Rifts
I ran a Rifts campaign for a little bit. My characters all worked for Larsen's Brigade. We had a Psi-Slinger, a robot pilot, a mage/bounty hunter, a Juicer (me), a Dragon Wolf with super powers, a big berserker named Fearon and a White Tiger Cyborg, along with some captured Angrar Assault Robots and a mutant prostitute with webbed feet named Chloe. It was a hack-and-slash campaign, but it was fun. Anyway, I came up with some original content for Rifts, which I then plugged right back into Final Battle (in Final Battle, people tend to leap on any advantage they can get).
I also recently started a new Rifts campaign with a much greater attempt at keeping within the rules. This has made me recognize how good some items are that I used to not like, especially magic (god, Annihilate is insane, especially when casted multiple times by gods).
Please e-mail me at siva69@hotmail.com for joining information or if you want to point out a balance problem; I don't have a lot of time to play-test, so please, help me. I shall try to err on the side of caution if I must err at all.
Rifts Links:
Quality In Rifts: http://www.home.golden.net/~pover/rifts/rifts.htm
My Campaign:
Important Changes to the World:
The West Coast has become fused with the Fallout 2 notion. In keeping with the Fallout 2 notion, I roll for random encounters and add Luck in as an attribute; 1-10. I still need to come up with Death Claw stats and such.
Conversions into Rifts from other games
Fallout 2: I've tried to be gracious to Fallout 2. While you can argue that a Gauss rifle should inflict S.D.C. because it doesn't even kill some regular people (!), I point out that the tech level appears to be maybe only 10 or 20 years behind Rifts, we never get to see the Gauss in action against a wall, and that the Gauss rifle is very powerful in FO2, so shouldn't it at least be a fairly good weapon in Rifts?
Gundam Wing: I'll be trying to work on this one. The weapons of the OZ and the other enemies the Gundams fight appear to be roughly equal to Robotech-power weapons, which would mean Gundams probably have 1000+ M.D.C. They are powerful superweapons, but I'd like to see a Gundam fight an Elder God.
Quake 2 Superheroes: This fun little mod for Quake 2 is very fun, so I'm doing conversions into Rifts. The powers are varied and interesting.
Starcraft: I'll try to get this up, but I'll have to work on scale. It should be noted that Starcraft conversions are especially hard, even in games where there already is a notable armor class (which Rifts is not one of). Should I make Starcraft stuff M.D.? There is no question for me here; yes. But should I keep the basic scale (i.e. a lone assassin hacks a tank into pieces in 3 hits at max), or if I must skew it, in what direction should I? Ah, the trials and tribulations of a lone GM. I'd say currently that a 1-to-1 ratio would make sense.
Super Powers:
Infesting Brain
Game Changes and Advice:
My Opinion on the Scenario in Xiticix Invasion
A Fusion of FO2 and Rifts, and the fun (and ease!) it brings
Adding a Luck Attribute
My Federation of Magic™ Conversions
Impairments for Attribute Points
Other Ways to Pimp the System
New O.C.C.s:
Tattooed Spy
New R.C.C.s:
See Conversions for some interesting R.C.C.s.
New Spells:
The unique condition of the Rifts Earth has been instrumental in developing new magicks. With the amazing concentration of magicians, both human and otherwise, numerous new spells have been developed.
Curses Developed by Markus Akirus:
Other Spells:
Necromancy:
Ludicrous/Trickster Magic:
Magic Pinochle Deck of Vengeance
Aspects:
By the way, Aspects were the work of some person on the Internet that I found. I wish I had the original URL, but I don't want to dig it up. So, congrats (Insert your Name Here). I've decided to do some particular ones of my own. Aspects are basically spell forms of Mind Block Auto-Defense: sacrifice MP permanently to get a permanent ability. In my opinion, not every spell will work, but I've come up with a few.
Aspect Explanation. Read this first!
Life Source
Lightning Arc
New Weapons:
Anti-Magic Cloud Mine
Armor Belt
Lightning Rod Mines
Mindshatter Mines
Speed of the Snail Mines
Storm Mines
New Psynetics:
Emergency Psychic Inducer (powerful, experimental psynetic)
New Tattooes:
Growing Person (equal to the spell Giant OR 1/2 of the Super ability; must choose at start)
Man in Shadows Growing (shadow strength)
Weapon and Scream (agonizing weapon)
Weapon Around Shattered Armor Pieces (weapon does x4 damage to armor and inanimates alone)
Weapon Dipped in Poison (makes the weapon poisonous)
Weapon Disarming another Weapon (magical disarm)
Weapon Floating on Clouds (exceptionally light and well-crafted; can be used to make absurdly large weapons)
Weapon Held By Invisible Hand (animated weapon; low quality)
Weapon Held by Legendary Warrior (W.P. boost/teaching)
Weapon Piercing the Neck, Wrists or Head (enhanced wound capacity)
Weapon Smashing Through or Impaling Armor (armor-piercing weapon)
Weapon with Dice (halves minimum damage, doubles maximum)
Weapon with Dice Shedding Blood (either double critical chance or x4 damage when critical is achieved)
Weapon with Shadows Following it (multi-attack)
New Skills:
Combat Biology (Military/Science)
Lore: Biowizardy, Parasites, and Symbiotes
W.P. Mace/Morning Star
W.P. Power Tools (chainsaws, drills, buzzsaws, etc.)
W.P. Sickle/Scythe
NPCs:
Hook, Line, and Sinker™
New Psionics:
Combat Clairvoyance
Random Encounters (can also be applied to most Fallout-style RPGs):
Dr. Wily's Laboratory
Gheed's Casino
Heart of Gold
Hobo-Dome 2000
Swordhead/I Should Kick You
The Ultimately Efficient Army
New Parasites:
Dark Karmic
Parasitic Wings
New Symbiotes:
Endurer Symbiote
Kinesthene
New Bio-wizard Modifications:
Stalk Eye Upgrade
Stone Eyes
Superior Voice Control and Volume
Sword Arms
Tentacle Legs
