely different physiologies and nutrient needs than your own. That brightly-colored and tasty candy might be colored/flavored with a high arsenic content that's perfectly safe and nutritious for some d-bee kid to eat, but might drop you where you stand.
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by eliakon »

taalismn wrote:
ShadowLogan wrote:Getting Sick. Think European contact w/Native Americans and their introduction of unknown diseases. Unfortunately this will work both ways.



Yeah....wasn't there some discussion early on about the size of critters that could safely traverse Rifts? It was sort of a dodge to avoid situations like "A rift opens up, a gust of wind brings an alien bacterium through, all life on Earth dies-". Didn't say anything about bacterium tucked away inside critters that can pass through rifts.

It has been well established in canon that there HAVE been plagues. Several of them in point of fact there are a host of new ones springing up right now due to the Minion War...

The reason that there hasn't been a ELE bacteria come through is because narratively that makes for a boring game. It is the same reason that no one has conquered the Earth, or why the Mechanoids failed, or any of the other 'coulda wiped the board' events happen.
They could, theoretically happen. And in universe people worry about them, and take measures and what not...
...but out-universe no one worries about them because you can't play a game if you don't have a setting to play in.

But if a particular game will be most interesting if the Andromida Strain breaks out, shrug, then more power to that gameing group. Just like if a particular group wants to have a zombie appocalypse, or have the world be annexed by the Floopers... what ever makes their game more fun for them.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Eagle »

The best defense against a super-plague is the lack of effective transportation. Some virus comes through a rift and wipes out a village. But the people from that village aren't getting on airplanes and flying all over the world. They ride around on horse and buggy. This means the virus normally doesn't spread. When you come across a town that has been wiped out by such a virus, you wear your full environmental body armor and you torch the place with mega-damage flamethrowers. Or you're not the Coalition, and you have people with healing magic that can stop it cold.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Axelmania »

I think a major defense against plagues is how low the populations are, how segregated they are. Even if you had a major infection in one city, travel between cities is probably longer/slower due to dangers and there's more time to be warned about illnesses and put up cordones / walls.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

There's also the fact that you have magic, psionics, bionics, and alien physiologies...a disease organism would have to be pretty hardy to overcome the sort of varied resistance that such a spectrum of abilities can pose to pathogens.
Magic healing? Check. Psionic healing? Check? Closed life-support cyborgs who can act to treat patients or enforce quarantines? Check? Likewise for those different alien biologies(though they also carry the risk of carrying exotic new pathogens).
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Pepsi Jedi »

drazool wrote:
Eagle wrote:Most people aren't supposed to have MD weapons or armor, and somehow they're managing to live long enough to reproduce. I figure most villages are in relatively safe locations (safe-ish), and people probably breed like rabbits to maintain their population. Your average girl in town is probably popping out kids when she's 15 or 16. Having a dozen children would be normal, because there's a pretty high mortality rate.

I've heard stories about when my grandpa was young, he grew up a sharecropper in a house with a dirt floor (it was the 1920s). He had a bunch of brothers and sisters who never even got named because they died when they were a couple of weeks old. In Rifts they'd have more advanced medical care, but you're also more likely to get killed by a monster, so it makes sense to maintain the high birth rate. I think you'd have a lot of "Joe went to town and never came back". But most of the time when you see a mega damage monster, you run and hide. The things may be horrifically dangerous, but they fail perception checks too.


Well, this, but there's also the fact that if you have a town of 100 people, and they can field, say, 50 people with some kind of megadamage weapon, that's a lot of damage. Assuming 2d6 MD weapons, and a 75% hit rate, they should be dealing something like 250 megadamage per attack, as a group. While you could massage these numbers up and down, you're not likely to encounter too many critters that would be able to stand up to that kind of attack.

I think hundreds of years later, natural selection would determine that a) all of the humans that survive to adulthood are at least able to shoot a gun, and b) most critters would know to avoid groups of humans. Individuals or very small groups would be vulnerable, but groups larger would be a different story.

Add to this the fact that even some individual or small group travelers are terrifying creatures in their own right, and I think the outlook is pretty good for people who are near civilization.

Add to this the availability of hover vehicles, and the relative prevalence of hover-cycles, even small groups of fast moving individuals would be able to get from town to town relatively easily.

Most towns would have cleared the forest for 1000 - 2000 feet from their walls/gatehouses/guard towers, whatever, and maybe farther, depending on what weapons they have available, and would be able to shoot out that far. Nightvision and thermal vision modes are relatively common. I think your average towns person is relatively safe.

Further, while the books don't say so, I would expect that cellular technology is widespread. A single cell tower is relatively easy to set up, covers a radius of about 7 miles, and can be linked to other towers via microwave links. There's basically no chance that some organization wouldn't try to scavenge that tech, and set up a network.

In my rifts world, any town of 100 people or so has cell service, internet, and a basic, functioning militia. Any town of 1000-2000 people have a small group of dedicated security, at least a couple of power armors, as well as a militia. Larger towns might have other security features as well, such as walls, automated defenses, and mutual defense agreements with communities nearby.

Finally, I think few communities outside of the coalition would be willing to totally forsake magic. A single magic user, with the right selection of spells, would be able to vastly bolster the defensive capabilities of any community of which they were a part.

I would envision the world as being basically a desert of savagery, with towns and villages being little oases of safety and civilization.

That's just my interpretation, of course.



Your hypothetical looks impressive but is highly unlikely. In Rifts a town of 100, wouldn't be fielding 50 combat able people. 30to 40% would be kids. Leaving 60 people tops. Of those 60, you're going to have non combatants. I'm not saying "Women" but that's where some people's minds will go, but Non combatants. People that aren't cut out for fighting. Even on top of that a village of 100 isn't going to have lots of money to spend tens of thousands on MD weaponry and armor.

All together in a village of 100... 4 or 5 may have MD weapons and or armor. If that. Now... 5 people with MD weapons still is the fire power of a modern day tank squad, but the enemies they face are every bit if not more powerful. It'd be much more like the wild west were people by and large don't go around with the might of a military battalion at their beck and call. If something happens you send for the sheriff and it might be hours, days or weeks before (If) he shows up, depending on community.

Not faulting your logic, just your numbers. Not even in the CS does half the population carry around military grade mega damage weapons. By all accounts in the fluff, MD weaponry is RAAARE...

Our PCs are just the 2%. so -we- get them, but your average farmer might only see an MD pistol or rifle on the hip of the local Sherrif and his one or two guys that patrol the entire town. Farmer jackson who's dad saved his entire life and who has saved his entire life might have a MD rifle in his house, but you can bet he's the only farmer with in a long ways that does.

As for the Cell towers and stuff it's been addressed a few times. Cell coverage is NOT that wide spread out side of the cities. Cell towers are basicl "Monster magnets" and get taken down. Part of the reason nations such as the CS and NGR hold power is that they DO insure long range communication. That they can call for back up and stuff.

Out side of a city like merc town or what have you, your cell isn't going to work and even then they're not magically universal. A cell that works in Merc town isn't going to have a carrier in Ironheart or Northern Gun.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

Nightmartree wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:Town & city sanitation workers get triple hazard pay just cuz..well, the LEAST dangerous things you'll find are the rodents of unusual size. It gets worse from there.


"Hi, I'm a Burster with the Municipal Waste Management Commission. Yeah, I'm a $#!+burner, but the pay's good and it stipulates in my contract that I or my family can't be discriminated against because I'm in the garbage business. Just as well, because my partner at work is a retired mercenary biowarfare hazmat warrior, and he knows PLENTY of ways to ruin a community's day if somebody ####es him off."


taalismn...I love you

in a can I borrow you for causing chaos kinda way...god I have to go MAKE a mercenary biowarfare hazmat warrior garbage man now. "this is a crack team of the best warriors in the city" "where were you trained?" "the local waste treatment plant" "welcome aboard sir"

one of the rifters has a CS bio warefare MOS and ideas for biological weapons.
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I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

taalismn wrote:
Nightmartree wrote:[

...borg with PTSD, surprise a juice, treat a crazie with kid gloves, all potentially bad ideas...and that's just the humans, I do NOT wanna be the guy who put a firecracker in a splugorths drink...but I could totally see a god of mischief doing that


That's why the SMART gods of mischief set up an immediate patsy when pulling a prank...some luckless schlub who happens to be apparently the ONLY one who could have pulled the prank and thus is going to get punched in the nadgers for it.
Or they just have an off the book spell, shift blaim targets is blamed for the next bad thing that happens.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Mack »

Blue_Lion wrote:
Nightmartree wrote:
taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:Town & city sanitation workers get triple hazard pay just cuz..well, the LEAST dangerous things you'll find are the rodents of unusual size. It gets worse from there.


"Hi, I'm a Burster with the Municipal Waste Management Commission. Yeah, I'm a $#!+burner, but the pay's good and it stipulates in my contract that I or my family can't be discriminated against because I'm in the garbage business. Just as well, because my partner at work is a retired mercenary biowarfare hazmat warrior, and he knows PLENTY of ways to ruin a community's day if somebody ####es him off."


taalismn...I love you

in a can I borrow you for causing chaos kinda way...god I have to go MAKE a mercenary biowarfare hazmat warrior garbage man now. "this is a crack team of the best warriors in the city" "where were you trained?" "the local waste treatment plant" "welcome aboard sir"

one of the rifters has a CS bio warefare MOS and ideas for biological weapons.


Merc Adventures, p32 has the Tin-Soldier OCC, a HAZMAT Specialist. Comes with a unique Bio-Hazard skill and armor.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

You are CS grunt out on patrol in the magic zone. You need to take a dump, you take a battle buddy with you to stand guard while you are exposed. You find a nice stump in the middle of clearing to sit on while you down load your MRE. You open up your armor sit down and start to and go 2 suddenly your buddy looks around then starts yelling at you telling you to get the frack out of the mushroom circle.

You come a crossed a strip club/brothel in Mexico.
Last edited by Blue_Lion on Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Blue_Lion wrote:You are CS grunt out on patrol in the magic zone. You need to take a dump, you take a battle buddy with you to stand guard while you are exposed. You find a nice stump in the middle of clearing to sit on while you down load your MRE. You open up your armor sit down and start to and go 2 suddenly your buddy looks around then starts yelling at you telling you to get the frack out of the mushroom circle..


LOOK first, go second.

Yeah, Faeriefolk gonna OWN your ass for that affront...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

taalismn wrote:
Blue_Lion wrote:You are CS grunt out on patrol in the magic zone. You need to take a dump, you take a battle buddy with you to stand guard while you are exposed. You find a nice stump in the middle of clearing to sit on while you down load your MRE. You open up your armor sit down and start to and go 2 suddenly your buddy looks around then starts yelling at you telling you to get the frack out of the mushroom circle..


LOOK first, go second.

Yeah, Faeriefolk gonna OWN your ass for that affront...

When you really have to go it is hard to look before you leap.

Wonder how many people die to taking a leak on a sleeping plant based or invisible critter.
That tree just smacked Pete.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Blue_Lion wrote:[

Wonder how many people die to taking a leak on a sleeping plant based or invisible critter.
That tree just smacked Pete.



"FOUND THE DRAGON!!!!"
Last edited by taalismn on Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Pepsi Jedi »

It sounds hyperbolic, but I've often used it as an example in rifts.

"Never kick the cat begging for food at your campfire because it might just be a metamorphed great horned dragon that can rip your leg off and beat you with it."

While such is not what you'd think of as a 'common' occurrence, it's not so uncommon that it'd be 100% alien. It makes for a pretty scary environment.

It also goes a long way to explaining the 'why' people put up with some of the more.... Demanding and or strict societies. When you live in a world where you could get your spine ripped out by a passing house cat (Dragon) or the tree you go behind to pee, could snatch you up, pop off your head and drink you like a coke, or quite literally, an UNENDING variation on the theme, with everything from dragons to carnivorous trees, to aliens of every stripe, to dimensional beings of every type, to ghosts, spirits, mutants, mystical and supernatural creatures, animals, and beings from literally countless other worlds, before you even get to the depravity of humanity in all it's shades, and decrepitude.... a few less civil liberties would seem like a small price to pay, for 'safety' from such unending horrors.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Deep water fishing with chum....
Blood in the water will bring all sorts of nastiness up to taste you.
Trips to the beach? THat's serving yourself up on a salad-sandbar. Ever see orcas come on beaches to scarve down seals? Yeah, it's kinda like that.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Eagle »

Giving a Splugorth proctology exam?
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Eagle wrote:Giving a Splugorth proctology exam?



THat pretty much cleans out the booze supply on Atlantis....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Nightmartree »

Pepsi Jedi wrote:It sounds hyperbolic, but I've often used it as an example in rifts.

"Never kick the cat begging for food at your campfire because it might just be a metamorphed great horned dragon that can rip your leg off and beat you with it."

While such is not what you'd think of as a 'common' occurrence, it's not so uncommon that it'd be 100% alien. It makes for a pretty scary environment.


...ummmmmm....

*thinks back to all the times he has wanted to play a dragon and shapeshift into a cat or rabbit as a disguise*

i don't think thats hyperbole...well, the begging part, im not sure cats beg let alone dragons, but they may meow demandingly
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by guardiandashi »

You go up and yowl demandingly then start "leg stroping that cats do" (the rubbing against legs that cats do) and if they don't come up with food well that person just volunteered to become dragon bait when it's convenient.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

guardiandashi wrote:You go up and yowl demandingly then start "leg stroping that cats do" (the rubbing against legs that cats do) and if they don't come up with food well that person just volunteered to become dragon bait when it's convenient.



(looking at remains strewn across the landscape)
"Guess you're just not a cat person."
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Sir Dellis »

Kind of funny reading the last couple posts about the cat/dragon...as I am reading these posts, both of my cats came over to me demanding attention, trying to get into my lap...

as for a situation "not so safe" - exploring ruins of any kind
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Disposing of waste of any sort....even if something doesn't get you, something might be able to track you by your latrine pits and garbage dumps. Even burning your trash lets something know you're trying to hide your presence.
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
Freemage
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Freemage »

Sex, in any of it's myriad and delightful forms, becomes a whole new phenomenon.

Sure, you've got the obvious bit--shapeshifters, alien creatures looking to harvest lonely mortals (or is that morsels?), and so on.

But historically, in Earth culture, sex-magic is about as frequent as death-magic. Arguably, in a world where magic is suddenly made real, there's some literal mojo happening with every coupling. Forget about your 4-year-old barging in at an inopportune moment; we're talking about a Cosmo-Knight battling a Mechanoid just tumbling through the bedroom at peak awkwardness.

Naturally, there's probably also some magic practitioners out there who specialize in using magic as part of their happy-fun-times. Maybe they drain their partners of PPE through such acts, or maybe they just use the energy released to summon critters from beyond, or maybe they're a Mind Melter who likes to use the distraction of the act to slip past their target's natural psychic resistance, making them more easily dominated and controlled.

Nightmartree wrote:
eliakon wrote: Its all totally normal and fine... right up until its not (when ever that is, and never is one of those options).


...i'm now picturing one of those situations were a person just has a "normal day" go to get coffee, aliens drinking in the corner, walking home a stray dog gets grabbed by a shadow and vanishes with a yelp, drinks a beer, as his furniture all levitates around him, mows the lawn, as meteors fall onto his neighborhood.

One man, one life, one normal day, the sheer apathy just rolls off of the modern working man


This makes me think of the scene in Shaun of the Dead where he is so into the repetitive nature of his morning routine that he doesn't even notice all the zombies and related carnage in the background....
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What situations would be "safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Sohisohi »

Unironically, killing yourself is probably the safest thing to do as being alive significantly increase your chances of being slaughtered while being dead only increases your chances of living a full and fulfilling life.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Freemage wrote:Sex, in any of it's myriad and delightful forms, becomes a whole new phenomenon.

Sure, you've got the obvious bit--shapeshifters, alien creatures looking to harvest lonely mortals (or is that morsels?), and so on.....



The picture of the female Zenith Moonwarper may as well be a warning poster about sex on Rifts Earth. Don't.
Being a full conversion cyborg is a step towards full-coverage prophylactic prevention. Being an ARMORED FCC is getting the ribbed extra-ply.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by slade2501 »

drinking water. imagine a foreign contaminate that causes mutation effects, a plague, insanity, all kinds of fun stuff.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Sohisohi wrote:Unironically, killing yourself is probably the safest thing to do as being alive significantly increase your chances of being slaughtered while being dead only increases your chances of living a full and fulfilling life.



Raise Zombie, necromancer spare parts shopping, and having your residual memories usurped by haunting entities out to swipe identities.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Riftmaker
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Riftmaker »

Dating how do you know you're not with a telepath having your head messed with

Basic travel Lay line storms monsters fade towns ets

Death Gee i'm sad granddad died but i'm more scared he's going to get up again.

Raising children Does me son have an imaginary friend or do I need to worry?



Faith How do I know this flying spaghetti monster is not just an illusion? Yea I didn't use any hot button examples on this one.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Oh yeah, as others have said before: dying.
Unless you have a reliable regeneration/resurrection plan/policy in place that cuts in in timely fashion, you better have a backup plan to have your body more or less instantly cremated if you don't want it zombified, eaten, recycled as spare fiddly bits, used as decoration, or otherwise desecrated.


Owning books...knowledge is power and some people don't think others should have power. And it's not just books like The Wealth of Nations or The Triumph of Democracy that are going to get you in hot water...even a gag copy of the Necronomicron or any of the Twilight series can get you snuffed for consorting with dark forces.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

Joining your friends for a ancient ritual to appease the spirits.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Blue_Lion wrote:Joining your friends for a ancient ritual to appease the spirits.



Ouji Boards are RIGHT out.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Axelmania
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Axelmania »

taalismn wrote:The picture of the female Zenith Moonwarper may as well be a warning poster about sex on Rifts Earth. Don't.

Which is kind of ironic because while it's one of the more horrifying images, when it comes to murderous shapeshifters who might do this sort of thing, the Z-Warpers are not particularly powerful.

Hm with talk of shadow updates, only just now noticing that WB12p138's 600+ year lifespan got nerfed in WB30p221 to just being a "belief" (that seems to happen a lot, like with Elves being creatures of magic, now that is merely a "belief") and that it's actually 75-100 years, closer to humans.

Of course, in Psyscape they never went into detail about their reproduction so I could take a "they breed like Elves" approach to not worry about their overpopulation. DONA reveals they can breed from 13 (full maturity) to 50 which is pretty scary. At least it's one at a time like us and not in litters like Psi-Hounds/Wolfen.

The "Disposition" they were given (opportunists who become 100% faithful when they fall in love) is so tsundere I'd think it was influenced by "Monster Girl" fandom except that it came out in 2006 and MGE came out in 2016.

Another scary aspect is a tweak which happened to their shapechanging. This originally only said "Can assume a completely human appearance," which could lead you to think they have a fixed human appearance (like a werewolf) but DONA added "and take on different facial appearances and skin tones" which makes them a step closer to changelings and a much bigger threat to track down!

At least (AFAIK) they still can't change height/weight/gender. But face/skin tone could cause a lot of foolery.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

Drinking soda.

Battle field salvage, pick and pull junk yards. (nothing like a leaking nuke to ruin your day.)

Teasing the geek dressed as a Ninja.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Hell knight
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Hell knight »

Further, while the books don't say so, I would expect that cellular technology is widespread. A single cell tower is relatively easy to set up, covers a radius of about 7 miles, and can be linked to other towers via microwave links. There's basically no chance that some organization wouldn't try to scavenge that tech, and set up a network.


Actually one of the books do mention Communication and cell phones , in short in a big city's you can find it but past the city limits there practically zip for your average person.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Being disrespectful of old folks. That old guy you're heckling might be a Elder Thing with enough firepower to eliminate you back five generations of your family.

Getting old, period, unless you have some plan for immortality, or augmentation to keep you vigorous and kicking arse when normally you'd be trying to find foods that don't upset your stomach or light up your arthritis.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

Tax collector. "Um dragon you have not paid your income tax in 2 years you owe..."

Door to door soliciting.

Signing your real name on documents without reading them.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Khanibal »

Standing there.

Joe was just standing there when them dog boys started hassling the old man about 'smelling like magic'.

Sara was just standing there when the CS troopers opened fire on the d-bee.
"Then one day, I was just walking down the street and I heard a voice behind me say, 'Reach for it Mister.', and I spun around and there I was face to face with a six-year-old kid.
Well, I just threw my guns down, walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass.”

-Waco Kid (Blazing Saddles)
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Blue_Lion wrote:
Signing your real name on documents without reading them.


Inadvertently giving people your real/true name.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by eliakon »

taalismn wrote:
Blue_Lion wrote:Joining your friends for a ancient ritual to appease the spirits.



Ouji Boards are RIGHT out.

What about a nice game of Jumanji :?:
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

eliakon wrote:
taalismn wrote:
Blue_Lion wrote:Joining your friends for a ancient ritual to appease the spirits.



Ouji Boards are RIGHT out.

What about a nice game of Jumanji :?:

What can be so wrong about a game that has a mystic circle as the board?
"To you, it's an 'Introduction to Summoning/Shifting' educational game. To the rest of us it's recklessly opening doors to hell in your living room."
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Riftmaker »

Getting married Mysticly bonding soul binding contracts are not to be entered into lightly.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Riftmaker wrote:Getting married Mysticly bonding soul binding contracts are not to be entered into lightly.


"Do you swear to love and support your spouse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and to sacrifice yourself if she needs extra life energy for a ritual?"
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

taalismn wrote:
Riftmaker wrote:Getting married Mysticly bonding soul binding contracts are not to be entered into lightly.


"Do you swear to love and support your spouse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and to sacrifice yourself if she needs extra life energy for a ritual?"

She will kill me if I say no now.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
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taalismn
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by taalismn »

Giving blood.
"Say, I never heard of blood donation shunts being placed on the carotid! Where did you get your medical training?"
"Mexico City."
///Sssssshhhluuurrppp///
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: What situations would be "Not so Safe" in rifts?

Unread post by Nightmartree »

By the gods I love this thread...you guys do realize this is now a list of "ways for the GM to screw with characters and start adventures"

Also Jumanji is a fricking adventure that starts when your characters buy an old board game and try to have a relaxing night in...bonus points if they're all sdc beings.

and i'd like to add "Talking on an internet forum" you never know who or what is on the other side of that post, did you just try to troll a 6 billion year old alien intelligence...

or maybe you just offered to meet up and show this cute chick how an alien rolls in the sack, good news chap, she likes you, bad news is her daddy is a CS general with a team of commandoes on their way to "Talk" to the thing that's talking to his sweet baby
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