I'm trying to think what character would be so ruinous to the idea of a conversion that you haven't written up yet. Been so long since I looked at any of the books.
It's not so much the class itself as it is all the stuff that goes with it.
And it doesn't make conversion impossible, just obscenely time consuming and/or very difficult to shoehorn into certain systems.
Techno-Wizard: With Prices This Low, I Must Be Crazy!
Just about every roleplaying game has one. The weirdo inventor guy who seems to have supernatural powers when it comes to designing, building and maintaining whacked out gizmos that appear to violate the laws of nature. In Rifts, that guy is the Techno-Wizard, those powers are real, and the laws of nature can suck it.
I'm too sexy for my jacket.
Half mad scientist, half genius engineer, half Gandalf, these people are among the most eccentric spellcasters in the game. Also; the most sought after. Depending on your party makeup, having a Techno-Wizard might be like having an Operator in the party who can also hurl fireballs when necessary.
Please. That fool Gandalf wishes he had a staff this bad ass.
As the name would imply, Techno-Wizards aren't light on the technical skills. They can usually build or repair just about anything, most of the time at just below the proficiency rates you'd see in an Operator. They won't have the lore knowledge of machines and pre-Rifts Earth that you get with an Operator, though, nor do they get the breadth of the Operator's skill base. The mechanical and electrical skills of the average Techno-Wizard are very focused. In general, they can build you big, loud things that go fast, fly, or explode.
Being this awesome? Priceless (6 Orphans)
Where they make up for this seeming deficiency in their mechanical abilities (though, really, what's worth building if it doesn't go fast, fly or explode?) is in their fusion of magic and technology. Sure, the Operator can repair that torched servo on your SAMAS, but can he make it turn invisible?
Or shoot magical flames from its eyes? Or convert it to a clean, renewable power source? No, if you want an invisible, fire-shooting power armor that runs on orphan souls, you're gonna need a Techno-Wizard.
Powered by 100% clean burning orphans.
In fact, via the addition of mystical symbols and a seemingly random collection of gems, your friendly neighborhood Techno-Wizard can convert virtually anything to run on magical energy. Even things that didn't need energy in the first place, like knives or kites.
Referred to as "Techno-Wizardry Items", the variety of things that can be created or converted in this fashion is limited only by the imagination of the people at the table, the amount of P.P.E. the Techno-Wizard can scrape together and the good sense of the GM. Stock items include TW Boards (or "tree trimmers) that are basically surf boards that fly along Ley Lines, sword hilts that flare up a blade of fire at a thought, guns that shoot fireballs or lightning, armor that can make you invulnerable to energy weapons and daylight grenades.
Demon-powered chainsaws; 46% more metal than regular chainsaws.
Basically, anything technology can do, techno-wizardry can do better, if less reliably. There's only one catch; you have to be a spellcaster or a psychic to use it. Unless you can channel either P.P.E. or I.S.P., you can't even get one of these wondergadgets to turn on, much less turn you invisible while bathing your enemies in supernatural fire.
To use a techno-wizardry item, it is necessary to power the item with magical energy. Effectively, you spend some of your own energy and instead of getting one of your own personal spells or abilities you use the spell that's stored in the item. The cost associated with the use of a spell in this fashion is typically pretty close to the cost to cast it yourself, meaning that true wizards won't usually waste their time on a suit of armor that has a Chameleon spell built into it, but for the odd Headhunter or Juicer that is a Major Psionic, it can be a very useful thing to have.
Have you considered upgrading to something in a Godfist?
Some items work without personal energy expenditure, but they still won't work for people with no magical or psychic ability. Examples include the Tree Trimmers that can be ridden above ley lines, or virtually any other means of transport that requires ley lines to function. They'll take their power directly from the line, requiring no personal input from those inside. These kinds of transports are incredibly popular among adventurers, for reasons that should be obvious.
Wheeeeeeeeeee!
All this upside comes with one fairly major downside; the Techno-Wizard isn't much of a spellcaster. Spells they actually cast, as oppose to build into an over-elaborate machine and activate via blood sacrifice, are only about half as effective as those cast by any other of the mage characters. As downsides go, it's kind of a harsh one. But when you weigh it against the ability to build guns that shoot mega damage ice and giant magical robots, it could be worse.
For this installment of our spell rundown, we're going to go with three that are near and dear to the heart of Techno-Wizards.
1. Energy Bolt
The incantation creates an energy bolt that the mage can mentally
direct by simply looking at his intended target. The bolt may appear
to fire from a hand or finger or the eyes, but needs no physical gesture,
such as pointing. S.D.C. damage is normally four six-sided dice (4D6),
but is increased to 6D6 under the influence of a ley line and 8D6 at a
ley line nexus; P.P.E. cost is still only five despite the increased damage
capability. One energy bolt can be fired at one target per each spell
invocation.
This is probably the least inspiring spell in the book. Sure, it only costs 5 P.P.E. (.1 Orphans), but it's just pure damage and not even much of that. Even at its biggest incarnation, you're not doing mega damage with this spell. So why include it?
Because Techno-Wizards use this in everything. This is the catch-all spell component for any techno-wizard item that would normally require a battery or other power source if it wasn't converted to run on orphans. Everything from a magic-powered laser pistol to a TW Landrover will require this spell. Anything bigger will take its larger cousin, Energy Field. But between those two spells, we're looking at something like 95% of constructable items. Techno-Wizards are going to be using this a LOT.
2. Chameleon
This spell enables the affected person to seemingly alter the color
and pattern of his clothes and physical body, enabling him to blend
into the surrounding environment. Movement destroys the effectiveness
of this magic.
The spell description then goes on to provide percentages of concealment based on movement speed. It's basically completely effective still, but movement makes it drop off pretty quickly. Still, it's 4 and a half minutes of pseudo-invisibility per level for 6 P.P.E. (.2 Orphans). Not a bad deal.
I included this spell because your average, over-active Techno-Wizard is going to add it to absolutely everything. Armors, motorcycles, aircraft, power armor, anything and everything they can get their hands on. It is unclear what the genesis of this particular obsession is, but I have literally seen games where characters in camouflaged armor rode camouflaged skycycles that launched from a camouflaged air transport. Apparently Techno-Wizards really wish they were ninjas.
Sometimes they are ninjas.
3. Fly
The arcanist can magically bestow the power of flight only to an
inanimate object not made of metal or plastic. He or she can then use
that object to fly.
This is the magic carpet/ flying broom spell. For 15 P.P.E. (.5 Orphans), you get 6 minutes/level of mechanically assisted flight. It kind of allows non-Techno-Wizards to act like one for a little while; any Mystic or Ley Line Walker with this spell can make a motorcycle fly, after all.
But in the hands of a Techno-Wizard, it allows all sorts of craziness. Got an old vintage airplane that you can't find parts for? Just slap some rose quartz in that puppy and wire up a Fly-based engine. Disappointed that the "off road" portion of your ATV description doesn't include air travel? We can fix that, it'll just take some aquamarine and a trip to the local orphanage.
This is also the primary spell for things like Tree Trimmers and Ley Line Trains as well. A Techno-Wizard without Fly is really missing out on some very useful things. In fact, there's a variant on the class that got published in Rifter that focuses specifically on uses of Fly and the machines it goes into.
Techno-Wizards never got much love in my campaigns--no one ever wanted to play one, sadly. I would have, were I not GM'ing all the damn time. Also, I'm pretty sure the Federation of Magic book went and expanded this section of wizardry substantially. I need to go back and thumb through this stuff, I'm getting all nostalgic.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
edited April 2011
They do have a weird neither fish nor fowl thing going.
Not pure tech, so that's one kind of cool point cut into, but not that good at solo magicing.
I mean, I see the awesome side, but I can see the problems.
Didn't they introduce TW-made items that non-magic users could wield later on? I could swear I remember something like that--like they just needed to be reloaded with magic, but anyone could pull the trigger. Personally, I always felt that would have been much cooler if they'd been like that to begin with. It would have broadened their appeal a bit.
Techno-Wizard was one of those classes that always kinda felt like you needed an accomodating GM to really play properly. I can't remember if we ever had a significant one in one of our games, but I always felt like relying on players to invent a large portion of what their character does was kind of a dodgy proposition.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
There's a very long list of buildable stuff at this point, with the obvious caveat that just because it's written down in Rifts doesn't make it a good idea to let players have.
Really, the best part about Techno-Wizards is the fact that each of their enhancements for something has to have a physical component. So if that Juicer wants you to add Breathe Without Air to his otherwise non-Environmental armor, you can add a hello-kitty breath mask connected with a bright pink hose to a hip mounted mickey mouse squeeze ball.
One of my favorites was giving the Psi-stalker the ability to cast Fire Bolt from his armor, with the component being a rainbow diagram on his chest plate.
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
edited April 2011
I don't know if this has been answered, but what does "eyeballin' a fellow" do? Does it give you supernatural hobo insight on the content of one's character or does it creep people out massively?
In a game that is, intentionally or otherwise, primarily about the human race and the lengths we'll go to in order to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by predators from our darkest collective nightmares, this section of the main rule book is probably the strangest non-sequitor imaginable. Suddenly, instead of a member of plucky, squishy humanity, players are presented with the option of playing one of those predators. And a rather tempting option it is.
It's good to be apex predator.
This book has four options for would-be dragons; Great Horned, Fire, Ice and Thunder Lizard. There are minor variances in base attributes, M.D.C., strength of breath weapon, etc, but there are some basic things that they all get.
1. Mega Damage Being: Every dragon can withstand M.D. attacks and deal them out with breath weapons and hand to hand attacks.
2. Metamorphosis: They can change their shape to any living animal, including humans.
3. Teleport: At will, up to 5 miles.
4. Psionics: Major or Minor psionic, access to a decent range of powers.
5. Spellcasting: Starting at level 3, gains 2 spells a level and intuitively understands all magical items.
The downside? You are literally days old and your skills reflect it. PC dragons are hatchlings, in a somewhat refreshing nod to the fact that older dragons would be ridiculously overpowered as opposed to just really, really overpowered like the babies.
"Whelp, I'm 6 hours old now. Better get to that adventuring."
Dragons straight out of the egg get very few skills from an extremely limited list. It's worth noting that they start literate in two languages (at 98% no less) but there's no mention of them being able to speak or understand any human language. They can also add, subtract and divide at 98% proficiency, and have access to power armor skills. Because if there's one thing that makes sense for a freshly hatched dragon, it's the ability to pilot a Glitter Boy.
Feel my wrath!
Limited though they are, the skills available to a freshly hatched, mega damage, at will metamorphising dragon are only slightly less in number (11 total if you assume that they can speak any language they can read vs 17) and from a wider range of options than are available to the Vagabond class. Congratulations, squishy human. You can cook and play the guitar, but this guy can immolate you with his breath and steal your identity, and possibly defuse explosives to boot. Remember this the next time somebody tries to blame mechanical imbalance in Rifts on splat books.
Though seriously, Wujick. WTF?
And if the types of dragon available here don't catch your fancy, you're in luck. New options are added all the time. There are Japanese dragons, Chinese dragons, English dragons that look suspiciously like chinese dragons, etc. The Ulitimate printing of the main book adds 4 completely new dragons as well, and even more can be found in the various conversion books and other add ons. There are a bewildering number of options for anyone who wants to play a dragon.
Including the rarely seen Badass Cyber Monocled Dragon.
This is a fairly short entry because, well, this is a really short section of the book. 2 pages of text for what are effectively 4 playable classes, and some of the most powerful straight out of the box characters in the game.
Putting aside the obvious edges of the dragon class, there were some interesting nods to them in the early source books for rifts including them being able to kill vampires (srsly, fuck vampires) and splugorth minions tended to piss themselves when they saw them; makes for good times when your player group can send a slaver team running just with an angry look.
The other nice thing about dragons was that in the ultimate edition the dragons got their own hand to hand style and weren't stuck with basic.
All in all, dragons made for an interesting, thematic class.
The addition of Dragon hand to hand really helped them jump from generic supernatural creature to feeling like an actual dragon. Before they got that it kind of felt like they were just M.D. sluggers that could polymorph themselves. But things like a tail slap and constriction attacks really made them feel dragon-y.
Dragon hatchlings are a fun class to play. Especially if you really play up the "I just hatched" naivete alongside the "supernatural killing machine" aspect.
The addition of Dragon hand to hand really helped them jump from generic supernatural creature to feeling like an actual dragon. Before they got that it kind of felt like they were just M.D. sluggers that could polymorph themselves. But things like a tail slap and constriction attacks really made them feel dragon-y.
Dragon hatchlings are a fun class to play. Especially if you really play up the "I just hatched" naivete alongside the "supernatural killing machine" aspect.
Really, that's what I loved most about the ultimate edition of rifts, the shift that most of the "underpowered" classes got from being space fillers to getting flavorful additions to their classes abilities without making them stupidly powerful. Too bad they didn't do that way back in '92 and use it as the basis for the whole rifts line.
The addition of Dragon hand to hand really helped them jump from generic supernatural creature to feeling like an actual dragon. Before they got that it kind of felt like they were just M.D. sluggers that could polymorph themselves. But things like a tail slap and constriction attacks really made them feel dragon-y.
Dragon hatchlings are a fun class to play. Especially if you really play up the "I just hatched" naivete alongside the "supernatural killing machine" aspect.
Dragons have hardcore, M.D.C. bio-regeneration, so any of the stuff we've covered so far that requires body alteration (Juicer, Borg, Crazy) is off the table.
Their shapeshifting allows them to use any equipment that humans can use, plus giant equipment meant for D-Bees. Limited by their skills, as per usual.
The only real downsides are their limited access to skills and the fact that they register as supernatural predators to anyone who has the ability to recognize such, including the Coalition, the Federation of Magic and random psi-stalkers who might be hungry. A dragon hatchling isn't just walking into Coalition-held territory, for example. The dog boys will sniff him out before he even makes it to the gate.
I vaguely remember a story my buddy once told of a Rifts game he was playing in where one guy was a dragon. The bad guys used some type of spell that aged everyone in the group like 1000 years or something. This worked out badly for everyone except the dragon who was now just a 1000 year old dragon. It didn't work out well for the bad guys after that either.
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
I vaguely remember a story my buddy once told of a Rifts game he was playing in where one guy was a dragon. The bad guys used some type of spell that aged everyone in the group like 1000 years or something. This worked out badly for everyone except the dragon who was now just a 1000 year old dragon. It didn't work out well for the bad guys after that either.
I don't think the bad guys thought their cunning plan through...
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
What kinds of bonuses do 1000 year old dragons get vs hatchlings, just out of morbid curiosity?
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
What kinds of bonuses do 1000 year old dragons get vs hatchlings, just out of morbid curiosity?
Depends on the dragon, but I seem to recall that the great horned dragon winds up with 1500-4500 MDC, 8 attacks, a strength attribute around 50 as well as stats all up in the 20's, mastery of at least one kind of magic, a shitload of psionics, dimensional teleportation at will, regenerating 1d6X10 damage per melee, night vision, flight, the ability to see the invisible, turn invisible at will...
One of these things with addequate MDC can slug it out with anything short of a god and has a good chance of killing it.
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
What level does a hatchling have to be to cast the "age person" spell, out of curiosity? Dunno about you, but I would totally be casting that on myself if I were a dragon...
Reproduced below are the statblocks for the Great Horned Dragon in both Hatchling (available PC class) and adult forms.
Hatchling:
Great Horned Dragon Hatchling
Attributes: The numbers indicated under each attribute is the number
of dice to be rolled for each. For example: I.Q. 5 means that five
six-sided dice (5D6) are rolled to determine the I.Q.
I.Q. 5, M.A. 4, M.E. 5, P.S. 6, P.P. 4, P.E. 5, P.B. 6, Spd. 4
These attributes stay pretty constant until the dragon reaches full
maturity at about 600 year old. At that time the physical attribute
increase dramatically.
P.P.E.: 2D6x10
Mega-Damage/Hit Points: 1D4x 100 + 50 M.D. points
Armor Rating: Skin is a mega-damage substance that is impervious
to normal weapons. Magic, psionics, and mega-damage weapons
have full effect.
Natural Abilities: Fly 70mph (112 km), nightvision 90 ft (27.4 m),
see the invisible, fire and cold resistant (does half damage), and can
bio-regenerate 1D4x 10 M.D. points every five minutes.
Metamorphosis: Is another natural ability. The dragon can completely
alter his physical shape, transforming himself to look like
any living animal, from human being to raven. There are some
limitations; the dragon can not metamorphosize into inanimate objects
or insects. The minimum size is about the size of a cat and
the maximum size can not exceed his own. The transformation can
last two hours per level of experience (an adult dragon can maintain
the transformation for 48 hours). If on or near a ley line or nexus
point (within two miles/3.2 km), the time is tripled. Note: Regardless
of his shape, a dragon is a dragon, with all its natural powers and
abilities. So a hatchling metamorphed to look like a bunny rabbit
can still talk, cast spells, and kick with the strength of a dragon.
The metamorphosis does not instill any of the abilities of the animal,
only its appearance.
Teleport: 28 + 2% per level of experience. Teleportation is a special
power common to most dragons. The character can teleport, at will,
up to five miles away. At the hatchling stage, he can only teleport
himself. The percentage number indicates the likelihood of being
able to activate the teleportation. A failed roll means the teleport
does not happen. The hatchling can attempt a teleport once every
other melee round. Only a mature dragon can perform a dimensional
teleport without using a ley line nexus.
Fire Breath: 2D6 M.D., range: 60 feet.
Psionics: Major psionic; player can select a total of eight psychic powers
from any of the psychic categories except super. Select an additional
four at fifth level and another four at tenth level. I.S.P.: 3D4 x 10
Magic Knowledge: Full understanding of magic, but knows no spells
yet. However, can intuitively use all types of techno-wizardry devices
without instruction, can read magic, use scrolls, and recognizes
magic circles and enchantment. Can also sense ley lines and nexus
points and other dragons; range: 20 miles (32 km). Note that this
sensing ability can not pinpoint specific locations, only nearness
and general direction.
Spells: Can be learned by the usual means beginning at third level.
The hatchling can cast two new spells per level of experience.
Combat abilities: Equal to hand to hand: basic, + 1 melee attack.
Average Life Span: 6000
Adult (via Conversion Book 1):
Attributes: I.Q. 2D6+18, M.A. 2D6+18, M.E. 2D6+18, P.S.
2D6 + 40, P.P. 2D6+ 12, P.E. 3D6+ 12, P.B. 4D6+ 10, Spd 2D4x10
running, but 2D6x10+ 100 flying.
M.D.C.: 2D4x1000 + 500 (lD4x100 + 50 for hatchlings)
Horror Factor: 18, P.P.E.: 2D6x100 + 200 (adult)
Natural Abilities: Nightvision 100 ft (30.5 m; can see in total darkness),
excellent color vision, see the invisible, turn invisible at will, bio-regeneration
1D4x10 M.D. per minute, resistant to fire and cold (does half
damage, including M.D. magic fire and plasma energy), teleport self
92% (see Rifts, page 100), dimensional teleport 52%, and metamorphosis
at will (lasts for an indefinite period, days, weeks, months;
human or animal form).
Combat: Eight physical attacks per melee, or four fire breath and four
physical, or three by magic. Favorite weapon is magic.
Damage: Restrained punch 1D6x10 S.D.C. damage plus P.S. bonus,
full strength punch does 6D6 M.D., power punch 1D6x10 + 20 M.D.
(counts as two attacks), kick or slashing tail attack 6D6 M.D., bite
does 6D6 M.D., or fire breath: range 100 feet (30.5 m), six feet wide
(1.8 m), inflicts 6D6 M.D. and can be used as often as four times a
melee.
Bonuses: +3 to strike, +4 to parry and dodge, +4 on initiative, +4
to pull punch, +4 to roll with impact, +4 on all saving throws, in
addition to attribute bonuses.
Magic: P.P.E. 2D6x100 + 200. All spell magic from levels 1-11, plus
restoration and resurrection. Equal to a 1D6 + 8 level practitioner of
magic. There is also a chance that the creature will know additional
areas of magic. Roll on the following table.
01-30 Knows all spell magic through level 15.
31-50 A 1D4 + 3 level diabolist.
51-70 A 1D4 + 3 level techno-wizard. Select an additional six spells
from each levels 5-13.
71-90 A 1D4 + 3 level summoner or shifter.
91-00 A 1D4 + 2 level warlock (any).
Psionics: I.S.P. 3D4x 10 + 80. Palladium RPG style characters have
all level one, two, and three abilities, plus extended telekinesis. Rifts
style characters have all sensitive, physical, and healing psi-powers,
plus bio-manipulation and psi-sword.
R.C.C. Skills: Basic and advanced math 98%, literate in Dragonese/
Elven and Spanish 98% and four other languages of choice, plus speaks
six additional languages at 98%, demon & monster lore 98%, faerie
lore 90%, as well as four selections from the skill categories of communications,domestic, electrical, pilot, pilot related (3 skills), rogue, science, technical, wilderness, and weapon proficiencies. Average equivalent experience level is 1D6 + 8, plus I.Q. bonus and a +10% skill
bonus for selected skills (skill level should be the same as level of
magic).
Average Life Span: 6000+ years.
Of course, any sane DM isn't going to be playing Rifts. But any marginally sane DM who finds themselves helming a Rifts game probably wouldn't give you a bunch of free skills, magic abilities and psionics just for having been magically aged.
You know, I never had anyone try out playing as a dragon in any of my campaigns. I totally would have allowed it, too.
I did, however, once run a Palladium campaign where every player was some form of higher Demon or Deevil. Had a Raksasha, a Balrog, and an Arch-Fiend, if memory serves. The latter didn't get along too well with the former, what with the warring realms and all.
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
Of course, any sane DM isn't going to be playing Rifts. But any marginally sane DM who finds themselves helming a Rifts game probably wouldn't give you a bunch of free skills, magic abilities and psionics just for having been magically aged.
Yeah, I'd give them anything physical, and unless the spell was worded "gives them the experience of living 1000 years", I'd not let them learn new languages, magics that aren't innate etc. Then again, I've never been a Rifts GM... potentially because I'm sane?
Regardless the extra physical stats sound pretty powerful/broken.
We never had anyone play a dragon either. They just kind of don't fit there at the end of the core book. It's all CS this and magic-user that. Then, bam! supernatural badass creature.
Oh man, Cosmo-Knights. I think I mentioned them further up-thread, but yeah, it'd be cool to take a detour so people can get an idea of just how crazy-pants-on-head this shit gets.
Any game that includes among its potential player characters a class that is literally designed to go hand to hand with a star destroyer and escape unharmed as well as one that has to choose between the ability to cook beans and basic literacy is alright by me.
Haha, Techno-Wizards. My favorite character class. My personal preference was to make items that were more or less indistinguishable from the norm, just running on magic and with classy gem touches (too much and it ends up looking like you Bedazzled your gun [or in modern terms, Swaravski crystaled it]) . Unfortunately, the artists seem to go the route of making everything look like it had been covered with wax and spiderwebs, then held under a heat lamp for half an hour.
One trick was to take normal SDC weapons, convert them to magic, then take them through checkpoints. "What, this? I shoot rats with it. Won't even put a scratch in that fancy armor of yours."
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Any game that includes among its potential player characters a class that is literally designed to go hand to hand with a star destroyer and escape unharmed as well as one that has to choose between the ability to cook beans and basic literacy is alright by me.
The best, best, best thing about Cosmo Knights is that you can, literally, trade in your current MDC for MORE MDC.
I'm pretty sure that the cosmo knight is one of those classes/races that the company cautions GM's about for balance reasons.
Which reminds me of the one thing that a lot of people forget about rifts: It's only as nutty as the GM allows it to be. Myself, I was willing to allow my players to take a fairly impressive variety of classes and equpiment, but they had an obligation to explain how all of it made sense. Maxi man with 2 symbiotes? Sure! Dog Boy with genesplicer mods, psynetic impants dual wielding swords of atlantis from the comfort of his TW terrain hopper power armor? Alright smart guy lets hear the details.
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And it doesn't make conversion impossible, just obscenely time consuming and/or very difficult to shoehorn into certain systems.
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Just about every roleplaying game has one. The weirdo inventor guy who seems to have supernatural powers when it comes to designing, building and maintaining whacked out gizmos that appear to violate the laws of nature. In Rifts, that guy is the Techno-Wizard, those powers are real, and the laws of nature can suck it.
I'm too sexy for my jacket.
Half mad scientist, half genius engineer, half Gandalf, these people are among the most eccentric spellcasters in the game. Also; the most sought after. Depending on your party makeup, having a Techno-Wizard might be like having an Operator in the party who can also hurl fireballs when necessary.
Please. That fool Gandalf wishes he had a staff this bad ass.
As the name would imply, Techno-Wizards aren't light on the technical skills. They can usually build or repair just about anything, most of the time at just below the proficiency rates you'd see in an Operator. They won't have the lore knowledge of machines and pre-Rifts Earth that you get with an Operator, though, nor do they get the breadth of the Operator's skill base. The mechanical and electrical skills of the average Techno-Wizard are very focused. In general, they can build you big, loud things that go fast, fly, or explode.
Being this awesome? Priceless (6 Orphans)
Where they make up for this seeming deficiency in their mechanical abilities (though, really, what's worth building if it doesn't go fast, fly or explode?) is in their fusion of magic and technology. Sure, the Operator can repair that torched servo on your SAMAS, but can he make it turn invisible?
Or shoot magical flames from its eyes? Or convert it to a clean, renewable power source? No, if you want an invisible, fire-shooting power armor that runs on orphan souls, you're gonna need a Techno-Wizard.
Powered by 100% clean burning orphans.
In fact, via the addition of mystical symbols and a seemingly random collection of gems, your friendly neighborhood Techno-Wizard can convert virtually anything to run on magical energy. Even things that didn't need energy in the first place, like knives or kites.
Referred to as "Techno-Wizardry Items", the variety of things that can be created or converted in this fashion is limited only by the imagination of the people at the table, the amount of P.P.E. the Techno-Wizard can scrape together and the good sense of the GM. Stock items include TW Boards (or "tree trimmers) that are basically surf boards that fly along Ley Lines, sword hilts that flare up a blade of fire at a thought, guns that shoot fireballs or lightning, armor that can make you invulnerable to energy weapons and daylight grenades.
Demon-powered chainsaws; 46% more metal than regular chainsaws.
Basically, anything technology can do, techno-wizardry can do better, if less reliably. There's only one catch; you have to be a spellcaster or a psychic to use it. Unless you can channel either P.P.E. or I.S.P., you can't even get one of these wondergadgets to turn on, much less turn you invisible while bathing your enemies in supernatural fire.
To use a techno-wizardry item, it is necessary to power the item with magical energy. Effectively, you spend some of your own energy and instead of getting one of your own personal spells or abilities you use the spell that's stored in the item. The cost associated with the use of a spell in this fashion is typically pretty close to the cost to cast it yourself, meaning that true wizards won't usually waste their time on a suit of armor that has a Chameleon spell built into it, but for the odd Headhunter or Juicer that is a Major Psionic, it can be a very useful thing to have.
Have you considered upgrading to something in a Godfist?
Some items work without personal energy expenditure, but they still won't work for people with no magical or psychic ability. Examples include the Tree Trimmers that can be ridden above ley lines, or virtually any other means of transport that requires ley lines to function. They'll take their power directly from the line, requiring no personal input from those inside. These kinds of transports are incredibly popular among adventurers, for reasons that should be obvious.
Wheeeeeeeeeee!
All this upside comes with one fairly major downside; the Techno-Wizard isn't much of a spellcaster. Spells they actually cast, as oppose to build into an over-elaborate machine and activate via blood sacrifice, are only about half as effective as those cast by any other of the mage characters. As downsides go, it's kind of a harsh one. But when you weigh it against the ability to build guns that shoot mega damage ice and giant magical robots, it could be worse.
For this installment of our spell rundown, we're going to go with three that are near and dear to the heart of Techno-Wizards.
1. Energy Bolt
This is probably the least inspiring spell in the book. Sure, it only costs 5 P.P.E. (.1 Orphans), but it's just pure damage and not even much of that. Even at its biggest incarnation, you're not doing mega damage with this spell. So why include it?
Because Techno-Wizards use this in everything. This is the catch-all spell component for any techno-wizard item that would normally require a battery or other power source if it wasn't converted to run on orphans. Everything from a magic-powered laser pistol to a TW Landrover will require this spell. Anything bigger will take its larger cousin, Energy Field. But between those two spells, we're looking at something like 95% of constructable items. Techno-Wizards are going to be using this a LOT.
2. Chameleon
The spell description then goes on to provide percentages of concealment based on movement speed. It's basically completely effective still, but movement makes it drop off pretty quickly. Still, it's 4 and a half minutes of pseudo-invisibility per level for 6 P.P.E. (.2 Orphans). Not a bad deal.
I included this spell because your average, over-active Techno-Wizard is going to add it to absolutely everything. Armors, motorcycles, aircraft, power armor, anything and everything they can get their hands on. It is unclear what the genesis of this particular obsession is, but I have literally seen games where characters in camouflaged armor rode camouflaged skycycles that launched from a camouflaged air transport. Apparently Techno-Wizards really wish they were ninjas.
Sometimes they are ninjas.
3. Fly
This is the magic carpet/ flying broom spell. For 15 P.P.E. (.5 Orphans), you get 6 minutes/level of mechanically assisted flight. It kind of allows non-Techno-Wizards to act like one for a little while; any Mystic or Ley Line Walker with this spell can make a motorcycle fly, after all.
But in the hands of a Techno-Wizard, it allows all sorts of craziness. Got an old vintage airplane that you can't find parts for? Just slap some rose quartz in that puppy and wire up a Fly-based engine. Disappointed that the "off road" portion of your ATV description doesn't include air travel? We can fix that, it'll just take some aquamarine and a trip to the local orphanage.
This is also the primary spell for things like Tree Trimmers and Ley Line Trains as well. A Techno-Wizard without Fly is really missing out on some very useful things. In fact, there's a variant on the class that got published in Rifter that focuses specifically on uses of Fly and the machines it goes into.
Next Time:
Puny humans and their obvious betters.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Not pure tech, so that's one kind of cool point cut into, but not that good at solo magicing.
I mean, I see the awesome side, but I can see the problems.
Why I fear the ocean.
But really, besides the odd full conversion cyborg, it was rare to find a character without at least some psychic ability.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I know my Psychic Disco Ball character had a few TM devices laying around for use when things got rough.
XBL:Phenyhelm - 3DS:Phenyhelm
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Really, the best part about Techno-Wizards is the fact that each of their enhancements for something has to have a physical component. So if that Juicer wants you to add Breathe Without Air to his otherwise non-Environmental armor, you can add a hello-kitty breath mask connected with a bright pink hose to a hip mounted mickey mouse squeeze ball.
One of my favorites was giving the Psi-stalker the ability to cast Fire Bolt from his armor, with the component being a rainbow diagram on his chest plate.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Ah, yes. Tribute from the squishy lesser beings.
In a game that is, intentionally or otherwise, primarily about the human race and the lengths we'll go to in order to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by predators from our darkest collective nightmares, this section of the main rule book is probably the strangest non-sequitor imaginable. Suddenly, instead of a member of plucky, squishy humanity, players are presented with the option of playing one of those predators. And a rather tempting option it is.
It's good to be apex predator.
This book has four options for would-be dragons; Great Horned, Fire, Ice and Thunder Lizard. There are minor variances in base attributes, M.D.C., strength of breath weapon, etc, but there are some basic things that they all get.
1. Mega Damage Being: Every dragon can withstand M.D. attacks and deal them out with breath weapons and hand to hand attacks.
2. Metamorphosis: They can change their shape to any living animal, including humans.
3. Teleport: At will, up to 5 miles.
4. Psionics: Major or Minor psionic, access to a decent range of powers.
5. Spellcasting: Starting at level 3, gains 2 spells a level and intuitively understands all magical items.
The downside? You are literally days old and your skills reflect it. PC dragons are hatchlings, in a somewhat refreshing nod to the fact that older dragons would be ridiculously overpowered as opposed to just really, really overpowered like the babies.
"Whelp, I'm 6 hours old now. Better get to that adventuring."
Dragons straight out of the egg get very few skills from an extremely limited list. It's worth noting that they start literate in two languages (at 98% no less) but there's no mention of them being able to speak or understand any human language. They can also add, subtract and divide at 98% proficiency, and have access to power armor skills. Because if there's one thing that makes sense for a freshly hatched dragon, it's the ability to pilot a Glitter Boy.
Feel my wrath!
Limited though they are, the skills available to a freshly hatched, mega damage, at will metamorphising dragon are only slightly less in number (11 total if you assume that they can speak any language they can read vs 17) and from a wider range of options than are available to the Vagabond class. Congratulations, squishy human. You can cook and play the guitar, but this guy can immolate you with his breath and steal your identity, and possibly defuse explosives to boot. Remember this the next time somebody tries to blame mechanical imbalance in Rifts on splat books.
Though seriously, Wujick. WTF?
And if the types of dragon available here don't catch your fancy, you're in luck. New options are added all the time. There are Japanese dragons, Chinese dragons, English dragons that look suspiciously like chinese dragons, etc. The Ulitimate printing of the main book adds 4 completely new dragons as well, and even more can be found in the various conversion books and other add ons. There are a bewildering number of options for anyone who wants to play a dragon.
Including the rarely seen Badass Cyber Monocled Dragon.
This is a fairly short entry because, well, this is a really short section of the book. 2 pages of text for what are effectively 4 playable classes, and some of the most powerful straight out of the box characters in the game.
"But aren't I adorable?"
Next Time:
Why the Coalition is so paranoid about psychics.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
While being a scaled engine of death is pretty cool I do like cooking beans over a campfire.....
You can cook beans AND be a scaled engine of death or....
you can just cook beans.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The other nice thing about dragons was that in the ultimate edition the dragons got their own hand to hand style and weren't stuck with basic.
All in all, dragons made for an interesting, thematic class.
Dragon hatchlings are a fun class to play. Especially if you really play up the "I just hatched" naivete alongside the "supernatural killing machine" aspect.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Really, that's what I loved most about the ultimate edition of rifts, the shift that most of the "underpowered" classes got from being space fillers to getting flavorful additions to their classes abilities without making them stupidly powerful. Too bad they didn't do that way back in '92 and use it as the basis for the whole rifts line.
first thing I thought of.
Like can shoot a dragon up with juicer drugs or turn them Into robots?
Is there any downside?
Their shapeshifting allows them to use any equipment that humans can use, plus giant equipment meant for D-Bees. Limited by their skills, as per usual.
The only real downsides are their limited access to skills and the fact that they register as supernatural predators to anyone who has the ability to recognize such, including the Coalition, the Federation of Magic and random psi-stalkers who might be hungry. A dragon hatchling isn't just walking into Coalition-held territory, for example. The dog boys will sniff him out before he even makes it to the gate.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I don't think the bad guys thought their cunning plan through...
Well, their MDC goes up by a factor of 10, they know a shit-ton of spells and psionics...
Depends on the dragon, but I seem to recall that the great horned dragon winds up with 1500-4500 MDC, 8 attacks, a strength attribute around 50 as well as stats all up in the 20's, mastery of at least one kind of magic, a shitload of psionics, dimensional teleportation at will, regenerating 1d6X10 damage per melee, night vision, flight, the ability to see the invisible, turn invisible at will...
One of these things with addequate MDC can slug it out with anything short of a god and has a good chance of killing it.
Hatchling:
Attributes: The numbers indicated under each attribute is the number
of dice to be rolled for each. For example: I.Q. 5 means that five
six-sided dice (5D6) are rolled to determine the I.Q.
I.Q. 5, M.A. 4, M.E. 5, P.S. 6, P.P. 4, P.E. 5, P.B. 6, Spd. 4
These attributes stay pretty constant until the dragon reaches full
maturity at about 600 year old. At that time the physical attribute
increase dramatically.
P.P.E.: 2D6x10
Mega-Damage/Hit Points: 1D4x 100 + 50 M.D. points
Armor Rating: Skin is a mega-damage substance that is impervious
to normal weapons. Magic, psionics, and mega-damage weapons
have full effect.
Natural Abilities: Fly 70mph (112 km), nightvision 90 ft (27.4 m),
see the invisible, fire and cold resistant (does half damage), and can
bio-regenerate 1D4x 10 M.D. points every five minutes.
Metamorphosis: Is another natural ability. The dragon can completely
alter his physical shape, transforming himself to look like
any living animal, from human being to raven. There are some
limitations; the dragon can not metamorphosize into inanimate objects
or insects. The minimum size is about the size of a cat and
the maximum size can not exceed his own. The transformation can
last two hours per level of experience (an adult dragon can maintain
the transformation for 48 hours). If on or near a ley line or nexus
point (within two miles/3.2 km), the time is tripled. Note: Regardless
of his shape, a dragon is a dragon, with all its natural powers and
abilities. So a hatchling metamorphed to look like a bunny rabbit
can still talk, cast spells, and kick with the strength of a dragon.
The metamorphosis does not instill any of the abilities of the animal,
only its appearance.
Teleport: 28 + 2% per level of experience. Teleportation is a special
power common to most dragons. The character can teleport, at will,
up to five miles away. At the hatchling stage, he can only teleport
himself. The percentage number indicates the likelihood of being
able to activate the teleportation. A failed roll means the teleport
does not happen. The hatchling can attempt a teleport once every
other melee round. Only a mature dragon can perform a dimensional
teleport without using a ley line nexus.
Fire Breath: 2D6 M.D., range: 60 feet.
Psionics: Major psionic; player can select a total of eight psychic powers
from any of the psychic categories except super. Select an additional
four at fifth level and another four at tenth level. I.S.P.: 3D4 x 10
Magic Knowledge: Full understanding of magic, but knows no spells
yet. However, can intuitively use all types of techno-wizardry devices
without instruction, can read magic, use scrolls, and recognizes
magic circles and enchantment. Can also sense ley lines and nexus
points and other dragons; range: 20 miles (32 km). Note that this
sensing ability can not pinpoint specific locations, only nearness
and general direction.
Spells: Can be learned by the usual means beginning at third level.
The hatchling can cast two new spells per level of experience.
Combat abilities: Equal to hand to hand: basic, + 1 melee attack.
Average Life Span: 6000
Adult (via Conversion Book 1):
2D6 + 40, P.P. 2D6+ 12, P.E. 3D6+ 12, P.B. 4D6+ 10, Spd 2D4x10
running, but 2D6x10+ 100 flying.
M.D.C.: 2D4x1000 + 500 (lD4x100 + 50 for hatchlings)
Horror Factor: 18, P.P.E.: 2D6x100 + 200 (adult)
Natural Abilities: Nightvision 100 ft (30.5 m; can see in total darkness),
excellent color vision, see the invisible, turn invisible at will, bio-regeneration
1D4x10 M.D. per minute, resistant to fire and cold (does half
damage, including M.D. magic fire and plasma energy), teleport self
92% (see Rifts, page 100), dimensional teleport 52%, and metamorphosis
at will (lasts for an indefinite period, days, weeks, months;
human or animal form).
Combat: Eight physical attacks per melee, or four fire breath and four
physical, or three by magic. Favorite weapon is magic.
Damage: Restrained punch 1D6x10 S.D.C. damage plus P.S. bonus,
full strength punch does 6D6 M.D., power punch 1D6x10 + 20 M.D.
(counts as two attacks), kick or slashing tail attack 6D6 M.D., bite
does 6D6 M.D., or fire breath: range 100 feet (30.5 m), six feet wide
(1.8 m), inflicts 6D6 M.D. and can be used as often as four times a
melee.
Bonuses: +3 to strike, +4 to parry and dodge, +4 on initiative, +4
to pull punch, +4 to roll with impact, +4 on all saving throws, in
addition to attribute bonuses.
Magic: P.P.E. 2D6x100 + 200. All spell magic from levels 1-11, plus
restoration and resurrection. Equal to a 1D6 + 8 level practitioner of
magic. There is also a chance that the creature will know additional
areas of magic. Roll on the following table.
01-30 Knows all spell magic through level 15.
31-50 A 1D4 + 3 level diabolist.
51-70 A 1D4 + 3 level techno-wizard. Select an additional six spells
from each levels 5-13.
71-90 A 1D4 + 3 level summoner or shifter.
91-00 A 1D4 + 2 level warlock (any).
Psionics: I.S.P. 3D4x 10 + 80. Palladium RPG style characters have
all level one, two, and three abilities, plus extended telekinesis. Rifts
style characters have all sensitive, physical, and healing psi-powers,
plus bio-manipulation and psi-sword.
R.C.C. Skills: Basic and advanced math 98%, literate in Dragonese/
Elven and Spanish 98% and four other languages of choice, plus speaks
six additional languages at 98%, demon & monster lore 98%, faerie
lore 90%, as well as four selections from the skill categories of communications,domestic, electrical, pilot, pilot related (3 skills), rogue, science, technical, wilderness, and weapon proficiencies. Average equivalent experience level is 1D6 + 8, plus I.Q. bonus and a +10% skill
bonus for selected skills (skill level should be the same as level of
magic).
Average Life Span: 6000+ years.
Of course, any sane DM isn't going to be playing Rifts. But any marginally sane DM who finds themselves helming a Rifts game probably wouldn't give you a bunch of free skills, magic abilities and psionics just for having been magically aged.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Immigrant dragons taking our PC jobs?
I did, however, once run a Palladium campaign where every player was some form of higher Demon or Deevil. Had a Raksasha, a Balrog, and an Arch-Fiend, if memory serves. The latter didn't get along too well with the former, what with the warring realms and all.
Yeah, I'd give them anything physical, and unless the spell was worded "gives them the experience of living 1000 years", I'd not let them learn new languages, magics that aren't innate etc. Then again, I've never been a Rifts GM... potentially because I'm sane?
Regardless the extra physical stats sound pretty powerful/broken.
One of these days, I'll show you folks the Cosmo Knight.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
One trick was to take normal SDC weapons, convert them to magic, then take them through checkpoints. "What, this? I shoot rats with it. Won't even put a scratch in that fancy armor of yours."
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The best, best, best thing about Cosmo Knights is that you can, literally, trade in your current MDC for MORE MDC.
And yes, his wooden spoon was more deadly than all the Neruni weaponry the rest of the party used combined.
Cosmo Knights: Even for Rifts, that shit is rediculous.
Which reminds me of the one thing that a lot of people forget about rifts: It's only as nutty as the GM allows it to be. Myself, I was willing to allow my players to take a fairly impressive variety of classes and equpiment, but they had an obligation to explain how all of it made sense. Maxi man with 2 symbiotes? Sure! Dog Boy with genesplicer mods, psynetic impants dual wielding swords of atlantis from the comfort of his TW terrain hopper power armor? Alright smart guy lets hear the details.