Bit of Analysis: Rifts II

[Ahriman238]

The New Rifts thread. Find the Old One (in more ways than one, this is RIFTS) Here.


As we left off with China, we''l take the next step east and look at RIFTS Japan.

Like everywhere else on Rifts Earth, Japan was hit hard by the Cataclysm. Tokyo is now underwater, Honsou is split in two, and Hokkaido is now a chain of tiny islands. The sea east of Japan includes something like the Bermuda Triangle, an insanely treacherous sea full of monsters that only Horune Pirates and the Splugorth can travel with impunity.

There's a New Empire based in Kyoto, centered around the Millenium Tree found there. Very traditional with an Emperor, Shogun, some daimyo, a lot of samurai, plus some ninja and sorcerers. The New Empire is deeply traditional and luddite, rejecting technology as the cause of the Cataclysm.

Takamatsu is an independent kingdom with a 20th Century techbase.

15 years ago, 4 cities that vanished in the Cataclysm returned, having been rifted straight into the modern era. These are Ichto, Hiroshima, Kure, and Iwakuni. These advanced cities organized into the modern Republic of Japan, a benign but fortified state. Ichto later seceded from the Republic to form the cyberpunk Ichto Province, ruled by the Ichto Robotics Corporation.

The Otomo Shogunate was formed by residents of the New Empire that rejected their anti-tech stance, but liked the classical Japan style of government and didn't mind the magic. Until the Republic, they were THE source of high-tech, sometimes blended with magic. Cyborg samurai, Crazies and Juicers, Crazy and Juicer Ninja and, of course, giant mecha. As far as Otomo is concerned, they're the ones who toughed it out for generations and will not take second seat to the Republic of Japan. In fact, they have been secretly colluding with oni (Japanese demons) and others to weaken the Republic, planning the outright conquest, er- "reunificaiton" of all Japan.

About a third of Japan is "the Zone" overrun by oni. Funnily enough, the oni are peaceful tribal hunter-gatherers most of the time. Every so often they'll unite behind a powerful warchief or sorcerer and spill out in a great horde, and trying to claim and hold large areas of the Zone is really ill-advised, but for the most part they don't make trouble. Which doesn't mean a human intruder in their turf won't be hunted down and eaten.

The islands that were once Hokkaido (the northern most part of Japan) are now known as the Domain of the Gods. There's a second Millenium Tree up there, carefully hidden by the Japanese gods, along with two minor warring shogunates (Yukimuru and Toshiie) a handful of Ainu tribes and a tiny feudal kingdom called Surusa.

We even learn something about the surrounding areas.

Okinawa is the sight of an underwater Horune base, in what used to be a space station prototype destroyedi n the Cataclysm and rebuilt by the Horune.

The Russian coastland is home to a number of fishing villages and pirate organizations. Noteworthy mostly in that about half have a handful of Air and/or Water Warlocks to ease their travels and help them fight better.

The Korean population has been reduced to just 6 million, exclusively in small subsistence farming and fishing villages pretty much at the mercy of demons and monsters. However, a small area of 50 miles. or 80 km, around the ruins of Seoul is under the protection of an ancient Chiang-ku dragon named Master Khan, and his 2,000 disciples who are mystic martial artists and tattooed men both.

Taiwan was completely obliterated in the Cataclysm.

Half the Phillipines are underwater, the 1% that survived the Cataclysm were easy prey for the monsters. Now the island only holds ruins, including a 300-year old underwater US Navy base, and a few small D-Bee communities.

[SAMAS]

The New Rifts thread. Find the Old One (in more ways than one, this is RIFTS) Here.

As we left off with China, we''l take the next step east and look at RIFTS Japan.

Like everywhere else on Rifts Earth, Japan was hit hard by the Cataclysm. Tokyo is now underwater, Honsou is split in two, and Hokkaido is now a chain of tiny islands. The sea east of Japan includes something like the Bermuda Triangle, an insanely treacherous sea full of monsters that only Horune Pirates and the Splugorth can travel with impunity.

There's a New Empire based in Kyoto, centered around the Millenium Tree found there. Very traditional with an Emperor, Shogun, some daimyo, a lot of samurai, plus some ninja and sorcerers. The New Empire is deeply traditional and luddite, rejecting technology as the cause of the Cataclysm.

It should be noted that the New Empire's Emperor is about as Legitimate as it gets. Amaterasu herself came down with him and declared him Emperor.

Takamatsu is an independent kingdom with a 20th Century techbase.

A little more than that. Takamatsu is an almost perfect blend of the Empire's traditionalism and the Republic's technology. They also have access to a permanent rift leading to an uninhabited earth-like world. Also, they own about half of Kyushu island.

They do have one major problem though. Their recent prosperity and friendship with both the Republic and Empire is pissing Otomo off.

15 years ago, 4 cities that vanished in the Cataclysm returned, having been rifted straight into the modern era. These are Ichto, Hiroshima, Kure, and Iwakuni. These advanced cities organized into the modern Republic of Japan, a benign but fortified state. Ichto later seceded from the Republic to form the cyberpunk Ichto Province, ruled by the Ichto Robotics Corporation.

So yeah, you can have both your traditional Inuyasha/Lone Wolf and Cub/Ruroni Kenshin/etc Feudal-era stories, as well as High-tech GiTS/Bubblegum Crisis/Mobile Suit Gundam/Code Geass/etc High-tech/Cyberpunk stories. If you've been paying attention to the previous thread (or read the actual sourcebooks), this probably doesn't surprise you one bit. If you haven't... Welcome to Rifts.

You'd think the Empire would be pissed about these guys, being the actual people who as far as they are concerned caused the Great Cataclysm in the first place. But the Empire and Republic are pretty much the best of friends. Sure, there are anti-technology protests here and there, but they're peaceful and orderly 99% of the time. And ever so often, people immigrate from one to the other: Imperial peasants and merchants are drawn to the technological wonders of the Republic, while Republican citizens sometimes move to the Empire to pursue a simpler life. The book itself even posits that within a century or so, the two countries will most likely merge together (Takamatsu, which is already much like that, is often called the "Little Brother Republic Empire").

Ichto, on the other hand, the Empire doesn't like so much They're greedy assholes who sell their wares (particularly guns and mecha) to anybody who'll pay, after all (but the best legal source of high-tech gear for mercs, bandits and adventurers).

The Otomo Shogunate was formed by residents of the New Empire that rejected their anti-tech stance, but liked the classical Japan style of government and didn't mind the magic. Until the Republic, they were THE source of high-tech, sometimes blended with magic. Cyborg samurai, Crazies and Juicers, Crazy and Juicer Ninja and, of course, giant mecha. As far as Otomo is concerned, they're the ones who toughed it out for generations and will not take second seat to the Republic of Japan. In fact, they have been secretly colluding with oni (Japanese demons) and others to weaken the Republic, planning the outright conquest, er- "reunificaiton" of all Japan.

Yeah, they're pretty much the Bad Guys of the setting. A little more like Cobra than the Galactic Empire, though, in terms of scale.

It should be noted that the company that mainly supplies and all but runs Otomo is called H-Brand. I can only assume some serious post-apocalyptic language drift allowed them to think that was a good name.

The islands that were once Hokkaido (the northern most part of Japan) are now known as the Domain of the Gods. There's a second Millenium Tree up there, carefully hidden by the Japanese gods, along with two minor warring shogunates (Yukimuru and Toshiie) a handful of Ainu tribes and a tiny feudal kingdom called Surusa.

Correction: Toshiie, Yukimura and Surusa are all on the southeastern side of Honshu, bordering the Zone and Otomo. Toshiie is a group of rather rabid anti-technologists. Their neighbor Yukimura is not. Their relationship is nowhere near as good as between the Empire and Republic. Surusa has a mix of both, but depends mostly on H-Brand for their tech.

[Ahriman238]

So it turns out there is a Demon Queller class in Japan. Apparently the Demon Quelling tradition originally from China has spread out over much of Asia, through 70% of Demon Quellers still live and operate in China. That said, these Demon Quellers are just elite demon hunters who kill oni, they don't try and redeeem them like the Fu Yao da Chia, enslave them like the Demon Slaver, or even manipulate them into leaving peacefully like a Goblin Wrangler.

Generic Demon Quellers have meditation, a special MDC death blow skill, a skill that turns their SDC to MDC for 2 minutes per PPE point spent, and start with 4 body hardening exercises. They start with the spells See Invisible, Sense Evil, Globe of Daylight, Turn Dead, Breathe Without Air, Impervious to Fire, Circle of Flame, Fireball, Call Lightning, Charismatic Aura, Magic Net, Tongues, Words of Truth, Exorcism, Banishment, and Simple Protection Circle. These spells are passed master to apprentice, and Demon Quellers are rarely interested in expanding their spell lists, learning one or two new spells every 3 levels.

As usual, the focus of the Demon Queller is on body-hardening exercises, with their own list since Japan sort of came out several years before China. If I'd known, I'd have held off on ending the thread long enough to make a complete list, which I feel should be available to any player using them. As it is, well. Here are the ones from last thread;

Control Revulsion: Being exposed to the most horrible things so you won't be easily scared, or likely to vomit at the smell of entrails.

Demon Digestion: Ability to eat all sorts of disgusting and inedbile things, awareness of poison, and the ability to belch, fart, or make one's stomach growl on demand.

Dislocation Training: Having every joint dislocated, so you know how to pop them back in and can resist pain. Also makes it easier to escape being tied up.

Feign Death: so good there's no discernable breathing or pulse.

Hardened Organs: Learn to shift your organs out of the way of a blade, so stabbing does exactly 1 point of damage.

Heal Internal Injuries: meditate to stop bleeding in 30 seconds to 4 minutes.

Laugh At Pain: get tortured to the point where all injuries or torments, just tickle.

Life Stone: a mystic stone is taken from a riverbed and placed under a flap of skin cut from over your heart. Every day, men spend several hours pounding on that spot, until the stone sinks harmlessly into your heart and you gain 7-12 MDC.

Resist Psychic Drain: meditate under cold waterfalls until you tire at half the normal rate and can reist energy draining attacks.

Vital Breath: exhale automatically when encountering gasses, double the ability to hold your breath.

Eternal Clarity: Learn how to drink demons under the table. A more useful survival skill than it sounds.

And here are the ones from Japan;

Stone Ox: harden body by getting regularly beat up and doing intense physical labor, fatigue at half the normal weight and be able to lift things as though you had supernatural strength.

Kangeiko & Shochu Geiko: or Winter and Summer Training. Study martial arts under the blazing sun and in the freezing cold until you take half damage from fire and cold, and can ignore enviromental extremes like the desert or arctic for a full 24 hours. Also grants immunity to stun, paralysis and the Wither Flesh atemi power.

Iron Hands: drive hands into barrels of rice, then sand, then pebbles until they are tough enough to do MD strikes. Hands will also take no damage from normal fire, and half from magical fire or plasma.

Chi-gung MDC Skin: gain 90 SDC and the ability to turn your SDC to MDC, like the Demon Queller's innate power.

Dam Sum Sing: practice being a punching bag for martial arts classes until you really learn how to take a hit. Forevermore take half damage from physical attacks, projectiles, explosions and falls.

Wrist Hardening: make wrists, and to a lesser extent other joints, superhumanly tough. Even MD attacks can be deflected with the wrists, it is easier to escape holds and bonds, and it takes a superhuman demon, or at least two strong men to bend a joint against the martial artist's will.

Chagi: practice every kind of kick obsessively. The add half a dozen kicking attacks to your repotoire, including an MD power kick. One trained in Chagi can also jump 12-40 feet high or long depending on level. Add 10 more feet long for a running start.

[Ahriman238]

Okay, quick review. The G-10 Chromium Guardsman armor (Glitter Boy) was a revolution in military tech while power armor tech was still shiny new. A bunch of things had to come together to even allow power armor, mostly the invention of small, safe and reliable nuclear power for them, miniaturization of existing technologies, and nanotech leading to the creation of lightweight MDC materials. While everyone else was trying to make even lighter MDC armor, the US military decided to try the densest form they could create, leading to the laser-resistant mirror-finished Glitter boy alloy. Then they made the Boom Gun railgun.

Because I wasn't listing the numbers back then, a Glitter Boy has 770 MDC, and the Boom Gun does 30-180 MD per shot. By contrast, a pre-MDC 21st Century Abrams tank has 12 MDC and it's man gun does 3-12 MD. A Glitter Boy has a roughly 88% chance of surviving a nuke at ground zero, albeit it will likely be heavily damaged. It would take that same present-service Abrams tank between 64 and 257 shots to mission-kill a Glitter Boy, and that same tank will not survive 5 seconds of a Glitter Boy's attention. A more modern tank might have 350 MDC and perhaps as much as 20-80 MD of firepower (half that is far more common.) As far as taking it or dishing it out, there's really no substitute.

Not that GBs are perfect. Most power armor and vehicles are more mobile, even if it can still leave conventional infantry in the dust. It has to dig into the ground and remain stationary to fire. They deafen nearby allies, and the rate of fire, depending on who you want to believe, is anywhere from a semi-automatic to 5 seconds between rounds.

Glitter boys were the shining symbol of the military strength of NEMA (NATO of the 22nd Century) so naturally Japan had several and many suits came through time to join the Republic of Japan. In fact, the Republic fields a couple divisions of the suits. But the Japanese also had their own variations on the Glitter Boy theme.


Hawkeye Glitter Boy



The original Glitter Boy was designed to end any armored vehicles that crossed it's path, while also retaining use against fortifications, massed infantry and aircraft. It's track record on that last one is spotty though. GB's have the radar and advanced targeting to menace aircraft, but their range and need to dig in is a problem. High-altitude bombers and fighters are beyond it's reach, but have little trouble hitting it. Lower aircraft can easily evade a single fixed position, and there's always the hope of swamping the GB with targets or blowing through at high speed. All these factors convinced the Japanese to commission an AA GB, the Hawkeye.

Same 770 MDC as normal. The main weapon, however is an M-BiLAR, a multi-barrel laser rifle that can fill the sky with 4-24 MD lasers or fire all 5 barrels at once for 10-60 MD. Same advanced targeting as the standard GB with the advantage of being recoil-less. This is supplemented with a missile launcher that replaces the old recoil thruster back, 24 AA missiles each with a 21 mile range. Warhead options include HE (20-120 MD) Plasma (30-180) and fusion (40-240 MD.) It also has 30 mini-missiles, 24 on a shoulder box-launcher and 3 on each arm. These are more like shoulder launched affairs and do 10-60 MD, usually fire in heatseeking mode. All of a Hawkeye's weapons can be directed to gorund targets as needed.

Like Quebec's Glitter Boy Legion's, the Republic of Japan favors a 4-man squad for GBs. Hawkeyes are normally one to a squad.



Point Glitter Boy



Not a true GB, but a scaled-down (7 foot 10) model meant to bridge the gap between your redshirt infantry and unstoppable murder-machines. Point GBs are meant to operate with either infantry (where they're the big guns and heavy armor) or GB (where they're scouts) units. Actually, they're largely used as recon and mobile firepower.

With less armor, the Point GB has 480 MDC. With less weight, it can run at 90 mph/144 kph. It keeps the thruster pack despite dealing away with the boom gun, allowing it to make fantastic hundred foot leaps, and even hover. The main weapon is again a M-BiLAR with the same performance as the Hawkeye's. It also has a tri-barrel railgun on the left arm, just 6-36 MD per 30 round burst. There's also 4 smoke-grenades in the legs, each in their own tiny launcher.

That said. the thing is meant for recon, hence why it;s smaller, faster, quieter and has camouflage paint over that mirrored alloy. Which will be quickly stripped off in a firefight. Anyway, it has some seriously boosted passive sensors. Nightvision, IR and UV, a molecular analyzer and both gun and helmet cameras each capable of storing 12 hours worth of footage.



Either of these, or any standard GB can benefit from the slightly broader than normal GB armory the RoJ has. A standard GB can absolutely wield a M-BiLAR or a tri-barrel railgun. There's also an underwater variant of the M-BiLAR and a mini-missile launcher with 48 rounds can be substituted for the usual main weapon of any GB.

[Ahriman238]

Japanese SAMAS





SAMAS armor was actually created for urban combat. A SAMAS can easily hop up to a rooftop or through a window, they can rapidly sly through wide commercial halls and hover straight up and down through stairwells, while flitting between skyscrapers is trivially easy. Of course, outside a city they're still very mobile with good friepower and armor. Apparently they were originally designed for law enforcement, but outperformed the designers' expectations and the military applications were painfully obvious.

The Japanese SAMAS (or SAMurai) is essentially the same suit, with some aesthetic differences and a couple of tweaks, like replacing the typical railgun with a particle beam, the addition of chest searchlights and an extra mini-missile launcher. The RoJ was roughly 32,000 SAMAS, the largest concentration garrisoning Nagasaki where their main production facilities are.

290 MDC. Max flight speed is 320 mph/512 kph with a flight ceiling of 6,000 feet. Strength enough to lift a ton and a half. The P-beam does 10-60 MD, with a laser rifle attachment that does 3-18 MD. Four mini-missiles, two on each forearm. A neural stick (stun baton) and a second sidearm, usually a pistol, sometimes a sword, attach to the thighs.

[Ahriman238]

Okay, you all knew this was coming, it's Rifts set in Japan of course there are going to be all kinds of crazy ninja classes. And there are also Ninja versions of most of the standard Man-at-Arms classes, so I felt some need to restate a few of the basics, it's a new thread.


Mystic Ninja



The "true" or mystic Ninja are supposedly heirs to the feudal ninja tradition. My confessedly limited understanding is that most of the ninja trappings, the black uniforms and smoke pellets etc. are inventions of the theater or essentially old campfire stories. What the ninja had in real life was more akin to an understanding of the way the world works. Peasants and servants are invisible to nobles by default, no mystic art of invisibility needed. The average peasant and occasionally servant carries any number of implements, sharp or blunt, that can ruin a person's day. Finally, when a capricious lord is fragged by his ungrateful wretched serfs, the villains may well escape justice if they show solidarity and don't rat on each other. The all-black outfit, I understand is a Kabuki stagehands uniform, the audience is trained to ignore them so it's appropriately shocking when one pulls a sword and kills a character off.

Not that any of this will stop Rifts from going full-hog with the whole ninja mythos, of course.

The Mystic Ninja class can burn PPE to turn into MDC creatures for a few minutes. They have a super-escape technique that allows them to slip out of any combinations of chains, robes, handcuffs or similar restraints in a minute or less, and out of a hold in a moment. A straitjacket introduces an actual chance of failure, but doesn't slow them any more unless they tray, fail and have to try again. High tech or magic restraints, or a locked cell, may take as long as three minutes. Mystic ninja are all competent riders (the better to imitate samurai) and skilled with the short-bow, wringing unusual range and rate of fire out of it. They have a chance to dodge arrows or projectiles or similar speed. They start with at least two extra identities established, complete with documentation and contacts.

Mystic Ninja are, well, Mystics with magic and psionics both. They start with the psychic powers Induce Sleep and Bio-Manipulation (limited to self influence.) For each ninja level, they can learn one physical power, plus Psi-Sword at level 6. Their magic powers are expressed through Mystic Arts of Invisibility, most of which seem more like training and tricks than magic. Oh well, they learn one at first and every 3 levels after to a max of all six at max level.


Mystic Arts of Invisibility

Art of Stealth: Increased ability to sneak around silently and unnoticed, and to go unseen in shadows. Also includes techniques for swimming, leaping into and climbing out of water in total silence.

Art of Hiding: As long as the ninja remains still, and the area is not well-lit and constantly patrolled, there is effectively zero chance of his being seen.

Art of Evasion: the "standing behind someone and turning when they do" trick. Consistently works against the unsuspecting, usually works even against people trying to see the person behind them. Good setup for an attack from behind. Useless if the guard has a friend to call a warning, it only hides you from one person.

Art of Vanishing: The ninja distracts the victim then immediately drops and rolls to the side, appearing to vanish. In, say, an open field this will only work half the time, and then only for an instant. Or just long enough to use a different Art.

Art of Disguise: Mystic Ninja can precisely imitate a person's posture, tics and voice, even if alteration of actual appearance is restricted to what clothes and makeup can accomplish. Still, they can change disguises quickly enough to seamlessly blend into a crowd of any size, or run around a corner and actually pull off the "he went that a-way!" trick.

Art of Mystic Invisibility: Similar to Psionic Invisibility, people see but do not notice or remember the ninja. This version fools even magic and psychic detection, as well as camera operators, but the PPE cost scales unfavorably the more people are not noticing the ninja. Also, it takes a lot of focus, so the ninja has to drop it to run or fight, or do any demanding physical or mental task.



Tech-Ninja



The ninja serving megacorps like H-Brand have traded away traditional tools and mystic powers for high-technology and 1-4 cybernetic implants. More likely to know computer hacking and firearms than the sword and bow, they remain shadow mercenaries and assassins who will do whatever it takes to get the job done.



Ninja-Juicer



Juicers are super-soldiers fitted with a rig that auto-injects them with any number or variety of drug cocktails and regulate hormones to keep them running at peak human levels 24/7, plus some nanite-based regen. Of course, the fire that burns twice hot burns half as long and all that rot, so a Juicer will definitely die 5-8 years after first getting his implants. The good news is that there's a decent chance of rehab for the first 3 years, after which the odds become terrible.

I was a bit unclear when I first mentioned Juicers, because I didn't want to put up a lot of stats, and aside from being variable in and of themselves, a Juicer's abilities are largely bonuses and additions to natural stat rolls. Okay. Not getting into variations on the Juicer theme, a Juicer MAY be able to run as fast as 70 mph (112 kph) lift over half a ton, and be a third as tough as an Abrams MBT. He definitely can go more than ten times as long as another fit man in any physical activity, can carry a pack four times heavier without issue, and heals four times faster than a normal man, faster if he bangs on his emergency chest plate full of medicinal nano-tech to clot a wound in moments. A Juicer can literally only sleep if sedated (luckily, that's part of his harness to) and can go five days without before getting impaired. In normal sleep, he needs just 4 hours. Juicers have legendary reflexes as a result of being always on high-grade stimulants, constantly alert and nearly impossible to ambush. This is represented by a game mechanic known as the damn auto-dodge which gives Juicers a great chance of avoiding any hit, without inconveniencing themselves by huddling under cover or diving awkwardly to one side, they can just bob and weave even through hails of bullets. Well, they usually have better odds of getting out unscathed if they do make an effort to dodge.

The Republic of Japan, finding themselves in a strange and hostile world, dug up their research on Juicers and Crazies before deciding they weren't all THAT desperate. But that let the genie out of the bottle and they've been plagued with illegal enhancement labs ever since and, as we've already established, ninja will use whatever tool works. Of course, these Juicers are a bit different. For one, they're usually taken in by ninja clans as infants and raised to be Juicers, taught meditative discipline that can add a full year to their lives and helps them suppress that twitchy manic mien that causes Juicers and others with enhanced reflexes to stand out. Well, they can sit on it for a while anyway, leave a Ninja Juicer in a waiting room for a couple of hours and he'll look like some sort of PSA about ADHD, same as any other Juicer. The other thing is that the specific mix of the Juicer rig sacrifices some brute strength for increased balance and ability to move silently. A Juicer ninja can walk a tightrope as easily as a sidewalk, walk over rice paper without breaking it, and hold his breath for 5 minutes even during a running firefight.

This is actually nostalgic, as one of my fellows at my only Rifts campaign to date played a Simvan Monster Rider (one of the few races close enough to human for Juicer conversion, along with the Brodkil, Ogres and Elves) who became a Juicer Ninja and came to Coalition territory after a stop in Florida where he picked up a triceratops for his monstrous mount. This guy had a 16-page character history that perfectly justified a dinosaur-riding, alien super-soldier ninja, and even made it sound reasonable. Though he never did explain why he named the trike Betty. This is roughly when it occurred to me that this game is awesome.

[gigabytelord]

This is actually nostalgic, as one of my fellows at my only Rifts campaign to date played a Simvan Monster Rider (one of the few races close enough to human for Juicer conversion, along with the Brodkil, Ogres and Elves) who became a Juicer Ninja and came to Coalition territory after a stop in Florida where he picked up a triceratops for his monstrous mount. This guy had a 16-page character history that perfectly justified a dinosaur-riding, alien super-soldier ninja, and even made it sound reasonable. Though he never did explain why he named the trike Betty. This is roughly when it occurred to me that this game is awesome.

Awesome role-players, we all know at least one

[Ahriman238]

Ninja Crazy



Crazies are implanted with the MOM chip that unlocks latent psychic powers and "the brain's true potential." This means they get 6 psychic powers, either sensitive or physical. They also get some seriously boosted senses, more so than even a Juicer. Other than that, they read rather like a poor man's Juicer. They still get the auto-dodge, but considerably less strength and speed increases, though they get much better dexterity. They can carry twice the normal weight without encumbrance, as opposed to the Juicer's 4x. They also have extreme endurance, need half as much sleep, go three days without etc. They heal a touch faster than most people, not as fast as Juicers, but if they're conscious and have time they can meditate to heal faster than Juicers.

The downside being insanity. 90% of subjects go insane on implantation. Some fly into berserker rages, some fixate on some "magic feather" token and seriously believe their powers only work in the absence of moonlight or while they have their lucky rock. Or more outlandish issues. This gets progressively worse as time goes on, every three levels add a new phobia, psychosis or neurosis.

As with Juicers, this technology was briefly reintroduced by the RoJ before being banned. The ninja clans love Crazies for their skill and stealth, and the flexibility of their psychic powers. Alo9ng with the security of hiding from psionic detection. Ninja crazies spend 12 hours a day in meditation and/or therapy to control themselves, for missions they can take a 3-12 day break from this routine before they start acting out. Clearly long-term missions are out. Each ninja crazy is assigned a tech-ninja with psychological training to act as their handler, ideally the two grow up together as friends, these teams are never intentionally split apart, but combat losses do happen.



Ninja Cyborg



Of course, anyone can get a few cybernetic implants and become a partial cyborg, the majority of the citizens of the Republic of Japan have one or two. Full-conversion 'borgs have their squishy brains and spines removed and placed in an artificial chassis. Of course, there's tons of gadgets players can mix and match so they aren't just a walking armor slab.

Ninja Cyborgs are typically made from physically under-performing or disabled ninja. Juicer ninja who detox frequently become Cyborgs. Of course, it's hard for an 8-foot metal man to be stealthy, so they're more like shock troopers than assassins. The base cyborg body has the strength to lift a ton and a half, 280 MDC, and can run at 120 mph/180 kph. The cyborgs do have rubber soles and a sound suppression system that can mask their noise as long as they move no faster than a leisurely stroll. They'll have multi-optics, enhanced hearing, motion detector, and grappler all standard. Plus a garrote in the other forearm, vibro-blades, a particle beam in the chest (12-42 MD) and the ninja's special implant a plasma-based flamethrower fire-breath (10-40 MD.) Players can get additional add-ons, like the extra arms and tail in the picture.



Ninja Techno-Wizard



Techno-Wizardry is repeatedly said to be one of the first truly new things in the Megaverse in a very long time, and a distinctly American invention. Well, some years ago H-Brand and the Otomo Shogunate independently came up with the same idea. Well, it was more H-Brand tech ninja trying to duplicate the mystic ninja powers after a particularly embarrassing defeat at the hands of the traditionalists. Less than 1% of tech-ninja ever manage it, but this gives them, and H-Brand, a monopoly on techno-wizardry.

The abilities are clones of the regular TW class: Speed Reading, Total Recall, Read Object, Mind Block, and Telemechanics for psychic powers. Armor of Ithan, Blinding Flash, Breathe Without Air, Call Lightning, Cloak of Darkness, Deflect, Electric Arc, Energy Bolt, Energy Field, Fireball, Firebolt, Fuel Flame, Fly, Forcebonds, Globe of Daylight, Ignite Fire, Impervious to Energy/Fire, Magic Net, Magic Field, Sense Magic, See Invisible, Shadow Meld, Superhuman Strength, and Telekinesis for spells. As per usual, they need some sort of mechanical prop to use their powers, and can create machinery with the benefits of any of their spells.

[Ahriman238]

Samurai



And then, samurai. Now, I understand that a lot of the samurai mythos was built up by Showa period Japanese militants and the reality never came close to the stories and movies. I'm fine with that. The Knights of the Round Table probably weren't real, the Three Musketeers and Zorro were heavily lionized, and that's never stopped me from enjoying their stories.

Samurai are a martial/noble class, much like European knights. Most samurai are from the New Empire, and so reject modern technology. They train obsessively as swordsmen, horsemen, and archers. As such, they can fire accurately even from horseback, a vehicle or a variety of awkward situations. They have a chance to evade arrows, and sometimes gunfire. Their dedication to the sword gives them extra attacks per turn, a stack of bonuses and a couple special moves. Samurai swear themselves to a strict code, which involves (among other things) always honoring their duty and debts, using common sense at all times, courtesy, swift justice with no torture, and courage in the face of adversity. The Samurai Code also defines one's relationships and priorities, first obedience is owed to your lord, than your parents/teachers, then duty to your spouse and family, then your subordinates, and finally your peers.

The samurai have magic MDC armor 100-180 MDC, made by priests, sorcerers or dragons. Sometimes they wear leaves or bark from the Millennium Tree in Kyoto for armor. Of course, none of these are environmental armors that will protect one from gases or extreme environments. Samurai daisho (sets of two swords, a katana and a half-size wakizashi) are actually lesser Rune Weapons. Through a process known only to the sages who make the swords, and samurai of 12th level or higher, the sword is infused with a great deal of PPE throughout it's forging. Finally the twin swords (forged together) need a human sacrifice, usually a criminal already slated to be executed who volunteers for some form of redemption. He is killed with the swords, and his essence sucked up, now the swords have a personality and will do full damage only for a worthy wielder which they can communicate emotions to. In proper hands, the swords do 6-36 MD. Unlike other rune weapons, these aren't indestructible, but they have hundreds of MDC and are impervious to magic and energy, so close enough. Anyone that knows how to make one, though, can break them easily.

They also have a special death blow power that only works on supernatural creatures.



Unlike classic times, women can be samurai, just replace obsessive archery practice with obsessive spear practice and a different style of swordsmanship.

[Ahriman238]

Ronin



Ronin are disgraced and/or dispossessed samurai. Maybe they betrayed their master, or were banished for some disgrace. Morel ikely their lord was overthrown or something, leaving his vassals out in the cold. No funds, no family, no land, no serfs, no social standing whatsoever, ronin have only their martial skills, arms and armor. So they usually become bandits or mercenaries. Some still cleave to the samurai code, many do not, but all have the daisho and training of a samurai.

Ronin are pretty rare in the New Empire, which has very stable and static internal politics. On the other hand, the Otomo Shogunate almost seems to mass-produce them, hence my using an Otomo samurai for the image.





And now for something completely different. Magic items unique to Japan, mostly enchanted weapons, naturally. First up, ninja exclusives.

Elemental Shuriken are popular with ninja, they do Mega Damage and have an impossible range for thrown weapons (600-1000 feet) plus each can cast a spell 3 or 4 times a day. Call Lightning for Air, Fireball for Fire, Invulnerability for Earth, and summon Earth Elemental (tree type) for Wood. Water gets three spells that can each be used twice a day, Negate Poison, Heal Wounds and Calm Storm.

Techno-Wizard Power Shuriken are another TW Ninja trick, carrying an electric shock that does 6-12 MD.

TW Firebreathing Arquebuses look like old ornate muskets but fire magic firebolts 5-30 MDC with unlimited ammo.

Ninja grenades exist in 4 forms. A blinding grenade that works through magic instead of smoke, literally blinding everyone in range for a couple of minutes. A confusion gas, minor curse, and magic net grenades too.

And now we get more general:


Nari-Kubara are singing arrows, with hollow shafts and flute-like holes, used in real life for signaling or creating spooky noises. The magic ones here can create fear, exorcism, agony or enthrallment with the music of the arrow's flight.

Tanto of Hellish Poison are short swords envenomed with the blood of a Greater Demon or Dark God. MD to MDC beings, and a debilitating poison.

Ten Thousand Strength Nunchaku allow the wielder to hit you with the strength of 10,000 men, or 3-18 MD.

A Whirlwind Naginata is a magic sword that does 9-24 MD, with special abilities to summon and control a tornado four times a day, and to mount an absolute defense as long as the wielder makes no attempt to attack. Only a few dozen are known to exist.

Bows of the Zen Masters are fine bows whose true potential is only realized in the hands of a truly gifted archer. Lesser bows grant two powers, Greater bows all: increased accuracy, sense invisible things (including ninja using Arts) Mega Damage arrows that do double MD to supernatural beings, double rate of fire, bend arrows in air to shoot through tiny openings, around corners or behind cover. Only a dozen Greater Bows exist, and perhaps 50 Lesser ones.

Kanebukoro, or bottomless purses are always full of either silver coins or little rice cakes. Unless oyu luck into a rare Purse of Wishes, which can conjure any food or simple tool/object that would normally fit inside it. But that purse can be used only three times a day, and the objects vanish after 24 hours.

A Fan of the Forest Wind will always conjure a breeze filled with autumn leaves when waved a bit, whether or not it's autumn or if there are trees, or if you're indoors. Can fill the area with flying leaves as a poor man's smokescreen.

Kakuregasa, or Invisibility Hats, are straw hats that let you turn invisible for an hour, 6 times a day. No work of mortal hands, friendly spirits give them to enlightened monks or people who help them.

A Heavenly Speaking Flute is an ordinary-looking bamboo flute, on which three songs have magical effects. One song lets the player see invisible, sense evil ,and sense if there are ley lines or nexus points within 5 miles. Another soothes and delights good spirits while driving off evil ones. A third can summon or banish demons, spirits and elementals.

The Shinto priests have some incense burners that can repel various bits of supernatural evil. Of course, you need one incense for ghosts, another for the undead, a third for evil spirits, and oni adn so on.

There are also lantern charms whose light is painful to supernatural evil. However, they're very fragile and only come with 24 hour capacity, so you can burn one up in a day or in three nights.

True-Seeing Mirrors are hand mirrors that reflect people's true shape, character, health, mental health, and reveal any hidden mystic or psychic powers.

Kiagan-Kuyo are statues of the spirits that can come to life and defend themselves, their people or more usually the temple they're sculpted at.

Kamikaze Powder is made from ground-up parchment containing prayers and spells to control Air elementals. If the dust is pulled from it's container and thrown to the winds, the person who did it will be able to control gale-force winds (200+ mph) for 3-8 minutes.

Also, the Yakuza, in order to remain competitive cobbled together a magic tattoo (though the Chiang-Ku, Atlanteans and Splugorth would laugh at the crudity of the thing) that can be activated 3 times a day and gives the user a significant (but not ground-breaking) strength increase and turns them into a minor MDC creature. User takes double damage from daisho and any wepaon effective against supernatural beings. Only the most capable and trusted of Yakuza enforcers get this tattoo.


Finally, those improved and legendary weapons of the samurai, the Greater and Greatest Daisho.

The Daisho of the Relentless Warrior are a pair of pure white blades legendary throughout Japan, serving only the greatest of warriors. They disappeared a decade ago. The swords do 10-60 MD, have great healing powers and can grant the wielder temporary supernatural strength and an MDC conversion, along with a distinctive green aura.

The Daisho of the Storm were actually 10 pairs of blades from Feudal Japan, forged by a particular daimyo to honor the greatest samurai of the age, and dedicated to the glory of the Japanese storm god, Susan'oo. 3 pairs of these daisho have turned up since the Rifts, two belonging to New Empire samurai, one to a ronin and hermit. The katanas do 10-40 MD to supernatural beings, The wakizashi do 5-30, and both do 3-18 to mortals and machines. By swinging the swords overhead, the wielder can whistle up a thunderstorm and control the lightning, wind and rain.

The sorcerer and swordsmith Hideo the Mad made just 4 Ghostly Katana of Soul-Slaying, forged not from steel but the soul and life-force of their maker. The swords can sense evil, and do 10-40 MD to supernatural beings, double that to vampires, ghosts and the undead, and 6-36 SDC to mortals. The blades turn ghostly to circumvent all armor, forcefields and protective charms to strik the flesh beneath.

[SAMAS]

It should be noted that the Kiagan-Kyo come in various sizes, from tiny figurines a couple of inches high to giant statues roughly the size of your average Giant Robot (20'). The tiny ones have 10-40 MDC, while the largest are ten times as tough. They're all supernaturally strong, inflicting mega-damage with their attacks, and even the tiny two-inch ones can move up to 600 pounds with the proper leverage.

[Ahriman238]

Just so, SAMAS.



Monks are wandering holy men and many are skilled exorcists and demon fighters. They typically get a few body hardening exercises, same as the Demon Quellers, plus their own spiritual powers called Zenjoriki. Zenjoriki are achieved through a mastery of the martial arts and a certain spiritual enlightenment. All Zenjoriki burn PPE to work.


Zenjoriki

Calm Minds- area effect that stops anyone from fighting for 3 minutes, giving you time to talk things out, or run like hell.

Karumi-Jutsu- lets you reduce your personal weight (no one else's, nor armor or gear) for a variety of effects, like negating falling damage, walking on fragile things without breaking through, climbing or jumping 10 times as high or long as normal.

Two Minds- like the Chinese Mystic Martial Art, separate the mind/soul into a primal and intuitive half, and an intellectual one to allow better multi-tasking in battle or defending against psychic attack.

Vibrating Palm- barehanded attack originally only does 1 point of SD or MD depending on target, but creates a resonance. Each subsequent attack doubles in damage, as long as the chain of blows isn't broken.

Vital Strike Atemi- MD attack to MD beings, against mortals it circumvents SDC to attack hp directly and send you into a coma. Stone Ox body hardening grants immunity to this power, Chi-Gung MDC flesh takes half damage.

Withering Flesh Atemi- strike removes 100 SDC with one blow, or 20-80 MDC for supernatural beings. In the latter case it's ineffective after they drop below half their normal MDC. Kangeiko & Shochu Geiko grant immunity to this attack.



Bishamon



Among the many cults, orders and religious revivals inspired by the coming of the Rifts and the return of myth and magic, the Bishamon monks are the most popular. Believing in power for the good of the people, they lead ascetic wandering lives fighting oni, demons and spirits and healing the sick. Most are extremely friendly, compassionate people, but they have had problems with some of their members getting too obsessed with opposing evil, too willing to adopt extreme measures. As part of their vows, Bishamon shave their heads except one small strip worn in a ponytail or topknot. They most often have Millenium bark or leaf armor over plain brown robes, which also serve as a symbol of their order. Bishamon rely on the generosity of others for food and shelter. They usually wield a large two-handed sword or short spear, some have Millenium staves or different blades.

Bishamon start with Chi-Gung MDC skin, and gain 2 more body-hardening powers as they advance in level. They can learn one Zenjoriki, and one Mystic Art of Invisibility. They also have the same Chi MD Death Blow power as Samurai.

Mainly though, they're the best psychics I've seen in this book. Starting with Deaden Pain, Exorcism, Healing Touch, Psychic Diagnosis, Psychic Purification and Psychic Surgery. As the level they add Resist Hunger, Resist Thirst, Mind Block, Summon Inner Strength, See Invisible, Nightvision, Resist Fatigue, Pyrokinesis and finally Psi-Shield.



Sohei



Sohei are traditional Shinto (Buddhist IRL) warrior monks. They wear a white robe that they usually cover with a dust-cloak while traveling, and use Millernium leaf scarves in battle. Sohei are much more organized than Bishamon, whom they are friendly rivals with, and monks or pairs of monks go out all the time on assorted diplomatic, combat, and ceremonial duties. They often serve as spiritual advisers to daimyo nobles.

Sohei are some of the world's greatest experts in the staff and short spear, able even to deflect arrows with their staves. 90% of sohei monks have a Millenium staff, some are ones you've seen before, the majority are the new Staff of Defense. Defense Staves do normal SD damage to humans, 3-18 MD to MDC beings and are reasonable PPE batteries. They also have 200-800 MDC, and regenerate all their MDC overnight. Sohei also get the Death Blow, 3 body-hardening exercises, and one Zenjoriki. Sohei can sense ley lines and magic use through their awesome knowledge of feng shui.



Yamabushi

Yamabushi are followers of shugendo, sort of an esoteric offshoot of Buddhism, with some serious Taoist and Shinto influences. They live as ascetic mountain hermits, believing that all mountains are sacred places and the best place to seek enlightenment. Unlike the other monk-types, Yamabushi aren't skilled warriors or demon-hunters, they're just very spiritual and in tune with nature and crap. The Yamabushi treat all beings with compassion, including D-Bees. Associating with D-Bees and oni, as well as living in the mountains away from society often makes Yamabushi targets of fear and hostility.

Yamabushi get the Chi Death Blow, the Feng Shui powers, and one body hardening exercise, Kangeiko and & Shochu Geiko. But instead of magic or psionics, they have their own pack of powers.

Yamabushi draw on background PPE (the power of the living earth) and so their powers have a very low cost, but do not function in lifeless wastelands and sometimes only work while on a mountain. They have a healing power that only works when in contact with a mountain or boulder, immediately stabilizes, even if it only actually heals a little bit. But give a Yamabushi a natural pool of water and he can remove any poison, drug, or disease. Any rock at least twice the size of the mountain hermit can be declared a holy rock, and if he meditates on it for 8 days and nights, he can coax out the rock-spirit and convince it to either heal anyone worthy who touches it, assure the fertility of the land for a 10 mile radius, or assure a wealth of game. By eating rocks (2 per level) the Yamanushi can give himself 6 temporary MDC for each stone, lift 100 times the weight he normally can and is impervious to cold, the effect only lasts 5 minutes per consumed stone. They can do a little ritual to free any fish or birds from any cage or net, without damaging the intended prison. This power does not extend to people.

Yamabushi are impervious to fire and even lava thanks to their special relationship with Japan's many volcanic mountains. They can cast Ignite Fire, Fuel Flame and Fireball, and can soothe a volcano, make it rumble or divert a lava flow, no actually forcing an eruption. A Yamabushi can restore his own health by hanging from his feet from a high, natural place, the higher the better. By meditating on a high place for 24 hours, a Yamabushi can grant himself temporary skills, or spellcasting ability. Spell knowledge is limited to: Any Earth Magic, Calm Storms, Summon Storms, Summon Fog, Superior Protection Circle, Close Rift, Mystic Portal, Water to Wine, Wind Rush, Spoil, Purify, Stone to Flesh, Repel Animals, Breathe Without Air, and Globe of Daylight.

[Ahriman238]

Tengu



Winged "mountain goblins" and tricksters who love to mess with technology lovers, Buddhists, and anyone they consider overly arrogant. But they do respect traditional samurai, monks, mystic ninja and Shinto priests. They also respect spellcasters, to a lesser degree. Some Tengu are evil, many are good and help defend temples. All Tengu respect yamabushi before all other humans.

44-144 MDC, impervious to normal fire and cold. Decent regen, nightvision, see invisible, and sense supernatural creatures. FLight at 60 mph, or 96 kph. Tengu can assume human shape, but cannot change gender and always appear Asian (not a big deal in Asia) and can possess/speak through people for distance communication or translation purposes, but can't control anything but speech.

All Tengu are skilled martial artists with their own art, Tengu-jutsu. They can learn a second after some levels but nothing mystical. All Tengu are magic-users with Globe of Daylight, Ignite Fire, Fuel Flames, Heavy Breathing, Energy Disruption, Wind Rush, Summon Rain and Calm Storm. Every 3 levels (so max of 5) they can learn one spell from the first two levels of the wizard or any elemental spell list.

[Ahriman238]

Cyber-Samurai



Cyborg Samurai, like Tech-Ninja cling to a traditional concept with high-technology. Considered false-samurai by most traditionalists and members of the New Empire. There's no one order or group of samurai, so it's variable how closely they cleave to the samurai code of honor. Or if they even do, they may just be cyborgs favoring a samurai look.

180 MDC, speed of 35 mph/56 kph, lifts a bit more than half a ton. Specifies 4 bionic and 5 cybernetic implants, bit fuzzy on the distinction.

So yeah, pretty much a Headhunter Cyborg lifted into Japan.

[Ahriman238]

The RoJ is like the Russians in that they are very enthusiastic about their cyborgs, considering them heroes, which does a lot to help the cyborgs adjust. Japan has a variety of options for full-conversion cyborgs, including some humanoid ones, but where's the fun in that?


List of Cybernetics for reference. It seems the bionic/cybernetic confusion is that cybernetics refers specifically to weapons and armor, while bionics are non-combative or support systems like enhanced senses or a clock calender.


Wing Blade Cyborg



The Wing Blade, or snoop, Cyborg is a recon/surveillance model. Fast, silent, with sensors and cameras, flexible enough to peek easily around corners and over rooftops, and to fit through small places. Their wings aren't actually for flying, but allow them to glide and provide greater control when they use a jetpack. Actually, because jetpacks are noisy, they often use them just to get altitude, then glide down.

270 MDC, able to run at 120 mph, or 192 kph. The 'borg is 33 ft (10 m) from snout to tail, but only about 5 feet tall in a crouch and 2.5 wide/tall while crawling. Bionics include a translator, loudspeaker, radio, clock calender, gyro-compass, multi-optic eyes, enhanced hearing and sound filter (so loud noises won't disable) headjack and handjack, psionic dampener, and grappling hook in the rhino horn. Also, a camera for the head and each of it's 6 legs. Armed with vibro-blades in the prehensile tail, and on the cheeks, plus two leg compartments for weapons and a particle beam (10-40 MD) in the mouth. Their 4 arms can each hold and fire normal weapons.



Tsunami Cyborg



Now this is an upgrade, a heavy-combat dragon cyborg built to wade through armies of dead oni to go kill more oni. This model, unlike the Wing Blade, has an integral jetpack, but largely fights on the ground. They can still glide if need be. It's generally less mobile than power armor and serves as a sort of heavy weapons laden bridge between heavy power armor and light mecha.

320 MDC, running at 120 mph (192 kph) with flight at 100 mph (160 kph) via their jetpack. 10 feet tall and meant to walk erect. Bionics include radio, loudspeaker, translator, clock calender, gyro-compass, multi-optics, psionic dampener, handjack, and grappling hook. The tail can't grap things like a Wing Blade's but serves as a capable bludgeoning weapon enhanced with vibro-blades and a particle beam (5-30 MD) at the tip. 2 mini-missiles on the back, the right arm has a mini-gun (also 10-40 MD) with a vibro-ax below like a weird sort of bayonet. Also laser eyes (2-12 MD) and two hidden comartments for additional weapons, ammo and grenades.



Imperial Cyborg



Imperial Cyborgs are more of a radical redesign, meant to put the firepower of a tank on something that has a tiny target profile and can vanish into the underbrush. A sort of guerrilla tank-fighter. Sadly it's hard for people to adjust to being a serpentine quadruped, and even with weeks of hypno-conditioning before conversion an estimated 10-30% of Imperial cyborgs are at least a little insane.

350 MDC, same ground speed (120 mph, 192 kph) as the other dragon borgs. 24 feet from nose to snout, 5 feet tall while on all four legs. Bionics include radio, loudspeaker, translator, clock calender, gyro-compass, psionic dampener, enhanced hearing and sound filter, and headjack. Prinary weapon is a triple particle beam doing 4-24 MD on rapid fire, 20-70 on a triple-blast. and 6 mini-missiles. There are three head-lasers doing 2-12 MD each, plus the hip laser turrets that defend the sides but can each point forwards, 4-24 MD single shot and 20-70 MD on a double blast, same as the p-beams. Also carries 40 rounds of smokescreen/other gas and vibro-claws and tail blades.



Flame Cloud Cyborg



Flame Clouds are the best fliers of the Japanese cyborgs, able to nudge up to just below the speed of sound, though without wings they're not terribly agile unless they drop to less than 100 mph/160 kph. The wings were considered to fragile and easily stressed at these speeds, which makes ense if they expected them to fold up like the other dragons' do. They're named for being the only dragon borgs really able to use a properly draconic attack, namely strafe the ground and set everything ablaze.

320 MDC, same ground speed (120 mph/192 kph) as the other dragons. Max flight speed is 500 mph/800 kph but only in a stright line, cruising speed 200 mph/320 kph. 24 ft. long, 5 feet tall on all fours, 9 when standing erect. Bionics include radio, loudspeaker, translator, clock calender, gyro-compass, multi-optics, enhanced hearing and sound filters, headjack and psionic dampeners. Fire breath is achieved by a plasma weapon, 10-60 MD with a 2,000 ft (600 m) range. The jet pods each have a laser for dogfights, 4-24 MD. The tail has two particle beams doing 20-50 MD on a double blast, plus the usual array of vibro-blades for claws and on the tail.

[SAMAS]

How well-regarded are the Dragon Cyborgs? One of the hottest anime series' in the Republic is "Demon-Hunter Tsunami", about a cyborg of the same type. Real Dragon Borgs are actually encouraged to submit their actual adventures to the series, and are paid a consultant's fee if they use it in a story.

[Ahriman238]

Alright, we've this discussed this before in the last thread, sort of piecemeal, and better in the Dimensions Book thread. But one thing I wanted to get done on the first page of this thread is getting across enough of the basics that no one would have to flip back.

Several times now, I've used the letters MD and MDC. In RIFTS there are two damage scales, standard and mega damage, and a corresponding standard and mega damage capacity, sort of like hit points. In fact, the SDC scale has distinct hitpoints that can only be reduced after beating through the SDC of your armor or flesh, until that point no serious injury. Which always struck me as needlessly complicated, particularly after you factor in AR (armor rating) which effects how high you have to roll to hit.

Point is, an ordinary knife does 1-6 SDC, a broadsword or a solid oak staff clubbing your head would do 3-18, and you'd probably have something like 50 or 60 SDC backed by another 30-50-ish hp. Okay, fair enough.

So how about mega damage? In theory, that's whatever would reduce an ordinary, unarmored human to a red smear first time, every time. A mega-damage punch, such as a Cyborg or certain types of Juicer can give, would crush a man's ribcage and mostly like the fist would emerge from the man's back. Mega-damage lasers kill instantly and incinerate the body, etc. Typically in game terms if you need to do a conversion, you're supposed to count each point of MD as 100 points SD. I've heard some people home rule a 1:10 rate instead and swear it works better.

I started keeping a running tally for comparison's sake, it's hard to judge MDC except in comparison to other MDC. In the far future of Rifts, advanced MDC materials created through nano-tech or magic are relatively cheap and commonplace, we do have just a couple of points of reference, and they can be contradictory. I don't know if we can ever resolve the numbers satisfactorily, but let's give it a shot.

In RIFTS, frag grenades do 1-6 MD. I can't imagine that particular technology has gotten much more refined, and a contemporary frag grenade going off in your face will certainly ruin your day in a manner consistent with mega-damage descriptions.

One treasure trove is Golden Age Weaponsmiths, a company that has made a fortune salvaging ancient American military hardware, and upgrading old designs with MDC armor and more advanced weapons. From their entry in RIFTS Mercenaries, we know that a pre-upgrade 21st Century M1A1 Abrams Tank has 12 MDC armor and a smoothbore cannon that can do 4 MD.

GAW also recovered 3 aircraft carriers and a gross of fighters, which had extensive work done to re-armor them up to scratch and refit their weapons. No mention was made of the old stats, though, and it's be pointless to describe familiar missiles now with plasma warheads. However, when upgrading the F-14 the only alteration made to the M61 120 mm Gatling cannon was coming up with gyrojet ammo for it. Now the guns do 10-60 MD on a 30 round burst (Coalition Navy.)

Finally, GAW was able to salvage 8 nuclear submarines, 2Ohio-class and a scattering of LA and Seawolves which also got the upgrade treatment but no new armor. It takes 350 MD to breach the hull of an Ohio and cause it to sink, 320 for the other subs.

But if that fails, there's always nukes for a good point of reference. A 100 KT nuclear fireball does 200-800 MD, incidentally exactly the same as the spell Annihilate, which conjures a baseball-sized lump of antimatter. Double the yield with a 200 KT bomb and you get 300-1200 MD, so it doesn't exactly scale simply.


Beyond that, a few points of in-universe reference:

Anyone can buy a Wilke's laser pistol that does 3-18 MD.

5-30 MD is a high-powered laser rifle, plasma weapon, and generally the upper bounds for man-portable (discounting power armor cybernetic limbs) weaponry.

10-40 MD is what most basic tank guns do, also the railguns carried by SAMAS armor or a proper plasma ejector. Lots of tanks, admittedly can double that figure.

30-180 MD for the Boom Gun, king of all railguns and still the last word in anti-tank warfare.

90 MDC for the basic MDC armor worn by Dead Boys, Cyclopes, and generic goons everywhere.

250 MDC for SAMAS armor, sort of a threshold for power armor. Yes, if we go by that second example, a SAMAS is 20 times tougher than an Abrams MBT.

770 MDC for a Glitter Boy, the toughest power armor in the game.

8,000 MDC for star cruisers and minor deities/deevil & demon lords.

70,000 MDC for a young Vampire or Splugorth Intelligence, the remaining servitors of the Lovecraftian Old Ones. 142,000 for Splynncryth, Lord of Atlantis.

100,000-400,000 MD for a mass driver dropping 10 ton rocks at supersonic speeds.

20 million for Demon Planets, Dominator Star Fortresses.

100 million MDC for Cormal, destroyer of worlds. As far as I know, the toughest anything in the game.

[Simon_Jester]

One problem I'm seeing immediately with MDC rules is that they're basically designed on the principle that anything which would apply a chunky salsa rule to normal humans is an MDC weapon... but it doesn't adequately differentiate among different kinds of things that will do so.

Being close to an exploding fragmentation grenade will instantly kill a normal human. Getting shot with an artillery cannon will instantly kill a normal human. However, the cannon will also collapse a building by blowing holes through steel girders- a grenade wouldn't even scar those girders up. While it's appropriate that the grenade be an MDC weapon, making it equal in power to a direct hit from the cannon is inappropriate.

[Ahriman238]

Pretty much. You can kill MD monsters and tanks with crates of frag grenades.

Actually, the Coalition Army has a rule that nothing is dead until it hits the chunky salsa stage, what they call "misting." Which... is actually a pretty reasonable rule for dealing with regenerating MDC monsters. Humans can be hurt after you get through the SDC, but for MDC beings it's true what they say, the only hit point that matters is the last one.

[Connor MacLeod]

And general limb damage (cooking/roasting, severing, etc.) Heck the lasers seem to be focused more on cutting and piercing and generally thermal effects like cauterization and steam explosions than on blowing apart upper tosros, but bear in mind there are a number of MDC-analogy effects scattered about and apart form the 'blow apart living thing/large part of living thing' ones, they can kind of vary.

My problem is they're more an abstraction more than anything else, and that IIRC there's also MDC to SDC point conversions (isn't it like 1 MDC per 100 or 1000 SDC?) and there are tons of variable setting weapons where those conversions just don't work (ammo supply I'm thinking, IIRC the stats.) It also doesn't help that most modern weapons have, somewhere, SDC stats too (from personal weapons to vehicle) so there's lots of poentials where the overlap just doesn't match up well and might lead to 'depends on your reference point'.

And then there's meshing in physical weapons (which can be MDC based on the materials as much as on firepower) and how to balance out force, momentum and enegy when it comes to all those (EG a MDC bladed weapon vs a plasma gun in terms of 'equivalence', etc.)

Apart from the random dice roll ambiguity and the other stuff I mentioned.

[Connor MacLeod]

Ah forgot the one example I had. I may have to dig for the others.

Lasers, ion, and particle beam weapons fire a thin beam or pulse of energy with Mega-Damage capabilities. When the beam or pulse hits, it either vaporizes part of the body (what soldiers euphemistically call 'mist' or 'misting' an enemy), or slices through a body like a hot knife through butter, sheering off a limb/body part or punching a hole through the body. Note that most blasts and beams stop upon hitting their target, and if a beam goes all the way through an S.D.C. strucutre, it stops upon hitting whatever is behind the first target. THe same is true of M.D. projectiles such as rail gun rounds.

Lasers burn and cauterize flesh as they cut through S.D.C. bodies. That's good if it sheers off a limb, because there is no bleeding, however, the shock to the body is so great that a single M.D. point does massive damage and kills its victim 99 out of 100 times. Cauterization is bad, because it makes reattaching a severed limb impossible (all the nerves and blood vessels are closed), and if the laser cuts into the body - the cauterization literally leaves a hole through the victim! This damages internal organs and requires extensive surgery to cut away the burned flesh and remove the damaged organs. Internal organs will have to be replaced with artificial Bio-Systems or cybernetic alternatives. Note, laser weapons have no kick and are silent. However, most humanoids are used to their weapons making noise and found silent laser weapons to be unnerving. As a result, manufacturers have built sound generators into their laser weapons to produce a sound with every blast or pulse.

An ion beam works similar to a laser only it does more severe damage, burning and irradiating the entire severed limb, effectively turning it into a piece of cooked meat, as well as a portion of the body around the wound.


Particle beams are the most destructive - 'misting' - completely vaporizing - the limb/body part it hits.


Plasma Blasts are, in some ways, worse, consuming the limb cut off the body, liquefying the flesh and bone, and severely burning 25-35% of the rest of the victim's body (third degree burns). Skin grafts will be necessary and additional muscle and internal organs could be so badly damaged they need to be replaced with Bio-Systems or bionics, all requiring massive amounts of surgery and money.

Mega-Damage Explosives can work in a similar way, vaporizing an S.D.C. character or structure at point-blank range (the center of the blast), but hitting those in the rest of the blast radius with shrapnel or destroying one or more body parts rather than instamtly killing their victims. EVen in our own real world, we see examples of technology - i.e., body armor, advanced medicine and surgical procedures - saving lives, but at a terrible cost. More soldiers than any time in history are surviving grievous battlefield injuries, including the loss of one to all limbs. Mercifully, in the scientifically advanced setting of Rifts EArth, limbs, internal organs, eyes, skin and even the entire face can be rebuilt and replaced.

[Connor MacLeod]

Bunch more quantifiable bits and explanations of mechanisms and capabilities I've stumbled across for energy weapons and explosives. Honestly, the goldmines for me were the PHase World sourcebook, Rifts ultimate, and the bits in Mutants in Orbit at the end, and there probably is still lots of stuff I haven't touched on yet (like the recoil issue, that can have implications for lasers at least, if not plasma/particle beam weapons, but I didn't touch on that either lol.) Oddly the kinds of weapons also weren't too heavily touched on - because there is some stuff about underlying mechanisms (EG kinds of lasers available and ushc) which can also impact calcs but I didn't delve into that much.


Rifts dimensions book 3 Phase world sourcebook

page 55-56

Researchers have determined that Killaryte is created through the same natural processes as coal and petroleum - decomposed organic matter subjected to enormous pressures deep undeground. Whereas petroleum and coal are flammable, however, Killaryte is extremely explosive; about ten times more explosive than conventional explosives. The crystals are also ten times more unstable than nitrogylcerin, so even minor vibrations could detonate it. Somehow, Naruni Enterprises has been able to stabilize Killaryte and manufacture a chemical explosive more powerful than plasma explosives!
K-HEX products include plastique cubes, explosive ammunition, grenades, and an entire line of missiles, among them a new type of micro-missile. A number of military organizations in the Three Galaxies have conducted tests with the new explosives, which have exceeded expectations on every front.
..
The corporation is confident it can corner the explosives market ina matter of years.
..
Natural Killaryte is actually more explosive than K-HEX: each pound of the crystals does 2d4x10 M.D. to a 50 foot (15.2 m) radius when it explodes! 2,000 lbs. (907 kg) of the crystal coudl vaporize a starship.

Page 56

K-HEX cubes are sold in units of one pound (0.45 kg) These cubes are eas easy to mold as silly putty.
..
They are ideal for breaking through ship bulkheads, hatches, safes, and security doors.
...
A one pound cube of K-HEX does 1d6x10 M.D. to a 20 foot (6.1m) area. By moulding it around an object, the damage can be focused and doubled. Used as a thrown weapon, the cubes are not very effective, damage is reduced to 5d6 MD to a 10 foot area.

Page 56

A new line of Naruni Enterprise grenades use K-HEx.
..
These grenades can be used on any standard grenade launcher weapon system, including Naruni's new 'Double Threat' assault rifle.

K-hex stuff listed is actually all mega damage HE and frag grenades using it do 4d6 to a 30 foot area, HE is 6d6 to a 12 foot area.

Page 56

The enhanced power of K-HEX grenades has allowed Naruni Enterprises to produce a line of small grenades about half the size of a shotgun shell and which are roughly as powerful as conventional hand grenades.

Micro grenades to 3d6 to a 20 foot area for frag, and 4d6 MD to a 6 foot area.

Page 56

Micro-missiles are a triumph of Naruni technology and are rapidly becoming the rage in the three Galaxies. These weapons combine sophisticated miniaturized guidance and contra-gravity systems with a K-HEX warhead. The resulting rocket explosive is roughly the size of a magic marker, but it has almost the same explosive power as a mini-missile!
..
They fly at relatively low speeds (Speed 88, or 60 mph/96 km) to weave around obstacles. If the target is fast-moving or there is a relatively clear path towards it, the missile can attain a flight speed of up to Mach 2!

DAmage for armor piercing is 6d6 MD to a 3 foot area.

Page 57

A missile pouch holding 10 micro-missiles weighs 10 lbs (4.5 kg) and can be carried in a hip-pack, shoulder pack, or backpack.

Page 60

This HI-Laser rifle is a bulky weapon with a carrying handle on top. The 'Colonial' is primarily used by people in remote areas who may not have acess to E-clips. The weapon is designed with its own internal battery and can recharge energy in several different ways. Built inside the stock is a solar collector that can be assembled in a few minutes. The solar receptors, once unfolded, cover an area of 10 feet/3.1 m. The gun also has an adaptor cord t hat allows it to tap into the power of any nuclear or anti-matter power plant, which are found in many vehicles.
..
Mega Damage: 4d6 per single shot. Can only fire single shots normally, but a competent armorer can 'convert' it to fire multiple pulse bursts, inflicting 1d6x10+10 MD (3 simultaneous shots, counts as one melee action.)
...
Payload: 30 shots. One minute of bright sunlight (two minutes of normal sunlight, five minutes if lightly overcast, and nothing if heavily overcast or at night) will recharge one shot via the use of the solar receptors Typically it will take about one hour of normal sunlight to recharge the entire battery. The entire battery can also be recharged from a nuclear or anti-matter power plant, in five minutes.

*****

Rifts sourcebook 1

Page 6

Question: Why would anybody ever want to use an S.D.C. weapon when they can have a mega-damage weapon?

Answer: I am a bit surprised at how often this question arises. It's sort of like asking, why go duck hunting with a rifle when you can use a grenade launcher? The answer: maybe because
you want more of the duck than a cluster of feathers.

In many instances, mega-damage weapons are overkill! They are necessary in the world of Rifts because of the incredibly powerful supernatural, magic, alien, and high-tech monsters and villains that exist. However, these weapons are inappropriate when someone does not wish to completely obliterate an S.D.C. structure or kill an S.D.C. creature; most animals, D-Bees and humans are such puny creatures.

Page 6

Your character is out in the wilderness. His food supply exhausted, he goes hunting for food. A jack rabbit leaps out from hiding and the character blasts it with his energy pistol inflicting a mere one (1) point of mega-damage. All that remains of the rabbit is a smear of blood. Suddenly, a deer, startled by the noise, makes a dash through open ground! The character whirls around and blasts it with his mega-damage handgun, inflicting two (2) M.D.! The animal is torn in half by the blast and the medium size tree behind it is also split in half and falls over toward the character (it barely misses him). Behind the tree is a volleyball size swath cut through the bushes, some 50 yards long. At least the character has enough of the deer left to provide food for several days. However, he has made so much noise that every creature within a mile (1.6 km) radius knows he's there. The deer's skin/fur is useless unless he wants to make a scarf or cap, and he narrowly averted being pinned or killed by the falling tree. Furthermore, what if the underbrush had been dry? He could have started a forest fire.

PAge 6

You and your team are hunting down a suspected criminal. You've been hired to bring him in alive for questioning (after all, he may be innocent). The trail ends at a ramshackle saloon in a shanty town. Inside the saloon is a host of rough and tumble rogues; among them, your suspect. None are wearing M.D.C. armor, but a few are armed with M.D. weapons. The moment he sees you the suspect pulls out a weapon. It is a mega-damage laser. He shoots and hits. You return fire with a mega-damage assault rifle and strike, inflicting 8 M.D.! The suspect's entire upper torso is vaporized. The shocked tavern patrons flee in terror and you may have just killed an innocent man in the blink of an eye. The repercussions of this incident may lead to the player character who shot the man being charged for murder, and his teammates as accomplices to that murder. Although a more likely scenario, in this wilderness setting, is the victim's gang buddies come looking for revenge.

What if this battle continued? A headhunter dives behind the bar and fires his mega-damage rifle wildly at the attackers. Each shot misses, but punches basketball size holes through the walls and into the street where a fleeing patron is blasted in half. If our heroes(?) return fire they will only inflict more damage and possibly kill innocent people. Even the headhunter behind the bar (who they can kill by blasting through the S.D.C. bar) may be a good guy!

Page 6

Note: I know these descriptions are fairly graphic and quite disgusting, but this is what would happen when military weapons designed to destroy heavily armored tanks and giant robots are used against ordinary people and S.D.C. structures.

Page 6

A moment later, the creature is gone, but they hear the floor boards overhead creak under the heavy weight of their seven foot opponent. They fire energy assault weapons into the ceiling at the source of the creaking (they know the building to be empty). The mega-damage blasts miss the creature (they are shooting blind) and punch big holes into the ceiling/floor above them and through the next floor to the roof! One stray blast hits one of then-own teammates, who was, fortunately, the dragon.

Another floor board creaks and they blast again! All shots miss, but the floor/ceiling is so weakened by the blasts that the floor gives way and the creature falls right in the middle of them, along with half the floor and hundreds of pounds of debris. Meanwhile, an enemy gang of high-tech bandits they fought earlier hears the commotion and enters the building to attack our heroes as an act of revenge.

In the ensuing battle, large chunks of this three story, wood frame building are being blown to bits. At one point an entire wall is blasted away. Finally, there is this loud creaking noise. Somebody gasps, "More of the monsters?" Ha! "No," the GM replies, "The creaking is much louder and is now accompanied by loud cracking and crashing sounds." You guessed it, the entire building is collapsing. I mean, sheesh, a building can only withstand so much structural damage before it is destroyed

Page 7

Remember, the average character in simple M.D.C. body armor and M.D. blaster is the equivalent of a 20th Century tank! Power armor or a robot vehicle may be equivalent to a division of 20th Century tanks. And, as good as a tank is, it is not always the weapon for the job.

Page 7

Depleting the M.D.C. of a robot's or cyborg's leg or arm means the limb has been blown off or is a mangled piece of slag. Yes, for you grim guys out there, depleting the M.D.C. of a body armor helmet means you destroy the head and kill the person. Of course, if the M.D.C. is reduced

Rifts Ultimate Main book

Page 288

...a single M.D. point can squish a human like a bug or vaporize him as if he was never there.
...
One Mega-Damage (M.D.) point inflicts the equivalent of 100 S.D.C., so a Mega-Damage weapon that does 1D6 M.D. inflicts the equivalent of 100-600 S.D.C./Hit Point damage! This incredible advancement in technology turned an M.D. pistol or rifle into the equivalent of a man-portable, heavy artillery weapon.
..
Only S.D.C. weapons that inflict 100 or more S.D.C points of damage can hurt M.D.C. armor.

Note: in SDC terms ingame you have to deliver all that damage with a single 'shot' for it to count (EG it doesn't accumulate, you can't do it over multiple shots I think, even though that would depend on context because IIRC in real life burst fire modes not only increase hit probability but also chances of armor penetration - one of the advantages of burst modes on rifles like tha AN-94 and H&K G11, IIRC.) but in equivalency terms it presents its own interesting implications and problems.


Page 355

..M.D.C. materials are better than the heavy armor of a 21st Century tank. Nano-technology has even allowed for the creation of M.D.C. Material light enough to be used as body armor by ordinary humans.

Page 355

One Mega-Damage (M.D.) point inflicts the equivalent of 100 S.D.C., so a Mega- Damage weapon that does 1d6 M.D. inflicts the equivalent of 100-600 S.D.C/Hit Point Damagge. This increidble advancement in technology turned an M.D. pistol or rifle into the equivalent of a man-portable, heavy artillery cannon.

Page 356

It was all part of their mad quest for human augmentation, and M.D.C. armor and M.D. weaponry could turn a human clad in M.D.C. body armor and equipped with an M.D. rifle into the rough equivalent of a light APC with legs. M.D.C. Power Armor was the equivalent of a tank, and a giant robot vehicle or armor vehicle made of M.D.C. became the equivalent of a tank company.

Page 357

The player needs to use his head and hide until he can get the gear to take on an MDC opponent (i.e. get his own tank or assault helicopter or a nice big bazooka...)

Page 359

Optional guidelnes for treatment of a near-fatal M.D. injury
The trick to surviving massive M.D. trauma is immediate medical attention (within 2d4 minutes) to stabilize the injured warrior. If only a hand, arm, or leg is struck, all the M.D. of the blast is spent on that body part, destorying or cutting off the limb. The resulting shock to the body wipes out almost all of the Hit Points and SDC and puts the victim into a coma. This type of attack, however, offers a chance for survival, although the victim will be mained for life.

*****


Rifts mercenaries

Page 95

Against current mega-damage equipment, many of these weapons will have limited value. Most 20th Century missile launchers inflict between 1d4 and 2d6 M.D. and even a tank gun does a mere 3d4 M.D. - all about as powerful as an energy handgun or vibro-blade from rift's earth! By the same token, the armor of a 20th Century tank typically offers around 10 to 20 M.D.C. (equal to light body armor) and needs fossil fuels to run.

Page 96

Not every situation requires mega-damage power. Sometimes such devastating force is completely inappropriate. For example, mega-damage weapons are useless for hunting (unless one is hunting dinosaurs). Even one M.D. point will vaporize a rabbit, bird, or other small animal. A single M.D. point will atomize half a deer or large anaimals, including humanoids. S.D.C. firearms are used for hunting, recreational target shooting, and to capture, wound, or frighten away unarmored humans and D-Bees.

*****

Rifts Games Master Guide

Page 31

There are rare cases where S.D.C. armor that numbers into the hundreds of S.D.C. absorb a low intensity M.D. blast.

In this case every 100 S.D.C. points equals one M.D. point.

page 116

Because energy weapons tend to be very destructive, their use was severely limited and even banned for non-military personnel. So the rules were bent to produce a weapon that could fire with the power of an energy weapon, but use a hard slug. EIPP stands for "Electro-Induced Plasma Propellant." Simply put, a liquid within the handle of the weapon is heated by an E-Clip to the point of becoming explosive plasma. This resultant plasma bolt is then used to propel a slug with awesome velocity. A trend you will see is ATA weapons using this system over and over again. The Administration is trying hard to ban the weaponry, or at least limit it to military sales, but its popularity with the people has made passing such a law very difficult. Note: EIPP are made and sold only in Australia!

******


Chaos Earth main book

page 54

M.D. weapons were often deployed against terorrists beacuase a single M.D. blst could stop even heavy convnetional S.D.C. vehicles like a truck, bulldozer, or aircraft in their tracks, and power armor and light M.D. weapons could punch through most walls, fortifcations, and bunkers like they were made of cardboard. This enabled the NEMA anti-terrorist teams to strike quick, like lightning, shed bullets like raindrops and survive most homemade bombs and conventional grenades even at point blank range.

Page 104

..a single MD point can squish a human like a bug or vaporize him as if here was never there.
..
A technology that has created new super-tough alloys, micronized and even nano-sized circuits, parts, batteries and weapons with more power, precison and range than anything we can manufacture in the 20th or 21st centuries.

Page 104

The other NEMA Peacekeeper sees them and fires his Mega-Damage (MD) energy pistol...
..
The roll form the M.D. Energy pistol is pitifful, a mere three MDC points is rolled but the SDC dune buggy is blown in half because the 3 MD points are equal to about 300 SDC, the full SDC of the vheicle.

*****

Mutants in orbit

page 87

Hand held laser and ion weapons designed for use in delicate enclosures do not burn neat holes in people; quite apart from the power needed to do that, there's a good chance that they would burn neat holes in the hull as well. Instead they have been scaled down, and work by localized heating which boils the water in their target's body, turning it to steam and causing a small, messy, fleshy explosion. These weapons are not as effective in space against opponents in vaccuum suits or inside ships, but do half damage.

Page 88
Ion pistol does 3d6 SDC or 2d4 MD, 1/3 damage to equipment.
12 shots per clip

Laser pistol does 4d6 SDC or 2d6 MD, 1/3 damage to equipment, 12 shots per clip.

Laser rifle does 6d6 SDC or 4d6 MD, one third damage to equipment
Payload 10 shots per clip or 40 per power pack.




Page 89

Energy weapons that inflict far greater damage and which could rupture a ship's hull are also available. These would be the standard weapons listed in the various role-playing games previously mentioned. These weapons are typically used in space battles, on the moon's surface, and by pirates and other murderous rogues for attacks against spaceships and when there is little regard for life.

[Connor MacLeod]

And general limb damage (cooking/roasting, severing, etc.) Heck the lasers seem to be focused more on cutting and piercing and generally thermal effects like cauterization and steam explosions than on blowing apart upper tosros, but bear in mind there are a number of MDC-analogy effects scattered about and apart form the 'blow apart living thing/large part of living thing' ones, they can kind of vary.

My problem is they're more an abstraction more than anything else, and that IIRC there's also MDC to SDC point conversions (isn't it like 1 MDC per 100 or 1000 SDC?) and there are tons of variable setting weapons where those conversions just don't work (ammo supply I'm thinking, IIRC the stats.) It also doesn't help that most modern weapons have, somewhere, SDC stats too (from personal weapons to vehicle) so there's lots of poentials where the overlap just doesn't match up well and might lead to 'depends on your reference point'.

And then there's meshing in physical weapons (which can be MDC based on the materials as much as on firepower) and how to balance out force, momentum and enegy when it comes to all those (EG a MDC bladed weapon vs a plasma gun in terms of 'equivalence', etc.)

Apart from the random dice roll ambiguity and the other stuff I mentioned.

Slight modification to what I said above now that I dug through the stuff Id collected below, I may have gotten some details around. The 'steam explosion' bit (which was from mutants in space) isn't quite the same as conventional lasers (as described in Rifts Ultimate.) although I'm not sure how to explain the discrepancy in damage/mechanism. I initially assumed they figured 'more energy = more damage' but that doesn't explain neccesarily doing the same 'level' of damage, dice wise, againt organic targets but not inorganic. So it may be more in the nature of the material properties themselves (the lasers are 'tuned' to be effective against SDC targets but less effective against MDC) but I'm also not sure how that bears out. Possibly a difference between mechanical and thermal effects, but again I'm not sure that completely fits either.

It also may be less of an issue with vibro-weapons, since those seeem to actually be more like 40k 'power weapons' -at least the blades - than they are 'weapon whose blade vibrates really fast' - so at least there the MDC comparisons might make sense (to a point - I doubt you could argue the blade is dumping a grenade's worth of energy into the target with every cut, for example.) so there is still some ambiguity.


I have also, by and large, left projectile weapons out of it (esp the boom gun) as the stuff with projectile weapons is something I'm a bit iffy on (especialyl with how rifts defines/handles recoil. I remember one bit somewhere saying firing a gun in space pushed you back at like a foot a second, or something, which it might if you were firing an antimaterial sniper rifle but not a pistol.)

[Connor MacLeod]

Lost the edit window:

One possible area of difference is in how the energy is focused on the target. Energy weapons that 'explode' the target are probably more focused than a grenade (egen though a grenade could, in theory, blow apart the upper torso it point blank range, as demonstrated on Mythbusters.) but it is not nearly so focused. The Naruni micro grenades, which could be likened to high end bolters, would seem to confirm this.

On the other hand, this notion has holes in it (removing limbs or putting a hole in a target by itself cannot be MDC, because conventional firearms can do that too.) and simply cooking part of a body can't be enough (blowtorche sand flamethrowers can inflict severe burns too.)

[Ahriman238]

Thanks, Connor. I suppose for now blasting basketball-sized holes in things will do, at least for the energy weapons.

But now let's look at one of the things most disappointingly absent from China, dragons. Most of China which isn't controlled by the demons are the Dragonlands where dragons shelter people in exchange for tribute. Eastern Dragons are "cold-blodded" compared to the familiar Western equivalents, meaning they recover PPE far slower. All adult dragons can play on more-or-less the same field as minor deities (or demon/deevil lords) but will afterwards need to hibernate to recover their health and strength while the deities recover much faster. For Eastern Dragons, this recovery period can frequently take decades, so while they can level a fortress or a city with relative ease, they usually prefer when possible to employ cunning, shapeshifting shenanigans and human cats-paws to achieve their ends. Which is all we're really told.

Well, I'm really not sure if that's supposed to apply to Japanese Dragons, who were technically first, and as a rule seem to lack native shape-changing. Then again, it is said that all these dragons can be found throughout Japan, Korea, China, India, and Indonesia. Oh well, at least they get their own appearance and stats instead of presumably being tweaked versions of existing dragons.



Shikome Kido-Mi



The Shikome Kido-Mi (Dark Magic Dragon/Serpent, or close enough) are another first, the first universally evil, or at least selfish, dragon species. The Kido-Mi have one extremely special feature: they know everything there is to know about mystic martial arts. They know every body hardening exercise, every mystic art of invisibility, every zenjoriki spiritual power. They can't use them themselves, but they can teach these arts to any human who acts as their agent, or they think they can corrupt with power. Many can also craft any Japanese magic items, except the Rune Weapon daisho. Kido-Mi are sometimes patrons of ninja clans, it's said that the first mystic ninja learned their arts from a Kido-Mi. The dragons themselves are venal, greedy, and egotistical, generally incapable of participating in any partnership where they aren't clearly the dominant party.

MDC depends on age, 150-450 for a hatchling, like a character would play with a permissive GM, 1800-4800 for a young adult, and a full adult gets 2200-8200 MDC with solid regen. Impervious to cold, disease, poison and possession/mind control. Nightvision, see invisible, turn invisible, dimensional teleport and great at climbing, sneaking, and tracking by scent. They don't have the proper metamophosis power to change into any person or animal but can alter their own size to an extent, from 12-42 ft. (3.6-12.8 m) long. Kido-Mi have neither flight nor a breath weapon, and a are vulnerable to silver weapon and Millenium Tree items.

Magically, the majority (70%) of Kido-Mi know all standard spells through level 8, all standard spells relating to rifts and dimension travel, plus Amulet, Talisman, Create Zombie, Create Mummy, and Sanctum. Of the remainder, 29% will know all Temporal Magic, all the standard spells through level 3, and all standard spells relating to rifts and dimension travel. Just 1% will know all standard spells through level 5 and Tattoo Magic, which is also a wonderful way to empower one's minions. 40% independent of those can make magic items, which they're generally loath to do lest they be turned against their maker.

Kido-Mi are minor psychics with Auto-Mind Block, Sense Magic, See Aura, Sixth Sense, Death Trance, Clairvoyance, Telepathy and Hypnotic Suggestion.



Kumo-Mi



Kumo-Mi, or Cloud Dragons, generally live in the high mountains and have strong air-related powers. Kumo-Mi stand with Chiang-Ku as one of the rarest species of dragons, there are no more than a hundred on Rifts Earth, all in Japan. Some are good, some are evil. Natsu Yaki is a proud protector of Mt. Fuji and a good friend to the New Empire, while Haku Miyoshi is a brutal warlord who has assembled a fairly large Oni kingdom in the Zone. Kumo-Mi float freely, swimming through the air in defiance of all logic, and rarely touch the ground.

MDC again depends on age, 150-450 MDC for a hatchling, a young adult gets 1600-4600 MDC and a full adult gets 2100-4100MDC and good regen. Impervious to cold, poison, disease, possession and mind control, vulnerable to silver and Earth Elementals. Nightvision, see invisible, turn invisible, dimensional teleport. Excellent climber, decent at sneaking around, can fly at 55 mph/88 kph and can shrink from their normal 60 ft (18m) all the way down to 15 ft. (4.6 m) long. No breath weapon.

Major psychic, all healing powers plus Empathy, Telepathy, and Mind Block.

Half of Kumo-Mi are max-level Air Warlocks. The other half know all air, dimension and illusion-type spells from the standard list, plus Tongues, Eyes of Thoth, Magic Pigeon, Negate Magic, Dispel Magic, Anti-Magic Cloud, Sanctum and both the simple and greater protection circles.

Will have one Mystic Art of Invisibility and one Zenjoriki power.



Asama-Tatsu



Volcano Dragons. Do I have your attention? Asama-Tatsu are impervious to fire, hot-tempered and tend to lair in or near magma pockets to avoid humans pestering them for their wisdom, power or aid in whatever it is humans think is so important these days. Asama-Tatsu are the largest Japanese dragons, 20 ft. tall at the shoulder and 100 ft/30.5 m long, golden scales with red hair. Tend to be loners, can be good or evil, some have become teachers and protectors of solitary mountain monasteries.

Age dependent MDC, hatchlings get 150-450 MDC, young adults 1600-6600 MDC, and full adults 3400-9400 MDC with decent regen. Impervious to heat and fire, poison, disease, possession and mind control, but vulnerable to cold. Nightvision, see invisible and dimensional teleport. Loses invisibility in favor of teleporting. Good climber and swimmer, can shrink down to 15 ft/ 5 m long.

Major psychic, all physical powers plus PPE Shield, Auto-Mind Block, Telepathy and Pyrokinesis.

Half of Asama-Tatsu are Ley Line Walkers and know all standard spells through level 7, plus a dozen from higher levels. 10% are alchemists who can craft magic items, as long as they aren't Rune Weapons. 20% are techno-wizards. 20% are Diabolists, a summoning-type caster from the Fantasy game I really need to run down the info for someday.

Asama-Tatsu have 1-4 Zenjoriki powers depending on age and experience.