|
Yeah, trust me, nothing is more depressing than contrasting Chuck Walton's rad mecha designs in recent books with the underwhelming, deliberately underpowered statblocks that generally go with them.Bieeardo posted:I vastly preferred Carella's stuff. It was creative, pretty, and potent. It didn't hurt that it was less fiddly for its own sake-- more 1d6x10 damage than 6d6 or other unwieldy handfuls of dice-- and the fiddliness tended to be for tactical effect (Arkhon cerasteel and tri-beams) than bloating a statblock built from a random sketch and a mad-libs generator. Always suspected that Siembieda felt threatened by it somehow. Also, Nightbane is a hell of a thing I've never dug into the supplements for. 
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 01:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:32 |
|
|
Alien Rope Burn posted:
Basically just a traced Luggun. 
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 01:55
|
|
|
No, the 229 was real concept plane. It partly inspired the B-2 spirit, and was an attempt to solve the problems the Germans were facing when putting planes up against the allied radar network -- mostly by using a low drag frame to fly very fast, long, and low, and possibly keep fighters from scrambling on the bomber. Of course, their industry was hopelessly overloaded, so the idea of them successfully mass producing a jet-engine powered flying wing is ludicrous (the 229 was on version 3 of its prototype while the allies were crossing the Rhine.)
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 02:09
|
|
|
 Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign Part Thirteen: "Often, the techniques and tactics used by ISS Specters border on the level of 'James Bond' or 'Mission Impossible.'" Bond was heard to retort "Don't lump me in with these fellows, I'm just a cold-blooded, psychopathic sexist. You know, like any British person in cinema." Coalition Police & Law Enforcement By Kevin Siembieda with ideas and text by Julius Rosenstein and Patrick Nowak. No skull boats? No skull trains? No skull segways? Well, I think we're safe from the equipment parade. For now. Instead, we've got the Coalition cops to get through. Or...  "I wear black and hide my hands behind my back so you know I don't have any secrets." The ISS Organization Sure that's supposed to be an I? Not just SS? Well, it stands for Internal Security Specialists. They have three main divisions:
Naturally, given they're part of a fascist state, the ISS is allowed to do surveillance, search and seizure, holding people for questioning without justification, harassment, and general brutality. That being said, they generally are fairly restrained when dealing with most Coalition citizens. This continues the theme of Siembieda wanting to have it both ways - to have them be terrible fascists, but nice fascists.  As long as you've got the right genes and are properly patriotic, anyway. Otherwise, the ISS will drop the book on murderers, cyber-snatchers, dissidents and wrongthink, political enemies, d-bees, anybody involved with the supernatural, etc. Naturally, they have a "better shoot than sorry" sort of attitude, particularly towards augmented humans and the supernatural. Specters in particular don't have a lot of rules they have to abide by as long as they can explain their actions. Apparently the ISS deals with those who break regulations severely, but the book never makes it clear what those regulations are.Enough of all that, it's time for the meat of the section: a parade of marginally useful O.C.C.s!  The face of public trust. *blam* ISS Peacekeeper O.C.C. This is your average beat cop or first responder that deals directly the public. They don't handle major investigations, however. They get a special Investigation skill only the other cop O.C.C.s here get, and investigative, pilot, and weapon skills. Their secondary skills get a bonus based on a special training package they pick, and can get a - hold the phone, stop the presses, batten down the loving hatches - free cybernetic clock calendar! Whoo! Don't get too generous, Palladium, they know their loved one's anniversary every time. That's a superpower. This and all the other basic ISS classes get bonuses on initiative and against fear, illusions, and mind control as they level up, which is definitely helpful but isn't an exceptional benefit. Anyway, even with their very basic attribute requirements, good ol' 3d6 odds mean you have only a 34% chance of qualifying for this class.  "Yeah, you walk around like this and people think you can read, crazy!" ISS Specter O.C.C. No relation to Mass Effect, this predates it by over a decade. These are detectives, sometimes undercover, sometimes thuggish. They get the same Investigation skill only at a significantly higher level, investigative and lore skills, and weapon skills. Like Peacekeepers, they also select a special training package with a better bonus, an and are mostly just better, more highfalutin' Peacekeepers. Once again, they get a free clock calendar. I know! It's amazing!  You have a 25% chance of qualifying to play one of these guys.  You don't have to salute the reader, they don't outrank you. Intel Specter O.C.C. ISS Intelligence Officer This is basically an internal intelligence agent, more akin to the FBI than the CIA, and deal with crimes of the highest order (as the Coalition defines such, anyway). They get to be slightly better than Interrogation, a much more technical set of surveillance and investigation skills, weapon skills, and the same specialty stuff. Clock calendar in the head is free once again. Mostly these are just better classes with higher requirements as we go onward. Speaking of which, the very high attribute requirements for this class mean you can only qualify as one 10% of the time. And no, none of these classes are good enough to apply such rigorous requirements. They're average at best, solid in the area of their speciality and not particularly good at much else. Besides, how many campaigns can you fit these guys in? Ones centering around Coalition cities, maybe, but that really restricts any other sort of character you'd be playing. They don't even fit in most Coalition games, since those are mainly military. But we're not even close to done yet here. "Net Set" Operatives So, we get a fiction chunk from the perpective of Lt. Jack "Crazy" Cavanaugh, who ha a long diatribe about the NTSet perpective, who finds a the lair of a demonic predator and rescues a child with they help of his Dog Boy companions. And I just summed up a full page, so you know how much  is going on. We also get a statblock for him later, appro of nothing, and he's an "8th Level NTSET Inspector" (which is a typo, it should be Protector intead) with stats you're not likely to ever roll. He's generically dedicated, honest, fearless, and well-liked, with no real foibles to make him interesting.The NTSET Organization An elite Division of the ISS So, the NTSET (and no, I can't find what that actually stands for) is the anti-supernatural police force that trains in fighting demons and magic. They also sometimes assist Peacekeepers and Specters against the supernatural. They're known as being jaded against the supernatural, which earns them their "crazy" reputation the book can't stop harping on about. I guess they're all supposed to be Martin Riggs minus Roger Murtaugh. About half of them are mutant dogs or psi-stalkers, or psychics, which can give them a bad rep but it turns out they're generally one of the most loyal and dedicated factions in the Coalition. You know, unlike those unloyal guys I've never heard of. And now, back to the classes.  "This isn't a salute, I'm just petting myself! Who needs humans anymore?!" NTSET Psi-Hound O.C.C. So, this basically an alternate skill package for the Dog Boy R.C.C. from the corebook, it has slightly fewer skills but better overall percentages and the same bonuses other ISS classes get, so it's overall a benefit. They trade out some of their wilderness skills for lore and investigation, but attribute requirements mean only ~25% of Dog Boy players can qualify to play one.  "Look, I only need to armor the one important part." NTSET Protector O.C.C. So these are basically just Peacekeepers that trade some street smarts and investigation for extra lore bonuses and tracking. Despite not being that exceptional skill or ability-wise, the chance of qualifying for this class is about 4%, because math isn't something that even enters their heads when marking down numbers. Next: Loose brains sink planes?
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 02:40
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:Basically just a traced Luggun. I'm thinking more of another Gundam aircraft, the Dopp. They just shoved the cockpit module flush with the fuselage and removed the rocket pods. 
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 05:32
|
|
|
Today, I finish the Domains of the Core. Tepest Tepest is another realm fo creepy forests with names like Goblinwood or Wytchwood. The population live sin tiny hamlets and small keeps held by the nobility. They are very superstitious, especially about "little beasties" from the forests and the fey. There isn't much of an organization in the realm, most villages being ruled by elders who appoint magistrates and warriors. In recent years, the Church of Belenus has become very powerful and launched a crusade against the fey, armed with sword and fire. This has led to much denunciation of evildoers in league with the fey being judged by hastily-assembled tribunals and killed. This witch-hunt is led Wyan of Viktal, a severe man who takes drastic measure when purging a settlement of evil. Valachan Valachan is a wet land of ancient redwoods and small villages. The wilderness is full of vicious and cunning panthers, highly feared and respected by the Valachani. The Valachani themselves are a friendly and welcoming lot, proud of their hospitality. They value physical skills and are wary of book learning. This might be somewhat unfortunate as they are also described as majorly dark-skinned, but the book barely mentions their skin-color and makes no big deal out of it so who knows. Baron Ulrich von Karkov rules from Castle Pantara, using a band of highly trained zealouts who are as sadistic as their master. Lady Adelaide, their leader, is well-known for her viciousness. She can be bribed by the gift of an handsome youth, who usually emerges scarred inside and outside from her clutches. The Baron will often ask for service from random commoners, summoning them to Castle Pantara for one night. Those who go often return with the White Fever, a mild but debilitating flu. He also often takes young women as wives, none of which live for more than a year afterward. Vechor A strange land on the other side of the Nocturnal Sea, Vechor reflects the mind of it's ruler, the wizard-tyrant Easan the Mad. The land constantly shifts, roads change direction overnight, villages rearrange themselves, and even the sky itself will change color to purple or green when it feels like it. The people of the land have learned to live with these constant shifts, recognizing the moods of their lord in them. Their loyalty to Easan and belief in his godhood is unquestioned. They voluntarily brand a red E in their forehead as a show of loyalty. There are almost no taboo or social classes in Vechor, although marriage is held as sacred. Widower and widows do not remarry and unfaithfulness sis punished by death. There are no official militia or magistrates: mob rule deals with crime, and lynchings are common. As for Easan, he is never seen in his realm. His opulent castle in Abdok stand empty. It is rumored that the king spends most of his time in a mystical dwelling beyond the Cliffs of Vesanis, cackling madly and listening to the whispers of ancient evils. Verbrek Verbrek is a land ruled by wolves, where humans are hunted as prey. The Verbrekers live in isolated settlements, protected by huge moats. Nature is not friendly there, and mwhen going through the realm's irregular trails (there are no large roads), one always feels watched. The Werewolves who truly rule the land seem to toy with humans instead of simply slaughtering them all, taking their victims one at a time when they feel like it. They seem to worship a mysterious Wolf God, an avatar of savagery and cruelty. Only a few river merchants travel through Verbrek, in search of timber, furs and other commodities.Regardless of the season, travelers may encounter the gregarious Captain Nathan Timothy navigating Verbrek's rivers. The captain is willing to transport passengers aboard his cargo vessel, the Virago, for a reasonable fee. Next: Out of the Core, we learn of the smaller Clusters in the Mists.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 06:29
|
|
|
Following on from my character creation walkthrough for Crypts and Things, I've run the created character through the sample adventure, using the solo hero rules from Scarlet Heroes by Kevin Crawford as an overlay on the base C&T rules. Part one can be read here - https://moggynomates.angrymog.com/2017/05/17/crypts-things-the-halls-of-nizar-thun/ If people want to see these and would rather they be posted, I can oblige, but this does feel out of the remit of the thread.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 08:31
|
|
|
wiegieman posted:No, the 229 was real concept plane. It partly inspired the B-2 spirit, and was an attempt to solve the problems the Germans were facing when putting planes up against the allied radar network -- mostly by using a low drag frame to fly very fast, long, and low, and possibly keep fighters from scrambling on the bomber. Of course, their industry was hopelessly overloaded, so the idea of them successfully mass producing a jet-engine powered flying wing is ludicrous (the 229 was on version 3 of its prototype while the allies were crossing the Rhine.) Also I believe you need to have on-board computerised flight control or else these designs are hopelessly unstable to fly.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 10:30
|
|
|
Alien Rope Burn posted:
Dogs can pet other dogs? 
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 17:41
|
|
|
Dareon posted:Dogs can pet other dogs? Dogs Going Their Own Way
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 17:47
|
|
|
Dareon posted:Dogs can pet other dogs? http://i.imgur.com/Epi2jlR.mp4
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 18:03
|
|
|
Deptfordx posted:Also I believe you need to have on-board computerised flight control or else these designs are hopelessly unstable to fly. Yes, the flying wing is quite unstable in yaw (no vertical elements), and the more you try to yaw with differential drag the more you discard its advantages. A dramatically swept wing helps regain that stability, it has differential drag built in.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 18:58
|
|
|
The storm has a name... - Let's Read TORG Part 18c: To Live And Die In L.A. Oh come on, don't give me that look. I had to say it eventually. The chapter for the Tharkold realm begins with a generalized weekly timeline of the American invasion up to this point; specifically how Lost Angeles was affected since day 1. I'd ask why this is here but why ask why at this point. I'm not going to run through every point (you're welcome), but let's hit some highlights. quote:Week Eight - The Los Angeles Dodgers announce their intention to play out their current home stand. They reduce general admission to $1.00. Home games are to be televised to the remaining LA audience. The Delphi Council issues a "terrorism advisory" for the games, urging the Dodgers tocall off the games and suggesting that fans travelling to the games might be killed. by unnamed. "forces hostile to the security of the United States." The Dodgers politely inform the Delphi Council that they will take the risk, and, under the watchful eyes of the LAPD and the California National Guard, the games go off without a hitch. The games are a desperately needed diversion for the city which had been completely spell-bound by the exodus along the interstates. The phrase "it takes a dollar and a Dodger" comes to symbolize courage during dark times. Anyway, fifteen weeks after the start of the invasion, the L.A. government finally abandons the city. A Health Department official named Terri Bender declares herself mayor, and nobody objects because nobody else wants the job. At this point, the population of L.A. has dropped to about 400,000 people in the city itself. Meanwhile, Ichi Entertainment opens a small film lab in the city, and shortly afterwards the Hachiman Arms company begins giving the remaining L.A. police forces experimental weapons for "field testing". Coincidentally, both these companies are owned by the Kanawa Corporation. A few months after the start of the War, the L.A. gangs are running rampant. Then one gangs makes the mistake of attacking an Ichi Entertainment warehouse and 3327 ain't having none of that. Ichi Entertainment publicly states that they're going to put its North American headquarters in L.A. Privately, 3327 declares war on the various L.A. gangs. Within a month, over 14,000 gang members are killed. A little under a year after the invasion, Nippon Tech agents manage to uproot the Living Land stelae around Sacramento and replace them with Marketplace stelae, turning Sacramento to Nippon Tech's reality. Since that's remarkably close to Core Earth's reality (and nobody knows about Nippon Tech yet), nobody realizes that a switch has been made; as far as anyone can tell, the Living Land just receded from around the city. Dubbed the "Miracle of California" or the "Miracle of Sacramento" depending on which sourcebook you read, and is hailed as a victory for Core Earth. Perhaps seeking to ride on the coattails of the "victory", both the Cyberpapacy and Aysle send representatives to found embassies in the city. Understandably, the Cyberpapal Nuncio is a little less accepted than the dwarf from Aysle. Jezrael's coup happens at invasion Year Two, Week Fourteen, and she almost immediately declares war on Core Earth and vengeance on Kanawa. She picks the Demon Prince Sterret of the Blades to lead her invasion force. Sterret actually started by dimthreading into Russia, using magic to disguise himself as a human. He spends time studying Core Earth cultures and making his way towards L.A. Meanwhile, the city's population increases greatly, with a quarter of a million people immigrating to the city per week. A year and a half in, the population of L.A. hits eight million. Gang activity continues to be a problem as Sterret dimthreads in with a few of his own operatives to start setting things up for the invasion. A rash of random, violent attacks start happening in the city as the techno-demons prepare the city. They start in the less occupied parts of L.A., but soon start moving out to areas like Beverly Hills and Granada Hills. Sterret keeps the Nippon Tech forces chasing each other by making it seem like an Ichi Entertainment courier was killed by a Hachiman Arms operative; this has the added benefit of getting Nippon Tech's forces to let up on the gangs. Sterret then starts recruiting (read: dominating) gangs so there will be enough believers to power the Tharkold stelae. One year and fourty-four weeks after Kranod's botched invasion attempt, despite the best effort of a group of Storm Knights, Sterret manages to power the Tharkold steale. A maelstrom bridge drops squarely on Ichi Entertainment's headquarters in downtown L.A., technodemons and slaves pouring into the city. It was only a single stelae zone, 100 miles to a side, but it was enough. Jezrael had her foothold. Los Angeles was the new hunting grounds for the technodemons. Tharkold was back in the war.  The Tharkold realm, almost actual size. One important thing to note is that the realm is ridiculously close to the Living Land. This causes a lot of reality storms due to the proximity of three conflicting realities, so on top of everything else the people in L.A. have to deal with reality-affecting superstorms. Even at the best of times there are days-long rainstorms that make the realm even drearier than it should be. This, combined with the pollution the Kanawa-owned companies have been spewing for the past year, make L.A. very rain-soaked-noir-ish to the point where there can be as much as a +5 to the difficulty of perception-related rolls. Not that people are hitting the streets much. When Tharkold invaded, they brought along countless horrors and magictech devices and let them loose in the streets. One of the relatively lesser threats are the synthecyclers: autonomous truck-sized machines that scour the streets for raw materials for the Tharkoldu's factories. In this case, "raw materials" means pretty much anything inorganic that isn't nailed down. Street fixtures, cars, and rubble are all fair game. But that's just the minor threat. The larger threats include the Tharkoldu (of course), cybered-up street gangs, the assorted monsters cooked up by the Tharkoldu, paranoid as gently caress Kanawa security personnel, and trigger-happy LAPD squads who're not happy about being outclassed by pretty much everything. quote:The symbol of the invasion is the ruined Ichi Entertainment building. The 122-story structure is visible from virtually the entire city and much of the rest of the outlying area. During the day, winds whip about the building. clouds overhead darkening and congealing into wrong shapes, something which drips/twists around the building. At night small storms flare near the top of the building, spectacular multi-colored lightning striking ten or twelve spots simultaneously. The demons did this. The demons are inside. Because they're latecomers to the War, the Tharkoldu hold on the city isn't as firm as they'd like. After over a year of battle, Core Earthers knew how to react to a reality invasion; on top of that, there are four other invading realities in or near the city limits leading to a tangled mess of alliances. The next section of the chapter is a rundown of each of the power groups in the city and what their goals are. The main population of Core Earthers just want to survive. Leaving the city is a rough prospect, since the western Living Land cuts off all the direct routes to the rest of the States and the realm borders are held by the Tharkoldu. This has lead to some of the most vicious urban fighting anywhere on Core Earth, due to the one-two punch of the Law of Ferocity and the inhabitants of the city refusing to give an inch to the invaders. quote:Mayor Terri Bender represents the views of hundreds of thousands of Los Angelenos when she says "Hell has come to the City of Angels. We must pray we have the strength to honor our God in this, the first true battle of Armageddon. Most Core Earthers have an instinctual, spiritual repugnance to the Tharkoldu. Their repugnance, mixed with their fear, causes them to lash out against the invaders, rather than flee or submit. This reaction is certainly increased by Tharkold's world laws, such as the Law of Ferocity, which often increase the odds of a conflict. The interests of the Cyberpapacy are represented by Nuncio Claude Eschlimann. Publically, he was sent to L.A. to open a Cybercatholic church and do good works, but really he was there to assess how deeply the Kanawa Corporation had gotten its claws into the city. This was a very uphill battle: between the Kanawa-owned media and the "faery-brat" (his term, not mine) Ellerby, Eschilimann became a laughingstock. Despite that, he still managed to get enough converts to keep things operating. Now that the city's been invaded by cyberdemons, the Cyberpapal outpost has kicked into overdrive. Eschlimann sees this situation as a straight-up holy crusade, and has refocused all his resources on fighting the Tharkoldu. Jazuits and cyberpriests have been flocking to the city in order to get in on the action. Malraux himself has tasked Eschlimann with capturing as much Tharkold cybertech as he can to be sent back to France for study. While all this has been going on, the Living Land tribes are still within spitting distance of the edge of the realm. There are (as always) countless tribes, but the government refers to the larger "meta-tribes" via the regions they inhabit; the Topanga tribe, the San Gabriel tribe, and so on. About a quarter of the tribal population in the region is human. The edeinos have no love for the Tharkold (who the optants see as "walking dead things"), and the Tharkoldu like fighting the edeinos because the edeinos experience pain in ways humans can't. Plus they find the whole worship-of-life thing very unsettling. Currently, the tribes are in a shaky alliance with the Core Earth humans against a common foe. The Kanawa Corporation had invested heavily in L.A. as part of 3327's intital expansion. Through various dummy corporations, Kanawa invested trillions of dollars into the city's economy, giving it a much-needed boost in the first phases of the War. Of course, none of that means jack poo poo anymore since Jezrael dropped her maelstrom bridge directly on Ichi Entertainment headquarters. With everything that's going on, Nippon Tech forces are mainly just trying to get a new base of operations set up and circle the wagons to get their California operations back in the black. Right now their biggest problem is that they underestimate the Tharkoldu due to not being able to understand the technodemons' overall goals. quote:While NipponTech admires Tharkoldu technology, Nippon's contempt for the demons backward social organization and their complete lack of a profit motive leads them to disparage their opponents: "Why don't Tharkoldu corporations ever show a profit? Because red ink looks better when it splatters." This disparaging view often causes Nippon executives to underestimate Tharkoldu abilities, with brutal consequences. The Race has managed to get a surprisingly large number of operatives across the bridge by infiltrating the Tharkoldu's slave pens. Not that this was an optimal solution; since there's only one bridge and it's firmly under Jezrael's control any Race soldiers are completely cut off from their home cosm. This means that they're coming into Core Earth with zero intel on who's who and what's what. Right now the Race forces are just scouting out the situation and looking for potential allies. Unfortunately, their first pick seems to the the Cyberpapacy due to the perceived similarities. Regardless, for now the Race are staying low so the Tharkoldu don't know they're there. As for the Tharkoldu themselves...there actually aren't as many there as you'd expect. There are only about 2,500 Tharkoldu in the city, under the control of Sterret, Prince of Blades. Jezrael knows better than to overcommit this time, but she wouldn't hesitate to send more Tharkoldu over if there would be a provable gain. Jezrael and Sterret both know that the invasion isn't successful yet: yeah, they have the territory, now the trick is keeping it. All it'd take right now is one uprooted stelae and the one-zone realm would collapse, doing even more damage to the Tharkold cosm and would probably make Malgest abandon the cosm altogether. To make up the numbers, the Tharkoldu sent over about 16,000 Race slaves to perform the usual duties as workers, cybertechs, "pain sculptors" (whatever they are), cannon fodder, and emergency food sources. Sterret has managed to capture and enslave another 20,000 people from L.A.'s native population, most of whom were gang members. Jezrael and Sterret's current agenda revolves around getting revenge on 3327, getting more slaves to support the invasion, and defending the realm borders. Lastly, the US Military has set up outside the realm borders. Just as the conflict with the Living Land was entering a "cold" stage, here comes this new threat they have to deal with. The army is under orders from the Delphi Council to only perform "morale building missions", which means night missions against lightly defended targets. The Council wants to be seen taking action, but in a way that doesn't harm So there's all the major players in the city. At the time the book "opens", things are still pretty chaotic as the various forces adjust to the sudden invasion, but I think they manage to get the ideas across well enough it'd be easy to extrapolate forward. The next part of the chapter is about the Areas of the Realm, which is another pre-Google era breakdown of the various parts of L.A. On the plus side, it's not a ridiculously detailed breakdown like we got with the Cyberpapacy book. Still, I'll be summarizing here. That said, we're going to run into the Torg issue of "American life goes on", like how LAX is still operating despite the presence of two invading realities, or, as a further example, the situation in Cosmicland quote:While the program has been quite successful at so far reducing incidents at Cosmicland to a minimum, retaining skilled security personnel on the job has been a problem. As Quin Sebastian said, in an interview in Soldier of Fortune, 'I have endured Sahara sandstorms, Cyberpapal sermons, and edeinos "cooking," but working in the park was ridiculous. They pack you with enough firepower to level Ardinay's castle. then they pop you into this sparkling silver and blue hard plastic costume, concealing most of your goodies and making your sweat glands put themselves on their 'Niagara' setting. Chatter in your left ear is telling you how close to the park the baddies have been sighted, chatter in your right is telling you where other members of your unit are going. You are standing in a crowd of targets, scanning up, with some kid dripping ice cream in your boots, a set of parents "yoohooing" you for a picture with their brat, and some wise-rear end kid shouting, 'I bet you guys don't even know that the Feral Four have their secret hideout in Tibet, do ya?' It was the last one that got me fired, when I leveled my Hornet 9mm at the kid and stage-whispered "Feral Four information has priority alpha, your possession illegal. You must be terminated." My bosses figured that wasn't part of the image of Strike Force Proxima." Bellflower was abandoned way back at the start of the Living Land's invasion, and since then it's just been downhill. Those few who couldn't (or wouldn't) leave during the first invasion have had a hard time getting help. The city government has pretty much ignored them, and when the gangs started moving into the area only Nippon Tech was willing to give the locals the means to defend themselves. Things were more-or-less stable until Sterret showed up and started literally smearing people against the walls. In order to defend themselves, many Bellflower residents have begun getting cyberware installed at the various chop-shops that are springing up around the city. At present time, the residents have retreated to a small part of the district, set up walls and other defenses, and are hunkering down. This is their last stand, and they're not giving up their territory without a fight. Beverly Hills has...changed a bit. The neighborhood had more than enough money and influence to ensure that they had more than adequate police protection during the Living Land's initial push. The idea of "homesteading" also started up; residents would "hire" desperate families from the other parts of the city and let them live on their property. In return, the family would basically be required to help maintain the property and defend the Hills. Still, a lot of people left after the first invasion (selling their property to various Japanese companies), but came back after the Miracle. Turns out they should have waited a little longer. Burbank got hit pretty hard in the chaos following the initial invasion, and it still really hasn't recovered. Between the gangs, desperate squatters, and edeinos raiding parties, Burbank was written off by pretty much everyone. Everyone, that is, except Ichi Entertainment, who purchased NBC's facility just before the Miracle of Sacramento. IE was able to start producing content almost immediately, capitalizing on America's desperate need for entertainment following Kaah's arrival. Despite the Tharkold bridge dropping right on their goddamn headquarters, Ichi is still cranking out sitcoms and other shows. Compton is, uh...well, it's a bad scene. I mean, Compton has always been a bad scene (especially from the early 90's point of view), but the situation now has actually shifted the local culture away from crime and towards mutual survival. Sort of. quote:When Los Angeles was evacuated for the first time, a minority of Compton's residents stayed behind ... as did many of the gangs. At first little changed; the gangs killed each other, and the gangs preyed on the residents. But the change in scale changed the conflict. The remaining residents could barely support themselves, let alone carry the extra burden of crime. As Compton began to die, the gangs realized. they were part of the problem. One result was a treacherous confederation, The Posse: a conduit for communication between the gangs, and a forum for disputes. Occasionally the disputes brought to the Posse were resolved without much bloodshed. Downtown L.A. used to be the center of the municipal government before everything went to poo poo. It also contains Little Tokyo, Chinatown, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and Dodger stadium. While the government facilities were well-defended when the Living Land started getting close to the city, the rest of the region wasn't as lucky. This resulted in things like the MOCA being raided and about 75% of the contents being stolen. After the Miracle of Sacramento and the arrival of Ichi Entertainment, though, the area started experiencing an upswing in fortunes. Nippon Tech bought up most of the land in Little Tokyo and Chinatown, and quickly built up the Ichi Entertainment building. Things were looking pretty good up until the Tharkold bridge slammed down, at which point Nippon Tech left City Hall to fend for itself. Nowadays, this is probably the most dangerous part of the city, and yet Mayor Terri Bender continues to try and fight for her city despite the fact that City Hall is maybe ten blocks from the bridge. Glendale was one of the more..."conservative" parts of the city. It was also almost completely abandoned during the original invasion. The whole area almost collapsed until resident Richard Clanton wrote to his (former) neighbors to convince them to return and "defend the way of life which has been so important to you for so many years." This somehow shamed people into coming home, and after the Miracle more people returned to their homes. Now that all these people had come home, when Tharkold invaded they decided they weren't going to be driven off their land again. Which has proven difficult, due to how Tharkold has affected the nearby Forest Lawn Cemetery. Forest Lawn is where the greats of the Golden Age of Hollywood were buried, and has recently been affected by a Tharkold nanovirus that animates the dead. As a result, Glendale is dealing with what might be the most awkward zombie problem in history: the corpses of people like W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, and Jean Harlow are up and shuffling around waiting to be blown away by Storm Knights. And while it's not a full-blown zombie apocalypse, these "lawners" are still a threat to the city. Hollywood hit the skids back when the movie industry pulled up stakes and moved to Florida. There's only one film company left in the city: Forever Films, who've taken over the old Paramount Studios. Forever Films does indeed make movies (albeit low budget B-movies), but their main function is to be a front for Nile Empire weird science testing. In the meantime, Mann's Chinese Theater is still operating, although it's not quite the tourist attraction it once was. Los Angeles International Airport is inexplicably still operating despite the fact that there's two invading realities within spitting distance. LAX is one of the biggest lifelines from the outside world, and as such is under very heavy security from the LAPD, local military, and Hachiman Arms CorpSec. Despite the high security, LAX only gets about a third of its normal traffic nowadays, and that's mostly goods transport and military planes. And really, if it wasn't for the constant influx of flights from Japan and China, it'd be a hell of a lot lower. Kanawa executives still come into the city to oversee operations, although they usually don't stick around that long. Pasadena has had a weird time of it. quote:Home to the Rose Bowl and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena has died, revived and died again during the course of the Possibility Wars. The Rose Bowl is now closed,a result of government outrage at the last Rose Bowl game between USC and Michigan. When USC's starting tailback went down at the end of the season, the team decided to use a new "student," Matl-Kena, of the Topanga Tribe. Government officials asked that USC not field a team with an edeinos. The "first tailback with a tail" rushed for 226 yards against Michigan, a impressive feat considering she was almost never used on first down. Matl-Kena's sideline behavior wasn't helpful. She stripped off most of her gear whenever the USC offense left the field, ran amok in the stands, played one of the USC band's trombones very poorly, and generally made a mess of things. Getting her back in uniform during the exchange of possession explains why Matl-Kena almost never played on first down. The government was not amused; play at the Rose Bowl was banned. The Tharkold invasion convinced 90% of Pasadena's residents it was time to find another permanent address. Pasadena is one of the few empty areas left in the city. Venice has actually had a bit of an upswing in fortunes due to the Kanawa Corporation discovering fresh oil deposits in the area. Venice had done well with the oil trade back in the 80's, but the Living Land invasion put a stamp on what was an already dying industry. Now, Kanawa is buying up the land and setting up "petro-complexes"; facilities that combine the functionality of an oil derrick, refinery, and manufacturing plant. Kanawa has also set up new housing (with CorpSec security) for the workforces that are moving into the region. -- Wow, that's a lot of crap you don't care about, isn't it? I mean, I know we've gone through this dance a bunch of times, but again: I don't need this level of detail. Give me some general ideas of things that're going on in the city, and I can extrapolate from there! Or at least, if you're going to do these district-by-district rundowns, at least make them interesting! There's only so many ways I can try to make this poo poo interesting and I used them up like four realms ago. But don't worry; we're done with the boring-rear end setting stuff. Now it's time to get into the broken-rear end mechanics stuff! NEXT TIME: The rules of battle
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 21:49
|
|
|
Good loving LORD these setting chapters just get harder and harder to power through with each new book.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 21:53
|
|
|
I admire and appreciate your dedication. That goes for the other reviewers too.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 22:09
|
|
|
Speaking of endless world building, my finals are done after tomorrow and I'll be picking up Polaris again after that. We're just one update away from reaching chapter 1.3(which is less than half as long as 1.2 was because lol pacing).
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2017 23:06
|
|
|
Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign Part Fourteen: "This examination lasts 1D4 hours, during which the individual is tested for any signs of depression, mental instability/insanity, anti-social tendencies, and unhealthy or dissident beliefs."  Fascist basset and sinister scottie strike fear into the enemies of mankind! Psi-Net By Patrick Nowak and Kevin Siembieda So, the idea of having psychic divisions is relatively new, having been devised within the past 20 years, and there are really two groups for it in the Coalition: the Psi-Battalion (military) and Psi-Net (civilian). What happened with rampant psychics in the 80 years of the Coalition before that is not discussed. Psi-Battalion is lead by Lt. Colonel Carol Black, one of the few women we've ever seen in the Coalition hierarchy. She's been its sole leader for two decades, and has continuously lobbied for psionic rights and research. Psi-Net is the civilian side of things, and the book couldn't give two shits who leads it. Technically, it's just a regulatory body that handles psychic registration and ID coding, but that power extends into apprehension and imprisonment of psychic criminals. They generally have absolute authority where psionic affairs are concerned, but also are used in immigration (to detect supernatural and psionics) and occasionally assist the ISS with other investigations. The book can't quite decide if they're part of the ISS hierarchy or not, and seems to waffle on the matter. Not every psychic works for Psi-Net, though, and some work as mundane investigators, bodyguards, or researchers within the Coalition. While some people are wary of psychics overseeing other psychics, Psi-Net has been a successful program so far. They've gotten the heavy weight of the Prosek family behind them, provided they also assist the Prosek family in any way they ask. As mentioned before in the corebook, psychics of the "major" or "master" level have to be given a trackable ID chip and a tattooed bar code, as well as undergo psychological examination every five years. Any psychic that doesn't pass has to go through a "social conformity program" to adjust them back into society. Anybody that refuses is arrested and prosecuted, of course. Master psychics who can't be controlled are often summarily executed, while others are imprisoned at the Chi-Town Penitentiary. Psi-Net often oversees training of psychics at a young age, which is guided towards eventual recruitment. They also handle research, but it's a relatively low priority compared to control. The Coalition divides master psychics into several categories:
And there's a new class, of course!  Who can just stop at just one belt? PRP/Psi-Net Agent Oh, though it's not mentioned above, this is an O.C.C. for P.C.C.s, FYI. PRP stands for the "Psychic Registration Program", for the record, but these are specific agents that work with the ISS. They get that special Investigation skill at middling levels, and get two skill packages to choose from. The first is the "Tracker", meant to locate rogue psychics, and the second is the "Spotter", who more generally senses the supernatural. Unsurprisingly, their skills lean towards the investigative, but they don't get quite so many as the various ISS classes. Ironically, it's not clear what psychic powers they get - I guess you take an existing psionic class and replace their skills with this one? It's really not clear, and it needs to be. If so, that means Coalition psychics are just better, replacing the thin skill packages most R.C.C.s get with a robust one that's almost equal to the other ISS classes. They also get some minor cybernetics (including, yes, a clock calendar) but don't get your hopes up - the chance of rolling one up is only around 5%. Next: Work and Bread.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 04:39
|
|
|
I'd play the hell out of a Psychic Commando Doggie Sword Squad RPG. Pity about the faction politics surrounding them.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 10:19
|
|
|
Okay look, I have played Bethesda games which means that I'm aware of that whole 'games you have more fun modifying and fixing than playing' aesthetic. But even in this regard Simbieda's creations don't seem to be worthwhile, just how many types of Coalition officers do you need stats for? How can you overuse skulls to a degree even a Khornate berserker would frown on? And that smug attitude on every editorial comment... I can honestly say that I'd rather be sentenced to play Ravenloft completely according to the metaplot then read more of Simbieda's prattle.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 10:33
|
|
|
Loxbourne posted:I'd play the hell out of a Psychic Commando Doggie Sword Squad RPG.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 13:37
|
|
|
Those Commandoggos are giving me serious Extreme Dinosaurs/Dinosaucers vibes.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 13:46
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:Good loving LORD these setting chapters just get harder and harder to power through with each new book. There is very little to me that is less appealing than going through the geography and towns of a setting and repackaging them for consumption here. It's exactly there that my review of Legends of The Wulin fizzled out, and I'm having difficulty maintaining a decent pace in my Aethera review. I can just hammer out paragraphs on culture and economy, but the actual gazetteer is usually dull and boring. Although glancing ahead at the Kir-Sharaat gazetteer, it's at least twice as interesting as the fairly bog-standard human Wild West scavenger towns.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 14:33
|
|
|
Green Intern posted:Those Commandoggos are giving me serious Extreme Dinosaurs/Dinosaucers vibes. Wasn't there a DOG COMMANDOS tv show?
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:11
|
|
|
You know the thing that bothers me, the thing that's missing from the various Coalition security apparatus, is IT security. I realize when this book came out that the internet was barely a thing for most people but it did exist, and "computer hacking" had been a risk long before that. With threats like ARCHIE 3 out there that seems like another big blind spot in their security right after "most magic stuff" and a missed opportunity for another lovely OCC that claims to be a one-trick pony but really is a no-trick pony that only 13% of characters can qualify for.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:15
|
|
|
I'm not sure computers are a thing in Rifts except as a hand wave.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:16
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:Wasn't there a DOG COMMANDOS tv show? Uhh... does this count? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwNipMSjmg8
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:20
|
|
|
That was it!
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:25
|
|
|
Dareon posted:There is very little to me that is less appealing than going through the geography and towns of a setting and repackaging them for consumption here. It's exactly there that my review of Legends of The Wulin fizzled out, and I'm having difficulty maintaining a decent pace in my Aethera review. I can just hammer out paragraphs on culture and economy, but the actual gazetteer is usually dull and boring. Although glancing ahead at the Kir-Sharaat gazetteer, it's at least twice as interesting as the fairly bog-standard human Wild West scavenger towns. you can just gloss the boring parts at this level of detail. you're allowed to summarize as much as you want! if you think a section is too boring to describe, just say that, maybe say why, and move on. there's no need to break down every subsubsubhed unless you really want to.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:30
|
|
|
Dareon posted:There is very little to me that is less appealing than going through the geography and towns of a setting and repackaging them for consumption here. It's exactly there that my review of Legends of The Wulin fizzled out, and I'm having difficulty maintaining a decent pace in my Aethera review. I can just hammer out paragraphs on culture and economy, but the actual gazetteer is usually dull and boring. Although glancing ahead at the Kir-Sharaat gazetteer, it's at least twice as interesting as the fairly bog-standard human Wild West scavenger towns. No law says anyone has to provide a paragraph by paragraph breakdown of the books reviewed here. That's kind of become the norm in the last year, but I've found the shorter "here's a game, here's the weird/bad stuff and here's my opinion" reviews that fit in a post or three to be as much fun as the ones that go on for twenty max character posts.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:50
|
|
|
As I've said before, sometimes I go into a lot of detail on particular topics I find interesting, like Godlike's history. But if someone really wants to read every detail about a book you're covering, the truth is they're either gonna buy it or more likely pirate it. So summarize. Paragraph-by-paragraph reviewing also lends itself to reviewing a book line-by-line as you're reading it. This is not a good idea, especially if you're reviewing something that is notorious for being obtuse, complicated, over-detailed, or poorly laid out.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 15:54
|
|
|
Green Intern posted:Those Commandoggos are giving me serious Extreme Dinosaurs/Dinosaucers vibes. Well, there's a book for that in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line called Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which has rules for mutant dinosaurs and has lots of commando-looking dinos. Sadly TMNT doesn't play well with Rifts, being woefully underpowered for the most part. Speaking of which, the art in the today's section will seem familiar to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans... Horrible Lurkbeast posted:Okay look, I have played Bethesda games which means that I'm aware of that whole 'games you have more fun modifying and fixing than playing' aesthetic. If it's any consolation, that's that last of them for awhile!... well, until we cover the Navy, anyway... but I might need a break before that ever happens. Not to say this book is actually done with new classes, though. 
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 17:07
|
|
|
Midjack posted:No law says anyone has to provide a paragraph by paragraph breakdown of the books reviewed here. That's kind of become the norm in the last year, but I've found the shorter "here's a game, here's the weird/bad stuff and here's my opinion" reviews that fit in a post or three to be as much fun as the ones that go on for twenty max character posts. More fun, if anything. If the writer gets bored, the review gets boring, because it means there isn't anything to hold interest for the reviewer or the reader. Personally, my eyes glaze over if something goes on too long. If it's interesting, say why it's interesting. If it's stupid, go to town. If it isn't either, then mention it exists but otherwise don't bother with it.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 18:22
|
|
|
Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign Part Fifteen: "A Coalition Grunt will step over the dead body of a D-bee without so much as a, 'what happened here?'"  "I'm in the heavy mechanized armor, why am I drawn as shorter?" "Take it up with the artist, pal." The Burbs As mentioned before, these are the communities that surround the major cities and arcologies of the Coalition states - get it? Burbs? Suburbs? Eh, it wasn't funny when Tom Hanks did it... you may wonder "what are the cities and towns of the Coalition actually like?" But Siembieda doesn't, he just wants to talk about the Burbs. Solely. We'll get whole books on them. Plural. But not yet. In any case, the wait to get Coalition citizenship is long enough that it's gotten these neighborhoods formed around it. Coalition authorities used to try and level the shantytowns and drive off settlers, but it turned out to be an exercise in futility. They also didn't want to just start slaughtering potential citizens (or humans in general), so now they focus on maintaining authority over them. The Burbs population have none of the rights or priviledges of Coalition citizens, however, and the Coalition will often act ruthlessly to drive off real or percieved insurgents, dissidents, inhumans, magic, illegal technology, cults, and saboteurs. Gangs and other criminal groups often effectively rule these areas, and sometimes hidden monsters run things in the the worst of them. However, there are exceptions. Sometimes Burbs organize under a benevolent leader. For the most part, as long as they're human, the Coalition doesn't care about who's in charge as long as somebody is and some sort of order is maintained. Avoiding the Coalition's notice and persecution is generally the first order of business for these leaders (criminal or otherwise), since- Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Machine posted:The Coalition Military or government can tear a Burb down and/or harass its inhabitants whenever they want to. Remember, the inhabitants of the Burbs are not CS citizens and their communities are not recognized as any sort of political entity, so they have absolutely no rights! Thus, the CS Army can enter a Burb, burst into a home or business, trash the place, threaten any of its people, beat, rape and even kill inhabitants with impunity. Wow, Siembieda. You just had to go there, didn't you? The worst situation is when things get so out of hand that the Coalition imposes martial law of a Burb, and they tend to be particularly brutal when they have to do so, seeking to dominate the community into utter submission. Even at the best of the times, the Coalition patrols, shakes down dissidents, and purges suspected supernaturals. Still, there are some benevolent troops that try and take care of the Burbs - or, at least, the humans in it. D-Bees can still get hosed. As mentioned, part of the reason the Burbs exist is because of the long waiting period to become a citizen, averaging three years. In addition, those rejected have to wait 11 years before applying again. Criminals often victimize or recruit applicants during their wait. In addition, the communities attract all sorts of undesirables (as the Coalition defines them, as well as genuine criminals and predators) to take advantage of their opportunities. Though the stereotypical Burb is a tent city or shantytown, larger ones become more like boom towns. The largest and best become like cities unto themselves, with their own leadership and services. And yes, we know know like five times as much about the Burbs than we do about the actual Coalition cities. And I'm 200 pages into this drat thing and we're not even close to done. But that's okay. We can hang in there just long enough.  "Why did you come to where all the Nazis are?" "I'm mostly just a fan of trains." The Denizen of the Chi-Town Burbs Yes, the typo above is from the original. So, want to play a persecuted D-Bee of the Burbs? Now's your chance!... though it notes these can be found throughout North America. And I'll tell you straight out - if you want species with developed cultures, nuanced backgrounds, or really anything beyond one-note played repeatedly, you'll be dissapointed. These are "take an occupation, add some traits based on art, call it a day".  "Seriously, do I look like a gorilla to you?" N'mbyr Gorilla Man R.C.C. So, it says they're named gorilla men after Earth's apes, but they look more like baboons to me. In any case, they're emotional and aggressive, sometimes going gorillazerk, and are generally jocks and tough guys. Not deep folks. Statwise, they're strong and tough, but not very charismatic, pretty, or fast. They get some basic nightvision, And physical psionic powers (20% get some super psionics). They sometimes go berserk when angry - i.e. when the GM tells them they're going berserk - which gives them minor mega-damage punches and other combat bonuses, but they can't really back down or show caution when doing so. Thankfully, there's no nonsense about them attacking friends and allies. They generally can take any Man at Arms class except Juicers or Crazies, or play Wilderness Scout. They get reduced skills, though, making them a middling choice - given all their strength is only useful when they turn into charging idiots.  Dammit, evolution, what have you done? Tirrvol Sword Fist R.C.C. Yep. Sword fists. Supposedly they're really adept with using them for other things, and have prehensile feet, but... well. Sword fists. Most of them are honorable good-guy warriors, and some of them get cybernetic enhancements to keep up on Rifts Earth. A few have seemingly joined the Cyber-Knights, but it doesn't say if they can have psi-swords on their sword fists. Sword fists.  Hands up for sword fists! They're strong, agile, big, and tough, but ugly. They're a minor mega-damage creature, with mild regeneration, prehensile feet (they get a small penalty on manual skills), minor sensitive psionics, and a special array of combat bonuses that really beef up as they go up in levels. Their sword arms only do damage based on their supernatural strength (i.e. surprisingly little). They can take any Man at Arms or Adventurer O.C.C., except for Juicers and Crazies once again. It also says "some use magic" but then later says just a few paragraphs later "Most Sword Fist aren't particularly interested in the pursuits of magic, preferring to rely on the their natural physical powers.", so it's not clear if they can or can't be Men of Magic. (Or women of magic, but Rifts isn't the most egalitarian game.)  Removed nose to decrease wind resistance. Quick-Flex Alien "Quick-Flex". I don't know what that could mean? The internet tells me it's a brand of mechanical coupling, though? It's a weird name. In any case, these mostly look like humans minus noses and plus a bit of eye circumference. They're basically super-fast and everything about them is hung on that fact - they're adventurers, they're impatient, they shoot things well, etc. They sacrifice beauty for speed and agility, and they're and S.D.C. race. They can jump further, get a number of combat bonuses (including a valuable automatic dodge). Their built-in "Quick-Flex Rogue" O.C.C. gives them a number of predictably sneaky skills and an average selection of other stuff. They can take any Man at Arms or Adventurer O.C.C. (including Juicer or Crazy, but those seem slightly redundant) as well, but take a skill penalty to non-Physical/Rogue skills when doing so. They're generically criminal, which makes me wonder what kind of world or society they come from... but this book doesn't care about that, so we're moving on!  Lizard Man #912. Vanguard Brawler It's intereting that a lot of these don't have a true name. I mean, what do Vanguard Brawlers call themselves, even if it's just a miscellaneous colleciton of syllables? Well, whatever the case, these are vaguely reptilian thuggish sorts who gather into clans and gangs, and use intimidation and violence as their chief means of interaction. Rifts World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign posted:Despite their strong arm tactics, they are cunning, resourceful, excellent strategists and good leaders (in a mafia kingpin sort of way). Sure, okay. They're physically adept overall, but aren't charming or pretty. They're minor M.D.C. creatures, with enhanced hearing and smell, infrared vision, can climb around naturally, and get bonuses on a number of saves. They have a Vanguard Brawler Thug O.C.C. that gives them a streetwise package with some physical skills, though they can take any other Man at Arms or Adventurer O.C.C. (with no penalty, for a change) except for Juicer or Crazy. They don't have any sort of aversion to cybernetics, but "most Brawlers who have undergone full conversion become bitter and meaner than usual." because... well... that's what it says.  Aka "techno-giraffe". Trimadore Generically alien save for their long necks, Trimadore (that's the singular and plural) are mainly gentle people with a talent for tinkering and technology. So, they're uglier than humans, continuing with Rifts usual inhuman = ugly (unless you're a dragon or a cat-person then you're pretty pretty, fetishes revealed). But what else? Well, aside from vague no-rules traits like "good hearing" and "innate mechanical aptitude", they get some basic psionics and telemechanics, and some minor combat bonuses. They have a Trimadore Mechanic O.C.C. that's good at engineering and computing, but you can be a Rogue Scholar, Cyber-Doc, Operator, or Techno-Wizard instead if you like. In general, they continue the basic trait of "take an occupation, generically wrap a D-Bee concept around it" so far.  Just a cape short of being a Sorcerer Supreme. Kremin Cyborg So, these are a few dozen alien cyborgs who have arrived on a self-professed mission of peaceful exploration and cultural exchange. While they don't seem to be shocked by or strangers to fighting, they seem to try an maintain a sort of neutrality (factional, not moral, you can calm down, Siembieda). However, the Coalition has discovered their bionics are very advanced, thanks to a few dissections, and have an order to shoot the Kremin on sight. As such, the Kremin avoid Coalition territories- Wait, I thought this was The Denizen of the Chi-Town Burbs? Not sure what these guys are doing here, then. Getting dissected, apparently? In any case, it marks their alignment as "unknown" due to the psionic blockers they have - as if this wasn't an OOC block of stats. They're strong-willed and overall physically pretty potent (but random for some reason, despite being cyborgs). They get hit locations but have average cyborg toughness, with the ability to regenerate if they can find M.D.C. material for their nanobots to feed on, which would be a neat mechanic if it were actually detailed. They have a cybernetic mind block that keeps people from reading their thoughts and gives them bonuses versus psionics. By charing their fit with energy, they can do added M.D.C. damage, and get wakazashi that does minor damage from swings or blasts, but can do a stun attack that can easily stunlock an enemy indefinitely as long as you can hit them one in two times. They also get a Kremin Cyborg R.C.C., which is just a Coalition Technical Officer minus the racism. They get a variety of other cybernetic systems and are actually pretty decent as far as cyborgs go, but they really need to pack a weapon with more damage than their dinky swords to be effective.  Ha, as if any human can survive a wound in this game! Next: Maneater.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 20:36
|
|
|
Just gonna toss out that 3 years is faster, in some cases 2x to 3x faster, than waiting for citizenship in the US right now, and if you break the law or some such you typically have a lifetime ban not some 11 year weaksaucery.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2017 23:06
|
|
|
Barudak posted:Just gonna toss out that 3 years is faster, in some cases 2x to 3x faster, than waiting for citizenship in the US right now, and if you break the law or some such you typically have a lifetime ban not some 11 year weaksaucery. It's a good point to make. I didn't think of it at the time I wrote it, but three years seems like an awful pie-in-the-sky number upon reflection.
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 00:06
|
|
|
As opposed to the well thought out statistics in the rest of the work?
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 00:18
|
|
|
Really the shocking part is that it isn't 2d6 x 5 months.
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 00:29
|
|
|
Also living in the Burbs sounds awful but living in ICE detention centers is in some ways worse--you're basically in prison, outside contact and visitation (even by lawyers) is highly restricted, and they move people around at random from center to center with no notification of the prisoner or their families. Siembieda at this point has a queue of 'supremely evil' beings that 'love to torture and sadistically hunt down lesser beings' but he constantly demonstrates a lack of understanding of real evil.
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 01:03
|
|
|
To be fair, if you live in the wrong neighborhood you could get brutalized or annihilated by the Coalition's whim, but yes.
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 01:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:32 |
|
|
Alien Rope Burn posted:To be fair, if you live in the wrong neighborhood you could get brutalized or annihilated by the Coalition's whim, but yes. again, not unlike ICE
|
|
#
?
May 19, 2017 01:18
|
|