Shemarrian-related fan creations

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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

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EShemar Orobos EcoS-K-21 Guardian Warsteed
“Well, well, well, look what the snake dragged in! A pair of intruders! So, you want to make this easy on yourselves and tell us why you were trying to break into our temple, or do we need to break out other methods of persuasion?”
“I’ll talk! Just keep those damn things away from me!”
“That’s no way to speak of our Temple Guardians, but I’ll bear that request in mind as long as you cooperate.”

Orobos are robotic personifications of the original Sapphire Cobra that started the Sapphire Cobra EShemar clan. Advanced robotics have gone into creating near replicas of the giant reptiles.
Orobos are typically used as ground security for SC clan facilities. Typically two or more are assigned to each temple established by the Sapphire Cobras, frequently disguised as sculpture(wrapping the ‘bots around columns is a favorite disguise) and acting as temple guardians. Sapphire Cobra patrols and hunting parties will frequently have one of more Orobos acting in support of the smaller snake-bots often deployed to ferret out concealed enemies. Occasionally the Sapphire Cobra warriors will ride the giant snakes into battle, though they are difficult to ride comfortably.
Type: EcoS-K-21 Orobos
Class: Robotic Warmount
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/passenger(but the robot snake will have to keep its head up off the ground and will be able to move at only half speed).
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 260 +1 MDC per 1 ft of length over 50 ft
Head 90
Height: 1 ft, but can rear up to HALF of its body length
Width: 2-5 ft. The hood can expand up to 10 ft wide
Length: 50-100 ft
Weight: 350 lbs+ 10 lbs per 1 ft of length over 50 ft
Cargo: Small space beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 50 MPH
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) The Orobos can swim at about 15 MPH, and can dive to 500 ft depth.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 10 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Orobori have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 40 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

Weapons Systems:
1) Laser Eyes(2)---The Orobos’ eyes incorporate powerful laser projectors in them.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD for a pulse burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2)’Serpent’s Kiss’ Nanite Attack---The Orobos can deliver either an armor-piercing fang bite which injects material-destroying nanites, or it can spit a stream of nanomachines. These nanites can be set to devour only metal(or other specific materials) or can be pre-programmed to be more indiscriminant and destroy whatever they land on, depending on the situation.
Range: Melee or Spit 100 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD damage per melee, for 1d4 minutes.
If delivered in a ranged spitting attack, the nanites do slightly less damage, doing only 4d4 MD for 1d4 minutes
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 50 doses of nanites can be stored inside the Orobos, before it needs recharging.

3) Tail Blade---The Orobos sports a retractable blade in its tail that can be used to slash or thrust to good effect.
Range: Melee
Damage: 3d6 MD

4) Flash Blinder---The Orobos can spread its head-hood open wide and then produce a bright flash that acts like the spell Blinding Flash, distracting opponents. Note: This is technological, NOT magical.
In the alternative, the light hood can be used to illuminate an area, like a portable spotlight.
Range: 60 ft, 10 ft radius
Damage: Victims without eye protection must save versus non-lethal poison or will be -10 to strike, parry, and dodge for 1d4 melees, plus a 50% chance of falling down for every 10 ft of distance they try to move.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Programming:
The Ecotroz have give the Orobos robotic brains then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the following:
Swimming 75%
Prowl 80%
Land Navigation 40%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Track Humanoids 50%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Orobos’ intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +2
Strike +4 (+5 with ranged attacks)
Roll +4
Entangle +5
Bite 1d6 MD
Cobra Body Strike(counts as two attacks)----This is a lunge using the coiled tail to propel the body forward in a quick body block/attack with all arms. 1d4x10 MD
Tail Strike 2d6 MD
Tail Power Strike(counts as two attacks) 6d6 MD
Crush/Squeeze 3d6 MD per melee of pressure

Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Orobos an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Orobos have cold, quiet personalities; they are quietly loyal to only a few, and watchfully wary of everyone elese. They are extremely patient stalk-and-strike predators, able to remain motionless for hours until a target’s back is turned or an unguarded opportunity presents itself. The Orobos is equivalent to a well-trained watchdog, with a predatory cunning and IQ of roughly 7. They will typically voice their displeasure at being approached too familiarily with a warning hiss or even a mock strike. The exceptions are known friends and handlers, especially Sapphire Cobra cult members.

The Orobos has the following Natural Psionic Abilities(no ISP Cost), all equivalent to 6th level with regards to range and proficiency.
*Sense Evil
*See Aura
*Sense Magic
*Sixth Sense/Danger Sense

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).

Options:
*Holo-Projection Eyes---The eye lasers can be modified to act as short range holo-projectors. These can be used to play back what the robot has seen(or recorded) or as a distraction.
Range: 100 ft, and can produce an image roughly 10 ft wide.

*Chameleon-Camouflage----Based on the Naruni Nomad Scout Robot, this system. This system changes color in 1d4 melees and gives the 'bot a limited stealth ability(-20% to Detect Ambush and Detect Concealment roles to find the thing). Also masks the ‘bot's thermal and infrared emissions, making heat sensors useless.

Variants:
*EcoS-K-21K Ka---The ‘Ka’ is a fifty-footer security Orobos configured for hunting and subduing ‘soft’ targets, capturing them without killing them.
The ‘Ka’ mounts laser-strobe eyes, and will seek to blind its targets with glaring lasers, or confuse them with bright flashing stribes, all the while closing in. Once within striking distance, it will seek to grapple with a target, entangling it in its coils while seeking to disable with a sedative bite or a gaseous exhalation of gas. Once the target has been subdued, the Ka will then swallow the prisoner, the roboid’s jaw super-extending to engulf the prisoner, and the coiled ribcage expanding to accommodate humanoids up to 12 ft tall. Often the Ka will use its nanite-venom to dissolve inorganic bindings, such as those holding body armor and equipment belts together, or destroy key parts of weapons, disarming or disrobing the prisoner of possible escape tools. Once wrapped internally in what amounts to a metal-ribbed straitjacket, the prisoner can be kept sedated and in sensory deprivation until backup arrives, or the prisoner can be wrapped in a tough polymer restraint sack and expelled back out the mouth, to wait while the Ka goes off in pursuit of other targets.
1) Laser-Strobe Eyes
Range:(Blinding Lasers) 500 ft
(Strobe) 60 ft and 25 ft wide area
Damage:(Blinding Lasers) Works similarly to a Blinding Flash spell, but must make a successful strike at the eyes of the target, and the light beam is more intense; effects last 1d4 minutes.
(Strobe) Victims must save versus non-lethal poison; a successful save means the victim only loses Initiative and 1 APM, while failure means the victim falls to the ground stunned and mesmerized. no actions or attacks for 1d4 minutes. Polarized eye protection gives a +5 to saves.

2) Drug Bite---The fangs are actually drug injectors.
Range: Melee
Damage: 1d4 SDC from the bite, plus drug effects
Payload: 30 doses of up to 3 different drugs

3) Gas Spray----Standard aerosol spray weapon, used to breath on victims prior to entangling them, or knocking them unconscious while being wrapped up. The chem-spray can also be used to get at targets hiding behind cover.
Range: 50 ft
Damage: Varies by chemical used. Typically an aerosol incapacitating agent is used.
Payload: 100 shots of chemicals

4) Straitjacket Swallow---If the Ka has the time, it can distend its jaw and ribcage and swallow a prisoner, sliding them down its plastic-lined throat to enclose them inside itself. This has the effect of sensory deprivation, keeping an already stunned prisoner subdued and off-balance. For a conscious prisoner, though, this can be a terrifying and nightmarish experience(GM’s perogative as to whether it induces insanity). Typically, though, this is the prelude to encasing the prisoner in a snug polymer restraint sac which is then spit back out.
This is not without its risks to the ‘bot; an extremely strong and unsubdued prisoner could break free, doing damage directly to the Ka in the process of snapping the restraints. The experience can also snap a weak will, inducing possible insanity and hysteria.
Use the Ka’s Main Body MDC for purposes of determining how much damage a confined prisoner has to inflict to escape(as per the rules for breaking restraints, Rifts Wold Book 21: Splynn Dimensional Market, pg.151).

5) Polymer Coccoon---Once it has swallowed a prisoner, the Ka can then envelope them in a coating of quick-curing, air-permeable polymer that acts like a straitjacket.
The coccoon takes 1 minute to form, during which the victim must be restrained and subdued. When the polymer finally hardens, it holds with a Physical Strength of 40, and has 10 MDC.
The Ka has enough polymer for 30 applications, before needing to refill its reservoirs.
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

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4) Straitjacket Swallow---If the Ka has the time, it can distend its jaw and ribcage and swallow a prisoner, sliding them down its plastic-lined throat to enclose them inside itself. This has the effect of sensory deprivation, keeping an already stunned prisoner subdued and off-balance. For a conscious prisoner, though, this can be a terrifying and nightmarish experience(GM’s perogative as to whether it induces insanity). Typically, though, this is the prelude to encasing the prisoner in a snug polymer restraint sac which is then spit back out.
This is not without its risks to the ‘bot; an extremely strong and unsubdued prisoner could break free, doing damage directly to the Ka in the process of snapping the restraints. The experience can also snap a weak will, inducing possible insanity and hysteria.


INSTANT phobia :D
No roll, no bonuses. The only roll Vs. "nuts" allowed would be to see if the fear is permanent. :demon:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

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tetrasodium wrote:
Danger wrote:Neat, though without reading the Shemarrian Nation book, it has less impact. Once I get that, I'll have another glance. I like what I see so far, and I still think it smells like Rifter article. :D


Just curious, what book are shemarians detailed in? I vaguely remember sourcebook1 basically saying arcghie3 & hagan made them but not much detail that I recall. From reading the OP though, it looks like there were more details I missed somewhere.

The Shemarrian Nation Sourcebook
Came out last year.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

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Advanced Cultural Notes:(Shemarrian Star Nation) Skullcrushers
Cold dark eyes swept their gaze across the pile of shattered metal, ceramic, and pulped protoplasm that was part of what was left of the abomination raiding party. Around the village square, huts still burned or collapsed under the unsupported weight of broken walls; that was not the Skullcrushers’ doing, however. They had been the ones who had caught the marauders as they savaged the hamlet’s defenders and were slaughtering its inhabitants when the Skullcrushers had struck like black lightning. Diseased mutant flesh anchored to cerametal armor and bone had been no defense against hardened ferroceramic and supercharged biometal muscle; the marauders’ bone-like armored helmets had given the Skullcrushers the pleasure of acting out their Tribal signature on them.
From where they had taken shelter, first to try to resist, then hide from, their attackers, then to stay out of the way of their unexpected succor, the few remaining villagers, sorry, pale things in this twisted and hopeless land, began timidly appearing, afraid to approach the tall, dark, and ferocious aliens who now stood triumphant over their enemies. The Chieftain took little notice of them, intent only on counting the corpses of the fallen foe.
The Chieftain’s contemplation was interrupted finally by the report of one of her lieutenants.
#“Revered Chieftain, we have swept the village and crushed the abominations that were laying seige to it! But their leader has escaped, taking a young village woman with him! It seems she was the target all along! He was last seen flying to their fortress, not far from here! She was last seen alive, but incapacitated!”#
The Skullcrusher Chieftain glanced up angrily; she knew the enemy and knew of their fortress. The ‘crushers had taken note of it when they first came to this broken world. The Tribe had left the place alone for the time being while they wandered and reconnoitered the rest of the wastelands to see what else could be learned of the place. What she had learned of that fortress’s inhabitants and their intentions set the Chieftain’s electron-paths a-surge with battle reflex, her coolant-blood boiling with weapons charge build-up. The fortress’s inhabitants were little better than the Splugorth, twisted mockeries of life who promulgated a twisted myth of their own superiority, and who furthered the pall of disease and misery that lay over this unfortunate world. For those abominations to raid a single harmless village for a single captive did not bode well for the abductee...nor, in this case, did it bode well for the abominations. This thought was accentuated by the Chieftain drawing her heavy gauss-pistol and slapping a fresh clip of depleted uranium fletchettes into its receiver with a ringing smack of heavy metal.
“I want that girl! As long as a single innocent still lays at peril from these abominations, our job here is not yet complete! Make haste and gather the warriors; leave the healers and NeShemar behind if you must, but we follow that creature into its lair! Smash all that dare stand before us, break down all barriers that bar our way, but every moment we hesitate places that girl ever more in peril! And if we cannot be the instrument of her deliverance, then we shall must be the Dark Judgement upon her slayers!”


During the Shemarrian Civil War the Skullcrushers were inarguably THE appointed antagonists in the service of the Dark One. Between the near-total loyalty to ARCHIE-3 and Hagan and the corruption of BlackSteel, the Skullcrushers remained enemies of the Ecotroz and all other Shemarrian ‘heretics’ nearly all the way to the end of the SCW. Skullcrushers hunted and killed rebels without mercy and compunction, and even with sadistic glee. Those few Skullcrushers who WERE Awakened during the early days of the Shemarrian Civil War generally fled to be be adopted by other Tribes; those caught by the loyalists were brutally executed, even tortured beforehand, especially if it was BlackSteelers who caught them. Not surprisingly, ARCHIE-3 pumped up the numbers of the SkullCrushers once he ascertained that the Tribe seemed to be unwaveringly loyal and uncorrupted(apparently unaware that he was simply creating more for the BlackSteel to corrupt), to match the gains made by the rebels. New Skullcrushers and weaponry poured into the battlefield to push back the rising tide of the Ecotroz Shemar, as well as growing dissent from the Ghost Riders, Wolf’s Path, and old enemies such as the Republicans(who sought to take advantage of ARCHIE-3’s distraction). When the Skullcrushers turned on those latter factions with the same savagery they’d leveled against the Hawkmoons and Darkwaters, the ensuing outrage helped bring many of the vacillating Tribes into the camp of the rebels. Bolstered by the new numbers, the discovery of previously unknown Tribes, advances in technology, and the new technowizardry making its way from the far West, the rebels were able to take the offensive against the Dark One, and overwhelmed the Skullcrushers.
Cut off from the Dark One, and with their BlackSteel-afflicted sisters removed, though, Skullcrushers were as amenable to Awakening as any other Shemarrians, and it was this discovery that prevented the Tribe from being annihilated in its entirety.
To the surprise of many, both inside and outside the Tribes, the Reconciliation in the aftermath of the Shemarrian Civil War saw real efforts made to bring the broken remains of the Skullcrushers back into the fold. The reformation of the Skullcrushers was seen as one of the major hurdles and tenants of the ReUnification and the reestablishment of the Shemarrian Nation, and the Shemarrian Star Nation afterwards.
Even centuries after the Reconciliation, though, many Skullcrushers believe their Tribal line to be suffering from the shadow of a curse, one that has not yet been lifted. The Skullcrushers have an almost Nordic sense of resignation to a violent future, or living under a cloud of some looming catastrophe, only that cloud is the shadow of the past. Many, if not most, of the Skullcrushers feel that the Tribe has yet to completely redeem itself of past actions.
Adding to the anxiety of both the Skullcrushers and those around them are rumors that the corruption wasn’t entirely dispelled, or that Skullcrushers are more prone to go ‘rogue’ than other Shemarrians. This puts added burden on those Skullcrushers who labor to make their Tribe respectable once more. Their desire to do right under such circumstances, under a constant nagging of inherited guilt, paradoxically drives them to the seeming edge of darkness, making them embittered with themselves, and generally cold and contemptuous to all others. As a result, most Skullcrushers are terse, brusque, almost rude in their curtness. It’s a vicious circle that most Skullcrushers find hard, if not impossible, to break out of. They are focused and almost humorless in their everyday business and on the quest for some elusive but lasting redemption of their Tribe. For many, that redemption is to be found through combat, in fighting the good fight, vanquishing the enemies of the Shemarrian Star Nation, and furthering the SSN’s cause, even at the cost of individual Skullcrushers’ lives.
The Skullcrushers’ military force is fairly balanced between a strong surface force and potent space fleet. Their space combat arm is fairly notorious for favoring heavy missiles and kinetic kill weapons, with an emphasis on battery barrages and enough armor and shielding to engage in all-out slugging matches. Though the Skullcrushers have originated few of their own ship designs, they invariably modify those designs that they do acquire into heavily armed missile boats and gunships.
Skullcrusher ground combat forces are heavy on armor and heavy weaponry. They are fearless in closing with an enemy and blasting them at short range to make sure of the job of destruction. They are nearly as fond of melee weaponry as the Blood Riders, but prefer a wider range of blades, maces, pole arms, and chain weapons. Though the ‘crushers have an appreciation for ALL forms of weaponry, as long as they do heavy damage, they have a decided liking of heavy projectile weaponry; autocannons and various permutations on the coil/rail gun are common in Skullcrusher units. It is not unusual for Skullcrusher warriors to ask as mods and Upgrades the installation of heavy weaponry usually found on other species’ full conversion or assault cyborgs such as forearm blasters and combat appendages.
In combat, Skullcrushers are cold, efficient, and brutal; their sole aim is to get the job done, crushing an opponent as quickly and effectively as possible. Skullcrushers have little room for mercy in their tactics; a fleeing enemy is not allowed to retreat, but is cut down as it becomes vulnerable. A dead or sufficiently crippled(but dead works best) enemy cannot rise again to trouble or backstab you, after all. “Overkill” and “collateral damage” are concepts not in the Skullcrusher lexicon; if the most effective way of taking out an enemy stronghold levels the adjacent village in the process, so be it; the tragic price of war. Not that the Skullcrushers condone the slaughter of innocent bystanders, not at all. The ‘crushers have on numerous occasions ridden to the rescue of beleaguered civilians, especially when no others would, but they don’t expect noncombatants to stay around an obvious war zone if they have any brains about them. The Skullcrushers have little sympathy for those sorts who stay in burning houses or who build their homes on flood plains behind leaky dikes.
Invariably, such strategy and tactics mean that the Skullcrushers take a lot of casualties in return, especially from opponents who realize that it’s all or nothing. Skullcrusher Tribe growth has barely remained ahead of their losses, and many of the other Tribes fear that all it would take would be several really vigorous campaigns, or a three-front war or two, to break the Skullcrushers, possibly even bring them to the point of extinction.
Compounding their manpower problems is the Skullcrusher reluctance to bolster their numbers with NeShemar. Many Skullcrushers are reluctant to bring in outside blood to be tainted by the Tribal ‘curse’. Despite the fact that the Skullcrushers’ vigorous and defiant stance against such menaces as the Splugorth, Demonstar Fleet, TGE, and other despotic regimes has garnered the attention of all manner of warrior races such as the Niamese, Val-Coltmar, Manaar, Wulfen, Rotharr, Nattereris, Chrome Warriors, Malvoran, Vintex and Kremmin, who’d join forces with them in a heartbeat if allowed, the Skullcrushers have politely(and firmly) rebuffed any such offers. Many potential recruits, therefore, wind up wandering off and joining one of the other Tribes such as the Horrorwoods or the Blood Riders. Those handfuls of NeShemar who ARE raised up among the Skullcrushers tend to inherit the Tribal outlook of fighting a holding action against the darkness, both within and without.
Not all Skullcrushers are cold, fearless, stoic warrior-robots, of course. Some are just plain kill-crazy fanatics who live for the thrill of destruction, albeit in a good cause. Others are quiet romantics, or compassionate, if given to melancholy, souls who genuinely care for others. In general, however, most Skullcrushers carry on as under a great dark personal burden that only they can carry.

Skullcrushers share their time between living in deep space and on planetary enclaves; they are equally at home in space or on planets. They tend to establish their planetary colonies on desolate, lifeless worlds, or else on freshly liberated worlds(especially worlds they’ve had a hand in liberating), typically in the remotest wastes or blasted ruins. There, the Skullcrusher fortress-redoubts sit, surrounded by totems made from the sculpted wreckage of their foes(those materials which can’t be salvaged and recycled), key points in, or perimeter of, their territory hung with the blasted armor and bleached bones of fallen enemies(these gruesome displays often conceal surveillance instruments).
Skullcrusher ritual and ceremony revolve around battle, bravery, martial prowess, and redemption. Vows of self-sacrifice, allegiance to Tribe and Star Nation, and committal to the grand causes are common at Skullcrusher gatherings. Many Skullcrushers also practice personal arts, such as scrimshaw(usually on the ruined arms, armor, and bones of past enemies), to pass the time between campaigning.

Relations:
The Skullcrushers are generally looked at askance by the other Tribes, although how much of this is due to lingering distrust in spite of the Reconciliation, and how much of it is due to the cold attitude cultivated by the Skullcrushers since is unknown.
The ‘crushers get along best with the Blood Riders and the Darkwaters; the former because they are a fellow warrior Tribe that revels in combat, and the latter because the Darkwaters supply the Skullcrushers with much of their heavy weaponry and ship production. Relations with the Hawkmoons are shadowed by their mutual brutal past and the distaste that the Skullcrushers have when they think that the Hawkmoons might actually -pity- the ‘crushers. The Wayfinders are seen as being almost as bad, despite the Wayfinders’ many efforts to show definitely that the Skullcrushers are NOT still cursed or tainted in any real sense (of aberrant auras or possession). The Silvermoons are seen as too high-minded for their own good, given to unnecessary posturing before and during battle, trying to lend a nobility to war that just isn’t there. Horrorwoods and Wolf’s Path are seen as too enamored of their wilderness to be willing to make the REAL sacrifices required of war, while the Sapphire Cobras just seem too enamored of their bizarre beliefs to have any connection to reality(on the other hand, when the enemy starts dropping dead or incapacitated of mysterious causes around the Cobras, the Skullcrushers begin looking at the snake-dancers with a little more respect). Ghost Riders are similarly seen as too cunning, too evasive, and too enigmatic for the Skullcrushers to have a very positive view of them; the fact that the Ghost Riders are Unawakened also makes them suspect to many Skullcrushers.

Composition Notes:

*Mystics/Psi-Shamanesses---The Skullcrushers perhaps have the lowest numbers of psi-shamanesses and mystics among their number(about 3%). Whether it’s the lingering effects of past corruption, of the refusal of even those with the Talents to embrace their spiritual side, the Skullcrushers aren’t given to producing these classes. Something which other Tribes have noted, and have wondered isn’t responsible in part for the ‘crusher’s mental and emotional problems. Not having either mystics of psi-shamanesses to see to the psychic and spiritual well-being of the Tribe may have a detrimental effect on the long-term mental health of the Tribe. Other Tribes have volunteered the services of their people, but the Skullcrushers have repeated rebuffed such offers. The few Mystics and Psi-Shamanesses the Skullcrushers DO produce tend to be true fanatics and zealots of the Tribal cause.

*Pariah---The Skullcrushers have resurrected the original name of the Acolite class, as well as its negative connotations. Pariah-hood may be sentenced to Skullcrushers who are seen to have disgraced the Tribe through cowardice, disobedience to their superiors, or actions ill-befitting the Tribe and the Star Nation(like foregoing the defense of a population of helpless civilians in pursuit of personal glory, butchering nominal allies, or stealing from the Tribe). This alone was pretty stunning to the other Tribes, who previously regarded the title of Pariah gone with the reforms of the Reconciliation. More stunning is the fact that there are more Skullcrushers who VOLUNTARILY take up the scars and sackcloth of being Pariahs, for dishonors that they feel they have done their Tribe. To do so is an excruciatingly painful process that inadvertently recreates what ARCHIE-3 and Hagan fictitiously hinted at in their original concept for the Pariahs; the outcast-to-be is ritually shorn of her Warrior trappings, her combat systems, the more obvious implants, and the respect and support of her kindred(many of whom may genuinely feel that the Pariah is abandoning her responsibilities to the Tribe). These arguably clinically-depressed individuals feel that they must redeem themselves via other means, without the support of their Tribe’s technology and their former comrades, or else they seek to divorce themselves from the burden of being Skullcrushers. Some effectively become ronin; clan-less warriors who wander the hinterlands around the SSN-claimed territories, arming themselves with what they can find/acquire, and seeking to do good away from the Tribe. Others assume a more passive stance, going among the Three Galaxies’ impoverished classes and doing what they can to alleviate the suffering there. Some Pariah DO manage to redeem themselves in their own eyes, accomplishing some action that their Tribal sisters recognize that allows them to return to their former status, or they gain their self-confidence enough to return to challenge to be made Warrior again. Other Pariah may never return to their Tribe again, but are adopted by other Tribes, where they shun all contact with their former Tribe-kin.

*NeShemar---The Skullcrushers are reluctant to bring new NeShemar into their number where they might fall victim to the Skullcrusher ‘taint’, so they have one of the smallest complements of NeShemar among the Tribes(only the GhostRiders have fewer). When Skullcrusher Valkyri harvest potential NeShemar, they more often than not pass them on to other Tribes rather than raise them themselves. They do retain a few, for whatever reasons.
However, while other Tribes may ‘creche-raise’ large numbers of NeShemar, the Skullcrushers take inordinately good care of theirs. NeShemar are practically hand raised(those who come to them young or mind-wiped) and closely mentored by their Skullcrusher ‘adopters’. ‘Crusher NeShemar are thoroughly taught, the better for them to survive and fight on, and cherished by their Shemarrian ‘parents’(even though a large amount of ‘tough love’ is involved). While this seems to be to increase the NeShemars’ chances for survival in the violent Skullcrusher lifestyle, it ironically also has the effect of making for strong emotional ties between the NeShemar and their adoptive Tribe, and this likely also infects them with the Skullcrusher mindset. However, given the chance to go over to other Tribes, Skullcrusher NeShemar more often than not prefer to remain with their original Tribe, and ‘fight the good fight’, either for the Tribe or for the Tribe’s soul.
Interestingly enough, the Skullcrushers count among their non-organic NeShemar a number of Awakened robots of non-Shemar origin who would fit in nowhere else(well, except maybe the Ghost Riders); mainly true combat/killing machines. The common theme here would seem to be of creations of war trying to rise above their base origins by fighting the good fight and hopefully finding the same redemption that the Skullcrushers seek. Thus, it’s possible to find such ‘recruits’ as other ARCHIE-3 combat ‘bots, Skelebots(though in the case of these two types, they can either hail from other Rifts Earth timelines, or are truly OLD examples, predating the formation of the SSN, and thus VERY experienced veterans), turned Mechanoid ‘bots, or machines like Splicer NEXUS ‘bots, among their number. These recruits tend to have quite interesting/unusual personalities and back stories!

Stat Bonuses:

*Battle Fugue---In combat, Skullcrushers get an extra attack per melee and a +1 to parry/block. Their hand to hand melee strikes also get an extra +1 point of damage for every 5 points of strength, due to their sheer viciousness.

*Fearless---Skullcrushers live with the knowledge that they fell to Darkness once before, and that they still might. They have hardened themselves against the thought of failure ever again to the point that mundane, and even supernatural, fears hold no terror for them. They are effectively IMMUNE to Horror Factor.

*Resolute---Similarly, the Skullcrushers have resolved that if the Darkness ever does seek to take them again, it will have to FIGHT for its success. This has translated into a well-nigh supernatural resolve to keep fighting to the bitter end. Skullcrushers can keep fighting until they lose over -50% of their Main Body MDC, before collapsing for good. So a Skullcrusher with 200 MDC main body would have to take 300 MDC in damage before finally falling. The sight of a blasted, charred, skeletal Skullcrusher still continuing on against an enemy, albeit slowly and haltingly, long past the point that robotic musculature should have stopped working and electrons stopped flowing through severed conduits, driven by sheer hatred and rage, to fire one more shot or drive a broken sword blade into the enemy, has earned the Skullcrushers the nickname ‘Shemarrian Zombies’. Note however, that if this ever happens, when the Skullcrusher is finally destroyed, the Spark of his or her intelligence is lost for good; no change of being resurrected/rebooted from a zero-MDC wreck into a new body.

*Insanity---On the minus side, it’s estimated that roughly a quarter of the Skullcrushers suffer some form of insanity, either a Psychosis, Affective Disorder, or Random Obsession.

Sample Weaponry:
*Forearm Combat Bracers/Grenade Launchers---Skullcrusher body armor frequently incorporates extra weaponry into the slightly oversized forearm armor. The most common configuration fits extra-long ‘ripper’ vibroblades and short raneg grenade launchers(inspired by Juicer weaponry)
Range:(Ripper-Blades) Melee
(Grenade Launcher) 600 ft
Damage:(Ripper-Blades) 5d6 MD on a slash/tear
(Grenade Launcher) Varies by grenade type; Fragmentation: 2d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius, Heavy Fragmentation: 3d6 MD to 30 ft blast radius, High Explosive: 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius, Plasma: 6d6 MD to 12 ft blast radius
Payload: (Grenade Launcher) 6

*ShatterClaw---Shatterclaws are large armored gauntlets that fit over a Shemarrian’s own hand and forearm, encasing it in extra armor and robotic actuators. Like a reverse Jaws of Life, the extra motors of the shatterclaw exert extra pressure and shearing force on whatever sits in their grip. A sonic jackhammer in the palm provides extra damage to whatever is unfortunate enough to be gripped. The gauntlet is normally powered by induction from the cyborg/gynoid wearing it, but also has a battery that allows it to operate for 5 minutes(20 melees) of independent operation, allowing the wearer to potentially lock the claws on a target, slip their hand out, and let the claws continue to grip/squeeze.
Note that the Shemarrian’s normal finger claws and forearm lasers CANNOT be used while the ShatterClaw is being worn. Also, the larger size of the shatterclaw digits means the wearer is -20% to carry out delicate work requiring a fine touch, using the claws.
MDC: +60 to hand/forearm armor
Range: Melee
Damage: P.S. equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 50 for purposes of crush damage. 4d6 MD per crush/pry, or 1d6x10+3d6 MD for a full melee crush/squeeze w/ the sonic jackhammer engaged.

*EShe-ScrGP03 ‘Punch Gun’(also ‘Awl-Gun)---The Shemarrians generally regard side arms with disdain(or fit mainly for second-echelon Tribesmen), and the Skullcrushers especially share this sentiment, but they make exceptions for exceptionally powerful weapons. The ScrGP03 Gauss Pistol is one of those exceptions. This heavy solidly-built, block-bodied coil-gun is heavier than many assault rifles for other species, but easily sits in the hands of a Shemarrian like a pistol, and cyberoid musculature handles the heavy recoil of this weapon throwing its 13mm kinetic penetrators downrange. For added effect, the weapon can also fire Depleted Uranium Rounds and Uranium Rounds.
MDC: 50
Weight: 7 lbs
Range: 2,500 ft
(DU/U Rounds) 2,000 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD single shot
(DU Round) 6d6 MD single shot
(U Round) 6d6 MD single shot, plus radiation damage to supernatural creatures as described in the Triax books
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 12 rds
Bonuses: Integral laser sight adds a +1 to strike

*EShe-ScrPR05 ”BoneBreaker” Personal Cannon---This massive weapon looks like a cross between a SPAS combat shotgun and a Thompson SMG, only firing 40mm ammunition(it will be readily identifiable as a descendant of the Wellington Arms Automatic Grenade Launcher to Rifts Earth natives). It has a shorter range than the traditional 6000- and 4000-series rail guns, but has the advantages of multiple ammunition types for area of effect(including a rocket-propelled anti-armor ‘gyrojet’ round). The weapon can also be used to provide ballistic fire. Increasingly, the BoneBreaker is preferred as a backup weapon over the Shemarrian Assault Rifle’ it is a simple, rugged, and reliable weapon that can take a beating and still keep on operating. It CAN be fitted with a bayonet.
MDC: 75
Weight: 45 lbs
Range:(standard) 3,000 ft
(RPG) 4,500 ft
Damage:(Frag rounds) 4d6 MD to a 12-foot radius.
A 3-round burst of frag shells does 1d4x10 to a 15-foot radius
A 5-round burst of frag shells does 1d6x10 to a 20-foot radius
A 10-round burst of frag shells does 2d6x10 to a 40-foot radius.

(AP rounds) 1d4x10 to a 3-foot blast radius.
A burst of 3 AP shells does 2d4x10 to a 5-foot radius
A burst of 5 AP shells does 2d6x10 to a 6-foot area
A 10-round AP burst does 3d6x10 to an 8-foot area

( Plasma rounds) 1d4x10+10 to a 5-foot radius.
A burst of 3 plasma shells does 3d4x10 to an 8-foot blast radius
A burst of 5-plasma shells does 3d6x10 to a 10-foot radius.
A 10-round plasma burst does 4d6x10+10 to a 15-foot radius!!

(RPG-AP Gyrojet) 1d4x10 to a 2-foot blast radius.
A burst of 3 AP Gyrojet shells does 2d4x10 to a 4-foot radius
A burst of 5 AP Gyrojet shells does 2d6x10 to a 5-foot area
A 10-round AP Gyrojet burst does 3d6x10 to an 6-foot area
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 20 rd drum

*’SkullShatter’ Cannon---This is a heavy weapon based on the Wolf’s Path ‘Goddess Hammer’ cannon, which was essentially several Shemarrian carbine rail guns bundled into a gatling gun arrangement for rapid fire. The Skullcrushers, after much effort, managed to acquire the schematics for the weapon so they could make their own, but also went about producing an even heavier long-barreled version using standard 6000-series rail guns instead of the shorter 4000-series carbines. The resulting half-ton weapon is too heavy for individual foot soldiers to carry, but it can be hefted by Skullcrusher Necriants, or vehicle/War Steed-mounted.
Weight: 1,000 lbs
MDC: 420
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per round, 6d6x10 MD for a three shot burst, 1d6MDx100 for a six shot burst(!)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 820 shot drum

*Skullcrusher Heavy Assault Armor
This is essentially the equivalent of MI-B2 Medium Infantry Borg Armor sized and styled for Shemarrian frames. The armor is heavy and bulky(-15% to prowl, climb, and swim) but offers 310 MDC of protection.
A heavier and even more cumbersome suit, based on HI-B3 Heavy Infantry Borg Armor, with similar penalties(-20% to speed, -2 to strike, dodge, and parry, no prowl ability, and -25% to physical skills), offering a whooping 450 MDC of protection is also available.
Mobility and agility are of little consequence in the boarding actions for which this armor is typically donned. Suited up in these heavy armor carapaces, Skullcrusher warriors have been known to walk right up through blistering enemy fire to engage them directly in hand to hand combat.
Besides the heavy armor, these suits feature enlarged forearms with heavy vibrobuzzsaws(6d6 MD per slash, 1d6x10+10 MD per full melee cut), or plasma cutters(Range: 600 ft, 4d6 MD per slashing cut or 4d6x10 MD per full melee burn). The back and shoulders also mount a pair of folding missile launchers that can hold ten mini-missiles each(20 total for both shoulders) or 2 short range missiles each(4 total for both launchers). They can be fitted with zero-gravity maneuvering packs.
Last edited by taalismn on Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:23 pm, edited 2 times 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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:Advanced Cultural Notes:(Shemarrian Star Nation) Skullcrushers

Adeptus Sororitas in all but name. :ok:

I noticed you have the formation of the SSN being centuries in the future. *nod*
I can dig it, but I'm figuring on playing around with chronal distortions after the (un)civil war. ;)
Otherwise my PC's will never see the fruits of their labour...

Hey, I'm a GM; causality and physics are my [censored]. :demon:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:Advanced Cultural Notes:(Shemarrian Star Nation) Skullcrushers

Adeptus Sororitas in all but name. :ok:

I noticed you have the formation of the SSN being centuries in the future. *nod*
I can dig it, but I'm figuring on playing around with chronal distortions after the (un)civil war. ;)
Otherwise my PC's will never see the fruits of their labour...

Hey, I'm a GM; causality and physics are my [censored]. :demon:


Corrected a few mistakes, added the opinion of the Ghost Riders.
Yah, I figured as much about telescoped/compacted time....Rifts through Space AND Time...GMs can really mess with things like that..."Hi! I'm your great-granddaughter!" :D
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

DhAkael wrote:Rifts through Space AND Time...GMs can really mess with things like that..."Hi! I'm your great-granddaughter!" :D


Done that a couple of times. :lol:
In fact, one of the hottest DJ's in Lazlo is the now young-adult daughter of one of the primary NPC's... who chronolgically in Rifts Earth time frame, is only about maybe 6 or 7 years old, yet is around 19 years old subjectively (she traveld alot across dimensions without mom, with varying time-flow / congruency factors). :wink:

"Little Alyra; she grew up. She grew out."
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:In fact, one of the hottest DJ's in Lazlo is the now young-adult daughter of one of the primary NPC's... who chronolgically in Rifts Earth time frame, is only about maybe 6 or 7 years old, yet is around 19 years old subjectively (she traveld alot across dimensions without mom, with varying time-flow / congruency factors). :wink:

"Little Alyra; she grew up. She grew out."


"Wow, she's hot AND lega-"
":No, She's not."
"But-"
"There's objective time, subjective time, and Daddy-Time. Daddy-Time trumps everything else."
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:In fact, one of the hottest DJ's in Lazlo is the now young-adult daughter of one of the primary NPC's... who chronolgically in Rifts Earth time frame, is only about maybe 6 or 7 years old, yet is around 19 years old subjectively (she traveld alot across dimensions without mom, with varying time-flow / congruency factors). :wink:

"Little Alyra; she grew up. She grew out."


"Wow, she's hot AND lega-"
":No, She's not."
"But-"
"There's objective time, subjective time, and Daddy-Time. Daddy-Time trumps everything else."

Tangent :mrgreen:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v234/215/33/1169109879/n1169109879_30043663_5117.jpg
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Ouch...re-reading my past posts and I need to do some spelling corrections(never type/post late at night in a dark room), plus grandfather some tweaks(for instance, I originally had the Skullcrusher Necriant Elite have occasional immunities to Horror Factor...then I went and made them ALL immune to HF)... :o
-------------
"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
DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:Ouch...re-reading my past posts and I need to do some spelling corrections(never type/post late at night in a dark room), plus grandfather some tweaks(for instance, I originally had the Skullcrusher Necriant Elite have occasional immunities to Horror Factor...then I went and made them ALL immune to HF)... :o


It happens.
why do you think I'm so danged slow getting my material out? :frust:
I'm constantly backtracking and pre-spellchecking. It's a wonder I get ANYTHING written. :nh:

Speaking of which, I think I'll need to run the ole' spellchecker on the stuff I have saved off; all 43 pages @ 9-point fontsize.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:Ouch...re-reading my past posts and I need to do some spelling corrections(never type/post late at night in a dark room), plus grandfather some tweaks(for instance, I originally had the Skullcrusher Necriant Elite have occasional immunities to Horror Factor...then I went and made them ALL immune to HF)... :o


It happens.
why do you think I'm so danged slow getting my material out? :frust:
I'm constantly backtracking and pre-spellchecking. It's a wonder I get ANYTHING written. :nh:

Speaking of which, I think I'll need to run the ole' spellchecker on the stuff I have saved off; all 43 pages @ 9-point fontsize.



May as well make a well-spelled netbook here. 8)
Oh, and I posted an updateable copy of the Shemarrian Index to the first page of this thread, just to let people know what to expect.

And here's another thought: Ninjas and Superspies/Palaldium Martial Arts fro Shemarrians.
Yeah, maybe some of the more mystic stuff's out of their range, but if chi=ISP as Rifts China seems to think, hey, it just might be possible...so here's a few thoughts as to what martial arts, printed in Rifts, N&SS, and the Rifters might appeal to the various Tribes:


SkullCrushers: Command Sambo(break bones and have fun doing it)

Sapphire Cobra: Capoeira(dance oriented)
She Sen Snake-Styke Kung Fu(hey, snakes!)

Silver Moon: Savate (stand up straight and beat the hell out of people)

Blood Rider: Liang Hsung Demon Wrestling Kung Fu.(suitable violent)
Eighteen Weapons Kung-Fu


Wolf Rider: Pao Pat Mei Leopard-style Kung-Fu (sneaky, cunning, claw-oriented)

Hawkmoon: Bok Pai Crance-style kung fu(bird-like, graceful)
Last edited by taalismn on Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:25 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
------------
User avatar
DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:Ouch...re-reading my past posts and I need to do some spelling corrections(never type/post late at night in a dark room), plus grandfather some tweaks(for instance, I originally had the Skullcrusher Necriant Elite have occasional immunities to Horror Factor...then I went and made them ALL immune to HF)... :o


It happens.
why do you think I'm so danged slow getting my material out? :frust:
I'm constantly backtracking and pre-spellchecking. It's a wonder I get ANYTHING written. :nh:

Speaking of which, I think I'll need to run the ole' spellchecker on the stuff I have saved off; all 43 pages @ 9-point fontsize.



May as well make a well-spelled netbook here. 8)
Oh, and I posted an updateable copy of the Shemarrian Index to the first page of this thread, just to let people know what to expect.

:ok:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

EShemar Gracille Light Warmount

*BBEP(?)*
#“Sorry to wake you up from your beauty rest, Windy, but we’re down, in unsecured territory, and we’re on the wrong side of the planet from the rest of our people. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us; three thousand klom, two mountain ranges, and a frozen ocean, plus we don’t want to be late for dinner. You ready to RUN?”#
*BBEEPP(!!!)*
#”Excellent. Let’s RIDE.”#

The Gracille is an unusual Warmount meant to give downed Shemarrian Star Nation fighter pilots a means of rapid transport on planetary surfaces. Carried coiled up behind the cockpit of Shemarrian fighters, the Gracille can be awakened from dormancy to quickly carry a downed flier across planetary terrain, hopefully to safety and rendevouz with friendly forces.
The Gracille resembles a cross between a metal gazelle and a trail bike. It is long-legged and slim, almost skeletal, with no pretense at disguising it as a living creature. It has large paws for handling rough and soft terrain, and a set of jumpjets to fire it through the air with springbok-like grace.
Gracilles were designed to meet some rather unusual requirements; they have to be fast, but light weight, able to fold up into narrow spaces in a cockpit or even attached to an ejection seat frame. Though originally intended to be purely robotic, the EShemar decided to give Gracilles the benefit of the Ecotroz Awakening, granting them an animal-like intelligence. Even so, Gracilles have unique personalties for EShemar animal-forms; they spend most of their time hibernating in their cubby-holes, but when called upon, have to come awake and move FAST, be alert to dangers, and stay awake and active for days on end until the pilot is safely extracted and rescued.
The Gracille is not meant as a combat mount or vehicle, though it carries light armament; its primary purpose is to allow a downed pilot a chance to self-extract from unsecured territory. It is also occasionally used a scout-beast and courier, and is often used by Male Shemar and NeShemar message-runners.
Type: EcoS-K-27 Gracille
Class: Robotic Warmount, Light
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot; a passenger can be carried, perched behind the rider, but the seating is uncomfortable and reduce maximum speed by 25%.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 260
Head 90
Legs(4) 45 each
Jump Jets(4) 35 each
Sat-Dish Tail 40
Height: 7 ft at shoulder
Width: 5 ft
Length: 9.5 ft, tail adds an additional 3 ft
Weight: 1,300 lbs
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat for a few personal possessions and sidearms.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 125 MPH
(Leaping) Standing leap of 15 ft up/across, running leap of 25 ft up/across. w/ jet assist can leap 80 ft up, 150 ft across.
(Flying) Not possible, though the jumpjets can allow the Gracille to hover briefly at the top of a leap for about 4d6 seconds.
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) Can swim at about 8 MPH , and can run along the bottom at 6 MPH, maximum depth 500 ft.
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 15 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Gracille have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 60 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Long Range Communicator---The Gracille’s tail unfolds into a directable signal dish/laser that can reach orbit. The system is capable of delivering compressed ‘burst’ communiques, but is not recommended for protracted communications sessions(increases the chance of an enemy homing in on a signal). Radio has 400 mile range, directional laser has 200,000 miles(environmental and terrain conditions may limit this).

Weapons Systems:
1) Weapons Hardpoints(2)----The Gracille has a single head-mounted hardpoint and a tail hardpoint capable of accepting a light weapons module similar to those available to the Monstrex.

2)Vibro-Claws---Though meant to allow the Gracille to climb more effectively, these retractable claws can still deliver a fearsome swipe at close range.
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD

Programming:
The Ecotroz have scavenged the AIs from terrestrial-make robot dogs, and upgraded them as best they can, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.
Typically has the following:
Land Navigation 40%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Prowl 55%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
Climbing 75%
Swimming 60%(+5% per level of experience for Ecotroz entity)
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Gracille intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 5
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +4
Automatic Dodge(costs no actions)
Strike +1 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +2
Claw Swipe 2d6 MD
Kick 2d4 MD
Power Kick(2 attacks) 4d6 MD
Leap Kick/Pounce/Bodyblock: 2d4 MD


Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Gracille an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Gracilles have personalities like a horse, greyhound, or a very intelligent rabbit, with an IQ of roughly 8; loyal to their owner/rider, but very skittish and ready to go all-out in a bolt if danger threatens. They are quick to react, jump aside from danger, and dodge possible threats, but if given a direction, they will go, go, go, regardless of the hurdles and threats along the way.

Has the following Natural Psionic Abilities(no ISP Cost), all equivalent to 6th level with regards to range and proficiency.
*Presence Sense
*Sixth Sense/Danger Sense

The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though the Gracille only needs 3 hours of rest/meditation per 48 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience)

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).
-------------
"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
------------
kronos
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by kronos »

Nice, although I doubt the Skullcrushers and Blood Raiders would use these warmounts as much except as a means to get BACK into the fight, so their versions might be heavier armed maybe?
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

kronos wrote:Nice, although I doubt the Skullcrushers and Blood Raiders would use these warmounts as much except as a means to get BACK into the fight, so their versions might be heavier armed maybe?



Most likely, but the 'breed' is as yet too recent/'young' to see much variation in the way of being able to support heavier armaments without making it too large and heavy to conveniently fold up inside the alloted space on a fighter/small craft.
Though there are ways around it...One way might be to have the warsteed carry a large radioiostope 'battery' that could power heavier weapons, with the drawback being the canister is good for only relatively short periods of time(half-life of a year or so, or maybe only six months, requiring frequent replacement), is exposed(mounted outside the main body of the warsteed like a goiter), and is 'hot'(both thermal and nuclear radiation, especially if the battery-canister is damaged/breached.
The other would be to make the warsteed heavier...an uprated Monst-Crane, with more powerful powerplant to power accessory weapons, and carried in a larger vehicle bay on the fighters(which would have to be modified for the extra 'cargo')?.
-------------
"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
------------
kronos
Hero
Posts: 1264
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:38 pm

Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by kronos »

taalismn wrote:
kronos wrote:Nice, although I doubt the Skullcrushers and Blood Raiders would use these warmounts as much except as a means to get BACK into the fight, so their versions might be heavier armed maybe?



Most likely, but the 'breed' is as yet too recent/'young' to see much variation in the way of being able to support heavier armaments without making it too large and heavy to conveniently fold up inside the alloted space on a fighter/small craft.
Though there are ways around it...One way might be to have the warsteed carry a large radioiostope 'battery' that could power heavier weapons, with the drawback being the canister is good for only relatively short periods of time(half-life of a year or so, or maybe only six months, requiring frequent replacement), is exposed(mounted outside the main body of the warsteed like a goiter), and is 'hot'(both thermal and nuclear radiation, especially if the battery-canister is damaged/breached.
The other would be to make the warsteed heavier...an uprated Monst-Crane, with more powerful powerplant to power accessory weapons, and carried in a larger vehicle bay on the fighters(which would have to be modified for the extra 'cargo')?.


What about power systems that are mounted in the ejector seat/pod? If a pod, the power systems for it's communications or other systems can be made to be easily removed and mounted to the Warmount as a secondary power source for boosted weapon performance of any 'light' weapons, turning them into medium ones for awhile or such? Or the ejection pod carries a concealed weapon designed just for the warmount. After land, get out, wake up warmount, attach power system, weapon, load personal gear up and ride!
Again that would depend on design of ejection system. With just a seat, possible to have a battery or radioisotope battery? Or deuterium tank for plasma weapons for enhanced performance on some shots but not all? Hell, battery could be used to boost power to legs for short bursts, but war mount would need to rest from the strain after awhile. Just spewing some random ideas.
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

kronos wrote:[

What about power systems that are mounted in the ejector seat/pod? If a pod, the power systems for it's communications or other systems can be made to be easily removed and mounted to the Warmount as a secondary power source for boosted weapon performance of any 'light' weapons, turning them into medium ones for awhile or such? Or the ejection pod carries a concealed weapon designed just for the warmount. After land, get out, wake up warmount, attach power system, weapon, load personal gear up and ride!
Again that would depend on design of ejection system. With just a seat, possible to have a battery or radioisotope battery? Or deuterium tank for plasma weapons for enhanced performance on some shots but not all? Hell, battery could be used to boost power to legs for short bursts, but war mount would need to rest from the strain after awhile. Just spewing some random ideas.


Good thoughts there, and I already have precedent for some of them('hotshotting' plasma weapons with infusions of deuterium into the plasma medium is a regular feature of Blood Rider plasma weaponry)... I', already working on Warsteeds that gain boosts in power under certain circumstances(such as Silvermoon systems that gain increases in range and damage as long as the weapons system is in direct sunlight for the power colelctors to function). A sort of robotic 'Summon Inner Strength' or something similar to Battletech's MASC might be possible for Warsteeds that favor speed over other factors, or need an extra turboboost for emergencies...
Must work on those...
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

LOL!
I am falling FARRRRRR behind on my contributions to this thread, but that's cuz I'm presently devoting my muse-time for Cytr's campaign.
Travelling through Dyval is giving fearless-leader incentive to work on a fully sealed, fast-transit vehicle with TW enhancements up the ying-yang.
:D
I will of course be posting what the crew are up to in MY campaign soonish.
First meeting of the PC's with the Saphire Cobra (previously unknown, in present game-time-line).
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

EShemar ‘Hydra’ Gunship

“I don’t see why the snake-ladies bother being subtle with those carousels-of-death hovering over their lines. They could just march right up and through our forces, what with the holes those things would rip through us. And any artillery we tried to bring to bear? They’d just cobra-strike the positions to vapor and disassembler sludge! That’s why I’m calling a retreat; let the damn snakers have this planet, they want it so bad!”


The Hydra Gunship is a small, compact, but powerful, ‘pocket’ warship that has recently appeared in the ranks of the Sapphire Cobras, alongside several other new designs that have come online as the Tribe-cult’s influence and affluence has increased.
Based on the radial geometry of the much larger ‘Hitode’ carriers, the Hydra is a roughly saucer-shaped craft that flies through space along its short axis, but moves horizontally in atmospheric operations, often slowly rotating to bring all its weapons to bear on a target. The most striking feature of the design is the six fully articulated giant serpent heads, each on an independently extendable neck, giving the ship an incredible arc of fire for its main weapons.
On its lower levels, the Hydra mounts two multi-configuration missile launch bays. Mounted perpendicular to them on the hull are two large combat locks, each large enough to hold two War Steeds abreast(typically during a boarding action, one of the airlocks disgorges troops into or onto an enemy vessel, while the opposite lock deploys space troopers to crawl the hull and seek entry at other locations or to further cripple the enemy vessel. Mounted around the circumferance of the hull, adjacent to the combat locks and missile launchers, are four cargo holds. Depending on the tasked purpose of the ship, these bays can be used to hold additional ordnance for the launchers, or can be used to barrack additional troops and their mounts.
The Hydra can be considered to be roughly equivalent to the Kittani Dragon-Dreadnought. Indeed, many of its design elements, especially the articulated serpent heads, appear to be copies or adaptations straight from the Kittani design. Each head mounts a heavy ion cannon and a brace of powerful rail guns that can spew kinetic penetration rounds or nanite dissolver shells. Though not as well armored as other contemporary frigates and destroyers, the Hydra’s main batteries can dish out a major shellacking that can seriously damage or even destroy far heavier vessels. Backing the main batteries are two medium range missile launchers and an array of point defense weapons to keep fighters and missiles from getting too close.
Though not as fast as most ships in the Shemarrian Star Nation fleets, the Hydra is still plenty fast compared to its contemporaries in the Three Galaxies. Its high efficiency engines can boost it to keep apace with the Tribe’s transports, and to repel such commerce raiders as the TGE Berserker and other common threats.
Hydras are typically deployed in defensive roles within Sapphire Cobra space, covering Tribe transports, protecting Tribal facilities and colonies, and providing ground support for the Tribe’s ground forces. They rarely operate alone or very far from Shemarrian space, as they lack logistical endurance for long deep space operations. The larger snake-cult compounds and enclaves may have one or more Hydras concealed as defense-ships in event of an attack. The sight of one or more of these ships rising out of the ground, multiple snake heads opening their mouths and powering up their weapons, has been known to be enough to send enemy troops scurrying back in terrified retreat.

Type:ESheMar-PGM07Sc Hydra
Class: Gunship/Corvette
Crew: 18, plus 50 troops/passengers
Each cargo bay, if not carrying cargo or missile reloads, can accommodate an additional 50 troops/passengers, or 5 War Steeds.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,800
Bridge 1,000
Serpent Heads(6) 900 each
Medium Range Missile Launchers(2) 250 each
Combat Locks(2) 400 each
Variable Forcefield 1,000 each side, 6,000 total
Height: 150 ft
Width: 300 ft
Length: 300 ft
Weight: 15,000 tons
Cargo: 800 tons divided between 4 cargo bays
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.0% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) CAN operate underwater, traveling at 20 MPH, maximum depth of 1,000 ft
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Shemarrian Star Nation
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Sensor Baffling----The Shemar ships can partially mask their sensor spoor, making themselves difficult to detect at long range. This acts as Stealth(-70% to detect while stationary, -30% when moving)

*Ablative ‘Snake Skin’ Armor----Any harm actually done to the main hull armor ablates the armor into a cloud of microfragments and platelets that continue to protect the ship. Unless the ship is moving in an atmosphere or undertakes evasive maneuvering, the ablated armor ‘halo’ will reduce subsequent laser strikes by 1/3 and radar- and laser-guided weaponry will be -2 to strike, for the 1d4 melees before the cloud disperses(although other hull strikes in the interim may extend this time period).

*Extendable Forcefields---The area of coverage of the forcefields can be expanded out about 500 ft in radius to envelope other ships or even ground forces if the Hydra is hovering in ultra-low altitude ground support.

Weapons Systems:
1) Weapons Heads(6)---Each of the serpent-head ‘turrets’ mounts a powerful ion disruptor cannon(modelled after Golgan laser disruptors. Survivors of attacks with the weapons tell of a sense of intense static electrical tension and their hair standing up on hand from leakover from close proximity to strikes), and a pair of rapid-fire rail guns that can fire regular kinetic penetrators or nanite-warheads. The heads can also punch and bite using their robotic strength, to savage targets at point blank range.
Range: (Ion Disruptor Cannon) 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
(Rail Guns) 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage:( Ion Disruptor Cannon) 2d4x100 MD per shot, 25% of that to a 30 ft radius beyond point of impact.
(Rail Guns) 4d6x10 MD for a single barrel firing, 8d6x10 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously.
On a Natural 19-20(18-20 if in atmosphere), the rail gun strikes do critical damage(DOUBLE damage) plus nanites are successfully embedded in the structure of the target. These nanites proceed to do an additional 6d6 MD for 2d4 melees(double damage and duration if in atmosphere).
Unlike the original ‘Serpent’s Kiss’, the nanites work on organic and inorganics alike, or can be programmed to affect only one or the other.
Rate of Fire:(Ion Disruptor Cannon) 3 times per melee
(Rail Guns) EGCHH
Payload:(Ion Disruptor Cannon) Effectively Unlimited
(Rail Guns) 1,000 bursts per gun(2,000 bursts per head)

2) Medium Range Missile Launchers(2)---Mounted on the lower hull at right angles to the combat locks are two medium range missile launchers that can be used against fighters or for surface attack.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 160 missiles each launcher. Additional misisles can be stored as cargo and reloaded within 15 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 24 missiles).

3)Point Defense Rail Gun/Laser Turrets(8)---Standard Shemarrian-pattern rail gun/pulse laser combination in a common turret. Two are mounted on either side of each combat lock. In flight they provide anti-missile/fighter point defense, and when engaged in boarding or troop landing, the turrets provide suppressive fire for the deploying warriors. The other four are mounted along the top of the main body to provide additional cover against fighters and missiles.
Range: (Rail Gun) 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
(Laser) 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: (Rail Gun)4D6x10 M.D. per blast
(Laser) 3D6x10 M.D. per blast
Rate of Fire: (Rail Gun)EGCHH(4-6)
(Laser) EGCHH (4-6)
Payload: (Rail Gun) 2,000 rd drum. Additional ammunition can be stored as cargo, but will take 45 minutes to reload from stores.
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited

4) Melee Combat---At especially short range, the fully articulated weapons heads can actually move about, punching/headbutting, and biting into enemy hulls!
Range: Melee; the articulated robotic necks can stretch an additional 60 ft out from the hull.
Damage: Headbutt/’Punch’ 3d6x10 MD
Bite 4d6x10 MD
Rate of Fire: Typically only 3 such attacks are possible.

Auxiliary Craft:
None, unless the combat locks are used to house small craft, in which case the airlock can hold a single light shuttle or fighter. Note that troops cannot be deployed through a combat lock if it is being used to house a shuttle or fighter, until the vehicle disembarks.

Variants:

*ESheMar-PGM07Br---Plasma-armed variant, developed after the Hydra was seen by the Bloodriders, who immediately negotiated for the schematics and permission to build their own, fitted with their trademark plasma weaponry. In place of the ion disruptor, the PGM07Br mounts a plasma torpedo launcher in each head. Each head also mounts a tractor emitter for controlling and directing the plasma torpedo in the early stages of its flight. Both the Sapphire Cobras and Bloodriders use this variant; the Bloodrider version is immediately distinguishable by the cosmetically different head design.
1)Tractor Beams(4)---- The Hydra mounts six light tractor beam projectors in the forehead of each weapons head, mainly as directors for the plasma torpedoes, but they are occasionally used to capture and hold small craft. The light tractor beams are each rated for 800 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass.
Range: 5 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)
(Kitsune Values: 5,000 miles in space).

2)Plasma Torpedo Launchers(6)---These unusual weapons fire volleys of plasma bolts like missiles, and are even able to ‘curve’(up to 90 degrees) the shots somewhat to skip around ships and obstacles to envelope a target, but this control seems ballistic in nature, rather than active control(though there is evidence that the Shemar are able to actively direct the bolts within tractor beam range). The bolts themselves seem to have been endowed with a weak magnetic field that contains the plasma in a tight’packet’, allowing the plasma to travel farther without losing cohesion and damage potential, and allowing the plasma to explode with area of effect on target. The result is an energy missile with superior range to normal energy weapons(though still well short of comparable missile weaponry) and potentially unlimited payload. However, the plasma packets CAN be grabbed/deflected by tractor beams(likely how the EShemar manipulate their energy projectiles at short range and correct their course....each of the launchers’ mounted tractor beams being able to grab and direct a volley of plasma bolts), or destabilized by ion or particle beam weapons fire(takes 20 MDC to disrupt the plasma containment).
Range: 25 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in atmosphere, 100,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD to a 100 ft blast radius per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1 plasma bolt each head, up to 4 times per melee round.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
-------------
"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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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Here's something a little different...

Call me Sam. Why? Depends who you ask. You ask Mister Big and the Brain if you can find ‘em, they’ll tell you it’s SAM, for Spontaneously Aberrant Mechanism. You ask the Girls, it means Sentient Awakened Machine. You ask me, it’s because I like it. Sam I am.
Oh, I could give you a long serial number and my make and model (A-63-C-ExNI245i if you must know), but ever since I became aware I was different and quit listening to Mister Big and the Brain before they went away, I’m just myself in my tychotitanium skull casing. The Girls of the Ghost Riders say I’m running a Golden Age software ghost or two in my System, while the Eeshe Girls say the Goddess works in mysterious ways; both agree that I got free of the Brain when I no longer started following its orders. Became myself.
I could have immediately had myself made over once I found out. Asked one of the Tinker-Girls to remake my face to look like a flesh-and-blood, but I didn’t. Why? Because it’s my face. Besides, a lot of the fleshie-borg makeovers are going out for big snarling metal mugs these days, so my skullface hardly raises any eyebrows. I fit right in.
Now, I’m not a TOTAL low-byte; I did have SOME work done. First thing, right off, I got that damn number between my brows scrubbed off. I got a name, not a number, and I’m not a damn drone! I had a few other changes made too, some obvious, some not so obvious. Enough that I’m obviously not factory standard stamped-out, and hopefully enough that if I run into any of my old relations I’ll be able to hold my own if they aren’t looking for a friendly family reunion.
I choose my own company these days, and most of it’s the NuMen down in the Old Town where I got my contacts. Or else I go upriver, to hang with the Old-style traders up there. Like I said, I could pass for a full-on ‘borg the way the styles are nowadays.
Why, you ask, if I’m the Metal, do I mix with the Meat? The Girls got their own little cliche together, and I’m not into worshipping viral programs of either sort myself. The R’Mar? Same deal; they got their own clubhouse going where they sit around talking rocks and metals most of the time. I consider The City my home, my turf, and I feel comfortable among its people. I’ve even made pilgrimage to The Lady and paid(along with some serious graft to the priests) my respects. I may work steady for the Girls, but my heart’s, such as it exists, in Mad Haven.
Today I was paying a visit on the Crater hoping to do some business with the Garden. I decided to slip into Yo’s on the way over. It’s a dip and dive down a crevice near the Stadium, then a duck through a few doors under the urban wreckage, but it wasn’t far off my usual way. The proprietor didn’t originally care for me coming in her door, because I don’t drink and don’t eat, but over time I’ve managed to gain her trust, maybe because I rent a stall there occasionally and pay for others’ libations. It’s worth it; Yo’s is one of the unofficial crossroads of Madhaven, and a place to feel the underground pulse of The City.
As I was making my way along a particularly dark alley, wending my way between the anti-worm reinforcement, a portion of the wreckage suddenly stood up and got in my way, raising a whole lot of sharp and heavy over me. Beady black eyes in a shark’s snout of bone and metal armor glared at me.
I doffed the hat of my branaghan. “Hey, Bo, it’s me, Sam.”
Bo’s not the brightest diode on the monitor screen, even among Lummoxes. “Sam.”
“That’s right, Bo. Sam.“
Something registered inside that tiny, but well-protected, brain of Bo’s. “Sam!” Then he was all over me like I was long-lost family, opening a big old hatch I think came off an old bank vault, and eager to let me past into Yo’s. Not the brightest of boys, but I never want to get on Bo’s bad side. I’ve seen what happened when others tried to pass themselves off as somebody Bo knew; he might be slow to recognize, but impossible to fool. Whereas what was left of those who tried to hoodwink him wouldn’t be recognizable by ANYONE.
I slipped into Yo’s and it was just as dank, dark, and atmospheric as always. The combination of sputtering electrical lights and worm-tallow candles gave the place just the right degree of lighting prefered by bartenders; bright enough to see money on the floor, but not bright enough to tell exactly how much booze was left in the glass. Makes no difference to me, since I got high-res lowlite vision and thermal imaging to boot. The Deadboy helmet dartboard was new, as were the scratchmarks by the door, but the rest was as it was supposed to be. Pretty clean for Mad Haven; Yo’s management prides itself on being obscenely clean; the only blood stains are on the outside. There were already a few regulars appreciating the decor and the service; a couple of quillers knocking back Yo’s local distillation. A bugman was studiously ignoring everybody else as he slurped down what looked like fish-chum, probably liberally laced with something with a proof rating. There was a new one I hadn’t seen before; a multi-eyed numan in scrap armor and with a headworm chained by his side. The merc, by the looks of it, was busy splitting his attention between downing a meal and making sure his ugy pet/comrade didn’t widdle on the floor; Yo’s gets pretty intense about bodily fluids spilled on its premises, and nobody wants to ruin a perfectly good day tongue-cleaning Yo’s floorboards, or getting scraped off it. The headworm hissed at me, its master giving no notice or apology for his pet; I took no notice but made a note that if I saw it again on the outside, I’d consider giving it a quick punch in the mouth in passing to return the sentiment.
I was hoping to see Tommy Kong, my mechanic, to see how he was coming with fixing my car, but he wasn’t in his usual spot. Who I did find occupying a stall at the end of the room was almost as good. Eddy Jangles is a ‘morph and my best gossip-pigeon, and unlike a lot of his tribe, he doesn’t give me flack about being all metal. He’s also a better message service than a Golden Age cellphone switchboard with satellite uplinks.
Eddy was all seriousness today though; either he’d just gotten in himself or he was nursing his drink waiting for me; the bottle of imported Vermont Maple Mist Meade in his paws was hardly touched. He also didn’t greet me with his usual line of cheery banter and local color, accenuated by the chiming of the metal bangles and dreadlocks hanging from his oversized head. Eddy getting right to business isn’t a good sign.
“Gongo’s looking for you.”
“Gongo’s always looking for me.” I slipped my hand in my jacket pocket, making sure my gun was there, and glad I’d decided that of all my peacemakers I’d decided to bring a cannon. Lepmen take lots of killing.
Eddy noted my reaction; not that I was planning on hauling my firepower out in Yo’s and start blasting. Yo’s is neutral ground. “He just wants to talk.”
“Gongo’s got nothing I want to hear.” Gongo and his gang have tried to scrap me several times over the years, with the vehemence of a religious fundamentalist calling jihad on an infidel. I’ve responded to his little crusade a lot less dogmatically, but no less violently, and the Leopardman’s got a few scars to go with his spots courtesy of me. Oh yeah, and a few less gangers to chew his food for him. Needless to say, there’s no love lost between me and the fatmouth.
“He’s pretty insistent he just wants to meet you and talk, just you and him, you choose the ground. You can bring witnesses, but nobody from his side of the river.”
That got my attention; Gongo NEVER goes anywhere without his posse, and if he’s telling me he wants to meet on my chosen turf, with buddies...well, that struck me as unusual. Either he’d gotten enough firepower together to blow through anything he figured I’d bring to the party...or he really at something itching at him bad enough he’d put himself in my sights.
Mentally I ran a sigh sim; experience was telling me meeting with Gongo was a mistake; a Lepman can’t change his spots unless you flay him, but if he was setting a trap for me, I was better off setting it off early so’s I could see what he’d got arrayed against me. And there was always the possibility that he might just be looking to do legit business, though what would be bad enough to drive Gongo into looking to deal with what he considered his personal devil I didn’t know. I was genuinely curious, even as I computed a one-hundred-percent certainty it was going to explode, maybe literally, in my face.
“Okay, Eddy, set it up. Let Gongo know I’ll meet with him.”



Sam(aka Sam Steel, Sam Skulls)
‘Sam’ is a modified A-63 drone that was fitted with a nueral intelligence as an experiment by ARCHIE-3, and deployed to Madhaven. The exact circumstances of his ‘awakening’ are unknown, but likely related to the ‘corrupted’ factory that produced the Wolf’s Path and Ghost Rider Shemarrians with their aberrant programming. In any case, Sam ‘woke up’ with a new set of programming, independence from ARCHIE-3, and an attitude. In addition to the basic labor and combat program, Sam has a human personality emulation behavior set and a set of police/security-oriented routines as part of his core. Sam’s adopted the persona of a film noir private detective or ex-cop as his own, a resident of a much-changed, but still eeriely familiar, New York City.
Though nominally part of the Ghost Rider Tribe, Sam’s an attached freelancer. He does liaison work for the Ghost Riders, dealing with the citizens of Mad Haven, and he can go to the ‘Girls’ for support and repair work, but he also has leeway to conduct his own business in and around Mad Haven, acting as a security consultant and freelance gun for hire. It suits Sam just fine and keeps him busy.
Sam’s had some cosmetic work done; mainly in revamping his leg actuators and shoulders so they quit catching on loose debris, and he’s had a few other modifications made as well. He was one of the late models fitted with a retractable vibroblade and extra armor; he’s retained those features.
Sam wears a modified suit of Branaghan body armor and leather boots to help disguise himself and provide extra protection.
Sam has a small ‘office’ in a ruin in Hardman(old Harlem). He doesn’t have much in the way of possessions; a few spare suits of armor, some tools, and a good collection of weapons he’s acquired. He also owns a beat-up all-terrain amphibious rover that he uses when he’s travelling out of town; Mad Haven’s debris-clogged ways make it rather difficult to use in the City, so Sam mostly walks or rides when he’s in Mad Haven.
Sam’s still looked at askance by many MadHaveners, but he is generally respected for his part in several actions around town against outside threats. He has a solid and influential advocate in one of the mutant shamans, Brother Ant, who’s used some of Sam’s services from time to time, and in return has introduced him around the mutant community.

Sam Steel’s Mad Haven is slightly different from canon/the past. The Horune and Splugorth are a lot less prevelant, courtesy of the new nation states (Greater New England to the north and the reformed Shemarrian Nation to the south); any Horune or Splugorth Minions lurking around have to do so much more carefully. The Shemarrian Ghost Rider Tribe has moved into the city in force; rumor has it they’ve established a big enclave near the ruins of a big pre-Rifts industrial complex somewhere under the Jersey shore, and the warrior-androids are more common around the city(part of the reason that Horune and Splugorth try to avoid being noticed). There’s more trade with the outside, and quite a few mutants have forayed far afield and come back full of ideas and with contacts on the outside. There have been a few moves to unify the mutant tribes into one big cohesive whole, but none have seriously taken hold(still, the attempts are becoming more frequent, which is saying something). There have been a few initiatives that have gotten the tribes going on certain projects, like worm-proofing the warrens and tunnels, and hunting down some of the more persistent vermin.
The mutants are primarily concerned with growing their numbers and building up their communities. It will be centuries, if ever, before MadHaven ever plays host to direct trade with the outside world or any ship comes to call at the ports of MadHaven and its adjacent territories, but between the mutants and the Ghost Riders, the region may yet regain a degree of its old glories.


Yo’s---Yo’s is a Mutant-run eatery and bar, one of the few, in Mad Haven. Yo’s was established by a trio of Mad Haven PsuedoMan mutants who had gone abroad adventuring as d-bee mercenaries before returning to their home town and used some of their earned loot setting up a business. Admittance is to Mad Haveners only, and damn few non-mutants. It might have been ONLY mutants, but Yo’s proprietors set the rules, and nobody argues with them.
Yo’s is tucked away in what used to be a megadamage basement garage; its walls and floor are MDC armor, and the place is pretty well worm-proofed. It’s one of the few places a mutant can get soused and fall down and expect to wake up again in one piece, though Yo’s discourages that sort of behavior(they charge a fee if they have to dump you in a sleepover room for the night). The place is pretty clean, and you’re actually safe if you wander into the restrooms.
Yo’s has some strict rules; you’re welcome to carry your weapons into the establishment, but are only allowed to use them if something rips through the walls of the place and starts attacking. Killing other patrons is not allowed; killing’s the perogative of the management. You break anything in the place, you pay for it, up front and immediately. No fighting between patrons. You wanna fight, Yo’s staff will escort you and your co-combatant to a suitable place where you can duke it out and everybody else can place bets. Hands off the hired help; look, but don’t touch.

A: Type of Establishment:
Tavern. It’s as much about food as it is about booze at Yo’s.

B: Size of Establishment:
Mid-sized; there’s room for about 50 people on a crowded night, though usually only 10-20 people are in the place at any given time. Yo’s has about a half-dozen private rooms for paying customers, in addition to a handful of ‘flop rooms’ where drunks can sleep off their booze(there’s a fee for the courtesy). Yo’s has its own small electrical generator too, so they have power, lights, pumped water, and refrigeration.

C: Dress Code:
Certain Restrictions: please wipe your feet at the door and don’t bleed or dribble all over the floor. Pets(including slaves) are allowed, but keep them under control.

D: Quality of Service:
Efficient. Yo’s actually re-invented professional courtesy in old Mad Haven

E: Quality of Food/Drink:
Good/Solid, and by Mad Haven standards; Excellent. A lot of a MadHaveners eat their food raw and still quivering, so eating at Yo’s is for many an otherworldly culinary experience. Yo’s virtually invented the MadHaven pizza and a few other native dishes that have caught on.

F: Selection:
Good. A lot of what’s served up is locally produced; fish from the river and ocean, ruin worm caught locally, ruin rat and ruin lizard bagged and cooked from the neighborhood, vegetables grown and harvested locally. There’s a selection of alcoholic beverages made locally(usually served in clay jugs or plastic bottles, but Yo’s makes and bottles its own Yo-Beer, with a deposit-price on the bottles). Yo’s is one of the few places in Mad Haven that actually serves out-of-town foods and booze. Yo’s gets beer , apple jack, and maple meade, for instance, from up the Hudson. Occasionally, alien foodstuffs from Atlantis show up(don;t ask how Yo’s gets them; they won’t tell).

G: Prices:
Moderate to expensive. Prices range from 15 credits(or barter equivalent) for a plate of well-prepared rat, entree, and drink, to 50 credits or more for imported items.

H: Species Tolerance:
Racist(conditional). Open only to Mad Haveners. Used to be only mutants were allowed in, but as circumstances have slowly changed and Mad Haven’s become a slightly more open place, the mutant requirement’s eased up a bit, enough to allow other folks, as long as they meet management’s approval, into the place, so the occasional Knight of the Rose, Shemarrian, and people like Sam Steel are allowed in. That hasn’t sat well with everybody, and the establishment of a rival bar can be attributed to diehard mutant supremacists who fled Yo’s for their own exclusive dive.

I: Magic/Psionic Tolerance:
Intolerant. Like most Mad Haveners, Yo’s tends to be very wary of magic and psionics; only other mutant psychics are tolerated, and they prefer that you don’t show off.

J: General Attitude:
Institutional; it’s efficient service, but unless you’re a favorite of the management, they expect you to mind your manners, pay upfront, and let people enjoy their meals.

K: Security:
Strict and Secure. Yo’s has several bouncers on the payroll, and as most of them are Savage Lummoxes, that’s like having a tank company guarding the front door. Plus the three Psuedomen who manage the place worked as Headhunters; they still have their weapons in perfect working shape, so troublemakers can expect a facefull of energy rifle if they try to make trouble. That’s not counting what the other patrons will do to anybody who disturbs them. Yo’s is considered CIVVILIZED and people tend to get barbaric if soembody threatens that.

L: Other Services/Features:
*Microbrewery---Yo’s has several fermentors in the backrooms where they make their own booze and bottle it. The management’s got a few recipes for beer that they’re finetuning, but quality control is still up in the air; don’t expect the same quality or flavor on a consistant basis. Yo’s has a deal with several Onionheads to produce hops and other specific ingrediants for the brewery, but the little aliens don’t always want to share crops, so some batches of Yo-Beer don’t come out as anticipated, due to necessary substitution fo ingredients. Still, the fact that there’s locally bottled beer in Mad Haven is a major achievement and one Yo’s is proud of. To be honest, a lot of the mutants are happy to drink poor-quality Yo-Beer as a sign of local patriotism than drink expensive imported booze.

*Information Broker---Actually several; the local info-dealers and fixers are quietly duking it out to gain the biggest following, and have staked out particular tables and rooms in the place where they hold court. It’s something of a mixed blessing for people seeking information; on one hand there’s a selection of sources, on the other, anybody seen using another source is likely to become part of the information available from the other fixers.

*Mechanics---Several Apemen and MantisMen hang out at Yo’s, and advertise their services for anyone who’s interested.

*Fight Club---Yo’s hosts an arena outside its MDC protection where those patrons who just HAVE to have a fight can do so before an audience. Because it sits outside the armored walls of Yo’s, the arena’s likely to draw local predators, but that just adds to the drama of combats there.

Bo ---A Savage Lummox and a bouncer at Yo’s. Bo’s big and massive enough to be a whole family in himself; certainly his muscles and bones treat his brain like a whimpy little brother; to be protected and not let out too often. Bo’s paranoid and slow to recognize folks, but he does(eventually) remember. He remembers a good turn done him, and also remembers anybody who’s done him wrong...those people in the latter category don’t tend to last long.

Eddy Jangles ---Metal Morph. Eddy’s the local gossip and small-time information broker. He holds court at Yo’s and has a taste for upstate booze, for which he’s willing to shell out the extra clams. He mainly focuses on the word on the street and doesn’t go for malicious details or dirt, but he knows enough to have a feel for what’s likely to go down. He doesn’t hassle Sam about being a ‘bot or a ‘borg, because what good would it do either of them?

Tommy Kong ---Apeman Mutant and neighborhood mechanic. He does good work for a hefty fee, but his knowledge of outsider mechanical systems and ability to kludge up hardware of his own design makes his fees worth the extra money.

Gongo --Leopardman Mutant and head of the Savage Hands gang, a spinoff of the Guardian clans. Gongo got chased out of the Guardian territories because he got on the nerves of the other mutants there, and he split before they could split him. Gongo insists that he left because he was too mean and awesome even for the Guardians, and he’ll murder anybody who sez otherwise. He’s been venting his frustration over his exile by forming his own gang of bloodthirsty rejects and muscling in on new territory in more peaceful parts of town. He’ s thus far had mixed results; while he’s succeeded in terrorizing new parts of Mad Haven, he’s lost over half of his original gang to frustrated locals who won’t put up with his guff. Gongo fixated on Sam Steel after the ‘bot frustrated one of the Leopard Man’s schemes, and because he figured the outsider ‘bot would be easy pickings. About the only reason Gongo’s still breathing is BECAUSE of his fixation on scrapping Sam; the other mutants who might have otherwise united to wipe out Gongo’s little band have relented, figuring that as long as he’s paying more attention to the robot, he’s somebody else’s problem(plus, initially, there were more than a few mutants who wanted to see Sam go).
Last edited by taalismn on Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:53 pm, edited 2 times 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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Cytibor
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by Cytibor »

Fantastic short story, Talisman. :D Love reading those, honestly my favourite part of this thread is the written part that sets the mood before the actual statistics. :ok:
Rifts GM, casual gamer, self-published author.
Rifts Campaign Forum Thread: http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=115582&start=0
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Cytibor wrote:Fantastic short story, Talisman. :D Love reading those, honestly my favourite part of this thread is the written part that sets the mood before the actual statistics. :ok:


Thanks. I'd started doing a sketch of a Tribal conclave with Tribal delegates standing around in their finery, subordinates/NeShemar hanging around behind them(the Sapphire Cobra Priestess having a nealy naked acolyte wearing a snake trailing along behind her, the Horrorwoods having several cyberanimals, etc..) I hadn't gotten far when I started the Ghost Rider with a trenchcoat and hat-wearing skull-faced robot behind her, having remembered the objections to my 'Myrmidon' class...so this grunt had to be more than just a Dark Suit...then I began thinking of a book cover for a collection of stories about robots and crime('Asimov Presents...") which had a film noir motif, only with robots....and it took off from there, only set in MadHaven...and it took off running...and that got me thinking about how the world might change in the aftermath of a succesfully concluded Shemarrian Civil War, with the rebels the winners, and thei place in it.
And somehow the Shemarrians got pushed to the back, and we have Sam, former face of bad guy ARCHIE, talking about him as if he was just another organized crime kingpin, coming to the front. :D

Yeah, this sidestory will hopefully inspire what happened when the SCW came to The City, and what happened afterwards, and maybe start a whole line of gritty film noir-style adventures in Mad Haven(which is part of the reason I haven't provided hard stats on Sam and the other characters).
-------------
"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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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

EShemar Wayfinder Ariona Elite
“You know, it kinda miffs me that I can be outraced by a Warsteed in spite of being smaller, lighter, AND smarter?”
“Yes, but how many Warsteeds do you know can Walk on Wind, Summon Sand Storm, or set water on fire? Not to mention play a literally killer game of wizard-chess?”
“Good point.”


The Ariona are a very rare Elite exclusive to the Wayfinders. They have their origins in Worldstrider Tess’ona, a rare Centaur Elemental Fusionist who was a good friend of the technomancer Tsyldaen, before the fall of Tolkeen. When Tsyldaen was reborn as the First Wayfinder, before she escaped to the far western wilds, she sought out any hints or clues as to the whereabouts of her old Tolkeenite colleagues in the aftermath of the Coalitions razing and sack of the city. She found Tess’ona, slowly dying of terminal wounds inflicted by the Coalition’s soldiers, in a temporary refuge to the west of the city. After approaching and convincing the dying centaur that she was indeed her old friend sprung miraculously back to life in strange new flesh, Tsyldaen made Tess’ona an offer; a chance at a new life after ‘downloading’ her soul into The Heart she carried, to be reborn later as a cyborg. Intrigued, and not yet ready to die, Tess’ona accepted, and the download procedure was carried out. After cremating the mortal remains of her friend, Tsyladaen then gathered what else she could and fled to the American NorthWest where she would establish her new Tribe. Once established, she began building up the numbers of her new clan, getting down the business of reincarnating the more exotic and non-human of her downloaded acquaintances from The Heart she carried.
Knowing that her old friend would not be too comfortable in a humanoid body, Tsyldaen waited some time before she and her followers had gathered the resources to custom-build new bodies, before uploading her old comrade into her new body. The original Ariona body fashioned for Tess’ona combined parts of a badly damaged Shemarrian frame(that hadn’t self-destructed) with the equine body of an Rh-1004D robot horse, further enhanced with technowizardry. To counter the loss of magic powers typically caused by bionic conversion or soul transferral, Tsyldaen used the larger chassis of the robot horse to house a crystal PPE generator, giving the centaur gynoid a ready supply of PPE for spell-casting. Only when she and her technomages had created both a functional android bodyframe and a work of art, did Tsyldaen dare to attempt the soul transfer of her friend into the new body.
Though at first stunned by her re-awakening and rebirth in a strange new inorganic body, Tess’ona was further surprised that somehow her magical powers had come through mostly unchanged. Despite some initial difficulties getting used to her new form, Tess’ona soon adjusted and learned to revel in the capabilities of the android body. It wasn’t long before she enthusiastically joined Tsyldaen in her grand new work of building the Wayfinder Tribe, and eventually of taking their message, cause, and capabilities to the Shemarrian Tribes of the East, and renewed resistance to the Coalition States’ efforts at expansion.
Arionas are sometimes confused with the Cyberhorsemen of Ixion; though the latter have been known to have made contact and traded with the Wayfinders, and some have even joined the Tribe for a time, none are known to have become full-fledged NeShemar.
Arionas are still a rare subset within the Wayfinder community, and almost all are descendants, through the process of Progen, of Worldstrider Tess’ona. They often serve as Elite support elements, at the center, if not directly in charge, of EShemar formations, scout teams, expedition parties, and special forces units.

Type: EShemar Wf-Ariona
Class: Energy Lifeform/Robot Fusion Self-Sufficient Centauroid Gynoid
Crew: Transferred Intelligence
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 360(barding adds 200 MDC)
Humanoid Upper Torso 240(Body armor adds 120 MDC)
Head 90 (armored headdress adds 100 MDC)
Upper Arms/Shoulders(2) 120 each
Forearms(2) 100 each
Hands(2) 20 each
Legs(4) 160 each(barding adds 100 MDC)
Leg Jets(4) 60 each

Height: 8 ft
Width: 4 ft
Length: 10 ft
Weight: 2,800 lbs
Cargo: Up to 2,000 lbs astraddle the lower torso, and can pull up to 8 tons
Physical Strength: Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ TW PPE Generator-------400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
Speed:(Running) 120 MPH
(Leaping) 15 ft up/ 40 ft across, 100 ft up/across with a running start
Jet-boosted leaps add an additional 200 ft
(Flying) Not possible without specially modified jetpacks or use of magic
(Flying---Space) Can hit speeds of Mach 6
(Underwater) Can run along the bottom at 5 MPH, and survive depths down to 600 ft.
Market Cost: EXCLUSIVE to the Shemarrian Star Nation Wayfinder Tribe
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive night vision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, and other standard Shemarrian systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of the individual. Additional TW weapons and systems can also be added, and are ferquently requested.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---A modified bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 100 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Third Eye---The 3rd Eye implant that is the distinguishing physical characteristic of Wayfinders has evolved to be more than simply an extra optic; the SSN Wayfinders have refined it until it has the properties of the ARS-500 Arcane Scanner, with the following powers:
-Sense Ley Lines---3 miles(rifts at 6 miles)
-Sense Supernatural---450 ft
-Sense Magic---120 ft area
-Decipher Magic---72%
-Presence Sense---120 ft area
-See Aura
-Eyes of Thoth
-Sense/See Dimensional Anomaly

Magic/Technowizardry Systems:
Ariona are essentially Elemental Fusionists, and can select one of the two spell/ability packages available to them.

Weapons Systems:
1) Arm Lasers(2)---The Ariona retain the forearm lasers of the regular warriors. Just point and shoot.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD per single blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Finger Claws---The Ariona’s hands feature retractable vibroblades
Range: Melee
Damage: 3d6 MD

3) (Optional) Hip Hardpoints(2)---The Ariona can carry and remotely fire modified weapons from outrigger hardpoints on their front hips. Each one can hold an infantry- or cyborg-scale energy or projectile rifle, or TW long-arm(that can be hooked directly to the PPE powerplant).

4) (Optional) Concealed Leg Weapons(1-2)---The forelegs can conceal a cyborg laser rod, ion rod, electrical shock stick, or sword. When needed, a mental command opens a hatch and the weapon extends to be handgripped.

5) (Optional) Back Hardpoint(1)---The Ariona’s back can mount a specialized weapons pack, typically a TW heavy weapon. The following are a few of the more commonly available/seen systems:
a) Mini-Missile Launcher---12 mini-missiles

b) TW Mini-Missile Launcher---16 small missiles(4,000 ft range, 4d6 MD each) or 8 large missiles(3 miles range, 2d4x10 MD to a 30 ft radius).

c) Grenade Launcher Pod----This consists of three box-launchers that can fire volleys of grenades simultaneously to the forward flanks and front(over the cyborg’s head)
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: (Varies by grenade type: equivalent to standard hand grenade types, but can also fire flares and TW grenades)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4 grenades per launcher
Payload: 16 grenades per launcher

d) Heavy TK Machine Gun---4,000 ft range(double on ley lines), 2d4 MD single shot, 3d6 MD 5-shot burst, 5d6 MD 10-shot burst, 2d6x10 MD per 50-shot full-melee burst. 260 shot capacity, and recharges at 1 PPE per shot. +1 to strike.

e) Protective Shield Generator---This generates a Protective Energy Field in a 15 ft radius around the centauroid. Lasts 10 minutes and provides 50 MDC per 10 PPE. The field is mobile and can cover moving troops.

f) Invisibility Field Generator---This generates a field of invisbility(equivalent to the spell Invisibility: Superior) in a 15 ft radius around the centauroid. Lasts 3 minutes per 20 PPE. The field is mobile and can cover moving troops.

g) Levitation Field Generator---Great for carrying loads of cargo or other personnel up and down, within a 1,000 ft range. Up to 1 ton can be carried, and must be within a 10 ft radius of the Ariona. Draws 10 PPE per hour.

Hand to Hand:
The following bonuses are in addition to any the Ariona gets from additional skills/modifications
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 8, + 1 additional attack at levels 3, 6, and 12
Initiative +3
Strike +6
+4 Strike with ranged weapons
+6 Strike with Shemarrian/EShemar weapons
Dodge +7
Parry +7
Roll +4
Pull Punch +4
Disarm +2
Entangle +2
Critical Strike on a Natural 18-20
Paired Weapons
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 2d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 6d6 MD
Tear/Pry with Hands 2d6 MD
Body Block/Tackle 4d6 MD
Stomp/Restrained Hoof Strike 1d4 MD
Full Hoof Kick 3d6 MD
Rear Kick(2 attacks) 1d4x10 MD
-------------
"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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Advanced Cultural Notes: Male EShemar
“Why did the Dark One see fit to lock away our menfolk’s flesh, seal their bodies under their armor, take from them their natural forms? Clearly it was important to the Dark One’s plans to keep us enslaved, so it thus became a priority for us to restore our menfolk to their former physical prowess.
A priority and effort on the part of our Tinkers that ultimately paid off in the most grateful appreciation of many of us upon seeing our men again for the first time....”


(Previously, in the origial Ecotroz Shemar posting, it had been noted that Male Shemar were modified with an ‘applique armor equivalent to light cyborg armor. This post will explore the modifications to the Male Shemarrian in detail)
When ARCHIE-3 and Hagan Lonovich devised the Male Shemarrians, they were concerned primarily with the illusion of normalcy, rather than the substance, so, since there were to be few Male Shemarrians anyway(just enough to promote the storyline of the Shemarrians being a natural D-Bee race) they didn’t do much beyond the important parts, at least as they saw them. The Ecotroz Shemarrians (and other rebel Shemarrians) saw things differently, and when they had the time, tools, and resources, set out to rectify the problem, as they saw it.
Like the Shemarrian Warriors with their natural-looking pseudoflesh bodies, the Male Shemarrians have recieved a similar body modification; their body structure and ‘armor’ are now separate, so the Male Shemarrians can now peel off their external armor to reveal their synth-flesh-covered(and anatomically correct) physiques underneath. The new ‘Upgraded’ Male Shemarrians are actually tougher than the originals, courtesy of the EShemar using technology that acquired on pre-Rifts cyberhumanoids.
Notably, the Wayfinders were conspiciously bereft of Male Shemarrians until they made contact with the rest of the Tribes(who’d by then acquired both Progen and Assembler Forge technologies) on account of ARCHIE-3 not having sent the Male robots that far west. Once Tsyldaen got a good look at the schematics for the revised Male Shemarrians, she was able to make up for lost time reincarnating many of her male associates saved through her Heart(“Frankly, it was a relief; I was getting tired of being accused of trying to get all my old male friends into skirts.”).
Under the Ecotroz, the Male Shemarrians’ numbers are slowly rising, but even in the Shemarrian Star Nation, Male Shemarrians will still only account for a third of the Shemars’ total numbers, and they will still be in the minority with regards to their place in Shemarrian society.
EShemar Male:
MDC/Armor By Location
Antennae(2) 8 each
Hands(2) 15 each
Arms(2) 50 each
Legs(2) 60 each
Sensor Suite(back, faired into the spine) 85
Head 50
Main Body 200(plus can wear a variety of body armor types, the most common being equivalent to light or medium cyborg armor’ 135-310 MDC. Male Shemar of the Shemarrian Star Nation favor knockoffs of Naruni Enterprises’ thermal-kinetic armor).
Systems of Note:
*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL EShemar Males have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 40 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

All other stats are as normal for the Male Shemarrian, plus whatever individual differences are gained/requested by the Free Shemarrians as customizations or Gifts of Mod/Rites of Upgrade.
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

And somehow the Shemarrians got pushed to the back, and we have Sam, former face of bad guy ARCHIE, talking about him as if he was just another organized crime kingpin, coming to the front. :D

Yeah, this sidestory will hopefully inspire what happened when the SCW came to The City, and what happened afterwards, and maybe start a whole line of gritty film noir-style adventures in Mad Haven(which is part of the reason I haven't provided hard stats on Sam and the other characters).


Hey... nothing wrong with our beauteous gynoids taking a back seat. Other people benefitted / lost out when the civil-war happend ;)
They have as much right to have their story heard as the 10-tribes. :ok:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:Hey... nothing wrong with our beauteous gynoids taking a back seat. Other people benefitted / lost out when the civil-war happend ;)
They have as much right to have their story heard as the 10-tribes. :ok:



Yep, and we've just scratched the surface documenting the ripples that our little pebble(actually, it's more like a boulder) has created in the Rifts Earth pond.

Another evil thought: If we have the Wayfinders using The Heart to reincarnate various magic users, what other types can be considered as good candidates? I'm thinking what a Mystic Knight (good alignment of course) might be like as a Shemarrian... 8)
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:Hey... nothing wrong with our beauteous gynoids taking a back seat. Other people benefitted / lost out when the civil-war happend ;)
They have as much right to have their story heard as the 10-tribes. :ok:



Yep, and we've just scratched the surface documenting the ripples that our little pebble(actually, it's more like a boulder) has created in the Rifts Earth pond.

Another evil thought: If we have the Wayfinders using The Heart to reincarnate various magic users, what other types can be considered as good candidates? I'm thinking what a Mystic Knight (good alignment of course) might be like as a Shemarrian... 8)

*FEAR* :D :demon:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:[*FEAR* :D :demon:



Indeed...just might be the core of the Wayfinders' own combat forces(I'm getting a feel for their composition; a lot of so-called 'non-combat' classes like Acolites, Mystics, and Tinkers, but almost EVERY member of the Tribe has spellcasting abilities w/ implanted PPE/TW generators, enhanced psionics w/ psylite or psynetic enhancers, or at the very least TW modifications...so they tend to be damned unpredictable).
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:
DhAkael wrote:[*FEAR* :D :demon:



Indeed...just might be the core of the Wayfinders' own combat forces(I'm getting a feel for their composition; a lot of so-called 'non-combat' classes like Acolites, Mystics, and Tinkers, but almost EVERY member of the Tribe has spellcasting abilities w/ implanted PPE/TW generators, enhanced psionics w/ psylite or psynetic enhancers, or at the very least TW modifications...so they tend to be damned unpredictable).


Yeah; The way I envisoned them was as the "thinkers" of the E-SN. As for the spell-casting abilities; I never ascribed to Kevin Siembiada's whole "Psionics & magic are blocked / destroyed along with the flesh" schtick.
However it does help alot to have specialized PPE transmission systems :D
This is where Magicite, psy-recative alloys and specilaized soild-state spell circuts come into play.
As for combat training; ALL Wayfinders have at least basic combat skills that they share with their host bodies.

For the true warriors-of-the-path though; Manhunter'verse style battle-mages, Battle-Magi from Fed o' Magic world book (though the restriction on piloting & technology? Ignored as stupid nerfing), and the occasional cyber-kannigit or Mystic Knight of the White-Rose order.

For the most part though, they are seekers of knowledge, builders of wonderous things, and defenders of truth (no matter how much it hurts and no one wants to hear it). Even among those 'born' into the tribe via Progen.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

My excuse? According to Palladium Books, humans are one of the most versatile species out in the Megaverse, with vast potential, though it isn't immediately obvious.
The Shemarrians are human-based, indirectly through Archie-3(himself modeled on humanity) and Hagan, and the Ecotroz? Who knows, maybe originally the Ecotroz were human in form. in which case the Shemarrians are simply manifesting human potential across the board faster than mainstream Rifts Earth Humanity.
A lot of impossible things suddenly become possible when your heritage ENCOURAGES it. ;) 8) :D
Last edited by taalismn on Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:30 am, 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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:My excuse? According to Palladium Books, humans are one of the most versatile species out in the Megaverse, with vast potential, though it isn't immediately obvious.
The Shemarrians are human-based, indirectly through Archie-3(himself modeled on humanity) and Hagan, and the Ecotroz? Who knows, maybe originally the Ecotroz were human in form. in which case the Shemarrians are simply manifesting human potential across the board faster than mainstream Rifts Earth Humanity.
A lot of impossible thing suddenly become possible when your heritage ENCOURAGES it. ;) 8) :D

:ok:

As good a concept as any.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:
taalismn wrote:My excuse? According to Palladium Books, humans are one of the most versatile species out in the Megaverse, with vast potential, though it isn't immediately obvious.
The Shemarrians are human-based, indirectly through Archie-3(himself modeled on humanity) and Hagan, and the Ecotroz? Who knows, maybe originally the Ecotroz were human in form. in which case the Shemarrians are simply manifesting human potential across the board faster than mainstream Rifts Earth Humanity.
A lot of impossible thing suddenly become possible when your heritage ENCOURAGES it. ;) 8) :D

:ok:

As good a concept as any.


To qoute a line I've ascribed to my cyborg character/muse Patrika Tendii:
"Are the children of our minds any less worthy of our care and affection than those born of our blood and flesh? Is their potential to be any less great? Are they not as much the future as anything else we create in our lifetimes?"
-------------
"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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

EShemar Darkwater Asrai Elite
(aka ‘DeepWatch’, ‘DarkBaywatchers’, “Cyber-Selkies’)

“It’s tough getting assigned to the deep water patrols. Yes, it’s taking the fight to the enemy, but the first few weeks of orientation are like crashing and rebooting. Here are all us warriors, with battle honors won fighting the Enemy ashore, and we’ll dropped in the water with our new body armor, floated to keep us from sinking like stones if we stop swimming, and then we’re made to look like we’re floundering anyway, flailing and kicking in the water while the Asrai instructors slide, shimmy, and glide among us like seals or sharks, urging us to try to keep up with them, and taunting our failure. Frustrating to say the least, and some of the more fire-souled of our warriors actually got angry after they were humiliated for what seemed the thousandth time in exercises, sent flipping end over end by a high speed pass by one of the Asrai. However, seeing the battle recordings of combat against the Deep Enemy put it all into perspective. Mighty land warriors we Shemarrians might be, but in the water, where our Horune opponents and their horrid mechanical minions had virtually evolved, the enemy had the advantages of speed and maneuverability. We would have to adapt and fast, if we were to emerge from the depths victorious. THAT is what our Asrai were teaching us, and they did so well, if I may boast of our eventual prowess.”

“Damn! Ripped another thong! How soon do you think we can go hunting devil ray, or maybe shadow shark? I need a new wardrobe!”
“We’re going after the Devil Kraken in four days. Can it wait until then? We land that monster, you’ll have enough material for the rest of the year.”
“Yeah, but then EVERYBODY will be wearing kraken leather! Shadow Shark’s got a certain look and feel I like better.”

“By Poseidon’s blue-green block ‘n tackle and Davy Jones’ secret magazine stash, those deep maidens possess muscles that drive them through the water faster than a torpedo! And with those sea mounts on them too! Oh, but many a man of the waters would sell their souls if they could be rescued from watery death by those lifeguards! To be wrecked between those thighs, arrrrr, and to be beached on those reefs, aayyeeee, that’s the surefire cure for seasickness!”
---Captain Danny ‘Punch-Eye’ McShane, Privateer

“WHAT!?! We lost ANOTHER Strike Ship?! No, don’t tell me....those damn Shemarrians, right? Halsa the Fire-Eyed, but I hate those pests! I used to ENJOY raiding this coast!”


The Asrai are a subset of marine combat specialists that came about when the Darkwaters began pursuing open ocean operations against the Horune and Splugorth. Initial efforts to fit their Warriors with thruster-propulsion aquatic armor with flotation equipment proved only mixed successes, so it was decided that a more specialized class of warriors, more agile in water and possessing a skillset more appropriate for deep water combat was necessary.
The Asrai were modified via Upgrade from the Berserker chassis(and once Progen became more common, they started appearing as Progenborn), so they tend to have slim, but muscular, builds, with skin that has a faint oily or waxy sheen to it, though many also sport controllable luminescent tattoos that resemble the biolights of certain deep sea creatures. Their hands and feet can deploy webbing between the digits, and they have adjustable internal bouyancy organs similar to fish swim bladders that allow them to change their bouyancy, from bobbing like a cork to sinking like a stone. They are incredibly string swimmers, able to outpace many underwater sleds and vessels, even without augmentation like hydrojet propulsion packs. Extra senses are built into them, including sonar and motion detection. Their workings are reinforced to survive great pressure. Their programming has been expanded to accommodate a comprehensive knowledge of marine operations and combat hardware.
Though Asrai can wear streamlined medium cyborg combat armor (175 MDC) reminiscent in style of Amphib Body Armor(see Rifts Underseas, pg. 101) or Coalition Navy suits, they just as often strip down to skintight bodysuits or swimwear made from megadamage plastics or treated megadamage fish/seamonster skin(20-50 MDC) and equipment webbing, the better to feel the waters and attain maximum agility in the water. Many wear respirators and SCUBA gear even though they don’t need the gear to breath, in order to fool observers.
Asrai came into their own during the Shemarrian Nation counteroffensive against the Splugorth that helped drive the monsters off the North American continent. The Asrai practically took up permanent residence in Atlantis East, the covert Darkwaters underwater base located off the Jersey shore, and effectively WERE the sharp leading edge of the Shemarrian power projection against the Splugorth until the Hawkmoons could ramp up their air campaign into high gear. Leading teams of other Darkwaters warriors on aquatic WarMounts, or deployed in formations of other Asrai, these submarine warriors proved the bane of even the notoriously amphibious Horune.
In the Shemarrian Star Nation, Asrai aren’t as common as they were in the SN back on Rifts Earth, owing to the changed focus from submarine combat to spacial combat, but the Asrai are still a very important part of the Darkwaters community, making up most of the DeepWatch that maintains permanent deep sea facilities and forces on Shemarrian worlds.

Type: EShemar Dw-Asrai
Class: Energy Lifeform/Robot Fusion Self-Sufficient Amphibious Operations Gynoid
Crew: Ecotroz Intelligence
Weight/Size/MDC/Physical Characteristics: Identical to the Shemarrian Berserker unless otherwise noted.
Swimming Speed: 82(about 55 MPH)+16 (total speed 98 or about 70 MPH) if wearing little or no clothing.
Depth Tolerance: 2.3 miles
Market Cost: EXCLUSIVE to the Shemarrian Star Nation Wayfinder Tribe
Systems of Note:
Standard Shemarroan Robot Systems, plus:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive night vision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, and other standard Shemarrian systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of the individual.

*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---A modified bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 60 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.

*Sonar---Range: 3 miles

*Underwater Motion Detection---This consists of a skin network of temperature and pressure sensors that pick up changes in the immediate surrounding enviroment. As long as the gynoid is wearing little or nothing in the way of coverings that would interfere with the sensors, they give the Asrai a + to Initiative, Dodge and Roll underwater.

*Bouyancy Regulator---The Asrai can control their own bouyancy through the use of special internal varying-state gel ‘organs’.

*Depth Gauge

*Webbed Hands and Feet

*Blue-Green Frequency Wrist Lasers(no penalties for firing underwater)

Programming/Skills:
The skills of the EShemar Asrai depend on their origins and their level of experience.
Progen-born Asrai will start with the full base hand to hand combat programming of the Shemarrian Berserker, but retain/add W.P. Energy Pistol. W.P. Energy Rifle, W.P. Heavy MDC Weapons(all at 8th level), replace W.P. Axe with W.P. Harpoon & Spear Gun, W.P. Targeting with W.P. Grappling Hooks. W.P. Polearm with W,P. Tridents (all at 9th level).
ADD:
Swimming 98%
SCUBA 94%
Wilderness: Undersea and Sea Survival 75%
Pilot: Water Skiing and Surfing 90%
Pilot: Boats(Two of Choice) 88%
Pilot: Military(Submersibles OR Warships/Patrol Hydrofoils) 88%
Pilot: Water Scooters 90%
Demolitions: Underwater 90%

Can acquire additional skills as normal for an Ecotroz Nueral Intelligence.

Accessories/Special Weapons:
The Darkwaters use a variety of weapons adapted for marine operations; spearguns, blue-green lasers, Splugorth and Horune weapons, all acquired from other sources, until they could adapt existing Shemarrian equipment or create their own.
Once the Darkwaters had their own small arms works up and running, they quickly adapted their heritage designs to underwater operation; traditional Shemarrian long arms have been refitted with streamlined, nuetrally-bouyant housings, lasers have been adapted to use blue-green frequencies for maximum penetration through water, rail guns have been proivided with supercavitating ammunition copied from Kittani rail gun rounds, Shemarrian spears have been fitted with lanyards to serve as harpoons, and spearguns have been fitted with warheads adapted from high-tech arrowheads(reduce blast radius for explosives by HALF).

*Sharkskin Suit---A special skintight wetsuit(25 MDC) of synthetic ‘sharkscale’ material that improves streamlining; +2 to Swimming Speed(another +2 if also wearing a streamlined helmet), but the suit interferes with the Motion Sensors(no bonuses from the system). The suit also reduces the noise from swimming at maximum speed by a third.

*Shark-Blades---Armored Vambraces and greaves can be worn, fitted with additional fin-like vibroblades to add damage to a punch or kick
Range: Melee
Damage: +3d6 MD to a punch or kick(the blades do a follow-through to the initial kick/punch

*Ion Katana---Modified from the shoulder weapons of the Orca-50 Deep Sea Power Armor. It’s effectively a Shemarrian Cavalry Saber with an ion blaster built into the hilt. Later models will incorporate copied Naruni Enterprises ripper-blade technology for extra damage. The Ion Katana is popular as a backup weapon among Asrai.
Weight: 6 lbs
MDC: 37
Range:(Katana) Melee
(Ion Blaster) 1,200 ft in air or underwater
Damage:(Katana) 2d6 MD(Later models will do 4d4 MD)
(Ion Blaster) 3d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire:(Katana) ECHH
(Ion Blaster) ECHH
Payload:(Katana) Effectively unlimited held in a Shemarrian’s hands(powered by induction transfer coil)
(Ion Blaster)Effectively unlimited held in a Shemarrian’s hands(powered by induction transfer coil). A back-up E-clip can supply 30 shots
-------------
"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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Intro'd the crew in my campaign to the fledgling Saphire Cobra's.
It was a hoot :D
I'll post the thumb-nail notes of the session in 'The saga Continues' later on.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by Cytibor »

And just you wait till my character [Tech/Thomas Carmichael] gives the masters of bayou-stealth some toys made with his special expertise. :D Those Sploogies ain't never seen THIS much voltage.

And yes, he's a TW and as a player, I'm DYING for him to meet up with the Wayfinders. Oh the fun we'll have. :wink: :D :angel:
Rifts GM, casual gamer, self-published author.
Rifts Campaign Forum Thread: http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=115582&start=0
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:EShemar Darkwater Asrai Elite
(aka ‘DeepWatch’, ‘DarkBaywatchers’, “Cyber-Selkies’)

Nicely done.
*nods* Yeah, the Horune be treading them waters REAL careful. :lol:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Cytibor wrote:And just you wait till my character [Tech/Thomas Carmichael] gives the masters of bayou-stealth some toys made with his special expertise. :D Those Sploogies ain't never seen THIS much voltage.

And yes, he's a TW and as a player, I'm DYING for him to meet up with the Wayfinders. Oh the fun we'll have. :wink: :D :angel:


Looking forward to it...I'm more than happy to see others contribute their ideas to this. Plus I imagine it gives Josh a happy glow too. :D

And yes, while I was struggling to come up with unique aspects to the Darkwaters, I realized that instead of looking ahead, I could concentrate for a while on coming up with how they got there...cue deep water combat and a run to both Rifts: Underseas and the naval section of my reference library. Then it all starts coming together in ways that should satisfy some of the other commentors around here. :bandit:

Plus there's something about a tall dripping-wet android-gal in a dark swimsuit poking out the eyes of a Horune pirate that helps me shake off the lingering winter doldrums...

On the subject of other upcoming projects, I got three Warmounts stalled because I'm pussling over how to properly depict syntehtic spiderwebbing(I'll have to check if I can adapt my goop guns or molecular monofil to the purpose).
And I was considering a smaller, child-like sub-caste of Tinkers, like Shemarrian 'children', and then I saw this:
http://bar1scorpio.deviantart.com/art/Rifts-Chibi-Shemarrian-196634787

I may have ask the guy's permission to use that as a reference... ;)
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

taalismn wrote:I was considering a smaller, child-like sub-caste of Tinkers, like Shemarrian 'children', and then I saw this:
http://bar1scorpio.deviantart.com/art/Rifts-Chibi-Shemarrian-196634787

I may have ask the guy's permission to use that as a reference... ;)


Ah yes, one of the contributing artists for the VERY NSFW 'Peter is the wolf'
LOL! I luvs it. Mini-mite shemarr :mrgreen:
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:[

Ah yes, one of the contributing artists for the VERY NSFW 'Peter is the wolf'
LOL! I luvs it. Mini-mite shemarr :mrgreen:


Give them multi-mode nanotech reconfiguring arms like the cybersword arms of the Oni Cyberai, and we got some serious freaky kids....
-------------
"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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:http://forums.palladium-megaverse.com/viewtopic.php?p=2345103#p2345103
Prelude. :D


...excellent.... 8)
-------------
"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: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Advanced Cultural Notes: (Shemarrian Star Nation)The Wolf’s Path

“Well, they’re moving down there.”
“Uh-huh.”
The observer’s observation, as it left her lips, immediately sounded foolish and unnecessary. Crouched prone behind the ridge of a small hill overlooking a river, tucked under a tent of optical cloaking sheet, they both still had an excellent view of the landscape below them, especially as both possessed enhanced optics and senses.
Nearly two miles away, down the river, a reinforced metal and concrete bridge spanned the waterway, power lines and fiber optics towers straddling it. Even from this distance, the observer could easily see that the bridge was crowded with military vehicles crossing the river via the roadway. Ant-like figures teemed on the access to the other side of the river, moving with martial purpose.
Beside her, the Wolf sniper calmly checked her long-barreled weapon, then pushed its snout slightly through the folds of the optical blind. The sniper’s antennae caressed the scope of the long rifle, making unseen psychic connection as weapon and warrior became one, the sniper making minute adjustments and movements to bring her weapon into perfect alignment with some target far distant.
“You’ve spotted an officer?”
“No.”
“What?! You’re just going to shoot and hope you hit somebody important?”
“No.”
“Wait! You planted explosives under the bridge earlier? Spotted a fuel tank?”
“No.”
The observer wisely shut the hell up. She’d just have to see what the professional was up to, for better or worse.
One-two-three, the sniper’s finger brushed the trigger of her weapon.
The high voltage powerlines over the river and the bridge suddenly parted, dropped to the earth, drapping across the bridge. Even at this distance, the observer could see sparks fly from the metalwork of the bridge, figures on it suddenly start dancing convulsively, and several small fires break out among the vehicles. Even those vehicles that were no doubt sufficiently shielded and insulated, suddenly came to a halt.
The sniper immediately pulled back her rifle and began folding it, while sliding back from her position. Once below the ridge line, she and the observer pulled down the optical blind and started skittering back down to a shielded culvert to make their escape.
“There. That ought to hold them for a while. They’ll be at least a half-hour clearing up that mess. More to restore power through those wires. With any luck they’ll pull a few of their troopers to check all the lines for further signs of sabotage. Much more inconveniencing than if I’d just whacked some random officer. They’d have beat the bushes for the obvious assassin, bagged the body and kept moving. This way they have more of a headache and delay. Let’s move! I have a few more places I think I can sting them today!”


During the Shemarrian Civil War, the Wolf’s Path was generally regarded as Loyalist, but were honorable in that they gave captured rebels a sporting chance to escape. Generally, the Wolves did not go out of their way to hunt down the rebels unless the latter trespassed on their territory. Due to some sort of programming anomaly, ARCHIE-3 could not reliably enforce his directives to the Tribe, much to his vexation, so the Wolf’s Path were of uncertain reliability as soldiers in his service against the Ecotroz rebellion. This changed when ARCHIE-3 built up greater numbers of ‘unattached’ Shemarrians and the corrupted Skullcrusher Tribe, and unleashed them on any Shemarrians who didn’t instantly respond to his call to obedience. When it became obvious that more than a few Wolf’s Path tribeswomen met the criteria for being considered ‘enemy’, the Wolves welcomed the rebels and Awakening, joining the rebellion. The joining of the Wolf's Path to the rebels effectively denied ARCHIE-3 access to the south, and put a hostile force on the loyalist Skullcrushers' southern territorial border.
The warriors of the Wolf’s Path are often confused with the Horrorwoods Tribe, as both tribes subscribe to a ‘green’ philosophy and both prefer planetary enclaves on worlds with established life. However, the Wolf’s Path have a more pared-down take on survival. Where a Horrorwoods band might settle on a planet rich in life, establish themselves in the deepest, most crowded, ecosystems on the world, and surround themselves with all manner of robotic animals, the Wolfs prefer to live off the land, with few extra(beyond variants on the original pre-SSN types) War Mount types to their name. The ancient Mongolians, especially the continent-conquering Mongolian hordes, would be an apt model of Wolf’s Path society. Like the Horrorwoods, the Wolf’s Path may establish a few towns or cities on their worlds, the communities mainly settled with NeShemar, offworlders, and the necessary static castes and their work, while the majority of the Tribe wanders freely about their territory.
The Wolf’s Path Tribe has an exceptional number of Shemarrian Wolves in their territories and warbands; no other Tribe has as many in the same ratio to Shemarrians as does the Wolf’s Path, nearly three Wolves for every Tribesbeing. Among them, the Wolves are known as ‘kantaran’, and the creatures are treated akin to family members. The Wolf’s Path warriors are adept at handling and directing the beasts, sometimes even refering to them as ‘our little sisters/brothers’. Shemarrian Wolves serve as scouts, flankers, and communications runners in the forces of the Wolf’s Path, and may have minor modifications, such as laser designators and communications boosters to aid them in these tasks. When combat situations don’t require the kantaran to appear as mere feral beasts, they may be dressed in light armor vests equivalent to light horse barding. Some are also fitted with special mine- or satchel-charge-dropping vests, or the wolves may carry explosive devices in their mouths(the kantaran are intelligent enough to recognize enemy units and drop the explosives near/on them and get clear without blowing themselves up). Other kantaran, drilled in close combat, may wear harnesses with slashing blades extending out from the sides, and head pieces with additional blades, for getting among enemy infantry and slicing them up while running them down.
In the overall scheme that has emerged in the Shemarrian Star Nation, the Wolf’s Path are the commando-scouts; stealthy and self-reliant, able to physically infiltrate and recon a planetary target weeks, even months, in advance, and not be noticed. When their larger units arrive, they are highly mobile, rarely staying in one place for long, denying the enemy static beachheads to counterattack. Wolf’s Path warriors practice fast, mobile, hit-and-fade combat tactics that would be familiar to any cavalry officer or special forces operative. Hit and run, sniping, camouflaged positions, ambushes, and coordinated strikes at dozens of points to distract and expose an enemy are all trademarks of Wolf’s Path forces. They don’t encumber their forces with a lot of specialized War Steed types or exotic weapons; most of their hardware dates back to the old Shemarrian Nation days, only modified to keep up with the times. They do have a few special weapons, though, mainly long range, low signature, and high efficiency weaponry in keeping with their nomadic low-logistics philosophy. The Wolves have also been known to make extensive use of captured weaponry and transport(hovercraft are popular) to stretch their own ordnance supplies and to help sew confusion amongst an enemy(especially when infiltrating enemy-held territory; the better to keep the enemy in the dark as to the identity and numbers fo their attackers).
Despite their more spartan outlook, Wolf’s Path warriors are nevertheless just as tech-savvy as their kindred in other Tribes. They maintain concealed caches of hardware and hidden factory complexes on their worlds, as any other planetary Shemarrians, but are also adept at mobilizing and moving their tech-assets. They have a larger space presence than their Horrorwoods kindred, and are noted as fierce small craft combatants, especially in the demanding near-space/atmosphere theatre of operations. In combined arms operations, Wolf’s Path close air support is nearly as good as that of Hawkmoon aerial warriors.
Wolf’s Path warriors make even more extensive use of data-linking and combat-coordination networks than other tribes, making ‘wolf pack’ more than just a casual reference with regards to their tactics. Wolf’s Path units tend to act and fight as one, rather than in a number of individual actions, allowing them to concentrate their firepower in truly frightening displays of synchronized marksmanship. More outward signs of the Wolfs’ Path attitude include the common practice among Warriors of having enlarged canine teeth implants or even tails installed.
While the Wolf’s Path emphasizes group dynamics over individual glory, the Wolves still honor and respect individual initiative. The Tribe knows the value of the ‘lone wolf’, but also expects everybody to pull their own weight and respect authority. Thus, punishment for disobeying orders, especially for one’s own gain, can be severe among the Wolf’s Path. It is possible, however, for a subordinate to question and challenge a superior they feel is wrong, and win. The rewards for bringing errors and faults to light can be quite substantial, including raise in social status; the Tribe’s meritocracy rewards those who work hard and work to better their society. Honor duels(non-fatal) are also not unknown among the Wolf’s Path, especially when there is no one party in the wrong in a dispute. The Wolves regard these duels as a mechanism to relieve strain that might otherwise compromise the efficient coordination of a group later in time. Indeed, once a duel is fought, the participants more often than not regard the incident leading to the duel past and the slate between them cleared, and go on to work with each other as if nothing happened.

Relations:
The Wolf’s Path gets along best with the Horrorwoods Tribe and the Ghost Riders. Like the Wolves, the Horrorwoods appreciate lifeworlds and the power of nature, with a similar techno-druidical stance. A love of animals(including cyber-’animals’) is another commonality between the two Tribes. When the SSN moves to seize planets, the two Tribes are the ones who most often work together in taking ground.
The Ghost Riders are regarded as boon companions because even before the Wolves were Awakened, they were exhibiting a higher than normal incidence of aberrant and independent behavior(as evidenced by their giving captured rebels in the SCW a sporting chance to escape). This has been ascribed to Wolf’s Path Shemarrians being produced at a factory that also produced Ghost Riders, after it had received software(for analysis) unearthed by Ghost Rider scouts digging in Mad Haven. The Wolf’s Path feel a certain camaraderie with the non-Ecotroz Shemarrians and understand their independent spirit.
The Silvermoons are frequent partners in joint expeditionary ‘Wolf-Moon’ forces; the Wolf’s Path typically handling the surface mission while the Silvermoons provide overwatch and orbital fire support.
Similarly, the Hawkmoons are frequently partnered with the Wolf’s Path as air support. The two Tribes generally get along well together, although there is some competitiveness between warriors of the two.
Blood Riders are given leery respect; the combat-oriented warriors are treated like a spot praire fire; hardly subtle, easily seen, and all-too-prone to getting out of hand.
The Skullcrushers are given fair distance; if the Blood Riders are praire fires, the ‘crushers are tidal waves, or earthquakes---far more destructive and less easily avoided.
Wolf’s Path respects the Wayfinders for their curiousity and inquisitive nature, though it sometimes leads the scholar-gynoids into trouble.
The Darkwaters are dealt with infrequently, usually when dealing with interstellar shipping or when the Wolves need cutting edge starship tech and weaponry.
The Sapphire Cobras are just seen as weird. The Wolf’s Path has no objections to the Cobras establishing enclaves on Wolf worlds, but don’t mingle with them much socially. The Cobras seem to get along well with the Ghost Riders, though, so the Wolf’s Path gives the snakies the benefit of the doubt.

Composition Notes:

*Male Shemarrians---The Wolf’s Path has the highest percentage of Male Shemarrians of any Tribe; nearly 30% of their numbers consists of Males. This is attributed in part due to their expertise at fieldcraft and stealth skills. Wolf’s Path Male snipers are even more feared than the regular Warriors, being wilier and more elusive.

*Preservers---The Wolf’s Path doesn’t have as many of these hulking behemoths as one might think; the emphasis on mobility doesn’t leave much for static positions and tactics favored by Preservers. The large male cyborgs do have the occasional role protecting WP encampments and facilities, as well as serve as campuflage experts, but they generally remain in established Wolf’s Path territories, rather than on the front lines.

Stat Bonuses:
SSN Wolf’s Path Shemar enjoy the following bonuses:
*All Wolf’s Path have the following additional skills:
Blending 30%(+5% per level of experience)(see Rifts Australia or Game Master Guide for this skill)
Camouflage 40%(+5% per level of experience)
Trap & Mine Detection 40%(+5% per level of experience)
They are also +20% to any Wilderness skills they elect to pick up naturally.

*Superior Teamwork---In teams of five or more Wolf’s Path Tribesmen, they enjoy a +1 to Initiative, +1 to strike, and +3 to Perception as long as they are in line of sight of each other.

*Integral Laser Designators---ALL Wolf’s Path members have optically-integrated laser-illumination systems built into their eyes for ‘painting’ targets for attack with laser-guided weaponry. Effective range of the eye-laser designators is 4 miles.

*Molecular Analyzer---WP members have excellent senses of smell, though not nearly as good as that of most Warsteeds or E-animals. Wolf’s Path Shemarrians can Track by smell at 65%, and Recognize scent at 70%

Shemarrian Wolves/kantaran have the following additional systems:
*Superior Teamwork---In teams of five or more Wolf’s Path kantaran, they enjoy a +2 to Initiative, +2 to strike, and +3 to Perception as long as they are in line of sight of each other.

*PPE Sensor---This is identical to the SNARLSystem deployed as a gunsight by the Rifts Earth Japanese military. Slightly more sensitive with a PPE trigger threshold of 40 PPE. Effective range of 200 ft, with 50% margin of error beyond that out to 500 ft.

*Integral Laser Designators---ALL Wolf’s Path members have optically-integrated laser-illumination systems built into their eyes for ‘painting’ targets for attack with laser-guided weaponry. Effective range of the eye-laser designators is 4 miles.

Sample Weaponry:
*Stealth Systems---Most Wolf’s Path body armor carries properties copied from Naruni Enterprises’ Thermo-Kinetic Armor. Wolf’s Path members also carry either Blurr-Camou or NE-style Optical Invisibility Cloaks as standard.

*EShe-WpHLR03 Sniper Laser---Developed with the help of the Silvermoons, this weapon trades damage for range and accuracy. Its folding barrel and frame design also makes it easier to conceal and carry when not in use.
Weight: 100 lbs
Range: 11,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot; cannot fire bursts
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 28 shots per e-clip
Bonuses: Integral laser targeting and computer sight adds a +3 to strike
Note: The Sniper Laser CANNOT be fitted with a bayonet.

*EShe-WpLB02 Laser Bow---Based on Rifts Earth Native American high-tech weaponry, the WpLB02 takes advantage of superior materials, technology, and android/cyborg strength to create a more efficient weapon. In addition to generating enough energy with a drawstring pull to fire a laser bolt, the Laser Bow can also be ‘powered down’ to produce lower-powered shots, making the weapon ideal as a hunting and survival bow. The Laser Bow is typically used by members of classes that lack wrist lasers(such as Acolites, Mystics, and non-combat NeShemar), but it is occasionally used by commandos as a backup weapon. The WpLB02 has also been traded to the Horrorwoods and Blood Rider Tribes.
Weight: 4 lbs
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 3d6 SD or 3d6 MD per shot
Alternately, the bow can fire a ‘spray’ of ten 3d6 SD bolts that fan over a 15 ft wide area.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: A battery capacitor can hold 1 MD shot in reserve, but 1 MD shot=10 SDC shots.

*EShe-WpSB02 Repeating Pneumatic Crossbow---Actually a high-powered hand-pumped air rifle that fires high-tech arrows. The WpSB02 can also be used underwater. It is primarily used for quiet assassinations and target-tagging, and is commonly used by NeShemar and rear-echelon Tribemembers.
Weight: 5.5 lbs
Range: 800 ft, 400 ft underwater
Damage: 4d6 SDC for regular SDC arrows/bolts, or uses high-tech arrowheads for damage/effect
Rate of Fire: Single shot, ECHH
Payload: Clip holds six arrows/quarrels, while the compressed air tank holds enough pressure for 18 shots. Generally takes a being with PS of 20 or greater about 5 minutes to pump the tank up to full pressure.

*EShe-WpBW-01 Long Bow----This is a high-tech compound bow strung to take advantage of superior materials and greater android/cyborg strength to produce performance superior to standard bows. It is identical to the Native American NA-SW4 MDC Bow. Like the Laser Bow, the Long Bow is commonly traded with the Horrorwoods Tribe.

*Wolf Barding---100 MDC Main Body. Optional helmet/head protection adds 50 MDC.

*Wolf-Blades---Do 2d6 MD on a body block, side-slash, or head-butt

*Wolf Grenade/Mine Harness---Holds up to 6 grenades or 2 fusion blocks(the munitions are electronically primed and CANNOT be detonated prematurely).

*Claymore Harness---This consists of a harness with pockets for two claymore-style directional mines on either flank of the Wolf(4 mines total). Each mine does 4d6 MD to a six ft area on one side of the Wolf, and 1d4 MD to everything in a 100 ft long, 120-degree wide cone. A plasma model(based on Rifts Earth tech) that does 1d4x10 MD in-close, and 1d6 MD to the area of effect is also available. These explosives can be particularly effective if the Wolf is able to get into an enemy encampment or formation and detonate its pack-mines.

*WolfPack Comm Jammer---This is a compact radio jammer carried in wolf-barding, that can pump out enough multi-wavelength white noise to jam civilian band communications with 90% effectiveness, and military comms with 70% effectiveness, over a 5 mile radius. It has a battery good for 6 hours of continuous operation, then can recharge off the kantaran‘s own powerplant at a rate of one hour jammer time =2 hours recharge time. The Wolf’s Path has learned the effectiveness of infiltrating enemy lines and communities with hordes of jammer-equipped Wolves, and using them to disrupt communications, often in conjunction with hardlines being dug up or cut down at the same time.
-------------
"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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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

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Advanced Cultural Notes:(Shemarrian Star Nation) Shemarrian Wolf Breeds
“Ever been trapped inside a tank surrounded by wolves? I’m not talking your garden variety feral dogs, or woods varmints, or even shadow-beasts...I’m talking pony-sized animals with fangs the length of your forearm. Shemarrian wolves. Big, nasty, SMART beasts. Smart enough to know how to ambush and surround an armored vehicle and hit it from all sides. Smart and tough enough to bite away the side armor and chew through the road and bogie wheels, and break the treads. Smart enough to stay down out of the arc of fire from the turret guns. Mean enough to let us know the moment we tried to open the turret hatch and make a run for it that they were out there waiting. DAMN smart and nasty critters. I can still feel their growl echoing up and down my spine. Subsonics, the bastards; you remember that growl in your sleep....They just kept us there canned up until their masters came up, ordered us out, and ran us out of their territory. I wasn’t about to argue; I’d had enough of the damned Shemarrians and especially their damned wolves by then!”

Just as the explosive growth of the free sentient Shemarrians has led to individualism, a greater variety of random traits among them, and a proliferation in various sub-class forms(both among the Shemarrians and their WarMounts), the Shemarrian Wolf has seen a growth in variety of forms. Even though ARCHIE-3 and Hagan already allowed for some cosmetic variation among the Shemarrian Wolves, in different patterns and length of fur, with the use of Progen-related Assembly Forge technologies the Free Shemarrians have gone even further, ‘breeding’ more substantial variations into the basic design.
While all Tribes have Shemarrian Wolves among their number, some Tribes have more than others, depending on their Tribal ways and philosophies; the Horrorwoods and Blood Riders have many, while the aerial- and space-based Hawkmoons and Darkwaters have very few. The recognized Wolf-breeders, with more variants to their name than any other Tribe is the Wolf’s Path, who have created dozens, if not hundreds, of permutations on the original design. The Shemarrian Wolf is known as ‘Kantaran’ among the Wolf’s Path, and the name has begun to catch on with other Tribes as well. The various breeds may serve special purposes, or may be the individual development of various separate warbands and sub-tribes. For the most part, variations are cosmetic, or may grant only small advantages(a slightly larger paw may increase speed over swampy ground or climbing speed by 10%, slightly protrudant eyes add a +1 to Perception, etc.), but a few variants are more substantial, even radical.
The following are some of the more radical observed variants, most sighted among the Wolf’s Path, but individual animals of any breed may wind up in other Tribes owing to trade and personal preferences.

*AA-10SW/A-009(EShe-10SW) Shemarrian Wolf----The original design; it appears with all Tribes.
Wolf’s Path-bred Shemarrian Wolves/kantaran have the following additional systems:
*Superior Teamwork---In teams of five or more Wolf’s Path kantaran, they enjoy a +2 to Initiative, +2 to strike, and +3 to Perception as long as they are in line of sight of each other.
*PPE Sensor---This is identical to the SNARLSystem deployed as a gunsight by the Rifts Earth Japanese military. Slightly more sensitive with a PPE trigger threshold of 40 PPE. Effective range of 200 ft, with 50% margin of error beyond that out to 500 ft.
*Integral Laser Designators---ALL Wolf’s Path members have optically-integrated laser-illumination systems built into their eyes for ‘painting’ targets for attack with laser-guided weaponry. Effective range of the eye-laser designators is 4 miles.

*EShe-11SW Kantaran Schillga---(aka ‘Shemarrian Dire Wolf’, ‘Skulleater’) The Schillga breed has a slightly larger head and much heavier jaw, with greater bite strength---a full strength bite does 4d6 MD, and a two-attack power bite does 8d6 MD. Schillgas are sepcially popular with the Skullcrusher Tribe.

*EShe-12SW Kantaran Madghar---(aka ‘Badger-Wolf’, ‘Mole-Wolf’)---The Madghar breed has a more blunted, rounded head like a pitbull or bull-terrier, blunter incisor teeth, and noticeably larger forepaws for digging and tunneling. The Madghar can dig through dirt, mud, or sand at a rate of 8 ft per melee, or tunnel at 4 ft per melee.

*EShe-13SW Kantaran Scarnus---(aka ‘Quillback Wolf’, ‘Spark-Wolf’, ‘Firestarter’)---The Scarnus breed has a pronounced ridge of quills or upright hairs standing up right between its front shoulders. The Scarnus breed is much more difficult for an unprotected person to ride on account of the spine-hairs. The Scarnus also generates electrical charge running, and in addition to its bite, it can deliver a powerful electrical shock equivalent to a Coalition Shock-Prod. A bite or claw-strike, restrained or otherwise, can also be used to do 6d6 SDC in shock damage, with a 65% chance of stunning humanoids and smaller animals(only a 20% for larger, giant, or inhumanly powerful animals). Victims must roll versus stun, with a successful roll meaning they suffer only half damage and lose initiative and 1 APM for the round. Failure means the victim is -8 to strike, parry, and dodge, plus speed and number of APMs are reduced by HALF for 1d4 melees. Effects and damage are cumulative.
Under the right circumstances, the electrical shock can also set tinder and other other sensitive combustibles on fire.
Scarnus are popular ‘pets’ among the Blood Riders.

*EShe-14SW Kantaran Lumnis--(aka ‘Moon Wolf’, ‘Silver Wolf’, ‘Royal Wolf’)---The Silvermoons don’t have many Shemarrian Wolves, but the few they do have are distinguished by a thick silver mane and lustrous fur with polychromatic highlights. In fact, the Lumnis breed is covered in a laser-reflective coat, the many metallic hairs scattering laser light and blunting their coherence. The fur isn’t as effective as smooth plate, but nevertheless reduces laser damage by 25%.

*EShe-15SW Kantaran Vox--(aka ‘Howler Wolf’)---The Vox-breed has a smaller, narrower fox-like head, and jaws that do HALF as much damage on a bite, but they are able to project a devastating short-range sonic attack that has a range of 400 ft and does 2d6 SDC or 2d6 MD to a 10 ft wide area, or a concentrated attack that does 4d6 MD. Furthermore, unprotected personnel must roll versus nonlethal poison(16 or better) or be stunned for 1d4 melee rounds. People in sealed body armor or power armor must only roll an 8 or better.

*EShe-16SW Kantaran Toxos---(aka ‘Venom Wolf’)---The Sapphire Cobras may have adopted the snake as their totemic animal, but they haven’t neglected their faithful Shemarrian Wolves. The Toxos breed has injector fangs that can inject drugs, poisons, or nanites(includingthe trademark ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ nanovenom----does 3d6 MD damage per melee, for 1d4 minutes. These disassemblers ONLY work on inorganics(metals, ceramics, plastics) and not on organic/living flesh) into a victim. The Toxos have reservoirs for 30 doses of up to 4 different chemicals before needing to restock.

*EShe-17SW Kantaran Pyranine---(‘Redjaw’, ‘FireWolf’)---Notable immediately for its red fur, the Pyranine breed can apparently breath fire---actually a short-range plasma projector firing through the mouth. Range is about 500 ft, and does 3d6 MD per shot. The Pyranine can also ‘leak’ hot plasma-excited gas out of its mouth, adding 1d6 MD to a bite and giving it a fearsome ‘flaming mouth’ look, with glowing flames and smoke wafting from its jaws. For obvious reasons, the Pyranine breed is very popular with the Blood Riders.
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Found a couple of pics for Hope Brightlance reffernce.

May PM said images later on when I've pallet-swapped the hair and added the Hawkmoon "colours" to the battle-plate. We'll see. 8-)
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

DhAkael wrote:Found a couple of pics for Hope Brightlance reffernce.

May PM said images later on when I've pallet-swapped the hair and added the Hawkmoon "colours" to the battle-plate. We'll see. 8-)


Looking forward to it.
I'll eventually have to try my hand at some Shemarrian art as well(so many things to do, so little time).
-------------
"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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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Things to do tomorow;
1) Thumbnail write-up of the expanded Wayfinder in the SSN.
2) Do the pic 'shoop' on the representation of Hope I found.
Edit: DONE! :D
3) Complete 'The saga continues' meeting of the PC's with the Sapphire Cobra.

Yeah, gonna be busy day for my muse. :frust: :frazz:

Oh, and this ignores such trivial things like showering, coffee, food, etc etc etc.
Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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DhAkael
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
User avatar
taalismn
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Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by taalismn »

Doing some cleanup on the Silvermoons...325lbs for an e-canister?! 200 lbs for a powerpack?! No...brought it down to 50, though with robot strength, even 200 really isn't a problem, considering the original weapon was 150 lbs...bah, a mere baton.
-------------
"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
DhAkael
Knight
Posts: 5151
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:38 pm

Re: Shemarrian-related fan creations

Unread post by DhAkael »

Bind the body to the opened mind
Bind the body to the opened mind

I dream of towers in a world consumed
A void in the sentient sky
I dream of fissures across the moon
Leaves of the lotus rise


~Dream Again By Miracle of Sound
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