Supernatural Enemies

[Razzinold]

Hey everyone. I'm starting up a new campaign tomorrow about a Merc group, talk about original and eh?, but I want them to hunt supernatural creatures (vamps, werewolves, wendigo, etc). Can you help me out with some suggestions, book and page number would help.i have some ideas but I'm looking for more. I know I want to include Haunted Children but I can't remember which book they are in, even though I've used them before:lol:
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
I tomorrow is roll up their chatacter day. We even got a last minute addition. I'm
running a game for my oldest daughter and her friends, the wife is playing too, and the group is now up
to 7 if you include me and the wife. She plans on asking a couple more friends on Monday. Wish me luck, it's been awhile since I've ran a game and I'm meeting all these kids for the first time so I have no idea what they're like or what they're in to.

[Natasha]

I'd begin with the Dark Conversions book.

[guardiandashi]

Hey everyone. I'm starting up a new campaign tomorrow about a Merc group, talk about original and eh?, but I want them to hunt supernatural creatures (vamps, werewolves, wendigo, etc). Can you help me out with some suggestions, book and page number would help.i have some ideas but I'm looking for more. I know I want to include Haunted Children but I can't remember which book they are in, even though I've used them before:lol:
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
I tomorrow is roll up their chatacter day. We even got a last minute addition. I'm
running a game for my oldest daughter and her friends, the wife is playing too, and the group is now up
to 7 if you include me and the wife. She plans on asking a couple more friends on Monday. Wish me luck, it's been awhile since I've ran a game and I'm meeting all these kids for the first time so I have no idea what they're like or what they're in to.

One thing I would suggest considering is if you want to "tweak" how some of the supernatural creatures work prior to the game start, There was a discussion about real damage vs perceived (virtual) damage that might apply with some of the supernatural creatures mentioned. I would also consider making the alignments and/or types have a few more "options"
for instance by the book (rifts conversion book 1 (first printing November 1991 pg191-196) werewolf, werebear, weretiger, werejaguar, werepanther,
all the were creatures are usually of evil alignments, werewolves are anamalistic predators that love eating humanoids....
and that is fine if you want them to be evil brute predators. on the other hand if you want them to be a little more "friendly" it might make sense to change their motivations, such as having the various packs or prides (depending on were type) have attitudes and rule as to how they treat those they interact with, and have most of the bad/horror stories be the results of "rogues" that don't follow the "rules" and give the groups a bad rep.
if you don't want to that's obviously your choice.
another question is for example are the were creatures a separate race, a curse, or something that can be transmitted to others under certain circumstances, and if it can be transmitted, what kind of changes would it make to the person that it transmits to...
it looks like you might want to look at dark conversions pg 76ish? and madhaven pg 109ish
also dinosaur swamp pg 29for the haunted children

the dark conversions and madhaven references are various "entities"

[Razzinold]

Thank you both for the help.
I did plan on tweaking all of the creatures, personality wise, I was just looking more for stats (and types) so I didn't have to homebrew everything.
I planned on running werewolves like a tribal race of people, like Vikings, so they will all be different.
I am going to have some packs on friendly terms with vampires and guard them during the daylight hours, I plan on having hero packs of vampires (like the street wolves from the Dersden Files), right up to the traditional barely human like blood thirsty monster.

I plan on doing the same thing with the vamps, I'm going to have some "veggie vampires" that only feed on animal blood and try and fight the curse of being a vampire (but are weaker for doing so) and another pack of vampires that have willing subjects to feed from (like a spouse or other family member) and they too will try and fight their true nature. Both will kind of be the hero/anti-hero.

Haunting entities will be pretty standard, some will be evil, some will just be mischief making tricksters and some just poor souls trapped on this side of the veil.
I have a few sources ( books, tv shows, movies, and homebrew) that I will be drawing from for this campaign, can't wait to start rolling up characters tonight. I better get a nap in before then though. I was up at 2:45 so I could be in to work for 4:00 am, thank you longer drive time, but luckily I'm only here until 8:00 am and they aren't coming over until 5:00 tonight.
Well nothing like doing a bit of work and then getting paid to build NPC's and plan out maps and encounters for a Rifts campaign!

[Mack]

In addition to Dark Conversions, I recommend the random table found in the back of the original Rifts Main Book.

[dreicunan]

In addition to Dark Conversions, I recommend the random table found in the back of the original Rifts Main Book.

I heartily concur with this recommendation if you have access to it. It makes for some very interesting creatures.

[drazool]

Thank you both for the help.
I did plan on tweaking all of the creatures, personality wise, I was just looking more for stats (and types) so I didn't have to homebrew everything.
I planned on running werewolves like a tribal race of people, like Vikings, so they will all be different.
I am going to have some packs on friendly terms with vampires and guard them during the daylight hours, I plan on having hero packs of vampires (like the street wolves from the Dersden Files), right up to the traditional barely human like blood thirsty monster.

I plan on doing the same thing with the vamps, I'm going to have some "veggie vampires" that only feed on animal blood and try and fight the curse of being a vampire (but are weaker for doing so) and another pack of vampires that have willing subjects to feed from (like a spouse or other family member) and they too will try and fight their true nature. Both will kind of be the hero/anti-hero.

Haunting entities will be pretty standard, some will be evil, some will just be mischief making tricksters and some just poor souls trapped on this side of the veil.
I have a few sources ( books, tv shows, movies, and homebrew) that I will be drawing from for this campaign, can't wait to start rolling up characters tonight. I better get a nap in before then though. I was up at 2:45 so I could be in to work for 4:00 am, thank you longer drive time, but luckily I'm only here until 8:00 am and they aren't coming over until 5:00 tonight.
Well nothing like doing a bit of work and then getting paid to build NPC's and plan out maps and encounters for a Rifts campaign!

Honestly, I've given up on using monster entries. I pretty much wing all of my encounters, and scale the MDC, MD, speed, etc of the monster to what I want. Unless I'm using something super iconic, that is.

My method is:
A) determine a two to three word description. "Flame shooting flyer", "hulking brute", "stealthy sniper", "healing factor swordsman"
B) ballpark appropriate stats (about X MDC, should deal about Y damage, goes Z speed, can fly, etc)
C) give the monster gimmicks, weaknesses, distinctive qualities.

Then I just describe the monster that I see in my minds eye, and the players never know the difference.

Sometimes I don't even decide in advance how tough a monster is, MDC wise, and just let it die when the players are getting desperate.

The players get unique encounters, with various and sundry opponents, I get to spend my prep time worldbuilding.

[ShadowLogan]

I know I want to include Haunted Children but I can't remember which book they are in

Adventures in Dinosaur Swamp (don't have the book so can't do pg #)

but I want them to hunt supernatural creatures (vamps, werewolves, wendigo, etc). Can you help me out with some suggestions, book and page number would help

Books w/SN-COM....
Rifts Main Book Monster Table (already mentioned)
Vampire Kingdoms (WB1)
Source Book 1
South America 1 & 2 (if they get into this region, though some of the SN like the pirate ships or city of the dead could have "clones" elsewhere)
Japan (WB8, Oni)
Psycape (WB12)
New West (WB14)
Canada (WB20)

More specific ideas: Necromancers (animated dead, mummies, zombies, etc), Lord of the Deep (WB7), D-Bees mistaken for SN (Ecto-men (WB30), Amorph (WB12/30), Zenith Moon Wrapper (WB12/30), Obsedi (WB30)), Golems, Circle Magic (PF2E, one that allows creation of a skeleton army forget the name off hand)

[TeeAychEeMarchHare]

Watch a few seasons of "Supernatural", or some anime like Vampire Hunter D or Full Metal Alchemist, and read some comics from Zenescope, such as Van Helsing, though even the Wonderland series could be mined for ideas.

Also don't be afraid to 'borrow' from other games like D&D/Pathfinder, Traveler, whatever.

[mercedogre]

may want to look at bio-borgs from atlantis and mutant monsters from the gene-splicers

[Axelmania]

Speaking of Haunted Children, Through the Glass Darkly had an interesting case of that with an old lady.

[Armorlord]

In addition to Dark Conversions, I recommend the random table found in the back of the original Rifts Main Book.

I heartily concur with this recommendation if you have access to it. It makes for some very interesting creatures.

Thirded.
Heartily support that table, was the biggest loss in RUE.

[Razzinold]

In addition to Dark Conversions, I recommend the random table found in the back of the original Rifts Main Book.

I heartily concur with this recommendation if you have access to it. It makes for some very interesting creatures.

Thirded.
Heartily support that table, was the biggest loss in RUE.

Luckily I do still have the RMB so I will definitely look at that random table.
That reminds me I have to check my storage to see if I still have my black hardcover version, or, see if that was one of my many books that "walked away" after gaming groups disbanded over the years. I lost a lot of good books that way and if I remember correctly I believe that may have been one of them.
I looked through most of my books recently, just moved a few months ago, and I don't remember seeing it off hand (although my wife packed most of my books) and it will severely **** me off because it was in mint condition and I bought it when I was a teenager.

[Razzinold]

Watch a few seasons of "Supernatural", or some anime like Vampire Hunter D or Full Metal Alchemist, and read some comics from Zenescope, such as Van Helsing, though even the Wonderland series could be mined for ideas.

Also don't be afraid to 'borrow' from other games like D&D/Pathfinder, Traveler, whatever.

I belive I have watched like 13 seasons of Supernatural, which inspired this campaign in part, and I have watched Full Metal Alchemist (among many others) but I haven't gotten around to watching Vampire Hunter D yet so this sounds like the perfect excuse to just relax and watch some tv.
"Don't disturb dad kids, he's doing reserach for the Rifts game" lol

[Razzinold]

I know I want to include Haunted Children but I can't remember which book they are in

Adventures in Dinosaur Swamp (don't have the book so can't do pg #)

but I want them to hunt supernatural creatures (vamps, werewolves, wendigo, etc). Can you help me out with some suggestions, book and page number would help

Books w/SN-COM....
Rifts Main Book Monster Table (already mentioned)
Vampire Kingdoms (WB1)
Source Book 1
South America 1 & 2 (if they get into this region, though some of the SN like the pirate ships or city of the dead could have "clones" elsewhere)
Japan (WB8, Oni)
Psycape (WB12)
New West (WB14)
Canada (WB20)

More specific ideas: Necromancers (animated dead, mummies, zombies, etc), Lord of the Deep (WB7), D-Bees mistaken for SN (Ecto-men (WB30), Amorph (WB12/30), Zenith Moon Wrapper (WB12/30), Obsedi (WB30)), Golems, Circle Magic (PF2E, one that allows creation of a skeleton army forget the name off hand)

That's the one thanks, will definitely check out the other books you mentioned. For their first encounter they run into 3 different entities: Basic Entity, Tectonic Entity and a Possessing Entity.

A woman came running into their shop screaming about how her husband had just murdered her children and tried to murder her as well. When questioned why she came to a group that specializes in hunting the supernatural instead of the local police her response was "Well the last time I saw him he was hovering 3 feet of the ground!".

So they head over and when they find the husband (possessed entity), he is floating around the house with a bloody cleaver. One child is at the kitchen table with it's throat cut and the other is in a bedroom upstairs. It was hacked into so many pieces that they couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl, or determine the age.

The husband at fist shouted at them with telepathy to leave the house because they were not welcome but that is when the other two entities arrived on the scene (the spirits of his murdered children). The one that was dismembered formed the Tectonic Entity, I thought it was fitting because of the horrible way they had died and the fact that they create bodies for themselves out of random stuff and their body was all in pieces.
As they were fighting upstairs some of the group attacked the husband and his telepathic shouts changed to him shouting over and over the same thing "These are my children and they will NEVER leave this house".

As the battle progressed he became more unstable and he again began to shout at them, but now she shouted "YOU are all my children and you will NEVER leave this house."
They continued to fight and he continued to "yell" at the players, everyone once in a while I mixed in stuff like "Naughty children need to be punished", "Honour thy father!" and stuff like that.

[Blue_Lion]

the dimension books from the minion war have lots of supernatural enemies.
Unrevised convention book 1 has some good stuff. (most of it that was cut wound up in dark conversions.)
Heck think worn wood had a few supernatural demons.

Dark conversion and night bane would be a good source as well.
There was a rifter with new undead.

[SolCannibal]

As others have said, RMB and Unrevised Conversion Book are great source materials to start with.

The Land of Damned books from Palladium Fantasy also have a great variety of potential antagonists and more tables to make up your own critters.

On the matter of vampires, i would suggest also giving the Dar'ota (devilish blood-drinking supernatural predators capable of taking the form of beautiful charismatic humanoids) and the Dybbuk (monstrous corpse-eating monsters vulnerable to sunlight but that may get around it by possessing fresh cadavers, that they can preserve indefinitely while consuming humanoid blood) for a little mix-&-match or red herrings.

Little homebrewing ideas:

- Rifts: England has an RCC (the Cernun Mystic) that is basically a slightly powered-up MDC version of a basic OCC (the Mystic). Way i see it, that counts as an open invite for making slightly powered-up MDC version of any OCC or RCC using the same XP table (such as Psi-Stalkers and Bursters). How does that sound to you?

- Considering Dragon Hatchlings all use the same XP table, standardizing all the races using the highest (or lowest depending on your preferences) MDCs and breath weapons as a general ballpark seems fair to me. With a "core" established, you can make up a bunch of homebrewed dragon races just making different packages of spells with levels matching their supernatural habilities.

- If some sort of monster (greater demon, sphynx, godling) is roughly in the same power level as a dragon hatchling, who's to say said monster may not have an ascended/evolved form equivalent in capacity to an adult dragon? Or critters in the adult dragon ballpark (such as Vampire Intelligences, the Host from Wormwood or others) possess less notorious dragon hatchling-level "embryonary" forms?

- Werebeasts: comparing them with them with the related mundane animals might help you with making up ideas on how to make up other werebeasts of your own. Monsters & Animals is Palladium-oriented, so not the place to look for such mundane earth animals (i checked). Maybe South America or Africa?

Little bit of trivia: In Palladium if a werebeast is killed while in its human (elf, dwarf, ogre, etc) form, it will rise every night as the werebeast (in a feral/rampaging state i guess but returning fully rational could be entertainingly creepy too). To prevent this one must severe the head from body and burn & bury it separately from the body. If it is because Palladium's werebeasts are of a different sort or something in the world somehow changes werebeasts while they are in it, is a pretty good question that can lead to fun ideas of customization i guess.

[Razzinold]

As others have said, RMB and Unrevised Conversion Book are great source materials to start with.

The Land of Damned books from Palladium Fantasy also have a great variety of potential antagonists and more tables to make up your own critters.

On the matter of vampires, i would suggest also giving the Dar'ota (devilish blood-drinking supernatural predators capable of taking the form of beautiful charismatic humanoids) and the Dybbuk (monstrous corpse-eating monsters vulnerable to sunlight but that may get around it by possessing fresh cadavers, that they can preserve indefinitely while consuming humanoid blood) for a little mix-&-match or red herrings.

Are those something from the Palladium line of books or something from Lore/Mythology, because I have never heard of them ?

Little homebrewing ideas:

- Rifts: England has an RCC (the Cernun Mystic) that is basically a slightly powered-up MDC version of a basic OCC (the Mystic). Way i see it, that counts as an open invite for making slightly powered-up MDC version of any OCC or RCC using the same XP table (such as Psi-Stalkers and Bursters). How does that sound to you?

- Considering Dragon Hatchlings all use the same XP table, standardizing all the races using the highest (or lowest depending on your preferences) MDCs and breath weapons as a general ballpark seems fair to me. With a "core" established, you can make up a bunch of homebrewed dragon races just making different packages of spells with levels matching their supernatural habilities.

- If some sort of monster (greater demon, sphynx, godling) is roughly in the same power level as a dragon hatchling, who's to say said monster may not have an ascended/evolved form equivalent in capacity to an adult dragon? Or critters in the adult dragon ballpark (such as Vampire Intelligences, the Host from Wormwood or others) possess less notorious dragon hatchling-level "embryonary" forms?

- Werebeasts: comparing them with them with the related mundane animals might help you with making up ideas on how to make up other werebeasts of your own. Monsters & Animals is Palladium-oriented, so not the place to look for such mundane earth animals (i checked). Maybe South America or Africa?

Little bit of trivia: In Palladium if a werebeast is killed while in its human (elf, dwarf, ogre, etc) form, it will rise every night as the werebeast (in a feral/rampaging state i guess but returning fully rational could be entertainingly creepy too). To prevent this one must severe the head from body and burn & bury it separately from the body. If it is because Palladium's werebeasts are of a different sort or something in the world somehow changes werebeasts while they are in it, is a pretty good question that can lead to fun ideas of customization i guess.

I like the home brew stuff, thanks for the ideas/help.

[Axelmania]

Samurai Jack had some neat monsters as well as robot enemies, very Rifts-ish show come to think of it, set in a post-apocalypse with classic vs modern/tech/supernatural

[SolCannibal]

As others have said, RMB and Unrevised Conversion Book are great source materials to start with.

The Land of Damned books from Palladium Fantasy also have a great variety of potential antagonists and more tables to make up your own critters.

On the matter of vampires, i would suggest also giving the Dar'ota (devilish blood-drinking supernatural predators capable of taking the form of beautiful charismatic humanoids) and the Dybbuk (monstrous corpse-eating monsters vulnerable to sunlight but that may get around it by possessing fresh cadavers, that they can preserve indefinitely while consuming humanoid blood) for a little mix-&-match or red herrings.

Are those something from the Palladium line of books or something from Lore/Mythology, because I have never heard of them ?

They may be found in Rifts Converssion Book, pages 173-175. The Dybbuk takes its from a creature from jewish folklore, while the Dar'ota are completely made up with no basis on myth or foklore, afaik. Sorry i missed your question for so long.

I like the home brew stuff, thanks for the ideas/help.

Have fun with them. and here some extra bits.

- speaking again of the adult dragons x vampire intelligences, what if there was some race of dragon or other monster in roughly the same ballpark as the vampire intelligence with the capacity to generate supernatural servants comparable to vampires? Night Stalker Dragons might be somewhat weaker, but would go pretty well thematically with lording over vampires and other undead as is, while other dragon species could have peculiar empowered minions of their own, with different powers and weaknesses.

- Coalition Navy introduces the Maelstrom-Maker, a supernatural being in the dragon hatchling/greater demon tier of power, with the capacity to make a limited number of Witchery pacts (up to the monster's level in witches). Again, as ability that could add some interesting bite to other monsters, either as a quality of their peculiar species as a special "gift" obtained by an unique individual of a race without such power (say, a particular Gargoyle Lord or Mage NPC, for example).

Anyway, catching little bits in the books and coming up with little tweaks and new monsters or RCCs out of them can always add some fun surprises to one's game.