Taking me longer than expected to get all the powers summarized and categoried, so I'll be leaving that for tomorrow afternoon. Newcomers that want to vote, and people who find all this boring, your time shall come in a couple days, after I get the full list up tomorrow.
I've made a lot of changes. Vampire Kingdoms are Sabbat now instead of run by some alien intelligence, and we got a lot of other scary creatures joining the night. My take is less batshit crazy and more batshit deadly. It amused me, too.
Taking me longer than expected to get all the powers summarized and categoried, so I'll be leaving that for tomorrow afternoon. Newcomers that want to vote, and people who find all this boring, your time shall come in a couple days, after I get the full list up tomorrow.
I've made a lot of changes. Vampire Kingdoms are Sabbat now instead of run by some alien intelligence, and we got a lot of other scary creatures joining the night. My take is less batshit crazy and more batshit deadly. It amused me, too.
The Camarilla are in the awkward position of having one of their pillars irrevocably shattered and strongholds destroyed, and as such, had to do a bit of rebranding. They will still be around though. If you have thoughts or ideas for how things could have turned out for them, I would welcome PMs on the matter, as my knowledge of World of Darkness is more limited compared to Rifts.
Google tells me this is an Overwatch reference? If so, I'm not familiar with it, but it looks about right to me. Warframe's the better comparison though, given the superpowers of possibly eldritch origin.
The Camarilla are in the awkward position of having one of their pillars irrevocably shattered and strongholds destroyed, and as such, had to do a bit of rebranding. They will still be around though. If you have thoughts or ideas for how things could have turned out for them, I would welcome PMs on the matter, as my knowledge of World of Darkness is more limited compared to Rifts.
If the Masquerade is dead, then I suppose the argument could be made that their oath to the Camarilla can no longer be fulfilled, and as such, is no longer binding. Would have to look into that some more, but could be an interesting angle. Could lend itself well to some 4X stuff of their own, utilization of ley lines and nexus points. I can think of a few places they could go. A weaker Camarilla to be sure, no longer fit for its original purpose.
Despite having played the V:tM video game, I'm a lot more familiar with V:tR, so I'm gonna let people who know more about that talk about it and keep focusing on the build.
To that end: To what extent do certain potentially redundant effects stack? I'm thinking Telekinetic Enhancement and Enhanced Reflexes, in particular, but another potential one I saw was Battle Precognition and Intuitive Combat. Also, does Enhanced Perception work for psychic senses, like See Aura?
Despite having played the V:tM video game, I'm a lot more familiar with V:tR, so I'm gonna let people who know more about that talk about it and keep focusing on the build.
To that end: To what extent do certain potentially redundant effects stack? I'm thinking Telekinetic Enhancement and Enhanced Reflexes, in particular, but another potential one I saw was Battle Precognition and Intuitive Combat. Also, does Enhanced Perception work for psychic senses, like See Aura?
... Oh. Oh, this makes me so happy. It means I'm going to have to make a lot of hard decisions when we get to the plan-building, but this makes me so happy. Where's a "crying with joy" emoticon when you need one?
... Oh. Oh, this makes me so happy. It means I'm going to have to make a lot of hard decisions when we get to the plan-building, but this makes me so happy. Where's a "crying with joy" emoticon when you need one?
Don't forget: with Electrokinesis, a TK force field would also have a lightning-based point defense system. Put in some Telekinetic Enhancement and Enhanced Reflexes and we might just be untouchable-- well, at least within our own tier. I'm not even going to entertain the idea that we'll stand a chance against an elder vampire or archmage.
@VagrantHero - So what has happened to the other supernaturals from OWOD such as the Mages (specifically the Technocracy, the Traditions, the Nephandi, the Marauders, and the Coalition of Crafts, the state of the VirtualNet, etc.), the Imbued aka the Hunters (including the state of HunterNet, etc.), the Garou (including the Black Spiral Dancers) and other Fera like the Bastet, Corax, Nuwashi, Gurahl, Anansi, Naga, Rokea, and the Mokole (including the Hengeyokai and the Beast Courts of Africa) as well as Pentex, the Changelings (specifically the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, etc.), the Amenti aka the Mummies, the traditional hunter organizations (such as the Society of St. Leopold aka the Inquisition, the Arcanum, Project Twilight, etc.), the Demons (including the Earthbound) from the Demon: The Fallen RPG, the Wraiths aka Ghosts, the Kuei-jin (Asian Kindred) and the Dhampyr Kuei-jin hunters from Demon-Hunter X sourcebook, etc.? Which ones have fared better or worse from the great upheaval? Which ones have changed irrevocably and which ones stayed more or less the same - and why? Which ones have died out? And what are thheir respective views about everything about the post-Rifts situation of the world? Please let me know. Thank you.
@VagrantHero - So what has happened to the other supernaturals from OWOD such as the Mages (specifically the Technocracy, the Traditions, the Nephandi, the Marauders, and the Coalition of Crafts, the state of the VirtualNet, etc.), the Imbued aka the Hunters (including the state of HunterNet, etc.), the Garou (including the Black Spiral Dancers) and other Fera like the Bastet, Corax, Nuwashi, Gurahl, Anansi, Naga, Rokea, and the Mokole (including the Hengeyokai and the Beast Courts of Africa) as well as Pentex, the Changelings (specifically the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, etc.), the Amenti aka the Mummies, the traditional hunter organizations (such as the Society of St. Leopold aka the Inquisition, the Arcanum, Project Twilight, etc.), the Demons (including the Earthbound) from the Demon: The Fallen RPG, the Wraiths aka Ghosts, the Kuei-jin (Asian Kindred) and the Dhampyr Kuei-jin hunters from Demon-Hunter X sourcebook, etc.? Which ones have fared better or worse from the great upheaval? Which ones have changed irrevocably and which ones stayed more or less the same - and why? Which ones have died out? And what are thheir respective views about everything about the post-Rifts situation of the world? Please let me know. Thank you.
I don't even know what a lot of these are, and some of them are also secrets. In regards to Mages in general, at first they were responding like "OH GOD SO MUCH DEATH," but then they saw the bright side of life when Paradox got stretched reaaally hard due to suspension of disbelief in magic. So, they're generally a lot stronger. The Technocracy has fared by far the best, and in this AU, I've merged them with the Techno-Wizards of Tolkeen. Less bullshit, more science. (Edit) Additionally, most proper mages hold the so called wizards, sorcerers, necromancers, etc, in contempt, due to their grasping nature and use of cheap tricks for the most part. Of course anyone can learn "magic" if you've got massive rifts and ley lines in what's effectively an interdimensional magic highway, a crutch to lean on, but true magic takes more than that.
Most Hunters got fucked by the Rifts, as there was the 3 hit combo of [Massive destruction in the first few days wiping out coastal cities, all the supervolcanoes erupted, and the destruction of standard communication networks] + [large amounts of new creatures to hunt that they had next to no information on] + [massive famine due to global drop in temperatures and delay between then and the setting up of hydroponics facilities]. So, yeah, most of them are dead, if not 100%. This includes the Inquisition, as Italy got supremely wrecked by waves and the Sicily volcano, and most intelligence communities, including the majority of U.S. NSA sites didn't make it either. The ones that did survive have adapted. HunterNet has been down for a long time, as Earth lost widespread satellite communications due to lack of maintenance for many years, volcanic ash in the atmosphere killing machinery. Work has been done trying to reestablish things, but resources have been mostly tasked to other areas due to more immediate threats, such as widespread slave raiding, attrition from the Federation of Magic, the Magic Zone (which, btw, runs all through the Mississippi and is therefore heavily garrisoned), the Chicago and Calgary Rifts, and the Xiticix swarms.
I don't own Changelings or Demons, so I'm limited to wiki-fu on them, same with Wraiths. Regarding the Kuei-Jin, my personal take on them is basically the following, which I found to roughly mirror my own thoughts of them after looking around forums.
"Here's the thing you need to know about the Jiang-Shi. Everything you have heard about them is complete bullshit. They're Cainites. Most of what they claim about themselves is superficially true. However, just about all the weird and mysterious stuff they talk about is the exact same stuff we have, only by a different name. It's kind of like how all those wannabe Buddhists in the 80s started claiming they understood the thousands of year old culture they knew from a weekend trip to China and reading a couple of books. What are the Jiang-Shi? They're 13 Clans of Cainites and various bloodlines. They follow Paths of Enlightenment. They have Thin Blooded. They have dhampyrs. They use Thaumaturgy. They have feuding sects. They have Anarchs, Traditionalists, and Crazy Mofos. No, there's no Tremere. There's no Giovanni. There are, however, three-eyed religious nutters and some suspiciously corpse-looking scholars. Do NOT attempt to suggest they're Salubri and Cappadochians, however. Maybe if you actually get one to talk to you, they'll admit Kindred might be from a bastardized version of their clan. But the Western Cainites do the exact same thing. They don't believe in Caine, so no Book of Nod, but neither do the Setites. They believe each of their line was cursed by the gods to fight worse demons and redeem themselves or something, I'm still working it out. As for the Yama Kings? If you get one of them to open up, you'll find out that refers to their mysterious progenitors versus actual demons (though they deal with those too). Monsters who will one day return to reclaim their blood and must have their schemes fought at all times. Remind you of anything?" - Smiling Jack
In regards to Vampires in general, I reject the traditional structure that holds that Older Vampires are necessarily lower in generation. While that may be generally true, they've been around for too long for some crafty high generation Vampires from thousands of years back to NOT gain some good flight hours. Consider this. Imagine 5,000 years ago, a 5th Generation Vampire has a Childe, fucks off back to sleep, wakes up a thousand years later, and has another Childe. Let's say his previous Childe makes another Childe a hundred years after his own conception, and so on and so forth for another hundred years, some of them fucking off back to sleep and waking up at irregular intervals. In as little as a thousand years, you can have a 15th generation Vampire at the same age as a new, 6th Generation Vampire. Funny business. In regards to the Thin Blooded and Dhampir, my personal take on it is that it is a myth perpetuated by the older Vampires to keep numbers down among the upstarts, and to stop the Curse from ever truly going away, as it fades with Generation (edit: specifically regarding Gehenna actually being a thing). No metaphysical stuff here magically killing them off. There'd be plenty of Thin-Blooded thousands of years ago which, if they were crafty, could diablerize their elders to gain more power if they wanted, or simply keep their head down and live life. In regards to specific Vampire Sects, the Sabbat have achieved many of their goals in Mexico, and were responsible for a massive strike shortly after the founding of the Coalition of North American States between the U.S.A, U.S.M. and Canada, in which they successfully seized control of El Distrito Federal and wiped out the majority of leadership, setting up their own open feudal kingdoms in their stead. Like feudal lords, they manage their flocks well, encouraging population growth and killing off anything that threatens their resources. The Camarilla aren't feeling too good. Most of the major organized anarchs got disrupted, as their major centers were directly hit by the Rifts. Overall, it's a return to the Dark Ages for Vampires in general, with many more dangers due to the new players in the game, but they, too, have received a power boost from the Rifts. (Edit: Vampires despise Psi-Stalkers and Bursters. Goes against the natural order of things)
In regards to the Fera, they, especially the Garou and Red Talons, are responsible for thinning out the numbers of supernatural creatures in the wildernesses of the world, as they view these new supernatural threats as invaders perhaps even moreso than humans do. Some of them are even a challenge!
That's all I have worked out for the WoD elements, and I could really use some assistance from people who know substantially more than I do in these areas, as I am most familiar with VtM, and barely werewolves and hunters, and what little I picked up from playing a Mage game like 2 years ago, all supplemented by wiki knowledge.
I would assume most of their space capabilities were taken out of the sky as Rifts earth is surrounded by basically an impenetrable asteroid belt. Though, if you do find yourself out in the great beyond there are entire interstellar empires.
OK. Though I find that the remnants of the Technocracy merging with the Techno-Wizards of Tolkeen to be weird (especially them being part of a magic nation; the Technocracy hates all sorts of magic but the one that they suscribe to; the Technocracy also hate the supernatural and want the world to be mundane and would have lamented the loss of the world prior to the coming of the Rifts; the Technocracy would have considered the world prior to the Rifts as the Golden Age where they were in control). Honestly, I think I could see the Technocracy would be better off merging with and/or being behind the scenes within the Coalition (especially within the government) where they can indoctrinate the people against all sorts of magic and the supernatural and against anything that is not human, especially during the era of Emperor Prosek. I could honestly see the Technocracy (especially under Prosek) conduct numerous Pogroms (i.e. the Technocracy term to conducting purges against Mages and other supernaturals) within the lands of the Coalition itself.
The Traditions and for that matter certain groups of the Coalition of Crafts (such as the voodoo/hoodoo/Santeria practitioners of the Bata'a, the alchemists Children of Knowledge, the female-only Sisters of Hippolyta, the Templars, and the Goth subculture Hollow Ones) would be the ones becoming part of the Kingdom of Tolkeen and the Federation of Magic - with the Sons of Ether (MAD SCIENCE!!! Mages) and the Virtual Adepts Traditions merging with the Techno-Wizards.
Also, if the Sabbat achieved their long-sought goals of open Vampire Feudalism in Mexico (and perhaps even to other parts of Central America) what are the Camarilla and the Anarchs and other independent Kindred Clans (i.e. Clan Assamite, Clan Giovanni, and Clan Setite) up to now? What are short-, mid-term, and long-term goals of the various Kindred Clans, and the various Kindred factions (i.e. the Sabbat, the Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Black Hand, the Iconnu, etc.) in regards to Rifts era?
Moreover, it is good to know that the Garou and the various Changing Breeds such as the Anansi (Were-Spiders), the Bastet (Were-Felines), the Corax (Were-Crows/Were- Ravens), the Gurahl (Were-Bears), the Kitsune (Were-Foxes), the Mokole (Were-Lizards/Were-Dinosaurs), the Naga (Were-Snakes), the Nuwisha (Were-Coyotes), the Rat-Kin (Were-Rats), and the Rokea (Were-Sharks) as well the Hengeyokai (i.e. the Asian Beast Courts of which the Kitsune and the Stargazers Garou Tribe are members) and the African Beast Courts - have survived and are up to the challenges of the Rifts world. What have the various Garou Tribes (including the evil Black Spiral Dancers Tribe) been up to since the coming of the Rifts besides facing off against the various supernatural Rits creatures and invaders? What has happened to the evil Pentex conglomerate/corporation who are servants of the Wyrm? Have they been wiped out by the coming of the Rifts and by the massive changes that the Rifts caused in their wake? Or have they survived in some form or another?
As for the non-Imbued (non-Hunter) organizations - I would have thought the Arcanum (an organization dedicated to investigating the various WOD supernaturals) would have been absorbed by the Order Of Hermes Tradition who in turn joined the Federation of Magic and/or the Kingdom of Tolkeen. Likewise, the secretive US govt-run Project Twilight would have been co-opted by the Technocracy and/or the Coalition of North American States.
I would assume most of their space capabilities were taken out of the sky as Rifts earth is surrounded by basically an impenetrable asteroid belt. Though, if you do find yourself out in the great beyond there are entire interstellar empires.
That would mean that the vast majority of the Void Engineers Convention of the Technocracy (i.e. the ones in charge of anything outer space-related as well as anything related to time-travel and inter-dimensional travel) are all alone up there in space and are the only ones defending Rifts-Earth from any hostile alien invader with perhaps the exception of the Ethernaut faction of the Sons of Ether Tradition.
I (Edit) Additionally, most proper mages hold the so called wizards, sorcerers, necromancers, etc, in contempt, due to their grasping nature and use of cheap tricks for the most part. Of course anyone can learn "magic" if you've got massive rifts and ley lines in what's effectively an interdimensional magic highway, a crutch to lean on, but true magic takes more than that.
So that means Mages (whether from the Technocracy, Traditions, Nephandi, Marauders, Crafts, and Indepdents) view Rifts RPG magic users the same way they would view Sorcerers/Hedge Mages?
Also, you're right that True Magic is more than Rifts Magic in that a WOD Mage must have:
I would assume most of their space capabilities were taken out of the sky as Rifts earth is surrounded by basically an impenetrable asteroid belt. Though, if you do find yourself out in the great beyond there are entire interstellar empires.
The mini-asteroid field is something I've always found arbitrary, when plenty of good reasons already exist for why space travel would not be prioritized. As such, the only major limitation to space tech is resources, as the sulfates and particulates from the volcanic eruptions have for the most part settled.
Additionally, the timeline has been moved back without the intervening 300 years, so the current years is 2198, or 100 P.A. The Coalition of North American States is still ruthless, but generally more competent, and much closer to our world governments than caricatures of Nazi Germany, doing evil things for the lols. Evil doesn't even enter the picture, as they are in a war for the survival of the species, and, as Smiling Jack would say, self-defense is an important part of humanity. Even if they take it a bit far. The Emperor and his dynasty are not in charge, rather, they've been in an on and off state of martial law and conscripting soldiers whenever they got pushed back too far.
They had reestablished some civilian government, but the Federation of magic and the Sabbat threw an incendiary grenade into that plan, and as such, most matters are decided by the Chiefs of Staff, as they made the argument that civilian government was too inefficient in a high tempo context in which a very high likelihood still exists that they can be wiped out. Autonomous drones still exist, but the wasteful Skelebots do not, as they need all the resources they can get on keeping trained and intelligent soldiers alive, not squandering them. Dog Boys are still a theoretical in Lone Star, and as such will not be found outside there, and likely will not find the driving pressure to do so due to the substantially higher human populations this time around.
For example, around 50 million people live in Mexico, as they had by far the best luck when it came to natural disasters (not having 3 super volcanoes in their territories), and they made good use of the Juicer programs, especially the Cartels (a cheap treatment to turn any mook into a solid fighter, you can't tell me they didn't have the money and means!), and got good initial and sustained rolls in quarantining their nexus points (multiple crits). Didn't have enough for the quarantines and Vampire bullshit as well, though, whereas the U.S. and Canada basically said fuck it and pulled back so they could build up their industries and take them on another day (which meant other supernatural forces behind the scenes took on the majority of the fighting, also influencing the recovery of population). The premise of government competence in preserving their own power meant that reestablishing food supplies only took a decade or so with extreme rationing and rioting.
The remaining Coalition States have around 10 million people in Canada (mostly Ontario, a couple million in Quebec and the wilderness), 8 million in the New Frontier, 15 million in Texas (pretty much unscathed by supernatural disasters except in the north and the coast) and 20 million in the Heartland. Another estimated 20-30 million people live outside of the Coalition in North America. Most of them don't like that the government abandoned them, whilst a few million worth of refugees, mostly from big cities near the Heartland and Chicago, actually made it to "safety" where food was more of a problem than supernatural monsters.
Edit Mar 2021: I ran some population estimates and came up with different numbers, forgot about the numbers I put here. See the informational tabs.
Though I find that the remnants of the Technocracy merging with the Techno-Wizards of Tolkeen to be weird (especially them being part of a magic nation; the Technocracy hates all sorts of magic but the one that they suscribe to; the Technocracy also hate the supernatural and want the world to be mundane and would have lamented the loss of the world prior to the coming of the Rifts; the Technocracy would have considered the world prior to the Rifts as the Golden Age where they were in control). Honestly, I think I could see the Technocracy would be better off merging with and/or being behind the scenes within the Coalition (especially within the government) where they can indoctrinate the people against all sorts of magic and the supernatural and against anything that is not human, especially during the era of Emperor Prosek. I could honestly see the Technocracy (especially under Prosek) conduct numerous Pogroms (i.e. the Technocracy term to conducting purges against Mages and other supernaturals) within the lands of the Coalition itself.
My take on this setting is they don't even need the indoctrination or manipulation of information. They already view magic as scary, and most of their neighbors, many of which didn't have a big fancy government to keep them safe, resorted to whatever they could to survive, which meant Rifts Magic. Meaning most of the Coalition's enemies are either supernatural monsters or men consorting with "dark powers" and have attacked them in the past. Prosek isn't around as Emperor, but they have a respectable military legacy. I will consider integrating the Technocracy into the Coalition though, as it is an idea.
The Traditions and for that matter certain groups of the Coalition of Crafts (such as the voodoo/hoodoo/Santeria practitioners of the Bata'a, the alchemists Children of Knowledge, the female-only Sisters of Hippolyta, the Templars, and the Goth subculture Hollow Ones) would be the ones becoming part of the Kingdom of Tolkeen and the Federation of Magic - with the Sons of Ether (MAD SCIENCE!!! Mages) and the Virtual Adepts Traditions merging with the Techno-Wizards.
In this universe, the Techno-Wizards have a much greater focus on the TECH aspect. Breaking down units of magical energy, the secrets of matter to energy and energy to matter, how much energy it takes to write mystical programs, data compression, digitalization, etc, instead of MAGICAL tech that was very common in Rifts. Will have to read more about these groups to see what can be done with them.
Also, if the Sabbat achieved their long-sought goals of open Vampire Feudalism in Mexico (and perhaps even to other parts of Central America) what are the Camarilla and the Anarchs and other independent Kindred Clans (i.e. Clan Assamite, Clan Giovanni, and Clan Setite) up to now? What are short-, mid-term, and long-term goals of the various Kindred Clans, and the various Kindred factions (i.e. the Sabbat, the Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Black Hand, the Iconnu, etc.) in regards to Rifts era?
I'll start with the easy ones. The Iconnu are enjoying their observer games, gathering data, and watching how things develop. The Anarchs ceased to exist as an organized faction after all their major centers were destroyed, and are most commonly found as either loners or small covens in the less civilized places of the world. Most humans hate vampires, but some relationships have developed. The Camarilla has rebranded since the Masquerade can no longer be enforced due to the Coming of the Rifts and the actions of the Sabbat, and are more a collection of like-minded Vampires that think the Sabbat are still crazy bastards. As far as clan objectives go, with the exception of the well-organized ones such as the Tremere, they've lost a lot of authority and control over their clan members due to the disorder and lack of hubs for them all to safely congregate. Reestablishing their authority and bringing sense of things, i.e, ending this second Dark Age, is an objective for many clans, one they're having difficulty enforcing due to the large vacancies that suddenly opened up on the housing market. Some of them are still up to their usual bullshit of trying to bring the end of days, but they kind of missed that train a hundred years ago. In general, I'm avoiding more end of the world, global threat stuff, as it seemed unnecessary to me to have so many of them going on. As D King Hecht mentioned, even if we only took the end of the world stuff from WoD, that still leaves about 8 concurrent plots simultaneously. A bit much.
Moreover, it is good to know that the Garou and the various Changing Breeds such as the Anansi (Were-Spiders), the Bastet (Were-Felines), the Corax (Were-Crows/Were- Ravens), the Gurahl (Were-Bears), the Kitsune (Were-Foxes), the Mokole (Were-Lizards/Were-Dinosaurs), the Naga (Were-Snakes), the Nuwisha (Were-Coyotes), the Rat-Kin (Were-Rats), and the Rokea (Were-Sharks) as well the Hengeyokai (i.e. the Asian Beast Courts of which the Kitsune and the Stargazers Garou Tribe are members) and the African Beast Courts - have survived and are up to the challenges of the Rifts world. What have the various Garou Tribes (including the evil Black Spiral Dancers Tribe) been up to since the coming of the Rifts besides facing off against the various supernatural Rits creatures and invaders? What has happened to the evil Pentex conglomerate/corporation who are servants of the Wyrm? Have they been wiped out by the coming of the Rifts and by the massive changes that the Rifts caused in their wake? Or have they survived in some form or another?
Pentex as we knew it is dead. Servants of the Wyrm compete pretty heavily with everyone else that wants a piece of the action. In regards to the everything outside of North America, for the purpose of this Quest we won't be concerning ourselves with them, but some general stuff is that adding mostly Vampires, Werewolves and Mages from WoD somehow made things better in regards to global stability. World of Darkness Fera have replaced pretty much all the were-creatures from Rifts, same with Vampires. Demons, I'm keeping the Rifts side of things as I simply don't have the time to get ANOTHER set of demons and get proper mechanics for them. In any case, you'd probably know more than me about each of these groups of Fera anyway, as I only know a bit about Werewolves, and don't have big plans for them.
As for the non-Imbued (non-Hunter) organizations - I would have thought the Arcanum (an organization dedicated to investigating the various WOD supernaturals) would have been absorbed by the Order Of Hermes Tradition who in turn joined the Federation of Magic and/or the Kingdom of Tolkeen. Likewise, the secretive US govt-run Project Twilight would have been co-opted by the Technocracy and/or the Coalition of North American States.
[/quote] In regards to Project Twilight, I don't know anything about them and as such won't be including them. Monster lore is a pretty common knowledge in the Coalition. The Arcanum and Order of Hermes seem like a much better fit for Tolkeen than the Technocracy. Send some PMs and I'll keep developing as much as I can as far as I can.
So that means Mages (whether, Technocracy, Traditions, Nephandi, Marauders, Crafts, and Indepdents) view Rifts RPG magic users the same way they would view Sorcerers/Hedge Mages?
Also, you're right that True Magic is more than Rifts Magic in that a WOD Mage must have:
On perspective, yes. In regards to WoD Psychics, I took a look into their common ability sets, and decided to replace them with Rifts Psychics, as they seem similar enough, but I've written far more about the Rifts version.
I won't be dealing with the Four Horsemen, Mechanoids, Chinese demon dudes or their weird government resistance force, and other things that were written very much like a westerner's view of a strange foreign land. That doesn't change that Africa is still pretty fucked, given they're dealing with the same level of bullshit that everyone else is, except without good organization and armies. For the most part, Pre-Rifts governments have survived in First World Countries with the exceptions of ones that got wiped off the map, such as Denmark, Britain, the Low Countries, Italy, etc. My premise is that governments are very good at preserving themselves, and the complete incompetence displayed in Chaos Earth boggled the mind. That isn't to say that all of them are strong and powerful. The United States is an exception in regards to just how much of the country was stabilized, due to being a premier military power and excellent organization.
tl;dr, I've always taken the "treat the books as a guide line" mentality pretty far. Generally try to make things sensible and come up with appropriate consequences. It'd be easier to ask, "what have I not changed?" Ripped out the heart of the game mechanics, hit everybody with the "be smarter" stick, and realized "starvation would actually be more dangerous than the demons and monsters."
I have no idea what most of this means and suspect that very little of it will actually be relevant to the quest, but I'd just like to say that all of this is quite interesting anyway. Overall, even if I'm not entirely sure what's going on, I like the impression I'm forming of the setting thus far. Keep up the good work?
I have no idea what most of this means and suspect that very little of it will actually be relevant to the quest, but I'd just like to say that all of this is quite interesting anyway. Overall, even if I'm not entirely sure what's going on, I like the impression I'm forming of the setting thus far. Keep up the good work?
That's the thing with Rifts, as the setting is really interesting, but it is horribly bogged down by the rules, which are stupid. For example: it is easier to climb up than it is to climb down. These things kept it from reaching the same prominence as other RPGs.
Definitely for the best in regard to these two settings.
That's the thing with Rifts, as the setting is really interesting, but it is horribly bogged down by the rules, which are stupid. For example: it is easier to climb up than it is to climb down. These things kept it from reaching the same prominence as other RPGs.
Don't get me started in what I hate about the rules. Complexity is fine as long as it is fit for purpose and streamlined. Rifts combat lasts hours of trying to break through armor, and there are a ton of restrictions, like not being able to boil somebody alive and just kill them if you have Pyrokinesis and Hydrokinesis, or shutting down a Cyborg's life support with Telemechanic Mental Operation. Things which I have changed. Armor is damage reduction in my game, and we've got armor penetration values. Expect Chromium Guardsmen (Coalition Death Knights) and other RPAs to be supported by infantry so they don't get targeted by AT weapons, soldiers to care about suppression, and supernatural monsters to get completely obliterated by HEAT rounds fired from a 240mm artillery piece 2 miles away unless there's explanation for why that is not the case. Basic shotguns can bring down soldiers with light to medium armor, 50 caliber machine guns are still legitimate if antiquated, and lighter railguns actually do damage now. It's taken about 2 years of on and off tinkering to come this far, time to see if it actually works, lmao
The time has come for something very important. Can begin voting 24 hours after this is posted, vote will remain open for 48 hours after that. It is, THE PSIONIC ABILITIES VOTE (Which will also double as a neat reference for what Psionic Abilities exist). Make up plans, grab whatever you all want. 12 Initial Points. All Psionic Abilities cost 1 point unless otherwise noted. All abilities are summaries instead of their actual descriptions to avoid massive crunchiness. All Synergies listed are examples I have come up with. If you've got good ideas, run them through me and we'll see if we can make more. Here y'all go.
(Don't vote for these, you get them automatically) FREE PSIONIC ABILITIES
Meditation: (Free)
All Psychics are able to Meditate to center themselves and restore their internal energy reserves.
Radiate Power: (Free - Major and Master)
Other creatures can often sense the power that resides within sufficiently powerful Psychics and Practitioners of Magic. Master Class Psychics are particularly terrifying, depending on their abilities.
Bio-Manipulation: (Biokinesis - Major)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Allows the Psychic to Blind, Deafen, Inflict Pain, Mute, Paralyze, Stun, or otherwise manipulate the body of their target, including messing with the nervous system, hemorrhaging, and other effects like granting Nightvision. Prerequisite for Psychic Surgery, Bio-Regeneration. Synergizes with Perception Class Abilities and Telekinesis. Requires Deaden Pain and Senses, and Neural Touch/Strike. More sophisticated, bonuses to rolls.
Bio-Regeneration: (Biokinesis - Major)
Range: Self
Allows the Psychic to enter a regenerative trance, as the body rapidly puts itself back together. Suffers skill rolls for a few hours per use, due to the strain put on the system. Potentially life-saving. Improved with Shape Life.
Deaden Senses: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Can be used to negate penalties from injuries, cause penalties from being unable to properly sense things, etc. Prerequisite for Bio-Manipulation. Penalties upgraded with Bio-Manipulation.
Healing Touch: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Touch
An intuitive understanding of biology allows the Psychic to render aid and treatment at a much higher level than normal.
Improve Natural Healing: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Puts the target into a healing trance, doubling, tripling or quadrupling their rate of natural healing at Minor, Major and Master Class power respectively.
Neural Touch and Strike: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Touch, Telekinesis
Can inflict weak jolts, stun, and disorient targets, inflict minor paralysis, damage the nervous system. Prerequisite for Bio-Manipulation. Level of effects improved with Bio-Manipulation.
Nightvision: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Self (Touch/Telekinesis with Bio-Manipulation)
Grants perfect nightvision out to 600 feet. Will suffer penalties from sudden light exposure. Can also decrease light sensitivity. Standalone ability, improved by Bio-Manipulation.
Shape Life: (Biokinesis - Master)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Allows the Psychic to manipulate and shape life at a masterful level, even creating new life forms. Microorganisms count. Select this for biological terrorism. I mean, responsible use furthering humanity. Requires Bio-Manipulation.
Stop Bleeding: (Biokinesis - Minor)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Halts blood loss as long as contact is maintained.
Aerokinesis: (Dynamokinesis - Minor - Major - Master)
At Minor rank, this ability provides sensory information from the atmosphere in a large radius around the Psychic, including weather prediction.
At Major rank, this ability grants Enhanced Reflexes for free, as the Psychic becomes like elemental Air.
At Master Rank, Enhanced Reflexes is improved to Heightened Reflexes, becoming as swift and flexible as wind.
TELEKINESIS SYNERGY: Adding the Force Aspect to this power allows the Psychic to enhance their Telekinetic abilities with Elemental Air, creating blades of air, Psi-Tornadoes, suffocating opponents, and other fearsome expressions of power.
SYNERGIES WITH OTHER DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: Surely y'all can think of something. Fire tornadoes are possible, as you become the "gas source" for them. More combinations aplenty.
Electrokinesis: (Dynamokinesis - Minor - Major - Master)
At Minor rank, this ability grants sensory information about electrical sources all around the Psychic, and is mildly beneficial for operating technology.
At Major Rank, this ability grants Resist Energy for free, as the Psychic becomes attuned to elemental Lightning, and the Psychic can generate and discharge minor electrical currents,
At Master Rank, this ability grants Impervious to Energy, making all but the strongest electrical sources do nothing but energize the Psychic, further fueling his power.
SYNERGY WITH TELEKINESIS: Adding the Force Aspect to this power allows the Psychic to enhance their Telekinetic abilities with Elemental Lightning, generating true bolts of lightning, lightning novas, and draining electricity from power sources such as nuclear reactors. And don't forget that one synergy that was revealed on the Zapper file, that guy gets a lightning shield for point defense!
SYNERGIES WITH OTHER DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: Y'all got this.
Geokinesis: (DYNAMOKINESIS - Minor - Major - Master)
At Minor rank, this ability grants sensory information about the earth and minerals around the Psychic, improving with power level until they can sense the slightest vibration with accuracy.
At Major rank, this ability grants Resist Damage for free, as the Psychic becomes attuned to Elemental Earth, hardening the body and making them difficult to kill.
At Master rank, this ability further improves Resist Damage to Impervious to Damage, as the Psychic becomes a Psychic Juggernaut capable of weathering most conventional attacks. HEAT rockets recommended if available.
SYNERGY WITH TELEKINESIS: Adding the Force aspect to this power allows the Psychic to enhance their Telekinetic abilities with Elemental Earth, shaping and manipulating earth and even metal with ease. Terrifying displays of power such as leveling whole towns, opening up Earth to trap and crush man and machine, pillars of earth to block and strike, and more. Basically an Earthbender from Avatar. SYNERGIES WITH OTHER DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: Idk, cool shit probably.
Hydrokinesis (Dynamokinesis - Minor - Major - Master)
At Minor rank, this ability grants sensory information about the waters around the Psychic, including chemical composition, purity, etc.
At Major rank, this ability grants Resist Cold for free, as the Psychic becomes more attuned to Elemental Water, resistant to temperature changes.
At Master rank, Resist Cold is further improved to Impervious to Cold, as the Psychic becomes at home in the freezing waters and wastes of the North.
SYNERGIES WITH TELEKINESIS: Adding the Force Aspect to this power allows the Psychic to enhance their Telekinetic abilities with Elemental Water, shaping and manipulating water around the Psychic easily. Hydraulic lances of water, dessication of bodies, and other expressions of horrific Hydrokinesis. Such mastery over water even allows the Psychic to alter it's state from liquid to solid, forming ice.
SYNERGIES WITH OTHER DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: Pyrokinesis is a big one, granting full range of thermal manipulation from completely frozen to fiery and explosive. Boiling enemies alive in a blast of superheated steam is a potential combo.
Pyrokinesis (Dynamokinesis - Minor - Major - Master)
At Minor rank, this ability allows the Psychic to sense thermal energy around them, whether it be in the form on living things or the evoked fire.
At Major rank, this ability grants Resist Fire for free, as the Psychic becomes more attuned to Elemental Fire.
At Master rank, Resist Fire is further improved to Impervious to Fire, able to withstand almost all conventional sources of heat, from the mighty Yellowstone to even the blaze of dragon's breath.
SYNERGIES WITH TELEKINESIS: Adding the Force Aspect to this power make the Psychic one of the most commonly thought of Psionic Archetypes in North America, the famed Burster. See Burster File.
SYNERGIES WITH OTHER DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: Man, I wonder what thermal manipulation could do with the ability to manipulate earths and metals. Hmm...
Anti-Phase: (Matter and Energy – Major)
Range: Self, Touch, Telekinesis
Allows the Psychic to attempt to negate D-Shifting and Temporal abilities. Unlikely to really be useful, but cool.
Close Dimensional Rifts: (Matter and Energy – Master)
Range: Close enough to be affected by the Rift.
Costs a tremendous amount of energy (which doesn't matter because there's a big awesome rift to draw from), but if successful, it will shut down the Rift. Good luck getting close enough.
D-Shift Blink (Matter and Energy – Master)
Through manipulation of the fabric of reality, effectively allows teleportation over moderate distances. Requires D-Shift Ghost. Can be synergized with D-Shift Distance. Synergy with Telekinesis: = Phase Warp: Displacement: Teleport other people instead! Synergy with D-Shift Phase: Delete them by teleporting them into objects! Denser mass wins.
D-Shift Distance (Matter and Energy – Major)
Range: Self, Telekinesis
Allows the Psychic to manipulate their movement through reality, up to a multiple of 10. Very strange visual effect. Synergy with Telekinesis = Phase Warp: Confusion: It's kind of hard to fight if nothing goes where you want it to. Doesn't work through force fields.
D-Shift Ghost (Matter and Energy – Minor)
Range: Self
Allows the Psychic to shunt most of their mass to another dimension, becoming insubstantial. Can move any direction at a slow pace (including up and down), but not through solid objects and Force Fields. SYNERGY WITH D-SHIFT PHASE: Oh look, now you can go through solid objects. Force Fields still don't count though.
D-Shift Phase (Matter and Energy – Major)
Allows localized warping of reality around the Psychic, walk through solid matter. Requires D-Shift Ghost. Not completing the Phase is bad for your health. SYNERGY WITH PHASE BLAST: Have you tried coating objects with these effects? Turns out it is pretty effective versus armored targets.
D-Shift Recall (Matter and Energy – Major)
Can attune objects, scaling with power, and Recall them to you instantly from anywhere as long as they aren't trapped in a Force Field of some description. At Master, Recall yourself to any object/location you are attuned to as long as you aren't trapped by a Force Field.
Ectoplasm (Matter and Energy – Major)
Allows the Psychic to shape Psionic energy into solid, liquid or gaseous forms. Needs Telekinesis in order to control it. Ectoplasm in Vapor form can pick up and physically manipulate small objects. Can only be seen by the creator, See Invisible, supernatural beings and infrared optics. Must be able to see the ectoplasm to maneuver it. Ectoplasm in Solid form can take the shape of an extra limb, a full figure, a face, etc. Ecto-Combat: Requires Telekinesis Superior. Make attacks with the Ectoplasm in accordance with Telekinesis rules. Prerequisite for Ectoplasmic Disguise. Requires Telekinesis.
Ectoplasmic Disguise (Matter and Energy – Major)
Psychic can form a perfect disguise. No penalties. Granted for free on taking Telekinesis Major. Ecto-Combat: Psychic can create efficient battle forms, grant armor and weapons as well as specialized limbs from Ectoplasm. Requires Ectoplasm, Telekinesis Superior. SYNERGY = ASTRAL GOLEM: Turns out, being able to manipulate Ectoplasm is pretty important in the Astral Realm. Now you can hurt the creatures that dwell there...
Exorcism (Matter and Energy – Minor)
Allows the Psychic to perform a Rite of Exorcism, using psionic energy to expel a supernatural force from the host's body. Also works on other forms of possession and control.
Multi-Phase (Matter and Energy – Master)
Allows the Psychic to project illusionary duplicates of himself. SYNERGY WITH D-SHIFT BLINK: Psychic can swap places with Duplicates instantly. Synergy with any combat powers: Can launch attacks from Duplicates for maximum trickery.
Phase Blast (Matter and Energy – Master)
Range: Touch, Thrown, Telekinesis
A blast of pure psionic energy that will severely fuck up somebody's day. Ignores Armor Value. Stopped by Force fields. Can be hand held, thrown or projected via Telekinesis. SYNERGY WITH DYNAMOKINETIC POWERS: FIRES THAT BURN ALL AAAIUHIEHEBE [cut transmission]
Phase Field (Matter and Energy – Master)
Allows the Psychic to generate a incoming attacks have their damage dispersed. Only magical and psionic attacks are unaffected. Divide damage by 10. Only works against kinetic energy.
Psi-Bolt (Matter and Energy – Master)
Range: Touch, Thrown Telekinesis
The trademark ability of a Master Class Psychic is to manipulate pure Psionic Energy into physical shapes. In this case, a bolt. Very lethal. Synergizes with Telekinesis, Dynamokinesis.
Psi-Shield (Matter and Energy – Master)
The trademark ability of a Master Class Psychic is to manipulate pure Psionic Energy into physical shapes. In this case, a shield, to not get fucked up by pure Psionic Energy. SYNERGY WITH TELEKINETIC BODY FIELD AND FORCE FIELD: Expand the size of the shield to full body protection!
Psi-Sword (Matter and Energy – Master)
The trademark ability of a Master Class Psychic is to manipulate pure Psionic energy into physical shapes. Doesn't even have to be a sword, just something psychologically connected in the human subconscious to damage, like an axe or spear. Swords are the most popular though. THE USUAL SYNERGIES WITH TELEKINETIC POWERS.
Psychic Surgery (Matter and Energy - Major)
Range: Touch, Telekinesis.
Can repair broken bones, internal injuries and remove foreign objects without tools or instruments. Equivalent to professional hospital treatment. Must use Psychic Diagnosis first. SYNERGY ABILITY: REAVE: Offensive application of Psychic Surgery. Delete opponent's will to play this fucking game by severing spines inside their bodies and other fucked up applications. Who said you had to heal them?Requires Bio-Manipulation, D-Shift Phase. SYNERGIES WITH TELEKINESIS AND PERCEPTION CLASS ABILITIES: Who said you had to touch them?!?
Spatial Distortion (Matter and Energy – Major)
Allows the Psychic to twist reality. Matrix dodging and other shenanigans.
Alter Aura (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self, Touch
Allows the psychic to alter the appearance of Auras. Alterations include appearing more or less powerful, concealing true nature, aptitude, age, etc. Can apply this to others as well. Good for framing.
Alter Memory (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Telepathy
Can alter memories as desired. On a critical failure to resist, the alterations are permanent. Requires Mind Wipe.
Alter Personality (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Telepathy
Can alter the target's personality in any way the Psychic desires. On a critical failure to resist, the alteration is permanent. Requires Alter Memory.
Cause Hallucination (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Telepathy
Psychic inflicts hallucinations upon the target, can be whatever the Psychic wishes. On a critical failure to resist, they subject can even take Psychic damage from them and be knocked unconscious, believing themselves to be injured or dead. Requires Telepathy.
Empathic Transmission (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Empathy
This ability instills emotions in another living creature, entity or supernatural being. Affects any targets within range. Example Emotions include: Despair (critical failure results in attempted suicide, failure results in target lying down in apathy until the power ends; target is allowed to defend themselves with complete contempt for death if attacked [+6 mod to morale, +2 mod to Wil in relation to Stamina, will fight offensively whenever possible]); Confusion (target is utterly disoriented, receiving penalties to melee, missile and initiative); Fear (Critical Failure makes the target Terrified for 1d6 rounds, Failure makes the target Fearful for 1d6 rounds, and Semi-success makes the target Nervous for 1d6 rounds); Rage (+6 mod to morale, +2 mod to Wil in relation to Stamina, will fight offensively whenever possible, and additionally, there is a chance [Random DD Willpower] that the target will attack their own allies); Peacefulness (if target fails, they are not allowed to attack unless attacked first); Trust (raises the target's relationship by 1), and so on. Requires Empathy. And some actual empathy to not do the fucked up shit.
Group Mind Block (Mentalism - Major)
The psychic instantly erects a mental barrier to protect himself and those around him within the area. Works just like Mind Block.
Hypnotic Control (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Conversation, eye contact
Target obeys commands given to them. Cannot take actions independent of commands. Fully conscious. Traumatizing. Upgrades to Telepathic Control if Psychic has Telepathy.
Hypnotic Suggestion (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Conversation, eye contact.
Can relax/calm a target, put a target to sleep, focus on a subject, implant subtle ideas, etc. Cannot make the target directly/knowingly injure themselves or allies. Must be worked into a sentence or statement. Upgrades to Telepathic Suggestion if the Psychic has Telepathy.
Induce Amnesia (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
Makes target temporarily forget certain memories, Psychic's discretion. Required for Mind Wipe.
Induce Insanity (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Telepathy
Causes insanity in the target. Horrifying.
Induce Sleep (Mentalism - Minor)
Range: Touch, Telepathy.
Subject is put into a light sleep (heavy sleep if Major, permanent sleep if Master). Will awake up either at end of power or Psychic's discretion. If at all.
Intuitive Combat (Mentalism – Minor_
A form of combat trance, brings subconscious to the fore, notices responds and reacts better in combat.
Life Drain (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
Psychic drains the life energy of the target and heals simultaneously. Common Mind Bleeder power.
Mask Psionics (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self.
Completely masks all psionic energy and powers, even from powers meant to detect them. Requires Alter Aura.
Mentally Control Others (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Telepathy.
Remote control others like a puppet. Only controls the body. Dream like state, will remember most things upon freedom. Required for Mentally Possess Others.
Mentally Possess Others (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Telepathy
Allows the psychic to completely control another person's body, as if they were that person without the memories. The possessed target will have no memory of the experience, and will wake up once the power expires. Requires Telepathy, Mentally Control Others.
Mind Blast (Mentalism – Master)
Range: Telepathy
Directly attack the mind of the target. Reduces all rolls. Stacks. Deals Mental Health Damage. Successive Mind Blasts can kill the target (dropping Mental Health to 0 with this ability). May cause psychological and neurological disorders, may never fully recover. Extremely traumatizing. Requires Telepathy Superior.
Mind Block (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self.
The classic defensive Mentalism technique. Roll twice to resist mental effects (3x at Master) and take the best result.
Mind Bond (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
Creates an instant bond with the target, psychic's choice of whether the bond is 1-way (and direction) or 2-way. Learns everything about the subject for a duration of time up to the Psychic's discretion. Requires Telepathy and Empathy.
Mind Spike (Group Mind Spike 2 points) (Mentalism - Major)
Range: Telepathy
Allows the psychic to shut down another psychic's powers. Target rolls twice to resist.
Mind Trip (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
Significantly increase target's chances to fumble.
Mind Wipe (Mentalism – Major)
Allows the psychic to wipe any memory or memories from the target, either temporarily or permanently. Requires Induce Amnesia, Telepathy.
Psionic Purge (Mentalism - Minor)
Range: Touch
Purges psionic effects on target, such as suggestion, compulsion, illusion, nightmares. Does not restore memories and personality. Requires Psychic Diagnosis.
Psionic Invisibility (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self
Makes the Psychic harder to detect. Scales with power. Not actually invisible. SYNERGY WITH TELEMECHANICS: Applies to technology, untraceable.
Psychosomatic Disease (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Conversation, Telepathy.
Requires Hypnotic Suggestion. Makes target think they suffer symptoms of a disease. Potentially lethal. Must be healed by Psychic Healer or magical curse breaking.
Restore Memory (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
This is a simple but useful power that can restore a small block of memory lost earlier due to natural causes, aging/disease, physical or mental trauma, magic, or psionics. The memory that is restored can be any single skill, event, or part of the patient's personality. Multiple or total memory loss or Mind Wipe must be restored one skill, event, memory, etc. at a time. Requires Telepathy, Psychic Diagnosis.
Shared Perception (Mentalism – Major)
Range: Telepathy
This psionic power gives the psychic the ability to share his perception with someone else, or spy on someone else's perception. This sharing of perception includes all sensory input. The other person also perceives whatever the person whose perception is being shared out sees, hears, smells, touches, or tastes. This power can be incredibly useful for spying or sharing information with allies. Victims of this power whose perception is being shared out to the psychic will feel as if someone is watching or looking over their shoulder. Requires Telepathy, Mind Bond.
Speed Reading (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self
Read 15-30 pages a minutes, and retain information as normal. Very effective for quickly attaining knowledge. +1 Intelligence.
Skill Drain (Mentalism - Minor)
Range: Touch, Telepathy
Drain skills, retain them for longer durations, up to permanent at Master. Skills don't come back.
Telepathy (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Scales with power
Allows the psychic to eavesdrop on what another person is thinking. Can focus on individuals. Cannot read multiple people at once. TELEPATHY SUPERIOR (2 points): Allows the psychic to access deeper and subconscious thoughts, can read thoughts on any subject they wish, such as the target's passwords, true name, skills, psychic abilities, and memories.
Death Trance (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
Suspended animation, appears to be dead even to medical analysis, does not respond to anything, including Psychic Probes or magical scans. Even drugs, toxins and chemicals cease their effects until the trance is over. Requires Resist Thirst, Resist Hunger, Resist Fatigue.
Energy Vampire (Drain Energy) (Mind Over Matter – Major)
Drain energies of Rifts Earth, Supernatural, Psychics and Practitioners of Magic. Predatory instinct, don't have to go with it. +1 to combat rolls versus them. Use energies of those you kill to power yourself. Sustain yourself entirely off of that energy.
Enhance Reflexes (Mind Over Matter - Minor)
Range: Self
Improved reflexes, reaction times, very beneficial in combat.
Psionic Purification (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Touch, Self
Halts the progress of all chemicals, poisons, drugs and toxins in the body, destroying them at the end of the trance. Damage sustained prior to Psychic Purification remains. Synergizes with Resist Poison/Toxins: Total immunity to poisons and toxins.
Resist Biokinesis (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Exceptional defense versus Biokinetic effects.
Resist Damage (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
An impressive power, Psychic is resistant to low caliber bullets and hard to put down.
Resist Energy (Mind Over Matter - Minor)
Range: Self
The Psychic becomes resistant to plasma and energy, including electricity.
Resist Fatigue (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
No longer take penalties from tiredness, only need 4 hours of sleep to be considered restful. Can go many days without sleep.
Resist Fire (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
The Psychic becomes resistant to fire and heat in general.
Resist Hunger (Mind Over Matter - Minor)
Range: Self.
Will not suffer penalties from hunger. Can survive a maximum of 60+ days without food before collapsing into a coma and dying.
Resist Poison/Toxin (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
Psychic becomes resistant to conventional poisons and toxins.
Resist Thirst (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self.
Will not suffer penalties from thirst. Duration of time without water = 3 x at Major, 4x at Master.
Summon Inner Strength (Mind Over Matter - Minor)
Range: Self.
The Psychic draws upon inner reserves, becoming tougher, stronger, more enduring. Also increases the benefits of any/all of the Resist abilities. Requires Resist Thirst, Resist Fatigue, Resist Hunger.
Suppress Fear (Mind Over Matter – Minor)
Range: Self, Touch, Telepathy
Subject does not suffer penalties from Morale for the duration of the power. Affects others with Telepathy, all minds desired at Telepathy Superior.
Supercharge (Mind Over Matter – Master)
Range: Self
This power channels the ambient energies of Rifts Earth into the Psychic's body, becoming supernaturally tough and strong and dextrous. Increases the bonus from Ley Lines and Rifts by 50%. Requires Strength of Mind
Strength of Mind (Mind Over Matter – Major)
Range: Self
The psychic channels their own energy into their body, further increasing physical attributes. Requires Summon Inner Strength.
Astral Projection (Perception – Minor)
Enter the Astral Plane. Time flows strangely here, and many dangers abound. It's pretty lit though. Spirit World analogue.
Clairvoyance (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self.
Allows the psychic to see or feel glimpses of possible futures, the past, and the present. Common during sleep. Unpredictable, Quest Master discretion.
Clairvoyant Prediction (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self.
The psychic can see the results of actions before they take them, whether it be dice rolls or the immediate consequences of a non-combat action. Additionally, they may also receive information at the Quest Master's discretion, about general probabilities and outcomes of other decisions and actions (like the likelihood of a mission's success). At Master, passive insights subtly benefit the character at a subconscious level, granting small bonuses to all rolls. Requires Clairvoyance.
Commune with Spirits (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self.
Allows the psychic to communicate with ghosts, entities, etc.
Disclose Observation (Perception – Major)
Range: eh...
Psychic knows that they are being watched, and from which direction. SYNERGY WITH TELEMECHANICS: Disclose Observation now applies to cameras and recording devices. Requires Sixth Sense.
Empathy (Perception – Minor)
Range: Scales with power
This ability allows the psychic to sense the emotions of people, animals and supernatural creatures. Can be used to sense other creatures are nearby. Cannot pinpoint location. Useful for identifying and communicating with ghosts and other entities. EMPATHY SUPERIOR (2 points): Can sense underlying emotions and the source, critical success, knows targets true feelings on something and parts of memories.
Empathic Charisma (PEOPLE and/or ANIMALS, 1 point each) (Perception - Minor)
Range: Self.
People and/or Animals like the Psychic more. Requires Empathy.
Enhanced Perception (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self
Grants the Psychic improved senses. HEIGHTENED PERCEPTION (2 points): Powerful Psi-Druids with this ability say they can hear the Earth move, feel the grass grow, the singing of the Sky, the caress of Water, and the heartbeat of the world, obtaining knowledge of all things on Earth.
Mind's Eye (Perception – Master)
Range: Scales with power.
. Like Psychic Omni-Sight, but can be used on the go, just better. All perception abilities stack with it. Everything is known like Psychic Radar. Nothing can hide unless using a very powerful ability. Requires Psychic Omni-Sight
Object Read (Perception – Minor)
Range: Touch.
Allows the psychic to receive feelings and images from an object by concentrating on a specific line of thought or opening up to general impressions. Impressions include: temperament of last owner; emotional state; general purpose of object; current state of owner (dead or alive); whether object has been used by psychics or supernatural; if the object is enchanted; if the object contains an entity (and the alignment and temperament of the entity); and if the object is possessed. Images: approximate age, height, weight, build, race, sex, occupation, hair color and length; special features; events; object is always involved in some way. Potentially can see where the last owner of the object currently is, their state of mind, appearance, general location, features, and possibly specific location. Required for Psionic Mark/Seeking.
Presence Sense (Perception - Minor)
Range: Scales with power
Presence Sense alerts the psychic to the presence of supernatural beings, creatures of magic and other monstrous life forms. Will give a general impression of how close the presence is, how many there are and how powerful they are. ENHANCED PRESENCE SENSE (2 points): Probe to indicate the presence of psionic/magic energy in an area. The probe can be used to pinpoint the exact location of psychic energy, including the power level (weak, medium, strong). This ability will indicate whether an individual is psychic when directed at him or her. It will not reveal type or strength beyond weak, medium or high. It will indicate if a Mind Block is in effect and if subject is psionically possessed. Add Fortitude Proficiency to Tracking to hunt Psionic and Magical signatures. HEIGHTENED PRESENCE SENSE (3 points): Also indicates life in general at quarter range. Each improvement doubles radius.
Psionic Mark/Seeking (Perception – Major)
Range: Miles
After establishing a link to a target, the Psychic can track them. Requires some way to perceive Psionic signatures, such as Presence Sense, See Aura, etc.
Psychic Diagnosis (Perception – Minor)
Range: Touch (Line of Sight with See Aura/Psychic Sight)
Senses physical pain, damage, injuries, disease and possession with absolute clarity. Required to perform Psychic Surgery. Combat Application: Shatterpoint. Perceive vulnerabilities of a target.
Psychic Omni-Sight (Perception – Major)
Range: Scales with power
An advanced form of extrasensory perception that allows the psychic to have a sort of controlled out of body experience. and enter into a trance state. While entranced, his spirit or essence seems to rise 10-20 feet above his physical body (this is not visible to anybody but other psychic sensitives who can see the invisible, auras or spirits). From this vantage point, combined with heightened awareness, the psychic sees through his mind's eye, without having to use his normal vision or senses. Enables the psychic to see in all directions at once, to see radiation, thermal patterns, the invisible, and to literally see any movement, even of the wind! This power enables the psychic to guard or survey a campsite for signs of wayward group members or approaching. It can also be used to survey an area for things that might otherwise escape normal sight or take much longer to locate and identify. Requires Remote Viewing, See Aura, See the Invisible.
Remote Viewing (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self.
Requires image of target to focus on, whether it be a person or specific place. Alternative, can ask questions, number scaling with power, and get a response.
See Aura (Perception – Minor)
Range: Line of Sight.
Aura is the manifestation of a being's life force and energy. See Aura will indicate: general level of experience; presence of psychic abilities; presence of possession by an entity; indicate alignment; serious illness, ailments, aberrations, etc. Prerequisite to See Invisible.
See Invisible (Perception – Minor)
Range: Line of Sight.
Can see entities, beings, forces, objects and creatures which are normally invisible. Even beings without physical forms can still be seen. Upgrades See Aura.
Sense Time (Mentalism - Minor)
Range: Self.
Psychic can accurately measure the passage of time. Permanent +1 Intelligence. A very good idea for Astral Projection, and has other uses for dealing with mental manipulation, such as understanding that there exists a gap in memory if Mind Wiped.
Sixth Sense (Perception – Minor)
Range: Self
This ability allows the Psychic to sense, within 3-5 minutes of being in danger, that they are in danger. The impressions are vague, but carry the degree of urgency. If the danger is life-threatening, Sixth Sense kicks up a knotch, allowing them to always make an attempt to not get killed. Examples include suddenly dodging sniper shots they couldn't have known were coming, changing course to avoid a land mine, etc. Not foolproof, but pretty good. SYNERGY WITH CLAIVOYANT PREDICTION: Battle Precognition: the combat application of Clairvoyant Prediction. Opponents don't receive defensive bonuses due to movement and cover versus you, and offensive rolls against you are modified by your Perception skill.
Levitation (Telekinesis – Minor)
Range: Limited
Limited form of Telekinesis, not particularly useful, but can be used to lighten impacts and such from base jumping, and get that extra couple feet from a long jump. Requires for Telekinesis.
Telekinesis (Telekinesis - Major)
Range: Moderate
A much more useful ability. Allows for the exertion of pure force, can manipulate objects relative to Psionic power, knock people down fairly easily. SYNERGIZES WITH DYNAMOKINETIC ABILITIES. Prerequisite for Telekinesis Superior, Telekinetic Enhancement, Telekinetic Body Field, and Ectoplasm. Requires Levitation.
Telekinesis (Superior) (Telekinesis – Master)
Range: Extensive
Now this is power. Can lift increasingly heavy objects, accelerate them rapidly, crush, pull, and launch shockwaves. SYNERGIZES HARD WITH DYNAMOKINETIC AND OTHER PSYCHIC ABILITIES.
Edit: It has come to my attention that this bad boy wasn't here
TELEKINETIC ACCELERATION ATTACK (Telekinesis - Master)
Rapidly accelerate object even faster, very nice damage.
SYNERGIES WITH LOTS OF COMBAT ABILITIES: EVEN MORE DAMAGE
Telekinetic Body Field (Telekinesis – Major)
Range: Self
Generate a Force Field around self, capable of stopping low caliber firearms. Prerequisite for Telekinetic Force Field. Upgrades to Telekinetic Force Field at Telekinesis Superior. TELEKINETIC FORCE FIELD: A more flexible and powerful Force Field, can be created around an area of the Psychic's choosing, layered and stacked, and generally is much more powerful.
Telekinetic Enhancement (Telekinesis – Major)
Telekinetically empower all physical actions of the Psychic. Hit harder, move faster, jump higher!
Telemechanics (Telemechanics – Minor)
Range: Short
Grants full understanding of machinery. Bonuses to Mechanics, Technology, Computer skills. Telepathically communicate with sufficiently advanced computers.
Telemechanic Machine Bond (Telemechanics - Major)
I AM ONE WITH THE MACHINE, AAAAAA
Telemechanic Machine Ghost (Telemechanics - Major)
Range: Telemechanics
Acquires knowledge from a machine. Can access stored information. Can hear and see data as if he were accessing it conventionally. Process information 10 times faster. The mind conceptualizes the computer network as if it were the real world, or a game. Even more tech and computer bonuses.
Telemechanic Mental Operation (Telemechanics - Master)
Range: Telemechanics
Can operate machinery from a distance as long as he's in range. Stacking -1 mod to all skills for each machine operated this way. Requires Telemechanic Possession.
Telemechanic Paralysis (Telemechanics - Major)
Range: Telemechanics
Can shut down or block systems in a machine. Particularly effective against cyborgs who require life support.
Telemechanic Possession (Telemechanics - Major)
Range: Telemechanics
Possess any machine, like rifles or suits of power armor. Can only possess one machine at a time. Required for Telemechanic Mental Operation.
Note: FINALLY
Took longer to write this up than perhaps all of us would have liked.
Edit: I forgot the Nullifier abilities, rip
Null Void (Minor) (Requires Mind Block): Literally doesn't pick up on any kind of magic or Psionic scan. Can't be possessed, dominated, controlled, etc, because according to the system, there's nothing to target.
Psi-Interference Field (Major): Basically counterspell. Anytime a Psionic or Magic ability is used around the Psychic, they can roll to counter it.
Psi-Nullification Field (Master): As below, with greater radius, Psionic and Magical abilities require more energy to use, and the Psychic gets +4 to his roll.
Edit 2: Also allowed to just vote for one of the Archetypes in the Informational tab if this is still too much crunch.
Mind Block (Mentalism – Minor)
Range: Self.
The classic defensive Mentalism technique. Roll twice to resist mental effects (3x at Master) and take the best result.
Does "3x at Master" (and similar things) mean that we need to invest two more points in this skill to get the 3x, or do we automatically get 3x just for being a Master Class psychic?
