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theironjef posted:
I think Sailor Earth is technically Tuxedo Mask. And I'm all for Highlander ripoff games. Traveller posted:Look, you're telling me a campaign pitch for TBZ is "you can play the heroes of an ikkō-ikki uprising." A TBZ-rendition of the Forty-Seven Ronin could also be interesting.
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Dec 2, 2015 22:18
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as gently caress.
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Well, there was already an adaptation of the 47 Ronin legend with tengu and a witch and a dragon, and it would actually be really hard to be further off-base historically.
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Dec 2, 2015 22:40
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theironjef posted:
All that stuff about RIFTS supplements was just something you made up, right?
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Dec 3, 2015 01:01
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gradenko_2000 posted:All that stuff about RIFTS supplements was just something you made up, right? Bless your heart.
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Dec 3, 2015 01:13
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 Welcome back to Exodus, Chapter 5: Factions  The Chi Dynasty The sovereign rulers of San Francisco are the Chi Dynasty, an orderly but iron-fisted empire whose origins stretch back to before the apocalypse. A Chinese-American businessman by the name of Wu Lung saw that the Great War wasn't going to end in any way that could be considered good, and decided that the future could best be secured by financing his own personal vault beneath Chinatown. Wu Lung was also a huge xenophobe who ordered his sons to have all people who weren't Chinese exiled from San Francisco after his Asian army came out of said vault, presumably causing some Yellow Peril believers to wet themselves in joy at their craziness being found true. Wu Lung is referred to as Great Forefather, which is a rather impressive title given that he was still alive at some point during the two decades between the Great War and the vaults opening and there was probably only one or two generations born in the mean time, and his descendants are pampered aristocrats believed to have prophetic abilities due to their bloodline. The current ruler of the Chi is Emperor Wang Shu. Most of his ruling tips were given to him by Wu Lang before he died, and are based on the good old feudalist system. You've got the emperor, the greater and lesser nobles (known as Shi) with their landships, the military from the lesser noble families, and then there's the peasants down at the bottom. Slavery is considered intolerable, but keeping non-Chinese people out of Chi lands is commended. In fact, there is an entire town set up specifically for dealing with "foreigners": Barter Town. Yes, it actually is called Barter Town, that's not me trying to make a Beyond Thunderdome joke or anything. Barter Town is technically run by some local Shi, with the merchant foreigners being legally designated as peasants, but it's sort of an open secret that there are tons of backdoor deals, extortion plots, and other various manipulations happening behind the scenes that keep the merchants with far better influence and luxury than actual Chi Dynasty peasants. Those folks, in spite of being native Chi, tirelessly work the poo poo farms to the south of San Fransciso and the large fishing village of Alcatraz Island, and have no say in the feudal government. They can also be conscripted in times of war when the Barter Towners can't. Of course, even discounting the treatment of the peasant class, not everything is sunshine and roses within the Chi Dynasty. While fending off invaders and killing slavers (as chattel slavery is seen as dishonorable and savage by the Chi) is a fine thing, Wang Shu has begun to have actual military aspirations, which makes a lot of the more isolationist Shi nervous. Raids on the heap of slag that was once Los Angeles has angered the already volatile Children of the Apocalypse, and skirmishes have broken out several times with a clan of ghuls in nearby Berkeley. The ghuls, referred to by the Chi as jiang-shi, are constantly spied on by the paranoid Chi border guard, and each case of small scale violence so far has been due to said spies being caught in Berkeley before they can sneak out.  Chi Dynasty Advanced Classes On top of the advanced classes from earlier in the book, each faction gets their own special advanced classes as well. The Chi Dynasty gets the biggest brunt with a total of four new advanced classes. Chi Horse Lord: While horses are extinct in the Fallout universe, Exodus has decided that this is a point where it should diverge from its source material, and as a result we have the Horse Lord. Horse lords are the mounted warriors of the Chi Dynasty, entrusted with some of the few horses remaining in the Wasteland. Horses are seen as a sacred gift and it is a great dishonor for one to fall in battle while its rider survives. Outside of flavor text, though, there's not much to write home about concerning this five level advanced class. It has average progression of everything except Will (which is below average), and all of its class features are literally just the various mounted combat feats from Dungeons and Dragons. Dynasty Bowman: The elite stealth warriors of the Chi are noble soldiers trained in the way of the bow and arrow. It's another five level prestige class, this one with Fortitude as its poor progression. Its special qualities are Archery Master (add your levels of Dynasty Bowman to your attack rolls when using a bow) and Rapid Archery (get an extra attack per round with a bow) at level 1, Close Combat (you can use a bow as a 1d4 bludgeoning damage weapon in melee) at level 2, Weapon Specialization (Bow) and Far Shot bonus feats at level 3, Deadly Accuracy (+4 to called shots with a bow) at level 4, and finally Master Bowman (you can release five arrows in a full attack, but at a whopping -10 penalty to the attack roll) and Weapon Mastery (Bow) as a bonus feat for level 5. Dynasty Warrior: Ah, yes, the famed samurai of China. Or not, since in spite of the art of a ponytailed man with his hanzo steel at the ready, the class can focus on any one archaic melee weapon or your bare fists. It's yet another five level advanced class, with Will as its poor save progression. On top of getting a bonus feat at levels 2 through 4, the Dynasty Warrior has a small collection of offensive and defensive class features. Level 1 provides Signature Weapon as a bonus talent and Superior Defense (you get a morale bonus to Defense equal to your Dynasty Warrior level when you are wielding a melee weapon or are unarmed), level 2 provides Deflect Projectile (you can spend a karma point to reflect a ranged or thrown projectile as long as you have either a melee weapon or some manner of hand covering), level 3 grants Weapon Specialization with one archaic weapon or your unarmed strikes, level 4 gives you Melee Deflection (like Deflect Projectile, but against a melee attack), and level 5 caps off with Skirmisher (you gain a straight up +1d6 to melee damage, which increases to +2d6 if you are wielding your signature weapon). Kung Fu Master: The only ten level advanced class for the Chi, which also happens to be unambiguously superior to the Martial Artist advanced class from the Exodus Survivor's Guide. The reason for this? Well, it's definitely not the progressions, which are poor for Fortitude and Will, good for Reflex and Defense, and good but not full for Base Attack Bonus. What it is is the fact that the class features here are "Disciple Powers", which you gain based on a specific martial arts style you choose. Since there is a full class's worth of powers for each style, I'll just give the basics and the most noteworthy parts of each:
 Children of the Apocalypse Exodus seems to be trying to say something to someone with this organization, though I'm genuinely not sure what to who. They treat the shelled ruins of Los Angeles (known as the Junkyard) as "their Mecca", they have a rather notable custom class feature you can read about in a minute, and the clothing in the example image above seems more than a little Arabian Nights dressup, but at the same time their leaders are referred to from the highest to the lowest as His Holiness, Archbishops, and High Priests, and members pay tithes. Indeed, their origin is merely stated to be followers of religions that were based around some manner of final judgment, and no names are given beyond that at least some of them were obscure doomsday cults and followers of "mad prophets", while others were adherents of "great prophets". The organization in and of itself isn't much more coherent either. The organization's goal is to induce a second Great War to clean the planet of all who don't follow "the Holy Flame", thus ensuring peace and sinless living. What exactly qualifies as a sin for the Children isn't actually explained. It's definitely not anything traditionally seen as sinful, since His Holiness is stated to be a drug-addled and uneducated tyrant who will torture or kill people for no real reason other than he feels like it at the time, while other members engage in various forms of debauchery and vice. While waiting for the day when they can actually engage in widespread destruction, the Children trade the voluminous amounts of scrap materials in the Junkyard with NEMO and the Vegas Mafia, two other explicitly villainous organizations, in exchange for the things they need to actually survive such as food and water. Children of the Apocalypse Advanced Classes Two five level advanced classes are provided for the Children. The first, the Seeker of the Holy Fire, is a stealth-oriented class with poor Fortitude and Will save progression and class features that mostly focus on Demolitions, Reflex saves, and deception-based Charisma skills. The big exception is the capstone feature, Atom Akbar, which I still can't believe is an actual class feature name. This class feature grants the Seeker a 30d10 damage mini-nuke, which they use in a crowded area to kill themselves and others. Classy. The other Children of the Apocalypse-specific class is the Warrior Saint, the soldiers of the Children. Full Base Attack Bonus progression contrasted with Reflex saves being their poor progression is combined with a set of skills unsurprisingly geared toward combat. Fanatic's Zeal at level 1 provides immunity to Intimidation and fear effects, Rally the Faithful at level 2 provides a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls to all other cultists within a 120 foot radius, Death to the Unbeliever at level 3 is just Sneak Attack with a far dumber name, Improved Reaction at level 3 is just a +2 to Initiative checks, and Religious Fever (did they mean Fervor?) at level 5 is Dungeons and Dragons-style Barbarian rage by another name.  The Desert Rangers The Desert Rangers are explicitly stated to be pretty much the only justice in the Wasteland that isn't crooked or outright evil. This is rather impressive, as the Rangers have no actual leadership or regimented structure, and no actual requirements to join beyond a set of tests of strength and determination that are administered individually by each Ranger to whoever they feel deserves to be a Ranger as well. Rangers tend to work individually, either openly in lawless lands or in secret where corrupt leadership holds sway. Their main targets are typically slavers, though thieves, murderers, gangsters, and other criminal enterprises also get the brunt of at least some of the members of the loose organization. A charismatic and upstanding Ranger (read: players with enough levels the Desert Ranger advanced class) can expect other Rangers to come running to their aid in times when one lawman just isn't enough. Two named rangers are briefly described here as well. Ranger Smith is a legendary Ranger whose true name is lost to history, known for being the sovereign protector of the strangely untouched Yellowstone National Park and the tribals that make the region home. Ranger Justice, by contrast, is a Texas Ranger who has killed so many slavers, raiders, and other various ne'er-do-wells that he has taken on a Pecos Bill-like status as a larger than life folk hero amongst Rangers in the deserts of the Southwest.  Desert Ranger Advanced Classes If you recall, back in the Exodus Survivor's Guide there was already an advanced class called the Desert Ranger, specifically designed for people who were part of the Desert Rangers. Logically, you'd assume the two new advanced classes presented here would be five levels long and prestige off of someone who had ten levels of Desert Ranger, right? Well, no, actually, that's wrong. These are seven level advanced classes that require you to be Desert Ranger 3 before taking them. Both have the same save, BAB, and Defense progression as the Desert Ranger, but with the big catch of it being the same progression as the Desert Ranger from level 1 rather than level 3. They also have the same d8 hit die. Where they differ, of course, is in their class features and what those focus on. The first of the pair, the Desert Ranger Manhunter, is the guy who goes all in on murdering one tough named NPC each quest. The class's very first feature is Acquire Target, which grants a bonus equal to your Manhunter level to all Bluff, Computer Use, Gather Information, Investigate, Listen, Research, Search, Sense Motive Spot, and Survival checks against a single individual for 24 hours. This is augmented with good old D&D-style Sneak Attack for a +1d6 added on at levels 2, 4, and 6, Swift Execution (coup de grace as a free action if you are in an adjacent square) at level 3, Death Strike (just Improved Critical, in spite of the name) at level 5, and Assassinate (Sneak Attack forces a save-or-die equal to DC 10 + the Manhunter's class level and Intelligence modifier) at level 7. There's also a couple of utility features, with Camouflage at level 1 doing the same thing that it does for the Desert Ranger proper, Sweep at level 2 giving a +4 to Spot checks in a 30 foot radius at the start of each encounter, and Improved Sweep at level 6 boosting this to also determine whether enemies in an encounter have more, equal, or less HD or class level than you do. The Desert Ranger Tracker hems somewhat closer to the standard Desert Ranger, as they get the Desert Ranger's Favored Enemy against an organization or creature type at levels 2 and 6 and Camouflage at level 2. What it doesn't get is any of the teamwork. Instead, if you're a Tracker you're getting some added combat abilities as well as some stealth-oriented ones. Tracker at level 1 grants a +4 to Survival checks to track prey and a +2 to Gather Information, Investigate, and Research checks at any time, Wasteland Adaptation at level 3 lets you take 20 on Hide and Move Silently checks even during stress or distraction, No Trace at level 4 is a forced penalty against others using Track against the Tracker, Wasteland Survivalist allows taking 10 on any Fortitude save against environmental hazards such as dehydration and extreme temperatures, and Vanish at level 7 lets you force a Will save against foes and instantly make a Hide check against those who fail the check as if they had never seen you.  Project Trinity and the Ghul Collective The Exodus Survivor's Handbook already noted that, being often shot on sight by people who think they are literally zombies rather than horrific rotting mutants and distrusting “the smoothskins”, ghuls have tended to gather in relative safety around the cities of Berkeley and Oakland. Here, we learn the reason why that area is so safe for them: it's run by dregs, the soldier ghuls introduced as a new player race in the Southwest Wasteland Guide even though they are just ghuls with military training, and their fortifications are bristling with fancy toys gathered from Oakland Army Base. Even the warriors of the Chi Dynasty, called on to wage war against what Wang Shu Di saw as a place of filth and abomination, failed to break the ghul stronghold, and has instead turned to attacking small bands of traveling ghuls who have yet to complete their pilgrimage to Berkeley/Oakland. The dregs run the show through a council of members who hand off position of chairperson to each other every three years. They keep the peace and make sure supplies are evenly handled, but otherwise don't really do much active governing and let the majority of dregs and ghuls do what they feel like doing. For a lot of the dregs who were part of the military group Project Trinity, that involves defending the home front. Ray gun turrets, Gatling lasers, heavy artillery, and other big time gear is augmented by fusion-powered military vehicles that are meticulously maintained, and plans have been made to try to salvage warships and aircrafts from other military bases that are too radioactive for humans. One particular subfaction inside the greater Berkeley faction is the Ghul Collective. These guys are a spy ring with members across the entirety of the American Southwest. The goal of the Collective is to connect ghuls far and wide into a greater networked society while also collecting any pieces of recorded information left from the pre-apocalyptic world. They are also the reason for the sole new advanced class for ghuls, the Historic. It's a five level class that has meh progression across the board, d8 hit die, and a collection of class features based around (unsurprisingly) history. Historic Lore is more or less Bardic Lore from D&D, and shares the level 1 ability slot with Historic Tactics. Historic Tactics allows you to make a full round action to grant all allies within 30 feet a +1 bonus to something for a number of rounds equal to double your Historic level. What that something is is accidentally omitted, but presumably it would be attack or Defense rolls. This bonus increases to +2 and +3 at levels 3 and 5, respectively. Brains Over Brawn at level 2 lets you use Intelligence instead of Strength or Dexterity for attack rolls and ability checks related to those two ability scores, while Historical Navigation is also at level 2 and grants your level of Historic to Navigate and Knowledge (Geography) checks. There's also some free talents if you didn't pick them up at your base class: Skill Emphasis at levels 2 and 4, and Savant at level 4. Finally, as its capstone ability, Total Recall provides a +2 to Intelligence and Knowledge checks, as well as allow you to permanently retain any skill bonuses from reading a skill book. Next Exodus Southwest Wasteland Guide Post: More factions! The Khans of Vegas and their drug running operations, the power armored Steel Disciples, and other things that totally aren't familiar at all.
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Dec 3, 2015 03:39
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theironjef posted:
Megagames are awesome. I was the US Vice President in a Seattle megagame recently, which basically meant I spent a whole day being misquoted by the media and setting up background music for the president's speeches. Full game report here, but some of the highlights were:
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Dec 3, 2015 04:07
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gradenko_2000 posted:All that stuff about RIFTS supplements was just something you made up, right? The Rifts Underseas review is happening right now in this thread.
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Dec 3, 2015 04:29
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 Part 18: "Each naut'yll city has over a hundred of these vessels." Naut'Yll Weapons & Technology You'd think with this being the fourth equipment section in the book, I'd be a little sick of gun and armor lists. And you'd be right. They use techno-wizard stuff, so you can borrow the numbers for that from other books. And then on to guns and armor!  Can they squint into a sight with three eyes?
 Big frowny armor. poo poo, not done yet, time for power armor and vehicles! APAL-10 Naut'Yll Torpedo Power Armor  4Retro. Yes, even alien conquerors use meaningless acronyms like "APAL-10" (Amphibious Power Armor Light? It's not clear.), because Palladium loves everything sounding like some fake-rear end military desig. So. This is indeed light and doesn't give a lot of protection, but there's a model made of korallyte with roughly twice the M.D.C. It can swim up to 69 MPH, leap high and run fast, is filled with hydrating water, and gives superhuman strength. Black Market versions might be modified for landlubbers to use. No guns! BYOG. APTW-20 Naut'Yll Techno-Wizard Power Armor Amphibious Power (armor) Techno-Wizard? This is much like the APAL-10, except always made of korallyte and that it can cast a poo poo-ton of spells through techno-wizardry, like chameleon, fly as the eager, sense magic, "speed doubler" (is that a spell? I don't think it is...), tongues, or shooting lovely attack spells except for sonic stun, which is awful stunny. My favorite spell it has is "sense evil", since most naut'yll are supernatural evil. "I sense evil! Wait, no, it's just my friend, Ph'ysh." Sea Hunter Robot Vehicle  Inevitable. It's a robo-crab mainly designed to scuttle and fight on the sea floor. And, yes, it gets "SH-7", which makes me wonder about SH 1 through SH 6. It's inspired by "a predator that haunts the shallow waters in the naut'yll's homeworld". It's cool, Rifts, you could have just said "giant crabs". Nobody would have hated you for it. So! it's MDC is a little dinky for its size unless it's loaded down with korallyte, not having any more than the APTW-20, and it's not real fast except on dry land. It has a particle wave gun that does decent damage, medium missile / torpedo laungers, mini-missiles, and a "concealed laser" that does middling damage. It also, since it's a robo crab, can burrow into sand at the bottom of the sea floor and hide itself. It also gets a 60% prowl ability despite being a 12' crab loaded down with guns. Deathbringer Combat Robot The bigger combat robot version of the Sea Hunter. It's a classic Rifts tactic - get one piece of art and use it for two vehicles, and just say one "looks bigger!" Instant page count. This one has some decent M.D.C. that becomes great M.D.C. if it's fitted with korallyte, a fantastic "triple barrelled particle wave cannon turret", heavy missiles, medium missiles, mini-missiles, concealed laser, and yeah, that's all. Leaper Submersible Fighter  Is it coming or going or flipped or fine or what? Inpisred by a flying fish, this is a sub that can fly, but isn't a sophisticated enough flyer to cope with forces like New Navy or Coalition jets, and has gotten trashed in any air-to-air fight against other vehicles. The naut'yll are thinking of going back to the drawing board with this one, really. It has awful M.D.C., and no, there's no korallyte upgrade here. It has particle wave guns that do good damage and medium missiles, so it's got a decent offense but no defense. A squad of Coalition grunts could gun this down with their sidearms. It's pretty sad. Red Trident Attack Submarine  Yes. It looks like a giant trident. Speaking of sad, this is one of their big guns, a large sub designed to hold a large cargo of slaves, but the New Navy has destroyed dozens of them - lucky for the naut'yll, each city apparently has more than a hundred of these things, which is pretty fuckin' ridiculous, but I guess it's one way to discourage PCs from actually rooting the naut'yll out and making a major difference. So, 30 crew, 200 slaves, 160 troops, 24 deathbringers, 32 sea hunters, 24 power armored troops, 1,200 M.D.C., 52 MPH, 300 feet, 2,000 tons, 400 tons of cargo, 2 particle wave cannons, 2 heavy torpedo launchers, 4 blue-green lasers, 4 medium torpedo launchers, and it's done. A Note Is there any villain group in the setting more hapless than the naut'yll? Any conflict they're described in having describes them not only losing, but losing badly. It's a distinct difference from most of the other villains which are clear and overwhelming threats. Granted, the people who get enslaved by the naut'yll probably don't appreciate the difference, but at the same time they really are like Klingons, built up to be terrible and warlike but destined to always fail when it matters.  Next: The banality of piracy. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Dec 21, 2015 |
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Dec 3, 2015 05:45
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Midjack posted:The Rifts Underseas review is happening right now in this thread. I mean, some of it had to be fake, right? Cactus people? Aliens AND robots in every given setting? A book just for Australia? How deep does this rabbit hole go?
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Dec 3, 2015 06:00
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gradenko_2000 posted:I mean, some of it had to be fake, right? Cactus people? Aliens AND robots in every given setting? A book just for Australia? How deep does this rabbit hole go? Please, never ruin this innocence of yours.
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Dec 3, 2015 06:29
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Serf posted:I used to be really into transhumanist nonsense when I was a teenager. It sounds pretty good when you're disabled, after all. Then I wised up and realized it was a rich white boy's game and that I'll never have the cash to get a piece of that pie. We ended up getting all the lovely parts of cyberpunk without any of the cool stuff. Transhumanism as a Sci-Fi concept is perfectly rad and cool, and the biggest issue with modern day Trans-humanists is that they are expecting technology that isn't even theoretical to happen any-time near now. I mean, prosthetics are advancing nicely, but they still suck compared to the original limb for basically everything. Most Transhumanists are people who want it to be 300 years from now next year, which is dumb. They are mostly harmless though, as their ideas are literally not possible. And if rich people wanna dump cash into some stupid tech-thing then go right ahead, we might be able to use that tech for other things. I do like how Eclipse Phase handled the whole poor thing, where rich people get nice biological bodies poor people get mechanical ones and forced to pay them off via-indentured servitude to the corporate overlords because it's cheaper to shove some poor Chinese guy into a forklift than it is to write a Forklift AI.
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Dec 3, 2015 06:30
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gradenko_2000 posted:All that stuff about RIFTS supplements was just something you made up, right? Nope. Well. War on Tolkeen is actually seven books.
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Dec 3, 2015 06:46
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Don't loving mock scuttle-tank, in my last RIFTS game we used a crab-tank as our main transport and it was the best.
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Dec 3, 2015 07:14
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gradenko_2000 posted:>Cactus people? As a cactus enthusiast, I'd like to know what book that was in so I can go dig it out of the F&F archives. I bet it was really dumb.
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Dec 3, 2015 07:21
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Tatum Girlparts posted:Don't loving mock scuttle-tank, in my last RIFTS game we used a crab-tank as our main transport and it was the best. I'm... not supposed to mock something in Rifts? I don't follow. Crasical posted:As a cactus enthusiast, I'd like to know what book that was in so I can go dig it out of the F&F archives. I bet it was really dumb. It's not in the archives; it's Rifts World Book 14: New West.
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Dec 3, 2015 08:41
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Wapole Languray posted:Transhumanism as a Sci-Fi concept is perfectly rad and cool, and the biggest issue with modern day Trans-humanists is that they are expecting technology that isn't even theoretical to happen any-time near now. I mean, prosthetics are advancing nicely, but they still suck compared to the original limb for basically everything. Most Transhumanists are people who want it to be 300 years from now next year, which is dumb. They are mostly harmless though, as their ideas are literally not possible. And if rich people wanna dump cash into some stupid tech-thing then go right ahead, we might be able to use that tech for other things.
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Dec 3, 2015 14:24
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Crasical posted:As a cactus enthusiast, I'd like to know what book that was in so I can go dig it out of the F&F archives. I bet it was really dumb. The cactus people are largely innocuous. Just lumpy weirdo aliens from another dimension. If there was ever a race based on some artist's one great drawing, it's them.  They don't really have any amazing powers, and I don't think they're MDC creatures. Just a great example of what Rifts was described as originally, a weird d-bee from a Rift trying to survive in a hostile world.
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Dec 3, 2015 21:18
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Cactus People were great NPC victims because their blood was delicious and hydrating, so thirsty bigots would always target them in the desert. They had more flavor than most Rifts D-bees (so to speak), love 'em.
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Dec 3, 2015 21:25
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Wapole Languray posted:Transhumanism as a Sci-Fi concept is perfectly rad and cool, and the biggest issue with modern day Trans-humanists is that they are expecting technology that isn't even theoretical to happen any-time near now. I mean, prosthetics are advancing nicely, but they still suck compared to the original limb for basically everything. Most Transhumanists are people who want it to be 300 years from now next year, which is dumb. They are mostly harmless though, as their ideas are literally not possible. And if rich people wanna dump cash into some stupid tech-thing then go right ahead, we might be able to use that tech for other things. That's pretty bleak about Eclipse Phase, I thought it was a bit brighter than that. I mean, in terms of day to day lived experience.
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Dec 3, 2015 21:41
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genuinely sad there was never a rifts crpg
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Dec 3, 2015 21:44
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Nessus posted:I think the all consuming desire of a lot of the singulatarians is that, oh please, let the computer god - who will be, strangely, exactly like the Biblical God, but with computers instead of divine power - come before I die, so I never have to. It's very precise in these metaphors. Yeah, there's a quasi-spiritual tinge to some of the things I used to read that really put me off. It seems that transhumanists would be better served investing in the future than hoping the singularity will happen tomorrow. I remember watching a documentary with a computer science guy who was pissed off that he wasn't gonna get to live forever. He was seriously bitter that all his work was going to be for nothing. It was pretty sad and pathetic to watch. Eclipse Phase seems to have some more grounded depictions of how these technologies would likely play out. Life under crushing "hypercapitalism" seems a more realistic outcome than most cyberpunk games I've seen.
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Dec 3, 2015 21:52
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corn in the bible posted:genuinely sad there was never a rifts crpg There's a Nokia n-gage game. Wrestlepig fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Dec 3, 2015 |
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Dec 3, 2015 21:55
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chaos rhames posted:There's a Nokia n-gage game. Which is almost worse than there not being any game at all.
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Dec 3, 2015 22:05
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corn in the bible posted:genuinely sad there was never a rifts crpg Knowing Kevin Siebieda, this would probably only be released for Windows 95 and have archaic copy protection that requires you to have access to the entire back catalog of The Rifter.
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Dec 3, 2015 22:12
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"Welcome to Corneria!" "I hate cybernetics." Edit: now laughing at my own dumb rear end in a waiting room at the mental image called up by "You spoony 'Borg!" theironjef fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Dec 3, 2015 |
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Dec 3, 2015 22:41
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Halloween Jack posted:Well, there was already an adaptation of the 47 Ronin legend with tengu and a witch and a dragon, and it would actually be really hard to be further off-base historically. There's an episode of Gekiranger involving time travel to the events of the 47 Ronin, which managed to be more historically accurate despite featuring a giant robot fighting a giant monster that used to be a Hopping Vampire before getting promoted. And TBZ allows you to have one of the ronin be cyborg ninja wood doll Kenshiro shooting wasps out of his back. Or an angsty half-oni Armour Rider whose Armour is fueled by the Heart Engine made from his mother. Comrade Koba posted:Knowing Kevin Siebieda, this would probably only be released for Windows 95 and have archaic copy protection that requires you to have access to the entire back catalog of The Rifter. Each portion of the Rifts world map will only be accessed if you input a specific code, which forces you to flip through the actual World Book of that part of the setting. This will include regions that have yet to get a World Book. Man, I'd really want to see a Rifts MMORPG and its attempt to "balance" S.D.C. and M.D.C. (with some players being forced into a S.D.C. role due to crappy die rolls). Tenra Bansho Zero  Here are the guys who ruined everything for everyone. Shinto Agents  Agent 13203 is not impressed. The Shinto Priesthood as already been covered by ProfessorProf, but let's take a quick rundown: The Shinto Priesthood took control of the planet some time after human colonization. With a monopoly on pre-colonization technology and knowledge - as well as the all-important meikyo mirrors - the Priesthood became the puppet masters of the lords and regents, and their leader also acts as Tenra's emperor or empress. The Priesthood is also directly responsible for turning Tenra into the grimdark mess that it is around 400 years ago when it gave up on its peacekeeping duties and allowed the lords to go warmongering as muchh as they want. By doing so and secretly supporting different lords, the Priesthood kept the various lords busy and weak. Nowadays, things have become a big chaotic for the Priesthood themselves: The schism created two rivaling courts with their own emperor, those pesky Oni rebels made them look like idiots, and some lords have started to openly oppose both courts. Agents Members of both Priesthoods are divided into several ranks, each serving a specific purpose. The Shinto skill used for various rituals is hard-capped based on the agent's rank within the Priesthood. Taira-ranked agents are wandering priests and shrine maidens who gather intelligence, tend to regions without a shrine and generally serve as the Priesthood's face. Agents of the Northern Court are also tasked with spreading knowledge and technology, as to avoid having a few lords horde all the Kijin and Kimenkyo weapons. If they can no longer keep that technology exclusive to themselves, at least they can try to even out the playing field. Kakari-ranked agents hang around in the shrines, and they collect the intelligence gathered by Taira agents as the meikyo mirror found in each shrine is actually part of a global Meikyo Network that allows them to report directly to HQ. Ka-ranked agents are elite agents who only interact with the outside world to contact lords and other important people. They can also call in the scary Priesthood Kongohki in times of need. Bu-ranked agents are the voice of the emperor, and their authority is seen as being akin to the gods themselves. All agents are required to wear a face mask in public, with only the Taira agents being allowed to wear masks that don't cover the whole face, and they may even be allowed to take it off in public. Though the Norhtern Court's child empress Genshi Daigo shocked the people of Tenra by being the first ruler to to show her unmasked face, this doesn't actually mean the Northerners have abolished masks in general. Everything but the empress still has to wear them.  No mask can contain the power of moe. Despite the schism resulting in various lords fighting for their court, the agents of the two courts don't show any hostility towards each other and just try to avoid any contact. They also still use the same Meikyo Network (though that might just be because the network was never built to be split in any way). Shinto Rituals Despite being on a different planet, the Kami of the Shinto pantheon are still strong and swinging. I think this means they either are truly omnipresent, or the people of TBZ just "stored" them inside a computer or something, which makes sense considering that any sort of prayer or ritual for a Kami involves the agent transfering his soul into the meikyo mirror every agent is carrying, and certain rituals do actually include "downloading" the Kami into the mirror as well. Though basically this is the far future of Shin Megami Tensei. The most important rituals are three ones used by agents on a regular basis to perform their proper Shinto duties:
Side from these basic rituals, there exist the so-called Forbidden Arts. These are very powerful and/or require the help of the more darker Kami, and agents are not allowed to perform them except when they have permission from a superior.
Hijacking With their Meikyo mirrors, agents are capable of hijacking Armour and Kongohki to either shut them down or take complete control over them. This trick is also used by the Puppeteers from the Kongohki section, who are essentially like that bloke from Avatar if you replace "Blue cat fursona packing special snowflake genitals" with "Super Necron on Speed". The book doesn't actually give any explicit rules for hijacking enemy Armour and Kongohki, though it suggests it's more of a scenario objective or plot device, instead of a trick player agents can use to wreck any Kongohki or Armour the GM throws at them. Next Time: Ayakashi - Mononokehammer 40k.
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Dec 4, 2015 00:33
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Lovely as always, Doresh, the only thing I think needs to be added is a tidbit that I forget if the previous write-up covered: despite the descriptions of the duties for each of those ranks, you can still play a higher ranked Agent as a PC. The book even provides a simple explanation: the Priesthood, to one degree of frequency or another, has its high-ranked agents pose as lower ranks to gather information and experience they couldn't otherwise get while staying cloistered. Thanks to the masks gimmick, all they really have to do is don a Taira rank mask and nobody, even others in the Priesthood, will know the difference.
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Dec 4, 2015 02:07
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Nessus posted:That's pretty bleak about Eclipse Phase, I thought it was a bit brighter than that. I mean, in terms of day to day lived experience. It actually depends on where you 'live'. For most of the people in the setting its a post? Cyperpunk society except the corporations give a slight drat about the poor (outside of the martian peasants) and everyday life isnt poo poo. From there it ranges from scifi nordic social democracy, anarchist communes, space nazis*, and anything else you can think off. But still, the 'average' 'person' in EP is at worst slightly better than modern middle class living iirc. *who according to canon hate genetic and body modification so much that they've banned the cure for cancer and other inheritable diseases.
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Dec 4, 2015 02:35
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Nessus posted:I think the all consuming desire of a lot of the singulatarians is that, oh please, let the computer god - who will be, strangely, exactly like the Biblical God, but with computers instead of divine power - come before I die, so I never have to. It's very precise in these metaphors. There's a reason why the Singularity is often referred to as "The Rapture Of The Nerds".
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Dec 4, 2015 02:56
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Ah, I was waiting for the Shinto Priesthood to do something Shinto related. How far are you Doresh? Are the Ayakashi/Half-Ayakashi the last archetype?
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Dec 4, 2015 02:56
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chaos rhames posted:There's a Nokia n-gage game.
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Dec 4, 2015 12:25
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I've heard it plays like Final Fantasy Tactics or other SRPGs, and is surprisingly competent for what it is.
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Dec 4, 2015 13:16
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I played a demo at the GenCon right before or after its release and I recall it seemed like a pretty unremarkable fighter game. (I am not a connoisseur, though, and didn't play it a lot, and this was a decade ago.)
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Dec 4, 2015 14:05
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Oh well, there's still a chance that Rifts may one day return in MOBA form. With S.D.C. and M.D.C., of course.LornMarkus posted:Lovely as always, Doresh, the only thing I think needs to be added is a tidbit that I forget if the previous write-up covered: despite the descriptions of the duties for each of those ranks, you can still play a higher ranked Agent as a PC. The book even provides a simple explanation: the Priesthood, to one degree of frequency or another, has its high-ranked agents pose as lower ranks to gather information and experience they couldn't otherwise get while staying cloistered. Thanks to the masks gimmick, all they really have to do is don a Taira rank mask and nobody, even others in the Priesthood, will know the difference. Darn it, I forgot that. They also don't even have to pose as agents at all (so the PC can go "I was an agent all along"), though doing that of course prevents them from using their special Shinto pass that allows unrestricted travel throughout all of Tenra (feudal lords are very paranoid when it comes to border protection), which I also seem to have forgotten to mention. Whoops. mycot posted:Ah, I was waiting for the Shinto Priesthood to do something Shinto related. One could basically say that the lower their rank, they more they have to do with actual Shintoism. And Ayakashi are the last. After them, there's only the Arts of War (which everyone can take) and some setting stuff, out of which the various example organizations are the most interesting. Doresh fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Dec 4, 2015 |
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Dec 4, 2015 18:43
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So, is there any problem on Tenra that is not ultimately the fault of the Priesthood?
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Dec 4, 2015 20:19
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Mors Rattus posted:So, is there any problem on Tenra that is not ultimately the fault of the Priesthood? They didn't make Ayakashi, that's a natural thing.
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Dec 4, 2015 20:39
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Mors Rattus posted:So, is there any problem on Tenra that is not ultimately the fault of the Priesthood? Those peasant revolts inspired by Bright Lotus monk lecutres could be an example, though their ultimately just revolting against the crappy feudal dirt farmer lifestyle that the Priesthood has forced on everyone. So this only really leaves the Fall of the Phantom Star (which was either not the Priesthood's doing or a terrible fuckup) and the whole oni-human-conflict (if maybe a bit less severe, but that's hard to tell). Oh wait! Annelidist discrimmination is entirely the fault of Annelids making you pretty darn creepy. And the Priesthood can also not be blamed for lords waging war over living mannequins. Covok posted:They didn't make Ayakashi, that's a natural thing. Unless the Ayakashi in question used to be an Armour or a Shikigami, then it is at least the fault of some human. Doresh fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Dec 4, 2015 |
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Dec 4, 2015 20:45
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Doresh posted:And the Priesthood can also not be blamed for lords waging war over living mannequins.
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Dec 4, 2015 20:53
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Zereth posted:Didn't the priesthood previously keep lords from warring with each other much/at all? So no that's still at their feet. That is true, but "wars" over kugutsu can also involve plenty of undercover shenanigans. The Priesthood is "merely" responsible for lords using entire armies instead of ninja, or actual sieges instead of a series of "accidents". Doresh fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Dec 4, 2015 |
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Dec 4, 2015 20:56
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Sorry it's been so long; I've been busy and distracted with a lot of stuff and working on my group's games. TIME FOR MORE WARHAMS Alright, time to talk about the Gods themselves, since they're a big deal for the setting. First on the docket, and probably the best known, is good old Sigmar. Sigmar is the heroic, legendary Conan-the-barbarian-but-with-some-political-acumen founder of the Empire. He united the tribes of the region, fought against Chaos and the Orcs, and most importantly, befriended the dwarves by rescuing their king from a goblin ambush at the age of 15. This friendship led the dwarves to back the humans up and teach them how to forge steel, which gave them a very helpful leg up technologically and a steadfast ally that remains to this day. One of the actual tenants of Sigmarite religion is to maintain the ancient alliance with the dwarves, and Sigmarite priests and priestesses generally learn Khazlihad (The language of the dorfs) to better work with their allies. As a God, Sigmar might be the literal ascended ruler of the Empire after he wandered off with no heir and left behind the Elector Count system to choose successors, or he might be the embodied ideal of the Good Emperor formed by peoples' faith in his legend; this is never confirmed. The Sigmarite church is the main religion of the Empire, and everyone in the nation will raise a glass to Sigmar or celebrate his holy days. This has led to the Arch Lectors (Cardinals) of Sigmar being incredibly wealthy and having a reputation for decadence, but past Grand Theogonists (Sigmar Popes) have done some pretty incredible stuff, like the time one of them sacrificed himself to tackle Vlad von Carstein (Badass TurboDracula, we'll get to him in Night's Dark Masters) off the walls of Altdorf onto a bed of stakes. Sigmar's faith stresses unending opposition to Chaos and Sigmarite Warrior Priests are expected to be prepared to fight as much as to minister to their flock. Sigmar also stresses the need for the unity of the Empire and for its various peoples to come together despite their differences in the face of evil. In general, Sigmar is the glue that helps the Empire stick together. His holy symbols are hammers, comets, and laurel wreathes of victory. Myrmidia is another ascended mortal, by some stories, and by others she's the daughter of Morr (Death/Dreams) and Verena (Wisdom/Justice). Either way, people agree that she was raised in either Tilea or Estalia (Tileans and Estalians have fought many wars over this), saved the land, and then ascended to the heavens rather than die when she was mortally wounded by an assassin. She is the goddess of strategy and the refined science of warfare. She is mainly worshiped in the southern Empire, as they both have the most contact with the southern lands of Tilea and Estalia, and they have most of the fancy engineering and artillery that Myrmidian warfare prefers. Let's be straight up: Myrmidia is Athena+Marian Cult Catholicism. Her rise in popularity within the Empire and transition away from being seen as a regional god is another major threat to the Ulrican faith, because Myrmidia is fine with people using guns and cannons while Ulric grumbles about them being unfair. Her holy symbols are the spear and shield, the weapons of fighting in ordered ranks, and the eagle as a symbol of bravery and victory. Her priests and templars are expected to be local leaders and to organize the defense of whatever locale they preach to should war come to pass. Morr is a big loving deal. Sigmar might be the cultural glue of the Empire, but Morr is one of the most important gods of the entire Old World and the biggest enemy of Chaos in the entire setting. Morr is the contemplative, even-handed god of death and dreams, the shepherd of souls who guides the dead. This specifically means that he guides them to Morr's Realm rather than to the Realm of Chaos. Morr is directly responsible for protecting the souls of the dead from being consumed by the Warp. If Morr was not doing this, the Old World would be overrun by demons and devils right quick. People are rightly terrified of Morr (Who doesn't fear death?) but he's an old school Death God, being fair and inevitable rather than cruel or malicious. Much of his character can be seen in his stern, taciturn priests; they're publicly fairly indifferent and quietly tend to their duties, but behind the scenes are often seen ensuring even the poor and destitute are given a proper and respectful burial, or supporting the families of the deceased who have no-one else to turn to. Morr's Templars are the Black Guard, menacing-looking and silent knights who watch over the Gardens of Morr (Cemeteries) and battle the undead and necromancers; once again, the big theme is that they look terrifying but are actually brave and decent men and women doing their best to protect the dignity of the dead and defend the living from terrible undeath. Morr despises undeath. All of it. Even undead that are sentient and happy with it (Vampires) must be put to the torch and returned to rest for their affront against the God. Morr's most prominent holy symbol is the raven. I will do the rest later, just wanted to shake off the cobwebs and get some forward progress going again.
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Dec 4, 2015 21:07
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