Your greatest or most worthy character for another's world?

Ley Line walkers, Juicers, Coalition Troops, Samas, Tolkeen, & The Federation Of Magic. Come together here to discuss all things Rifts®.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

Eagle
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:31 pm

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Eagle »

I got to play a Hundred Handed once. Named him Tiny. He's definitely the most powerful Rifts character I've ever played (though not the most powerful when you go to other game systems). But I don't know that anyone wants Tiny running around their game world.
TeeAychEeMarchHare
Explorer
Posts: 145
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2017 2:56 pm
Comment: War to the knife, knife to the hilt.

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by TeeAychEeMarchHare »

Remember Doc Holiday as played by Val Kilmer in "Tombstone"?

Now give him Temporal magic. And play until he's 11th level (starting at whatever the max was that you could stay with the temporal raider....10 years? 15?).

I used to phase through the body of robots, APC's, etc, and take out the pilot. Free robot! Then sell it since I didn't need it and none of the other players wanted it.

Also used the same spell to stick grenades inside of body armor and power armor with the occupant. Hose it out, some air freshener, and we're making money.

I don't have any of his stats, the last time I played as him was over 20 years ago. I remember he was of average intelligence and strength, high agility and charisma, and had had surgery to correct the hit he took to his appearance for being with the raider so long.

He was taken in by the temporal raider when he was 12 after some Splugorth slavers attacked and either carried off or killed almost everyone in his village. Parents dead, sisters enslaved.

He really had a thing for killing anyone associated with the Splugs. Other than that he was pretty laid back, liked to play cards, drink whiskey, and bang randos and pros.

Didn't remember the name he was given at birth, just what the temporal raider renamed him: Wolfgang Moatsart (he wasn't an ancient history buff and didn't know the correct spelling).

Raider turned him loose (read: abandoned him) in Africa. The plan was we (raider, Wolf, and the other guys serving the raider; I think there were two other Temporal warriors and a wizard) were going to rob some of the goody-two-shoes that were there to fight the Apocalypse Demons. Raider did a See Aura or something on one of our targets and bailed at the last second. I made my way back to North America somehow. Also spent some time in the NGR, where I "acquired" a suit of military Terrain Hopper PA. His favourite rifle was the Kittani knock-off of the Wilk's 457 pulse rifle.

I remember he had an item (or spell maybe) that allowed him to hide his magic from Dog Boys and Psi-Stalkers, but don't remember what it was. We were all teens and just having fun, so maybe it was something one of the guys made up when he was taking a turn GMing.

I think Mercenaries was the last book to come out back when we still played, but you'd be able to find Wolf in places like Arzno, MercTown, and Old Bones, or any little settlement in Dinosaur Swamp that had enough people to have a still, a card game, and interesting conversation. He didn't much care for Tolkeen or the Federation, or most other magic users for that matter. To him, magic is a tool, no different than a laser rifle or a hammer. He wasn't arrogant about being a caster, didn't think it was superior to tech, that kind of thing.

If you decide to use him, remember he's a Merc, he's laid back, hates the Splugs, and while he will do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal, he's not Stupid Evil ,but he's a LONG way from Lawful Stupid (which are basically what Palladium alignments boil down to, and the major reason I discarded them from all my games).
Too much ammo is a self-correcting problem.
User avatar
Thom001
Explorer
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:22 am

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Thom001 »

One of the characters that I really enjoyed playing was Major Seth Alexander. Seth is a major psychic vagabond turned soldier with a love for adventure, loads of good luck, a bad habit of getting himself into the thick of things by his actions or words, and inventive strategy for solutions.

Seth ran into an arms deal between undercover Manistique Imperium soldiers and a gang of traffickers. He was actually trying to hide out and leave the town to escape that very gang that he had just freed a teenage d-bee from, who was still with him. After botching their trade he ended up assisting the soldiers take out the whole gang and getting their stolen arms back. He is brought on board and with his psychic abilities is put into a fledgling group and given officer status (like how all seals are automatically e5).

2nd Lt Alexander proved to be a valuable team member, and was sent on a mission to rescue a civilian vip. The mission went sideways and most of the team died, Seth stole an enemy craft and was taking the target back when it was hit. They survived the crash, and were picked up but Seth lost his ear, lost sight in his eye and his arm was destroyed. He was given cybernetics and bionics, received medals and a promotion. A few years and many successful missions later, Seth had earned two more promotions and was now team leader.

Major Seth Alexander took his team of 7 including himself and Zakvio (the teenage d-bee now in early 20s) on a recon mission. It became necessary to engage the enemy. The enemy was almost defeated when suddenly the forrest changed, the evening became pitch night and the enemy disappeared. Seth and his team had ended up on another world, ruled by intelligent smaller (5.5-14 ft tall) dinosaur supremacists. During the months there one of their team disappeared without a trace, was never found, and was assumed to be dead. The fight to get back to rifts was hard and only Seth, Zakvio, and one other team member made it back through the portal.

They landed in a camp of strange monsters and men in power armor. A fight broke out, outnumbered and outgunned Seth was left to die. Only his psychic healing abilities kept him alive. The other two were taken. Last seen he had bartered his services for a ship and was leaving the islands trying to gather info on where the slavers had taken his remaining team. (The GM had told me Seth was in south America, but that is all he would say)

Lv 3 vagabond/Lv 7 CS military Specialist (modified for Manistique Imperium)
IQ: 16 ME: 24 MA: 20 PS: 16 (left arm 20) PP: 24 PE: 18 PB: 16 SPD: 15 HP: 62 SDC: 77 ISP: 60 Alignment: Scrupulous, slowly sliding down the scale
Psionic abilities: telekinetic leap, telekinetic push, bio-regeneration, sixth sense, impervious to fire, see the invisible
Bionics/Cybernetics: Bio-systems: inner ear, outer ear, night-vision eye
Cybernetic Ear attachments: Amplified hearing, sound filtration system
Bionics: Hand and arm ps 20 attachments, climb cord, secret compartment, retractable knuckle blades, DNA analyzer, universal finger jack

Seth tries to be a good, honorable man. He stands up for all walks of life, doesn't understand petty crime (why not just work for it?), He isn't against magic, he just never learned and now would have to get a bio-systems arm to be able to use magic. He has spent nearly 10 years working for the imperium. They gave him a place to belong and a family. Over time different members of his family have retired, and died. His most current family is stuck on another planet and taken by slavers. He might return to the imperium, but only after rescuing his team. Secretly the reason he has been in so many battles is he loves the fighting and the death.
User avatar
Vincent Takeda
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:16 pm
Comment: 44 years in denver, but now in grand rapids.
Location: Rifts Denmark

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Vincent Takeda »

This thread is the gift that keeps on giving
Last edited by Vincent Takeda on Thu May 17, 2018 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
guardiandashi
Hero
Posts: 1437
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:21 am

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by guardiandashi »

my "greatest" character is actually a pair, that I have mentioned before. Alecia DeVreis, and Megarea.

Alecia started out as a special forces char (from Mercenaries) I believe she was also a D-bee human (or close to it) but parents came through a rift from another dimension she also had the random major psionics (but without the skill penalty) significant stats etc. the GM also gave her an "edge" prior to the game starting, and her equipment was tweeked because of it, Archie 3oz had observed some battle she was involved in, and "experimented" without talking to Hagen about it, he rescued her, and built a custom, suit of shemarrian power armor, and borg (robotic)implants to replace the parts of her body that were blown off, because her base stats were beyond the as written cybernetic limits, she lost the left arm at the shoulder/chest area, left leg at the hip, right arm in the forearm, right leg in mid calf, and part of the left side of her skull (including the eye)
Archie repaired all that, and implanted a "co processor" chip in her brain, and was experimenting with AI's at the time. so he basically "copied her personality" and used it as the base personality program for the "modified" monst-rex (riding) that he equipped her with before he sent her on her way. so in some ways in our campaign she was the first neshemar and actually helps the whole shemarrian illusion/story, because she had a real back story that people could actually check, AND she was a partial conversion cyborg. (all the bionic replacements were flesh coated, with cloned dna matching bio-skin. ) and megarea had the same basic stats and gear as a standard monst-rex, except she also had the fleshcoat, (and fur) for the disguise. depending on the specific version from the game we were playing, Megarea was either disguised as a "monst-Rex" sized wolf, or Tiger that had been cyber implanted with weapons (had the standard weapons package as a "riding" monst-rex and retractable concealed spines. )

as they went on many rifted to.... adventures, both chars picked up various gear, skills, "upgrades" and similar.
for example both have upgraded/enhanced armor over standard shemarrian, and monst rex, personal force shields and adaptive shields. Megarea has significant "dimensional (or hammerspace) storage," and Alecia ended up with a copy of "Washu's lab" from the Tenshi Moyou anime. (megarea also had /developed Kleptomaniac Tendencies).

I can post more information if people are interested.
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Darrian
As a child he was withdrawn avoiding human contact when possible. He seemed to be more interested in making… things. As he grew his knowledge grew as did the quality of his machines… now people knew what they were looking at, GENIUS. The child excelled at all things technical but trailed in all other subjects, barely passing High School he was actually picked up by the Nations top tech College on a Full ride scholarship. Again just barely receiving his BS. The government recognized his talents from the "product" he turned out so gave him a scholarship to allow him to take any classes he chose. He could have had a Doctorates in multiple fields but because other non-technical requirements were never completed his degree simply doesn't reflect the amount of knowledge held within his skull. After completing the majority of his classes (he still goes back for new classes or lectures… only if they include labs) the government picked him up and placed him in DARPA.

While at DARPA he discovered a new energy and developed a fixed weapon using it. The effects caused any thing struck by the energy to be annihilated, from tin can to tank nothing was left behind. While trying to discover the exact effects of the weapon they discovered two things first, the items didn't in fact become destroyed but rather were transported to a parallel dimension and second, transporting everything to the same location is messy. His curiosity got the best of him one night he aimed the "PDT" at another location and transported another D-sponder. The visual showed that it indeed transported to a new location and in approximately the same location in the other dimension. That night he decided to test it on a live subject so across the divide went bugs who arrived safely… minus the tin sudden death from shock of being d-ported and melded with a tin can (oopsey). Curiosity again took hold… he wanted to go. He decided to select a… uncluttered location as well as extend the duration of the beam so that he could get back through (since video from d-sponders had shown a blue portal on the other side). When he crossed over his morphous form was awakened. At first he didn't notice this looking about in astonishment it seemed to be an underground hanger full of vehicles… advanced vehicles his grin grew…(something strange). As he attempted to pass back through the portal he discovered that the portal was one way…then he discovered the arm of some monster was reaching for the portal. He swung and put up as good a defense as he could muster, then realized those hands, those arms were connected… TO HIM!!! He quickly inspected the rest of his body, only now o_O noticing the lack of a nose, or eyelids or… skin, he screamed, what he heard was a roar then he passed out.

When he awoke he found himself in pitch black save a small light in the distance. He crawled on the floor toward the light noticing on occasion that his hands felt… normal. There was also the familiar feel of his lab coat and the weight of it's pockets pulling in awkward directions. As he reached the light he depressed the button and was blinded by light and deafened by klaxons. Within minutes there was yelling and he was forced back to the ground where he was restrained. He was taken to a prison cell by a couple goons in some sort of armor, kinda like the stuff he was developing back home. He was interrogated, not being a fan of pain, he blurted out EVERYTHING… except the part about the monster (which must have been a dream, no a nightmare). His new "friends" weren't sure what to do with him. Was he crazy, was he telling the truth, was the truth crazy? They brought in specialists in psychology to determine his mental state, as well as those in areas he spoke of to determine if what he was saying was the truth. His hosts revealed themselves as NEMA a military organization that defends all of Northern America and Mexico (guess NAFTA went a little too far). After his knowledge was hesitantly confirmed (the "specialists" didn't like being out done, though they always commented on how his technical writing skills were abhorrent) NEMA offered him a "supervised" position in their version of DARPA. He was placed in an underground facility with no knowledge of it's location other than it was in the central United States. Kept under close scrutiny he wasn't able to do much aside from develop equipment they requested. His many halted attempts to redesign a PDT only produced a small handheld device that allowed him to detect the energy, which he called PDE. He developed several new systems that were just coming to fruition, now entering their field testing phase. Thanksgiving came and instead of a Turkey dinner he got a transfer, escorted in an armored vehicle in a windowless compartment with armed guards, to another facility somewhere on the East coast.

CRYOGENICS?!? What the hell did they transfer him here for? He specialized in machines not people. He found that he had been transferred to aid in the final design and manufacture development of the machine, not for bio-development which had already been completed. The first was received by Christmas, and the first subject was Bugs II who was revived 24hrs after he was put under, just to be put under again for a week, then a month. Each test was successful the only observed side effect was nausia and a form of shock. By the middle of the next year they had 100 cryotubes manufactured delivered and installed for further testing. The first test was to make sure they powered up. Durring power-up tests the system the engineers noticed there was an odd drain, it seemed that each cryotube drew more power than the previous in an exponential curve. They had to switch from a single reactor to bleeding energy from all reactors in parallel into a device which would amplify the power, remove any irregularities and could compensate for the power curve. A few days before Christmas he felt a sting on his right leg. He reached into his pocket to discover his, now sticky, PDE detector. Withdrawing it he found it bloody, its face plate shattered and meter pegged. What bothered him was it was still reading high, not to mention he noticed that his BoNeS were a bit dry… this morn…ing. He looked around and saw everyone looking at him, there faces contorted… in sheer terror, then the mirror where only death stared back, then darkness… followed by intense cold, followed by dreams… not dreams nightmares. Two worlds becoming one. The sun eaten by darkness then regurgitated into the light the worlds separate into recognizable spheres but remain touching. Something… no everything different a feeling more than physical evidence. Closer, closer the vision got he could see people now… no only some were people others were all sorts of beasts who walked with the people who didn't even notice them. Then there were the shadowless shadows, people made of shadows who didn't cast shadows of their own also walking among the people, unnoticed. Then a voice telling him you are the Slayer of Demons and Murderer of Angels. You are death, the horned god, Cernunnos.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

More than One Way to Hack a Computer (A Saila and Sarkus story)
A few years ago Hagan, before he became A.R.C.H.I.E.’s idea man, was traversing the wilderness; every moment of his life filled with fear, then he happened upon a woman sitting near a camp fire with her beast lying near her. From the side of her headdress arose two antennas. The shaggy beast laying beside her turned its snout to the forest in Hagan’s direction, dust kicked up as a paw moved to lift the massive body from the ground. She reached over and pat the beasts nose and said something to it, either too quiet or in a language he didn’t understand… yet. Her beast settled back down, she slid her half naked body up next to it and drew some sort of scaled hide blanket over her. The beast reached over and dragged its saddle, and the blanket connected to it, under its chin. Her antenna flicked the air as her friend sniffed. Then they seemed to go to sleep. Hagan cold, alone and scared, snuck into the camp as he neared them he realized how tall she was and how massive the beast as he neared the fire. As he closed the distance the beast suddenly moved with a grunt. Hagan jumped out of the clearing back into the woods heart racing. The beast was now on its side, all of its legs out in one direction. The woman had slid off onto the dirt. She slid over to a paw and the beast drew her toward it. She smacked its side and said something in a chastising tone, it simply smirked. They went back to sleep. Hagan needed warmth, he knew he was on the verge of hypothermia and would die unless he got some… guess he should have learned how to make a fire. He scooted close to the fire and as he watched for any sign of movement he fell asleep.

In the morning he awoke to a lot of hot air moving over him and the sound of a very large beast sniffing very close to him. The feminine voice from last night was close and loud enough for him to hear yet he could not understand. He laid there motionless, hardly even breathing. The sniffing stopped and a very close and inhumanly deep and guttural voice responded to the female… IT spoke!? She grunted, and then it did as its feet shuffled away from him. He cracked his eyes to try to see what was going on and as he looked up out of the corner of his eye he got a view he’d never forget, and one few men see. As he looked up she stepped over him, and his eyes grew wide. Hagan knows what her species wears under their loincloths or skirts. If asked he remains silent but gets that whimsical look, when you recall a fond memory, with a big cheesy grin. The moment was a flash, though the whole thing plays in slow motion in his head, as she stepped over and walked toward their gear. His moment of erotic fantasy was also short lived as he felt thuds coming closer from behind him. Then a claw passed through his hair before hitting the ground, then big eyes, then darkness, and as he got snorted on a little monster boogey hit him in the face. Then the worst image he’d ever see, the beast was bearing its fangs in a snarl inches from his face. He squeezed his eyes shut as the rest of the beast passed over him. He cracked his eyes again just in time to see the beast’s tail come down and slap him. His face was stinging but he knew that a beast of that size could have caused much more damage. He watched it walk over to the woman and as she was putting, what he thought was a blanket, on as a cape connecting it to the chest plate and pauldron she had been wearing all night. It snickered as it spoke to her and as she spun around to look at Hagan he got another glance as her fast movement caused her apparently heavy loincloth to skew to one side… the carpet matched the drapes. Her cape billowed out but then began to stick to her from top to bottom increasing mass and rigidity over vital or non-flexible parts and separating into cable like mail over a body suit at the joints and other flexible parts. Hagan could see her cheeks were flush, he hoped in embarrassment as her face did not seem to display any anger, but then she started stepping toward him. His eyes popped open and he tried getting to his feet, only successful in pushing himself across the ground. She quickly reached him and put her hand out. Hagan flinched and closed his eyes expecting his life to end. Nothing happened; he heard the beast laugh and he opened his eyes. She was still standing there her hand outstretched, her face still flush, but her beautiful blue eyes were smiling and she wore a sheepish grin on her perfect face. He put his hand in hers and she helped him up. Then she looked at him put her hand together in front of her face, which now seemed to have a pleading look upon it, then she said something in her language. She realized he couldn’t understand so she stood there for a minute thinking; all the while Hagan studied her face and her green hair. After a couple seconds she did the pleading hands again followed by the talking hand, the quieting finger on the talking hand, pointing at him, then both of her eyes then down. Hagan figured out that she didn’t want him to talk about his religious experience, when he said it the right way she nodded… apparently her translator worked. The woman went on with her business, she threw the saddle and blanket onto her beast picked up two staff looking weapons that had triggers and collapsed on their own when she went to place them on her back. Two other staff weapons she picked up collapsed into something like a knife these she stuck into concealed sheaths on her thighs and finally she picked up two different rifles that she put into sheaths on the beasts saddle, that weren't there just a minute ago. She looked at Hagan and said something and then motioned to him. Hagan asked if she wanted him to come with her and she nodded her head. She flung herself up onto the saddle and offered her hand. Hagan took it and almost pulled his arm out of joint as she jerked him off his feet.

A few days had passed as Hagan traveled with the woman his translator finally picked up her language. He learned that her name was Saila and the beast was her friend and pack mate Sarkus who spoke the same language. She never again assumed the minimal armor mode, probably too embarrassed, he did however notice that she was getting uncomfortable in the full armor after about the second day. He learned about their culture and was starting to grow bored of her near continual talking when he was rolling his eyes and just happened to notice a guy in a tree dressed in CS armor. He yelled and with a single move she knocked him to the ground on the opposite side of Sarkus from the scout and leapt toward the Deadboy. Sarkus spun to face that direction and in that instant went from some near cuddly mutant wolf grizzly cross to a titanic armored dreadnaught armed and armored to the teeth, well… except for the teeth. Sarkus fired some shots that seemed to be aimed at Saila which she deftly avoided as if it was planned; the shots hit the tree, shattering the trunk. As the tree fell with the soldier in it Saila, still flying through the air, pulled one of the knives which immediately extended to the length of a halberd, and spun it. She landed on the same branch as the trooper, the first strike hit him square in the helmet and cut into it, he was surely a goner but as she spun around for a second strike the helmet fell from his head in two parts and she struck him with the blunt end with a crack he was most certainly dead before he hit the ground she landed over him a foot on each side of his torso. The tree was still falling and her last slash with the halberd sliced it in two pieces which fell on either side of them. Sarkus now looking as he did before the battle came over, took a deep breath, and exhaled on the unconscious human. The human shook his head like he smelled something foul and immediately came to consciousness. Saila asked him if there were any others and the man unable to understand and realizing she was that much more alien scowled at her and told her that if she did not release him the others would surely descend on her and slaughter her and her entire family… apparently the wrong thing to say to her as the knife she held extended into a spear burying its blade in his throat, likely severing his spine. As she turned her armor seemed to stiffen and the cable mail flattened out into plate her head crest rose and separated as another antenna came out, the three were busy flicking the air to find the "others." After a couple minutes passed her armor reverted to the previous mode as they began to remount Sarkus her antenna shot straight up into the air moments before a far off crash could be heard. Sarkus spun around knocking Hagan off the trail and into the forest. As Hagan watched all the plates of Saila’s head dress stood on end and two extra antennas slid out, the cable mail went flat again and the dense armored portions seemed to grow. A pack of some sort extruded from the suits back and blades seemed to sprout from everywhere. As he looked on her image seemed to blur as if he was looking at her across hot desert sand… the suit was producing massive amounts of heat. Out of the forest crashed the large skull headed mass of a UAR-1 Robot which immediately launched missiles. Sarkus, armored up again, fired a spray of laser beams into the volley detonating several causing a chain reaction that destroyed the rest. The giant robot started firing its cannon and Saila nimbly dodged the first shot almost purposefully into the next shot which hit her and sent her spinning into the air. Fragments of her armor flew off in all directions and her bare shoulder could be seen. Sarkus leapt behind her and jumped into the air side swiping her mid air, Saila’s feet hit Sarkus’ side stopping her spin and giving her a springboard. Her armor looked like it was regenerating, her shoulder now hidden under the material. She leapt off Sarkus’ side and landed on the UAR-1’s shoulder. The UAR-1 immediately started swatting itself in an attempt to dismount her. Her armor, fully regrown, new blades popped out. She dodged the clumsy strikes and stabbed a morph blade spear into each eye, which she then used to perform amazing acrobatic feats. The secondary sensor tower allowed the pilot to continue attacks, though they were even more clumsy and hardly had to be dodged. As she flipped and danced around the UAR’s head she ripped blades from her armor and buried them deep into the hoses in the neck, then she pulled both of the staff cannons off her back and fired one against the side of the head which caused it to rip free of the body, the other she shot down the neck of the robot directly into the cockpit. The UAR stumbled with smoke billowing out of its neck she flipped off, landing a few feet in front of it, facing it on a knee and a fist; both the staffs had been replaced on her back sometime during the flip. As she rose, a volley of missiles fired straight up from her pack. The UAR-1 collapsed to its knees almost on top of her but then fell backwards and at that moment the volley she released a moment earlier landed on target, pummeling the chest. She turned toward the forest, and Hagan saw her face… at least her eyes as her mouth was covered in a predatory looking mask, but her eyes were full of rage. Hagan ran into the woods and never saw either of them again.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Another Two Nightspawn I had a story for posted on Nakira's old website but it wasn't suitable for young audiences. Essentially there are two twins one is raised in poverty and has all these horrid things occur to her and yet grows up being good while the other is raised in a privileged live in a foreign land and ends up being utterly evil. The good one's morphus appears very demonic while the evil one appears angelic. The good one found her way through the fog in the astral plane to Rifts Earth but because of inheriting an astral kingdom she had the portable portal which ended up linking Rifts Earth to the Astral plane and then to the Nightspawn dimensions through that.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

A GM's fiat or a Deus Ex Machina

I was running one game where all the players had chosen fairly powerful characters except one guy who wanted to be an operator that worked for the CS as a technician/engineer. In order to make him more survivable and give him a reason to defect I made him... well here was the note I gave the player.

Gabriella

The Guardian Autonomous Battle Robot Initial Evaluation Lethal Line Augmentation (G.A.B.R.I.E.L.L.A.) is a project that you have been working on for the past few years. Before that you had started your humble career analyzing, and attempting to reverse engineer sub-systems that would eventually become her. You assembled her. You figured out how to implement her programming. You think of yourself as her father, yet you still know nothing of where the technology within her came from. She’s smarter than most scientists you know, as innocent as a child, yet as cold as a computer. Then there are brief moments when she seems more human and ancient than anyone you’ve ever met, containing an almost maternal warmth and the wisdom of ages. One of the most disturbing things is on multiple occasions you’ve had Dog Boys and Psi-Stalkers burst into your lab demanding to know where you were hiding a mage.

The neural network you installed, which you received already assembled, was the only one the CS has “manufactured.” Of all the technology that is used in her only a handful has been adopted by the CS. All of which were “developed” after you figured out how to replicate it. She has an arm made of nanites that can form specific weapons programmed into a “black box”, a neural-network that can hack orbiting satellites and a communication system capable of reaching them, a device to make the incorporeal solid, a self repair system, and a system of sub-dermal emitters that were incorporated into the design that you haven’t identified the purpose for. Even her charging/repair/diagnostic station came to you preassembled. Gaby is evolving and has assisted you with several of her upgrades. The word enigma just doesn’t do her justice.


She is a combination of Major Motoko Kusanagi, Naomi Armitage, Gunnm, and KOS-MOS

I made the player catagorize other players and potential targets
Come up with a priority list for Gaby to follow. I don't care what you call the levels (i.e. numbers, colors, animals, etc.).
1- You are hard wired at the first tier and only you can add or remove others to this level.
2- Gaby will notify you of any breach of your commands, including unauthorized attempted alterations of tier levels.
3- When you initially meet people they are fourth tier Any person in a lower tier can raise others up to their tier unless you've already stated otherwise.
4- Anyone lower than the third tier she will shoot through in order to complete a mission or defend higher tier personnel.
5- A hostile action against you or a person of a higher tier will reclassify a person from four to six.
6- Only an order from you will place or remove a person or group into class seven. Careful with group classifications like the CS is now our enemy. Because she will fire on anything in a CS uniform. So if you guys decide to go in undercover and someone gets changed and Gaby doesn't know... She'll try to kill them.
EXAMPLE- Monkey wants to raise DMTOO from level four to level three. You previously told her that DMTOO is not to be trusted, she will take this as an order not to raise him up and will not follow Monkey's command. Following number 2 above she will also notify you that Monkey tried to do this. DMTOO then angrily confronts you.
FIRST tier is classified as 'me'. She will die in order to protect (she will not follow an order in contradiction to this even from you.
SECOND tier is classified as 'friend'. She will go out of her way to defend as long as your safety or her life isn't compromised. She will also follow their orders as long as they do not contradict yours.
THIRD tier is classified as 'ally'. She will assist in combat but she will not put herself in danger to defend.
FOURTH tier is classified as 'asset'. She will assist in combat but they are considered expendable.
FIFTH tier is classified as 'neutral'. She will avoid shooting IF they provide tactical cover. Will not intentionally kill.
SIXTH tier is classified as 'hostile'. She will terminate if any hostile movement is made.
SEVENTH tier is classified as 'enemy'. She will terminate on site unless otherwise commanded by FIRST tier personnel.
The classification is as you would use it when speaking. If she hears you tell someone that they are your friend she will raise them to second tier... Unless she detects your lying then she won't change them.


Note: Monkey was a PC. DMTOO was an NPC who was a Goqua posing as a child who said he wanted to be like Monkey, whom he called Darth Monkey so he became Darth Monkey 2 shortened and bastardized to D.M. Too ---> DMTOO

AND as the player leveled up (talking about the operator again) so did the robot as long as the player passed a skill check she was "upgraded".

Eventually Gabby became necessary as a life support system for him as I use the randomeer item tables and the player's character eventually stumbled into many things to make him as powerful if not slightly more powerful than all the other players who for understandable reasons terrified of the randomeer item list. But I was never able to put Gaby on the back burner as all of the players grew attached to her.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

I'd consider bringing this one in from my friends RT campaign
The first part is her race
Hybrid Genesis
The Regis is the all mother of the Invid. No Invid has existed without her creating it none may evolve without her will. Even her estranged, seditious alter ego, the Regent, can’t create or evolve, only awaken and control that is why most of his army are inorganics. Her ability to manipulate matter is not just limited to the external she is also capable of focusing it inward, reconfiguring her own body at the atomic level. In the beginning she was not but energy and the flower of life called to her, pleaded with her for help. She found it on a planet being engulfed by The Shadow she embraced it and took it to another world. With the powers of the flower she became whole and with the powers she made a family. The flower called to her and gave her being, so it was that she cared for it, so it was that life began, so it was that the Invid and flower became one.
Eon passed and the flower that provided her and her children with life fell silent. Then he arrived, enigmatic, radiant, self aware, independent, unique and because of that priceless. Her children were… automated, the same, all did as they were made to do all both precious and not of any worth at the same time. She became intrigued by this creature, this man and as he studied the flower she came to know him. First, through telepathic contact, as she was shaped like her children, and without mouth or ear could only communicate in his way. Time seemed to slow as her interest focused; she wanted to be like him. As she willed it so she became, tall, two long thin arms, two long thin legs a head with two eyes that moved and eyelids to close, a nose to smell with, a mouth and lips to speak with and ears to hear with, supported above a neck all connected to a central trunk, most of it covered in clothes. Then, they spoke as he did by forming, sculpting, words. Communication started, and she spoke with this man she picked up traits, habits and biological functions as the scientist described them. She became enamored with him, with his vast knowledge; surely, he must be the highest form of evolution. For his secrets she would give up hers.
Time passed as she studied him, and he studied the flower. She started to love, just as it happened. He informed her that his study was complete, and he would have to depart for his home world with a sample of the flower; but dare not take her for others would surely wish to study her, and not all researchers cared about the life of their subjects. He promised that he’d return for her. Days passed, then light from the stars game down and burned her world, turning it to a charred shell. She escaped the attack with all her children and a few of the flowers. The love she once had for the traitorous man twisted into an all-consuming hatred that caused her to black out.
Before her stood a hideous creature when she awoke, it was a warped amalgamation of her children and her obsession. His creation drew from her all the emotion that was twisted into his feral anger, leaving her a cold calculating intellect. Knowing his need for revenge she left a third of her children with him. This intellect devised that Zor must be a Child of The Shadows, for if she and the flower were one and The Shadow wanted to destroy the flower and Zor wanted to destroy the flower then The Shadow and Zor must be one and by association so must his race. The hunt began so she left to the stars. The Regent would wipe out the race that claimed the traitor, and to make sure no other could ever harm her again he would enslave all the other races in the galaxy. The Regis would hunt the betrayer down and retrieve the remaining flower of life and to ensure her survival she’d turn her children into warriors and arm them. She came to the Earth and found the flower and with it a race that looked like Zor. How pervasive was The Shadow? How could something so flawed be the highest evolutionary form? She needed to stop the shadow and remove herself from the flawed form she had. There was no use going backward and the highest form she knew was human. She would capture humanity to stop The Shadow’s tide and as the highest evolutionary step she would focus on them in her studies for her next form. Maybe from their shadow she could create light. So, it was that the Invid occupied the Earth.
The Regis had hundreds of genesis pits across the globe. In these, she experimented on every life form in order to determine the highest form of evolutionary life. In order to manipulate them like she could manipulate herself and her children she would have to imbue them with her genetic essence. The unique requirements for the Regis’ experiments that allow her to manipulate their genetic makeup at will, carries over to the offspring of two experiments. So it was that she unwittingly created the genesis of a new species. This was the beginning of the Regis Hybrids.
To say a Regis Hybrid is part Invid is worse than saying they are part monkey, for the Regis’ precious children are farther below her on the evolutionary chain than primates are to man. Because of the prevalence of the Regis’ human test subjects there are many Hybrids. Every Hybrid carries some physical traits from the Regis, like a hairless or partial hairless body, long limbs, alien eyes, or extreme height. Some are gifted with a fraction of her psychic or physical powers. Few have been touched by her supernatural essence and the capability to alter themselves.

This next part is about her and her power
Banshee
Morganna Isolde Hallenoak is the daughter of Gary and Jennifer Hallenoak, two of the Invid Regis’ experiments. Morganna is one of the few Regis Hybrids. She is inhumanly tall and thin. She can change the traits of her hair, though involuntarily, often betraying her intention or mood, to her own chagrin. However, her greatest ability is her ability to drastically, horrifically alter her body into one of four forms, reconfiguring and growing her bone while stretching her flesh till it is almost transparent. Why would anyone endure this?
The four forms she can change into are a VF sized soldier type configuration equipped with medium and close range weapons, a form that acts like a hypersonic aerospace fighter, one that acts like a supersonic sub fighter and one that acts like a tank with shields that can fold in such a way as to produce a pseudo-form that is more aero dynamic but limits the use of weapons. She doesn’t need a veritech… she IS a veritech!

So she does it for power? No.

Her body is less sturdy than most mecha but is protected by a bio-forcefield created by her latent psychic energy. All of the weapons are also created from that same energy, as is her propulsion.

So she does it to defend herself? No.

In order to change from human to any of these guises she enters a cocoon which resembles the surface of an Invid Hive that is protect by the same forcefield that normally protects her mecha body. Once inside she wills the change and she blacks out the next thing she knows she appears as Banshee. What she doesn’t know is that for about 15 seconds, that the transformation takes, her body is wracked with incredible pain as her body essentially tears itself apart, this is accompanied by what seems to be a haunting, inhuman wail of the universe that can be heard even in space, it is in actuality both a verbal and a psychic cry. Fortune has, however, granted her specific amnesia of these events. This howl is the reason she received her call sign, which has never made sense to her, she often feels her call sign should have been Succubus but you don’t get to choose, it’s given to you.

So she does it because she can’t remember that it hurts? No.

Most people assume the cocoon as well as the shriek is created by the mecha; in fact it is unintentionally made and sustained by her as the physical presence of her psychic powers and is the reason she demonstrates no psychic powers in human form. If destroyed the cocoon will simply vanish leaving nothing behind, when she needs it again, it will form around her. All of this is fueled off of bio-energy which she must replenish by consuming food or through intimate contact with another being. The second method of fueling she found out about when she was 17. After going out for a flight she was making out with her boyfriend when suddenly he went limp on top of her. She pushed him off and to her horror found that he was dead.

So she does it because it gives her the ability to redeem herself for the life she has taken? No.

Here is the reason. As a child she was sickly, weak and it seemed as if she was always in the hospital. She was an excellent swimmer, in the water gravity didn’t affect her that much so it was the only real exercise she liked and the only fun she ever got. Her first transformation happened on her 11th birthday during one of the rare times when she was healthy… enough, her father had taken her out on a little outing to show her the flight deck of the ADAPT station. She had always loved the fighters; how agile and graceful they were and the VHTs so strong and capable. With that thought she was suddenly enveloped in the cocoon. Her father fought to get her out but to no avail and when the screech happened all within the hanger ran from the site, fell to their knees uselessly clasping their ears or passed out from the psychic and sensory assault. When the cocoon finally disintegrated there was the fighter. She took off and was immediately in love with flying. She’d flown before, never as a pilot and certainly never as the aircraft but there is a great difference between being in a craft and being the craft and it was so exhilarating, so sensual. She was soon being chased by fighters and she wheeled and soared and swung herself around them in play as they tried to capture her. It made her strong and powerful and resilient but most of all it gave her freedom. She could do as she wanted, and no one could do anything about it. She called out to her father and in his mind let him know that ‘it’ was her and she was safe. Her father was under the assumption that she had been taken and now called back the fighters. When she finally returned to an empty hanger, then to her human form, she was changed. The hair upon her head had grown but became unnaturally colored while every single follicle over the rest of her body would eventually shed its hair and never grow again. She was still thin but no longer sickly and after that day she grew rapidly. Shortly after the event she also learned that she retained the strength she displayed as the craft she became, when an alphas nose gear collapsed and threatened to crush a technician, the young man who would later become her boyfriend and then her victim.

She does it, because it grants her freedom!

Exactly… it has allowed her to escape her illness and her limitations, and in the end she hopes it allows her to redeem herself for the death she has caused but most of all it allows her to be herself.
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
User avatar
Zer0 Kay
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 13730
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:59 pm
Location: Snoqualmie, WA

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Zer0 Kay »

Or I could always do my mage from BTS that started out as a version of Dresden but ended up having a hidden backstory (GM fiat) becoming the child of a god, which screwed the character more than benefited them
:thwak: you some might think you're a :clown: but you're cool in book :ok: :thwak:--Mecha-Viper
BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid
Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech
Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus
The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray,
Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
Nightmartree
Adventurer
Posts: 497
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:49 am
Comment: I don't know what i'm doing, that's for realities GM to figure out
Location: Garden of Dreams

Re: Your greatest or most worthy character for another's wor

Unread post by Nightmartree »

Zer0 Kay wrote:Or I could always do my mage from BTS that started out as a version of Dresden but ended up having a hidden backstory (GM fiat) becoming the child of a god, which screwed the character more than benefited them


makes me think of jhon taylor, detective for the nightside

and I have a guy for this, can't find his sheet but, the Tinkerer, human immortal...but he has been stuck in an underground bunker tinkering with super tech since the rifts opened. The resulting destruction and magical effects destabilized the geography around his underground lab (a large portion of which is permanently shifted into another dimension, or was he shifted into this one?), and broke the door (think vault that would make a fallout door look like a small child, has to fit the giant robots in) any attempt to open it from the inside is impossible, with risk of catastrophic collapse resulting in him being buried for eternity (in another dimension). He has retained his sanity due to his metal resilence, long life, and the focus his mutant powers gives him (can't remember exactly but he definetly had Extraordinary IQ (robotics), multitasking, speed tasking, I think sleeplessness and a few other things that, I believe all minors and focused on making him a better scientist). He has pioneered several new techs and is most proud of his robotic mine/forges, using worker robots equipped with "mining rays" (2 handed heat cannons that melt stone to lava in an instant) they melt the ground into a liquid and then transport that to the processing foundry where the various components are separated and treated to form MD materials vital to his robots. Tinkerer was a super hero who mainly relied upon high technology to aid others, should he ever be released from his lair then he will likely seek to support and aid the needy, and likely become a major provider of robots and MDC gear to whatever region he emerges in. Though he is less likely to become an adventurer in this chaotic age unless he is needed to do what no one else can.

I leave it up to whoever uses him as to the amount of gear/robots he has stockpiled, though do note that he has mined into another dimension and has had centuries to do so. He is meant to be a hero of sorts but he is but highly intelligent and can be very manipulative...for your own good. He has no prejudices vs D-bee, supernatural intelligences, most gods (he's met a few, it can go either way) or other dimensional beings. He will treat them the same as any other being in fair trade, though any attempts to backstab him or avoid paying your debts will result in the full force that Tinker can bring to bear.

Another bit is that after living so long Tinker has developed a very live and let live personality, unless something is trying personally to mess with him he is unlikely to go out of his way to mess with it. Though exceptions do occur, and he will often not abide for things he doesn't hold with occurring in front of him (harming innocents or the young, even animals). He will also tend to try and look after large groups of civilians or those caught up in the aftermath of more powerful forces warring, seeing them as undeserving of the harm they received. As for alien monsters eating people his only question is "do they taste good?". Refering to the monster not the person being eaten, after all humans eat to survive so it should be okay for things to eat us, and if you are going to try and eat a human you should be okay with a human trying to eat you...a philosophy he has managed to stand with despite personally being eaten by an animal or monster he has failed to defeat at least 3 times in his life (a tiger, an ancient Egyptian snake monster and an alien THING from space)
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®”