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AccidentalHipster
Jul 5, 2013

Whadda ya MEAN ya never heard of Dan Brereton?

Zereth posted:

Wait, per year brewing the thing for potions? How fast is this game supposed to move?

Very rigidly (you'll see). You don't have to save them up over years though thankfully. I think that the yearly fermentation is to make it so that saving up potions over the long haul instead of just using them fresh isn't completely stupid, but why bother holding on to them that long?

AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Oct 10, 2013

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Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!


Rifts World Book Five: Triax and the NGR Part 7: "The helmet can be removed to reveal the character's human face."

VX-Series Cyborgs

Now, normally when talking about cyborgs, Rifts has traditionally just used the cyborg creation rules from the corebook. Triax departs from this, however, by giving us eight (nine with the EIR-100) specific cyborg designs used by the NGR military, which are used by the later Cyborg Soldier O.C.C.

They all have some standardized features:
  • Gas filter and oxygen storage.
  • Language translator.
  • Radio.
  • "Concealed" climbing cord.
  • Clock calendar!!!
  • "Concealed" e-clip port.
  • Gyro-compass.
  • Voice synthesizer.
  • Telescopic, magnifying, light amplification, thermo-imaging, light filtered, targeting eyes.
  • Psionic electro-magnetic dampeners.
  • Universal headjack.
  • Amplified hearing and sound filter.
Like most Rifts technology more complex than a gun, it seems to fall victim to feature bloat. I just imagine most cyborg adverts containing the immortal words "... but that's not all!" somewhere in their pamphlet. And that feature list? It's repeated eight times throughout this section. Welcome to the department of redundancy, part of the bureau of redundancy!

Another thing that gets repeated eight times: there's a new rule that cyborgs don't actually die at 0 M.D.C., but instead can survive for up to 36 hours or until they're at -125 M.D.C., whichever comes first. Oh, and you can target their head now, which has massively less M.D.C. than their body (and apparently no armor protection). Reducing that to 0 will kill them instantly! So aim for the head; suddenly cyborgs have become tremendously vulnerable there.

Oh, yes, they have a "crew" listed as "one human volunteer" in their writeup, because the layout is copied from the vehicle writeups. :allears:

VX-300 Striker


It's pregnant with missiles.

This is supposed to be a scout cyborg, and can run around at 120 MPH. Most of the pointy bits coming off of it are actually grenades it can launch of varying types, and the chaingun looking bit is a railgun that does dinky damage (5d6 M.D.). It also has the ubitiquous laser finger (I can only guess that somebody at Triax accidentally over-ordered them), and the M.D.C. is fairly light for a 'borg. Cyborg Soldiers who take this body type are required to take a certain # of espionage skills, but get a bonus on them.

It can also blow two attacks to do a 1d4 M.D. power punch! Its other attacks do S.D., so it's normal punch does an average of 19.5 S.D.C., and it's power punch does an average of 250 S.D.C. How do you get over ten times the impact from twice the effort? I have no idea, but clearly the conclusion that cyborgs can't do magic was a bit premature.

VX-320 Cyclops


Behold! Optic bla- waitno

This is a soldier sort of cyborg with no role given. It's another light cyborg, modestly slower than the VX-300, but with some fancy weaponry. The tin cans attached to it are actually grenades once again, it has a "wide beam ion disrupter" which functions like an energy shotgun, doing light damage up close and pathetic damage to multiple targets at a distance. It has a wimpy laser and a wimpy ion blaster in its forearm. Weird that the scout cyborg is better-armed, but there you have it.

Oh, and since these are based off the vehicle layouts, we get a height (6' 6"), a width (3' 6"), and a length (2' 6"). I'm hoping that last one refers to them having really big feet.

VX-340 Slasher (Gold Type)


Cybernetically enhanced eyebrows.

This is named as such, since the mass-market version comes in a gold color (though the military uses camo instead). It comes with a scary face to "strike fear into his opponents". However, since it has no Horror Factor, it can't actually do that. Granted, gargoyles hang out with brodkil and mindolar, I'm not sure a golden human skullface is going to freak them out anyway... "Oh, no, it looks like that thing we tear out of their faces all the time!"

So, this is supposed to be a "seek and destroy" ranger sort of robot. :sigh: So how well does it do that? Well, it has vibro-blades (ho-hum), mini-missiles (those are the tubes coming off the back, a "concealed leg laser rod", a light rail gun, and extra grenades and vibro knives in a concealed compartment. It's a mid-range cyborg, and so it's considerably tougher than the previous two listed. Cyborg Soldiers with this model have to select wilderness skills, but get a bonus on them. Overall, it's fairly average; nothing to get too worried about, if you're a gargoyle.

VX-370 Stopper (Blue Type)


Juggling is overrated.

The commerical version is blue; this is supposed to be an assault cyborg. It's a medium cyborg, somewhat tougher than the VX-340. Weapons: particle beam (decent damage), mini-machinegun (a 40 lb. boondoggle that does 2d4 M.D.), a concealed leg laser rod.. and that's all.

Oh, and a lot of these weapons, particularly those which are arm or leg mounted, have flavor text like "Point and shoot." or "Reveal, point and shoot." Thanks, Siembieda, is that what you do with a gun? I would have never have imagined. :rolleyes:

VX-500 Manhunter (Red Type)


Missiles. Pointing backwards. Yuuup.

This is a heavy cyborg with no particular combat role (which, if you've forgotten from my Rifts RPG review, are ridiculously tough). In a mild retcon, this is the model of cyborg depicted way back in the original Rifts RPG in one of the painted pieces. As with all borgs of its type, it has penalties due to its ultra-heavy armor.

It gets a rail gun from the core rules, the tubes on its back are missiles, and it has... sigh... a concealed leg laser rod and a concealed leg ion rod. And it is, like the blue and gold, supposed to be scary, but it is not.

VX-635 Prowler


The nerdiest cyborg will show all the people who laughed at him!

This is their secret Special Forces murderborg. It's supposed to be extra-double-plus probation secret! Shhhh! You have to have an Mental Endurance of 15 to even be considered for the program, which is dorky, because A) you have a 5% change of making that roll and B) there's no mechanical difference between a Mental Endurance of 15 and 5 (presuming you're not psionic). What's more, the operations they're on are so secret they're supposed to blow themselves up before they reveal anything to he enemy. Alternately,the military can remotely fry their brain or explode their head.

It's a fast, light cyborg, and has a "multi-weapon gun arm" with a rail gun, launchable vibro-bayonet, and a mini-laser turret, and tiny utility arms, none of which are particularly fearsome. It has an air gun that fires poison darts and tracking / spying devices. It can shoot poisoned blades that are useless against mega-damage target (i.e. the grand majority of the NGR's foes) and a regular vibro-blade.

Once again, we see that no orifice can go without a weapon mounted with it; the ports on the forehead become "head mounted mini-lasers". Small vents on the leg become "tiny, rotating lasers". Worse yet, the spikes become launchable spikes that do 1 M.D. apiece. Why? Bonus challenge: can you even find those laser turrets on the legs? Yeah, it's those small apetures just below the knee. :v: None of these are any more useful than weapons already carried by the cyborg.

Anyway it has fancier sensors, and some have the wall-walking system from the Super Trooper.

VX-2010 Marauder


On the right, a B-55 Boomer from "Bubblegum Crisis". You be the judge!

Oh, another skull-faced cyborg. I imagine cyborg fetishists afficiandos become like birdwatchers, able to tell cyborgs apart by the the mild stylistic differences in skullfaces. Really, this one looks like a leftover Hagan Lonovich robot design from Rifts Sourcebook.

Either way, this is supposed to be an all-new form of cyborg, where unlike other models, they can't remove their masks and armor to reveal their Peter Weller half-faces. Instead, they're basically all machine, and gets a ridiculous amount of M.D.C. as a result (nearly as much as a glitter boy). They generally just carry handheld weapons, but have a grenade launcher on the shoulder, "concealed" (aka undrawn) chest ion blasters, a "concealed" (aka undrawn) leg laser, and "concealed" (aka undrawn) vibro-blades.

Did Siembieda give two shits about what Long drew? It's looking like not at this point.

VX-2020 Monster

This is a (very slightly) tougher version of the marauder; it generally lugs around a rail gun, and all the cans attached to it are not its emergency supply of Jolt Energy Drink, but instead are mini-missiles. I know, it's shocking. Concealed ion blasters, concealed particle beam legbone, concealed vibro-blades, and concealed dignity.

But what about our First-Timer? Has his cherry finally been popped?



Yeah, the rules don't work that way.

Next: Action figures sold seperately - the vehicles of Triax.

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Oct 10, 2013

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
RIFTS, where the answer to 'why don't they install the completely disembodied brain in the chest cavity, and use the head as a periscope?' is 'Sigh. Because.'

The mini-missiles at weird angles thing has always annoyed me, beyond deciding that cooling vanes or exhaust stacks are really launchers. Straight back to their debut in the later era Robotech books, the things have explicitly been high-yield dumb-fire rockets, sacrificing guidance packages for a bit more bang. If they were the somewhat larger, self-guided SRMs, maybe they could pull that fire asswise, loop around stunt.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

Bieeardo posted:

The mini-missiles at weird angles thing has always annoyed me, beyond deciding that cooling vanes or exhaust stacks are really launchers. Straight back to their debut in the later era Robotech books, the things have explicitly been high-yield dumb-fire rockets, sacrificing guidance packages for a bit more bang. If they were the somewhat larger, self-guided SRMs, maybe they could pull that fire asswise, loop around stunt.

Yeah, as you mention, the thing is mini-missiles aren't really missiles at all; they're rockets. But I guess Siembieda doesn't understand that rockets don't really work if one's trying to make every vehicle into the "Itano Circus" for whatever inane reason.

biosterous
Feb 23, 2013




Alien Rope Burn posted:

lasssserrrr fiiiinggerrrrs, that particle beam rod in the leg again

Since this keeps coming up again and again, I wonder if they're ripping it from Timothy Zahn's Cobra series of novels. Cybernetic sneaky soldiers with laser fingers and a massive laser hidden in the leg.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



Bieeardo posted:

RIFTS, where the answer to 'why don't they install the completely disembodied brain in the chest cavity, and use the head as a periscope?' is 'Sigh. Because.'

The mini-missiles at weird angles thing has always annoyed me, beyond deciding that cooling vanes or exhaust stacks are really launchers. Straight back to their debut in the later era Robotech books, the things have explicitly been high-yield dumb-fire rockets, sacrificing guidance packages for a bit more bang. If they were the somewhat larger, self-guided SRMs, maybe they could pull that fire asswise, loop around stunt.

Speaking of Robotech, I think that's why all the missiles are mini-missiles. Palladium (TM) had the Robotech RPG back in the 80s, and all the robots in that universe spam missiles like crazy at the slightest provocation. Since a real F-14 could only carry 8 full size missiles the solution was to have the Robotech not-F-14s carry mini-missiles instead of full size missiles. Given Kev's copy/paste sensibilities, some of the equipment from Robotech probably made it into later books verbatim, and while it may have started as an accident, it seems mini-missiles are a Palladium (TM) trademark.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

biosterous posted:

Since this keeps coming up again and again, I wonder if they're ripping it from Timothy Zahn's Cobra series of novels. Cybernetic sneaky soldiers with laser fingers and a massive laser hidden in the leg.

You know...

Looking up the dates of things, those novels started in 1986. Now, the cyborg rules in Rifts are actually derivative of Heroes Unlimited, and Heroes Unlimited Revised Edition (the first book I can remember that had the weird leg-mounted energy weapons) was published in 1987. The real question is whether or not they show up in the first edition of Heroes Unlimited (from 1984). If they don't, you're probably on to something.

wdarkk
Oct 26, 2007

Friends: Protected
World: Saved
Crablettes: Eaten

AccidentalHipster posted:

Next time, HOMEWORK or The Unlimited Psyduck Works returns!

More audience participation time! Guess what the Homework chapter is about and/or why I dread it! Points will be awarded by QI rules where it doesn't matter if you're right, only that you're interesting. The winner will receive a mention at the beginning of my Homework portion of the review. Sorry guys, but I'm lazy and broke.

Homework has got to be something players do between game sessions for in-game benefit. Maybe you get points of some sort for drawing characters or promoting the game?

BerkerkLurk
Jul 22, 2001

I could never sleep my way to the top 'cause my alarm clock always wakes me right up
You're all so jaded. The finger laser is so you can play with your cat.

Majuju
Dec 30, 2006

I had a beer with Stephen Miller once and now I like him.

BerkerkLurk posted:

You're all so jaded. The finger laser is so you can play with your cat.

I think you mean "your genetically-modified cat-man, who is wearing armour that is 40% spikes by volume (as mandated by Coalition procurement contract 009-17142-AE)"

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Vibro-spikes, so that when he rubs up against something it falls into flinders.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Given those laser fingers do a minimum of 1d6 x 10 S.D.C., I'd think that'd be a very short game to play with any pet. Terrific for cat-haters, tho.

BerkerkLurk
Jul 22, 2001

I could never sleep my way to the top 'cause my alarm clock always wakes me right up
Oh your cats aren't morphed Dragon Hatchlings? Nevermind then.

occamsnailfile
Nov 4, 2007



zamtrios so lonely
Grimey Drawer
I never read the Cobra novels but I remember people actively trying to play cyborgs from that series because the rules were there and also they were the sorts of people who thought Timothy Zahn novels were high art. High school was a difficult time.

Also the major difference between that Triax borg and the boomer is that they gave the boomer human teeth. You know, like a Terminator. Just to make sure that it was creepy and would cause trouble.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

BerkerkLurk posted:

Oh your cats aren't morphed Dragon Hatchlings? Nevermind then.

The Cat's-Eye Dragon Hatchling R.C.C. doesn't appear until Rifts Ultimate Edition.

occamsnailfile posted:

I never read the Cobra novels but I remember people actively trying to play cyborgs from that series because the rules were there and also they were the sorts of people who thought Timothy Zahn novels were high art. High school was a difficult time.

I'm willing to give people a pass on liking Zahn as teenagers. An adult game designer, not so much. :colbert:

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

re: Homework

My vote is that to get XP, you have to write a report on the last game session, which is then graded by the GM. The chapter consists of a grading guide and XP spend tables.

LaSquida
Nov 1, 2012

Just keep on walkin'.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

The Cat's-Eye Dragon Hatchling R.C.C. doesn't appear until Rifts Ultimate Edition.


I'm willing to give people a pass on liking Zahn as teenagers. An adult game designer, not so much. :colbert:
But Zahn's a fun read. :saddowns:

HitTheTargets
Mar 3, 2006

I came here to laugh at you.
Wait, the lasers are in the pinky fingers? Why wouldn't they be in the pointer fingers so you could do that finger gun thing?

occamsnailfile posted:

I never read the Cobra novels but I remember people actively trying to play cyborgs from that series because the rules were there and also they were the sorts of people who thought Timothy Zahn novels were high art. High school was a difficult time.

You have to understand Timothy Zahn's art in order to defeat him in battle.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

LeSquide posted:

But Zahn's a fun read. :saddowns:

I'm snooty, the only Zahn books I've read have had me going :raise: pretty much the whole way. It's okay, though, you can enjoy them! I'll allow it.

Covok
May 27, 2013

Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.
Tell Me A Legend Of Murderers And Hobos - Let's Read Legend D20


While the game goes the mechanically complex route, the cover certainly does sweet and simple well.

So, what is Legend? It's a roleplaying game made by a group of 3.5 fans who didn't feel like 4e was for them, but didn't like the class disparity in 3.5. Unlike the bunch of other game developers who tried to make a balanced 3.5, Legend isn't another 3.75. While it isn't the most original game and doesn't accomplish everything it sets out to do, it's still a fun title that keeps its own identity.

I actually beta tested this game back in 2012 so, since they finally released the finished version, I thought I'd do a read through of it.

Chapter 1: Does anyone ever read the introduction?

Legend's introduction chapter is actually a bit different from the norm. While it does have the standard "what is roleplaying" section, it does take some interesting directions.

For one, its the only place in the book where the default setting is ever described or even mentioned. You'd think something like that might get more page space than just one paragraph.

Basically, there is a world called Hallow.

Fantasy creatures live on Hallow.

It is geographically diverse place.

There are powerful magical constructs.

The end.

To be fair, there is a pdf on their website that expands on hallow and its history. But, that isn't in the rulebook, so most players wouldn't know anything about it.

The lack of setting information is probably why the writers push for custom setting and refluffing. Pushing the GM to make custom settings and refluff mechanics is perfectly fine, but...

quote:

Of course, if your gaming group has a different world in mind, feel free to play in it instead. Legend’s mechanics can fit a broad range of fantasy and horror settings, and with some minor adjustments can fit superhero, cyberpunk, and even space opera settings. For all of these settings, and others, Legend offers you the tools to tell the story your specific gaming group wants to create.

...the developers kind of overestimate their system's flexibility. It's really a game that best supports pulpy fantasy games. At low levels, you maybe able to do gritty fantasy, but not too well. At high levels, you're pretty much playing Exalted. Trying to run horror in this title would be...interesting. And, by interesting, I mean it probably wouldn't work at all.


Legend's art is usually pretty good. This one piece, not so much.

Legend's developers then decided to spend some times directly stating what they like in roleplaying games and then give a blanket statement on how Legend incorporates it. So, why don't we take a look through? Maybe refer back to these design principals periodically to see if the developers succeeded or not.

Predictability - It's kind of a shaky start since it begins on a verisimilitude argument. Though, it's not a bad one. Kill a wolf, get a wolf pelt. Kill a swordsman, find a sword. Live in a magic world your entire life, you should probably be able to tell when stuff is magical.

As Above, As Below - Legend sells itself on a few key selling points and one of them is being balanced. If two characters are the same level, they should be equally good in different ways. Does Legend manage to pull this off? Well, I suppose we'll find out.

Narrative Space - Legend's developers like generic systems that can support multiple genres. Game math, in their opinion, should be open so player's can alter it as needed. It's a bit funny that they call out other games, indirectly, for not being honest about what types of genres their games can support considering the Legend developers believe Legend game can run horror.

GM/Player Cooperation - The standard "everyone is responsible for each's other fun" argument that appears in almost every modern game book. Not that I don't agree with the idea, it's just become a bit of a cliche.

Speed of Play - For some, this design goal could be a bit of a deal breaker. They love eight hour gaming sessions and think combat should go for several rounds. Unless I'm misinterpreting, they like the idea of getting five combat encounters done in that 8 hour session. I don't know if they were accounting for down time or not, but it does say alot about the speed of combat.

In short, encounters lasting over an hour was something the developers actively strived for. Does combat actually turn out taking that long? In the beta, battles almost always took about thirty to forty minutes with some going longer. Way longer.

And that's the end of Chapter 1. Since this took a bit longer than expected, I'll end here for now.

Next Time: We get into the basics of gameplay, see how Legend changes some of 3.5's math, and then move into the basics of character creation.

Covok fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Oct 11, 2013

AccidentalHipster
Jul 5, 2013

Whadda ya MEAN ya never heard of Dan Brereton?

Covok posted:

Tell Me a Legend of Murderers and Hobos - Let's Read Legend D20




This is my favorite edition of D&D though I'll admit that I tend to judge games mostly by Character Creation which this game makes fun as hell.

Amechra
Sep 9, 2012
I was in Covok's group, so I'm dropping in to concur that combat takes for-loving-ever. And, at least once, resulted in yours truly being incapable of doing anything for those 40+ minutes.

And he isn't kidding when he says that it can't be used for non-pulp fantasy; flight for everybody is assumed by level 7-ish, iirc.

Covok
May 27, 2013

Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Amechra posted:

I was in Covok's group, so I'm dropping in to concur that combat takes for-loving-ever. And, at least once, resulted in yours truly being incapable of doing anything for those 40+ minutes.

And he isn't kidding when he says that it can't be used for non-pulp fantasy; flight for everybody is assumed by level 7-ish, iirc.

To be fair, that was because the GM was having a one-on-one fight with a problem player...using the same character that the player was using. I remember being bored to near death waiting for the pissing contest to end so I could go back to the game.

What I mean is that example wasn't necessarily the system's fault.

Covok fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Oct 11, 2013

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Most systems seem like Mirror Matches would be a bad idea. I am looking forward to the write ups on Legend, I always wanted to play it but never got the chance. Really wanted to build a giant character that has a city on its back or something.

AccidentalHipster
Jul 5, 2013

Whadda ya MEAN ya never heard of Dan Brereton?

Amechra posted:

I was in Covok's group, so I'm dropping in to concur that combat takes for-loving-ever. And, at least once, resulted in yours truly being incapable of doing anything for those 40+ minutes.

And he isn't kidding when he says that it can't be used for non-pulp fantasy; flight for everybody is assumed by level 7-ish, iirc.

I usually don't have that much trouble with combat length outside of boss fights (I've even had fights where barely anyone got a turn) but that may be a matter of my GMing style or the widespread love of high damage builds in my group so take that with a grain of salt.

I'd also like to say that while Legend does assume a level of pulp fantasy, that doesn't prevent you from running other genres. And since I like to blend pulp fantasy with other genres for almost every game I run I've pretty much never had issues with genre.

So what I'm saying is that your mileage may vary.

EDIT:

Ryuujin posted:

Most systems seem like Mirror Matches would be a bad idea. I am looking forward to the write ups on Legend, I always wanted to play it but never got the chance. Really wanted to build a giant character that has a city on its back or something.

Yeah, they usually are but I guess that the way Legend handles creatures might make some GMs think otherwise, especially in a pissing contest. And you missed out man. Playing the Great A'Tuin is not only doable at high levels (with certain optional rules admittedly), but is also has room to make crazier. Like making them a Power Ranger. Seriously.

AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Oct 11, 2013

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
I cannot think of the Power Ranger, I know there is a Kamen Rider track. And yeah it requires like level 10 and the Legendary rules to be big enough to actually house a city on one's back.

AccidentalHipster
Jul 5, 2013

Whadda ya MEAN ya never heard of Dan Brereton?

Ryuujin posted:

I cannot think of the Power Ranger, I know there is a Kamen Rider track.

I know, but I figured Power Ranger would be more recognizable and that the two are pretty similar anyway.

AccidentalHipster fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Oct 11, 2013

Amechra
Sep 9, 2012

Covok posted:

To be fair, that was because the GM was having a one-on-one fight with a problem player...using the same character that the player was using. I remember being bored to near death waiting for the pissing contest to end so I could go back to the game.

What I mean is that example wasn't necessarily the system's fault.

I was referring to the one battle that I spent drowning. Not the pissing contest.

FourmyleCircus
Sep 15, 2013


I've lost count of how many times I've started this, only to get trampled by the unending incompetence of Harris and his trained monkeys. Or maybe he's the trained monkey. It's hard to tell. As you can see, it claims to be the First issue, and thankfully, it's also the last.



You're reading that right. They wanted eleven dollars for this 40 page 'magazine'. I can't say it isn't a cute way of doing it. But I've seen better. Cheaper too. Almost feel bad for whoever that is on the cover. Ten years from now, fifteen, someone's going to link her to this abomination against all that think and feel, and all she'll be able to say is "I was a kid, alright?" At least, I hope that's what she'll say.

Cripes, I'm getting depressing. Sorry folks. First thing we see when we flip the page and crack this thing open is a note from Pandora Spocks. The magazine is mostly in-universe material, and so, this note is too. She proceeds to awkward penguin all over the place.

Pandora Spocks posted:

Welcome to 13 Magazine. The first magazine for Witch-Girls. Now, I know your asking what does a 300 year old witch like me know about being a Witch-Girl? Most people who know me will tell you I'm on my third if not fourth childhood. That that any of you are children. You are all young-ladies gifted with powers and abilities mortals could never wrap their little heads around.

You are quicksilver. You live in the twinkle in the star and the tide the wind and all the world is your playground.... or will be.


It goes on like that for two more paragraphs in the worst italic script font I've seen in a while, and I'm a typography geek.

Over on the other side is a Please read from Malcolm, stating yes, this is a fictional magazine, and also that all information contained in this is cannon and official errata. Oh good, I like errata. There really isn't much that can be considered Errata in this issue though.

The Table of contents is rather thorough skipping only the ads, both fake and real.

I'm actually going to talk about these ads. Gertrude Xapp, Alien Witch sounds like a game I'd rather be playing. In one page it gives the character a backstory, a motivation, and a task. She comes from beyond the stars to save the universe from the Cosmic Troll Sarbross. Now if only the art wasn't of an obvious Hero Machine like. Her clothes are painted on, her wand looks like some sort of laser buzzsaw and... well, It's barely acceptable as an amateur layout project. Also, yes, it name checks two of the shows mentioned in the core-book My Pet Mortal and Goblins Ate My Dad.

The next page has the thing we were talking about, Forumla No. 86. It turns people into mice. Even witches. You have to make a Hard magic roll or be instantly turned into a mouse forever. Only, not really. If you're magical in anyway, you can spend a Zap point to reduce the duration to an hour, or two to just out right negate it. 12 allowance points, or if you remember the last book, $551-$600 gets you three doses.

It is of course made by Hex-o. While Abby Sotto said she wanted to know about the janitorial staff at the local bank, I want to know what Hex-o actually does. Are they a novelty company, like this ad would imply? Do they make Educational products, like the poster would imply? Or do they just make everything because they never thought they'd need more than one company?

Page three brings us the first real article, a tell all Expose on the Argus Society. It's also the first page to run afoul of the awful watermark they've got going on. Remember how certain White Wolf books were printed in a way to be impossible to read? Yeah. The lower left hand side of every page suffers from this burnt, aged texture they're using.

The history is well thought out, oddly enough. Basically, a 700 years ago guy is born to a Witch, keeps a diary of the weird stuff and lives and dies in Belgium. Then 425 years later, Emile LeClair finds the book, copies it and starts selling it. Following the hints laid out in the diary, he finds a local witch and starts stalking her. She was being the sort of rear end in a top hat you expect, hypnotizing the locals into giving her free stuff. LeClair's buddy, who has no name, exposes her and gets her run out of town... and later killed.

So, he set up five rules so that he'd never meet the same fate.

LeClairs posted:

1. Observation is the goal not exposure or fame.
2. Do not reveal to anyone what you observe.
3. Be clandestine in your observation.
4. Keep precise notes of your observation for your own records
5. Never let the one you observe know you observe them.

Then, he died, his daughter got his books, and traveled the world observing witches and other weird stuff, forming the Argus Society. Which continues to this day. With their own website, EyesofArgus.org they're pretty much annoying Instagram users that try not to get killed by using high tech bs. Their updated code reflects this.

And this is where it gets interesting. There's behind the scenes stuff for the Director,detailing the ways to use them in their game. I'll go over the types of specialists in brief. Debunkers can summon up so much "Yeah, Right" that they can force spells to simply fizzle out. Detectives can figure stuff out about you. Hunters stalk you. Infiltrators are... actors so good they can make you think they're a witch, vampire or whatever. Yes, even if you are what they're pretending to be. Soldiers have lazy mohawks and smug grins. Also they can give themselves +1 to athletics rolls, fighting rolls, or ignore a point of damage. Techies are Velma, and they can jury rig things.

The Equipment is... interesting. The Alpha Wave Detector detects alpha waves... Including those left on objects or locations? Somehow? Because Magic leaves your alpha waves on things. Apparently. They cost 5 allowance points.

Argus Goggles let mundanes see magical stuff and avoid Mortal-Avoidance charms, also gives you a +3 to rolls to see invisible things. They only cost 2 Allowance points.

The Cloaker explains how the the Infultrator can pretend to be a witch. By emitting an... alpha wave pulse. And it also lets you turn sorts invisible by acting as an alpha wave scrambler... I guess that works. I mean, if you destroy conscious thought around you, it's pretty hard to see you. The first setting gives a -5 penalty to any rolls to detect if you're magical or not, and the second gives you a plus three to hide. It costs 7 Allowance points.

Communication Pieces are just ear mounted cellphones with walkie talkie functionality. 2 AP.

The Float-Camera, given the more interesting name of The Eyes of Argus further down in the blurb, are remote controlled cameras that can fly at 100MPH. They send a live feed back to you, and cost 10 AP.

Sticky bombs, or Bad Apples, are apple sized red grenades that cover people in sticky goo that traps you. Score one for the fetishists. No, you can't get out unless you can make a hard body roll or get help. You're stuck for an hour. Each one cost 3 AP.

The Stunner is a gun that fires electricity and Beta waves I don't know. Anyway, the green lightning it shoots forces a hard body roll, which will knock your rear end out for d6 minutes if you fail. Or they can use up twice as much ammo and do ten points of damage a shot. Range is thirty feet, and it costs 10 AP. That's right, choose a gun or a camera.

Tags are just what they sound like. You knock out a witch, and put a tag under her ear. tags are dime sized and let you monitor blood pressure, heart rate, and 'increased alpha waves', as well as hear everything she's hearing and saying. They last two weeks, have a range of 25 miles, and give you extra creeper points. I mean, cost 3 AP.

Okay. Okay, I get it. They're not scientists. That's why they're writing a book about Lolita murder dominatrices fighting bondage Puritans, not sci-fi. But really? Knocking someone out with a burst of beta waves? Alpha Wave Scramblers? What is this, Star Trek Voyager?


Anyway. We now get to Doctor Hyperion. A 200 year old superhero from another dimension that has a d10 in everything but magic. He runs the Argus Society. He wants to find a way home. This is why he sends people to creep on little girls. He's super skilled at everything mundane. So...

Yeah, he's pretty much a plot device with no brain that's created a bit of a plot hole. He's from another dimension. He's a superhero. He's probably from the Superhero Dimension. Which means the most logical thing for him to do is to show up at Witch HQ, which he knows about either from his Argus Minions or from the fact that he can just roll a hard mind check to know anything, ever. then he waves around a twenty and demands to be taken to Raven. Boom, character solved.

Anyway, the Argus Hooks are "Babysit Doctor Hyperion after Professor Xavier mind wipes him", "Protect mortal friend from being dissected by Mystery Inc", and "There is a cute boy who wants to watch you undress cast spells".

I thought I was going to get further than this tonight. Looks like my dreams are unrealistic. I can't handle the Magical Roofies chapter right now. Instead, have an Art Round-up.



Huh. That's... rather restrained for Lucinda. I guess she turns him into cake off screen.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!


Rifts World Book Five: Triax and the NGR Part 8: "No effect! Missiles still on target!!"

Nearly twenty vehicles to cover? Oh my god supernatural intelligence. :( I'm gonna try and speed this poo poo up.

XM-50 Medical Ambulance Pod


I'd feel safe hanging off the back of that, wouldn't you?

It's like a trouble bubble but instead of causing trouble it arrives when there's trouble. Searchlight, mini-laser, extendible stretcher, force field, homing beacon, it's an aerial slug at 60 MPH, and wait up wait up hold the phone- I'm looking at the art for the "XM-60 Field Mechanic Pod." The art for the "XM-50" looks like Siembieda took the XM-60, put a red (?) cross on it, erased the guns, drew his own guns on, and called it a day. That's my guess, anyway, the laser design looks like his, and nothing like Kevin Long's.

:effort:

XM-60 Field Mechanic Pod


Coooobrraaaa wait no Triiiiiaaaaxxxx

It has a laser up front and a laser in back. Wait, if that's supposed to be a laser turret in back, why doesn't the XM-50 have it, even though it's drawn the same way? For gently caress's sake, Kevin. Anyway, storage rack! Homing Beacon! It gets special encumbrance rules! gently caress it!

XM-70 Covert Operations Pod

It's basically like the XM-60 but "The force field has been forsaken for greater speed." The XM-60 didn't have a force field, why it go so slow? Mini-missile replaces the medic bay or the storage rack. No, there's no loving art for it! gently caress it all!

XM-140 Infantry Support Weapon Platform


Seems safe.

It's a slow floating gunboat with an open top so gargoyles can just fly right up and pluck NCR troops out and fling them right off and they scream alllll the way down. It has one (1) long range missile, concealed mini-missles that only exist through the power of imagination, twin laser turrets, rail guns, and sensors. It can put up a force field to block flying gargoyles but then it can't fire the majority of its weapons. Also it weighs five tons but has less M.D.C. than a half-ton cyborg or robot. gently caress!

XM-170 Infantry Repair Barge


Not as exciting as it looks.

I know, I know, you think giant robots are exciting, but what about the exciting adventures barge pilots have? Huh? Now you can explore all your adventures towing, lugging, and even stowing. Rifts: a world of infinite possibilities (with barges)!

It's pretty tough at 1000 M.D.C. It has laser turrets, ion turrets, mini-missiles (Surely you could fit short-range missiles on a 114 ton vehicle. No? Okay..), a crane and towing cables. It can carry 10 Black Knights (300 tons) even though it weighs 114 tons without slowing down. What's more, how do all these floating barges and pods fly? They don't have any visible propulsion systems! Nor do they have a propulsion system defined or detailed. And it's probably not anti-gravity, in case you're wondering, since earlier we learned that was "experimental" Triax technology, and not likely to be in the wide use we see here.

:iiam:

XM-180 "Dragonfly" Power Armor & Bot Drop Ship


As seen in the comic! In fact, it was copy-pasted!

This is supposed to be a jet fighter that carries and drops power armor and small robot vehicles. It has rail guns medium missiles, mini-missiles (despite being depicted as like 4'+ long), chaff, and can lug five Jagers at MACH 1.5. Note the positioning of the huge engines, perfectly placed to roast any suits carried behind them. Most jets output exhaust that's 650+ degrees centigrade, and robot vehicles can protect up to 400 degrees centigrade...

... the gargoyles never understood why humans kept dropping canned, steamed meat from planes. (Actually, the comic shows no thrust exhaust, so it's not at all clear what Long intended, but it's probably something different.)

XM-250 Medical Hover Station


This one just sat on the toy shelves.

It's a floating hospital! We get some bits about the gargoyles basically give no shits about the "sanctity of a hospital". In any case, this basically a huge, heavily armored floating building with a bunch of lasers on it that can float around at 140 MPH. It's full of loving doctors!

XM-270 "Mosquito" VTOL APC & Airship


What's the opposite of aerodynamic?

Apparently this is an older design that's "more popular amount fighter pilots today than ever!" Why? It's not a jet fighter. Yes Kevin, I know you want to think otherwise, but if you're lugging troops, you don't get into dogfights, that would basically be the stupidest loving thing. "Why risk just a five-man crew when you can throw 24 more troopers on the pyre?" Oh, wait, the class says "Military VTOL Jet Fighter & Transport". Double augh moses. :mad:

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

The vessel can hover in a stationary position and fly at a speed of one to 450 mph (up to 720 km). To travel faster, the Mosquito has a turbo boost overdrive system. When the overdrive is engaged, the powerful rear rocket snaps on and propels the airship at a speed of Mach 2 to Mach 2.5 (roughly 1340 to 1650 mph/2144 to 2655 km). The problem is that the XM-270 cannot fly at speeds between 451 and 1340 mph! The airship simply rockets from low speed to high speed with nothing in between.

The stupidest loving thing.
laser rail guns ion cannons mini-missles chaff

XM-275 "Lightning" VTOL Combat Jet


When a helicopter and a jet really love another...

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

It gets the nickname because of its speed...

Okay, fair enough.

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

... ability to make sharply angled turns at virtually any speed...

Sure, that's stretching it a bit, but fine.

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

... and from one of its weapons systems, the TX-275 Arc Blaster.

What does the Arc Blaster fire? Oh, lightning. loving hell.

:jerkbag:

It has lasers, missles, and chaff. The art, remarkably, depicts it having a mount for a wing missile or bomb, but it has no such weapons in the stats. I'm puzzled; it really ought to be a concealed leg laser mini-missiles vibro-blade Swiss Army-knife arrangement hanging off the wing. I'm dissapointed.

The big deal of the aircraft is, of course, the lightning guns, which it has two of (but only fires one at a time because... ???) and stuns other robots and vehicles. It has a random table, and has a 10% chance of taking out a vehicle entirely. That makes it perhaps the most effective Rifts weapon ever, if it can take out any vehicle in a mere ten shots.

It's poo poo against gargoyles, though. It notes "Some of the supernatural beings and creatures of magic suffer double damage from electricity." This is not true.

XM-280 Fighter Jet


"You drew a Grumman X-29, try again."

Mach 3, lasers (not depicted), bombs (not depicted), mini-missiles (not depicted) and an anti-missile chaff dispenser (not depicted). Palladium art direction: get art, tell art to gently caress off, write depiction entirely contrary to art.

If I sound like I'm singing along to a broken record it's because I'm listening to one.

XM-288 Supersonic Transport


"You drew the X-Men's Blackbird, try again."

This is a sub-orbital, Mach 4.5 transport jet; it notes that the Triax knows it can only go so high before murdersats will blow it out of the sky. In "inane M.D.C. values... today!", it has a 200 M.D.C. main body (no penalty to hit) and two 800 M.D.C. tail sections (needs 17 or better to hit). I'll let you decide which to aim at! Medium range missiles, laser turrets, anti-missile chaff. In case you wonder "How does Triax get to America?", this is one answer.

XM-300 "Terror" Mini-Tank


On the right, Bonaparte from Dominion Tank Police.

Okay, maybe that's a little unfair of me, the Terror has wheels, not caterpillar treads-


- oh, uh, nevermind.

See, because it's a "terror" because it's fast and has lots of guns (ion, laser, rail, mini-missile, flamethrowers). It has the special feature to keep going even if it loses lots of tires! It can lose six tires and keep going! Even on one side! So it can only have tires on one side and only loses 40% of its speed! Explain to me how that makes sense! Wait, don't! Usually, as aforementioned, I don't talk too much about Rifts stupid hit location system. This how stupid it can get: these are the locations for a "mini" tank...
  • Main Gun: Ion Cannon
  • Mini-Missle Launcher
  • Laser Gun
  • Flamethrower Turret (right)
  • Flamethrower Turret (left)
  • Forward Headlight (right)
  • Forward Headlight (left)
  • Searchlight (front)
  • Searchlight (top)
  • Main Sensor
  • Secondary Sensor
  • Top Access Hatch
  • Main Access Hatch
  • Hardened Wheel (front left)
  • Hardened Wheel (front left-center)
  • Hardened Wheel (center left)
  • Hardened Wheel (rear left-center)
  • Hardened Wheel (rear left)
  • Hardened Wheel (front right)
  • Hardened Wheel (front right-center)
  • Hardened Wheel (center right)
  • Hardened Wheel (rear right-center)
  • Hardened Wheel (rear right)
  • Rear Aqua-Thruster (right)
  • Rear Aqua-Thruster (left)
  • Reinforced Pilot's Compartment
  • Main Body
27 hit locations on a 12' vehicle. I have to wonder. Has anybody, in the history of gaming, ever declared "I attack the left rear aqua-thruster"?

XM-330 "Phantom" Hover Tank


Newton Ewell on the left, Hammer's Slammers on the right (or bottom).

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

The XM-330 tank is called the "Phantom" because it moves quickly and silently on a cushion of air.

So it gets a base sneaking ability or can travel over water. (It's even sneakier than a novice ninja at night, even though it's a tank.) It's main gun - laser or particle beam - still only does half the damage of a glitter boy. Other than that: another ion, laser, mini-missile, and smoke grenades.

I have to wonder: why can't they mount a weapon that does equal or more damage on a tank that they can on power armor? "So, maybe the glitter boy just does more damage because it's Pre-Rifts technology and represents some lost technological secret, yeah?", one might think. But with Triax, that's not true - they retained an overwhelming amount of their technological knowhow from before the Rifts, and have all the secrets required to construct, build, and even modify glitter boys! Why mount a particle beam weapon that only does twice the damage of the handheld version? Why not give the thing some pylon tech and triple boom guns? The answer to that is "why not?", by the way, and an upcoming writer who isn't Siembieda will actually address that question...

... but not yet.

XM-350 Leopard III APC


"We basically just build turrets and figure out how to put wheels under them later."

The flavor text goes on mostly about how this is designed to hold a XM-300 Mini-Tank in back, which can detach and drive about in the most toyetic fashion possible. Generally, Rifts makes the most sense when you think of its massive war machines not as any analog for real-world war machines, but things to fit your action figures on and to have lots of plastic mini-missiles to lose in your carpet.

It's got 900 M.D.C. and lots of hit locations and guns. Ion, missiles, lasers, rails, smoke grenades (by the way there are no cover rules or rules for smoke other than from magic, so...), can carry around several dozen action figures troops. Much like the Mini-Tank, it can keep driving even after losing all tires on one side... at 48 MPH! It has a special bumper that reduces collison damage by 75%!... now, only if a collision did M.D.C. :raise:

Triax MZ-10 Wilderness Crusader


Now they're just making crap out of leftover parts from other vehicles.

Rifts World Book Five: Triax & the NGR posted:

The wilderness crusader is an exceptional all-terrain hover vehicle. It comes standard with a high-impact bumber, heavy armor, and an ion weapon turret!

This is the first of the civilian vehicles. I don't really have more to add. gently caress it.

WR-1010 Land Rover

It's a land rover. It roves the land. It's M.D.C. It has no art. You can buy extra armor for it. Yeahhh. Comes with gasoline or nuclear power, but where the gently caress do you gas up? Seriously? Where?

WR-2020 "Shark" Bullet Bike


"Crotch-rocket" is a little too literal here.

It's a hover cycle that makes you look like you're riding a rocket. You can throw on a weapon if you want, you can gently caress off, whatever. I know, harsh words, but my brain is nillafied after all these.

WR-5050 Super Cargo Hauler APC


Maybe it's a stretch to think of Judge Dredd's road liners...?

This is a BIGG TRUKK for BIG TRUKKIN. Also it has a laser. The cost to refuel it will be a mystery forever. Perfect for your "wilderness cross-country German trucking" campaign. "We have to get this sausages to Offenbach before they spoil!" "But I heard gargoyles love bratwurst!" "Ach, ohhhhh nooooo!"

WR-5054 Mini-Cargo Hauler APC

It's like the WR-5050 but is smaller and more breakable.

Also: you bastard!



This is the Rifts you wish your Rifts could play like.

Next: Uranium ammo.

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Oct 11, 2013

BerkerkLurk
Jul 22, 2001

I could never sleep my way to the top 'cause my alarm clock always wakes me right up

HitTheTargets posted:

Wait, the lasers are in the pinky fingers? Why wouldn't they be in the pointer fingers so you could do that finger gun thing?
Finger lasers can't bend in Rifts. It's silly.

Covok
May 27, 2013

Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Amechra posted:

I was referring to the one battle that I spent drowning. Not the pissing contest.

Oh, that one. Well, I still feel that's more the GM's fault. He pretty much swim checked your character into oblivion. Hell, when I went to save ya, he made me roll like 4 swim checks because "the water was that turbulent." Should come as no shock that I failed one of them. I don't think the rules for Athletics (which is skill that governs swimming in this game) actually say anything about rerolling every round or anything like that. Feel that was more the GM being antagonistic than the system itself. Or, then again, maybe not. Having a binary pass or fail system does lead to annoying circumstances like that. Not to mention how they are further exasperated by long combat times. That's why I like Dungeon World and using Fail Forward so much.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
I think they use the mini missiles on that barge for propulsion. Defuse a few, strap 'em on here and there, and let inertia do the rest! :v:



I love this. New art everywhere, then BAM! Something that looks like it came out of MutantsRIFTS in Orbit!

"I found this on a scrap of paper in the cutting room. Let's use it."

"It, ah, really doesn't fit the Triax aesthetic, does it?"

"I paid for it, we're using it."

I'm not surprised they were asking better than ten bucks for that 13 'magazine'-- that cover is some surprisingly professional photography, and they'd have probably needed to sell at least ten or fifteen copies to break even on that front.

Bieeanshee fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Oct 11, 2013

Evil Mastermind
Apr 28, 2008

I love that the only difference between the art for the emergency pod and the engineering pod is the logo and the little doodad sticking out the front.

Also those guys have Liefield-ian levels of pouches.

Spincut
Jan 14, 2008

Oh! OSHA gonna make you serve time!
'Cause you an occupational hazard tonight.
I think my favorite part about the Rifts posts are Alien Rope Burn slowly losing sanity as they try to come up with interesting things to say about each carbon-copy vehicle.

I mean, you're doing the best you can, but god drat, Siembieda. What's the expectation, that players are going to want to tool around in medical hovercraft?

Davin Valkri
Apr 8, 2011

Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Did Rifts ever have aspirations to being a miniatures wargame like Warhammer? Or did somebody just feel the need to detail a bunch of vehicles with "Not for players!" stamped on them?

deadly_pudding
May 13, 2009

who the fuck is scraeming
"LOG OFF" at my house.
show yourself, coward.
i will never log off

Davin Valkri posted:

Did Rifts ever have aspirations to being a miniatures wargame like Warhammer? Or did somebody just feel the need to detail a bunch of vehicles with "Not for players!" stamped on them?

It's meant to be toyetic, I think? RIFTs I'm pretty sure is Palladium's sperglord fantasy world of "anime GI Joes, but like for real". I'm sure that in some parallel reality, where roleplaying is more popular than television, there would be an extensive, decades-spanning line of action figures.

EDIT: In a more ideal world, it would be Kevin Long et al trying to sieze the part of the player's brain that goes, "oh neat!" when it sees Optimus Prime. I think that the reality is closer to that part of the brain having been permanently seized in Kevin Long, and we are just peering into it.

deadly_pudding fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Oct 11, 2013

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



Bieeardo posted:

I think they use the mini missiles on that barge for propulsion. Defuse a few, strap 'em on here and there, and let inertia do the rest! :v:

You have my undying affection for using "defuse" rather than "diffuse".

Davin Valkri posted:

Did Rifts ever have aspirations to being a miniatures wargame like Warhammer? Or did somebody just feel the need to detail a bunch of vehicles with "Not for players!" stamped on them?

They made a couple of blister packs of miniatures but there were never any miniatures rules published for Rifts. As far as I know the Robotech kickstarter thing that just happened is Palladium's first foray into a miniatures ruleset.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

Davin Valkri posted:

Did Rifts ever have aspirations to being a miniatures wargame like Warhammer? Or did somebody just feel the need to detail a bunch of vehicles with "Not for players!" stamped on them?

Not that I'm aware of, and when writing this up, it struck me that there's never even been a hint of such a thing. In fact, if there had been, I'm sure we'd have heard about it; Siembieda has never kept his mouth shut about things he really ought to (like the Rifts movie script). Around the same year Triax as released a Rifts RPG miniatures line came out; the main problem with which is that this is a game with no coherent movement, cover, or area attack rules, so it's not clear what purpose they were ever intended to serve other than "minis are cool". Most of them are still trivially easy to find even nearly two decades after their release, which I'll leave as an exercise for readers.

It's too bad because from a sales perspective, it would probably have been a bigger hit as a minis game, but that runs counter to that fact that Palladium could not and cannot devise a miniatures rules set, and obviously the RPG rules would be entirely untenable without some serious alterations. This is, of course, why Robotech RPG Tactics is being done by Ninja Division (aka Soda Pop Miniatures & Cipher Studios), and as far as I can tell has little or no design input from Palladium Books.

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Oct 11, 2013

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Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer

Davin Valkri posted:

Did Rifts ever have aspirations to being a miniatures wargame like Warhammer? Or did somebody just feel the need to detail a bunch of vehicles with "Not for players!" stamped on them?

Palladium has had this weird on again, off again love affair with verisimilitude since before RIFTS became a thing. Like ARB has said, the base system is more of a framework than the modern every-contingency-covered sort of system we've grown used to over the last ten years or so, but it suffers from off-kilter flashes of the same. The powers in Heroes Unlimited, especially the Major ones, were often huge piles of extraordinarily fussy, narrow gauge rules attached to powers that were otherwise 'throw blast of X element Y distance for Z damage per level'. And that's before getting into weird sidelines like 'Spin at High Speeds' and... 'Clock Control'. So in RIFTS's case, it makes sense that ultra-tech armies might have flying hospitals or repair bays, so you don't have to drag your battered and bruised hundreds of kilometers back home.

I can't really complain about statting up things that the PCs are likely to encounter in passing, though three separate kinds of not-Cobra hoverpods is pushing beyond 'verisimilitude' and into 'padding'. Likewise, given the almost... childlike way KS seems to stat things from the pictures he's presented with, it's hard to say whether any given thing came from an identified need, or a lunch-hour sketch that sparked an idea and was parlayed into a few more inches of print.

Midjack posted:

You have my undying affection for using "defuse" rather than "diffuse".

:) It's one of my little linguistic bugbears, too.

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