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JhawkX — Green Mamba SAMAS
Published: 2004-01-20 03:52:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 1591; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 77
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This is a comission that an aquaintance had me do then never picked up. Its been a year so I'm gonna post it. This is something he made up for his Rifts game. Ah Rifts, its sorta like that weird uncle, you know the one that the family loves but wishes would make something of him self. Great potential but abismal exicution. I say this with a huge stack of Rifts books on my RPG book shelf.Anyway, this is a jungle/ forest combat unit spacificly made for dence terrain. Its thrust systems are intended for short jumps rather than powered flight. For weapons it sports an auto shotgun. Likr I said it isnt my idea but the pict is ok.
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Comments: 15
your most welcome
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Well thank you, I'm glad you like it. I appreciate the comment.
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Actually, I'm interested in why you think it's poor execution O_o.
NinjaDork needs debate!
But yes, Coalition looks awesome 
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As far as Rifts goes, well there are lots of things that have always bugged me. There are serious inconsistency issues, the clunky rules and severe power creep. I bypassed this by converting to another system (Fuzion). The biggest problem i had though was that I just never figured out how the world worked on a basic everyday level. Things like trade, economics, society. How the average Joe (or whatever) gets by. How does that monstrously vast world fit and work together to make one, chaotic world. For me it just never did. Ultimately it came down to the simple fact that there where other games that I liked to run better.
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I'm not sure how it failed to work for you. My games always came out great. I don't mean to patronize, but it has looked to me as if many players get overwhelmed by the numbers. The only really necessary tables are the skills & combat things. The rest can be easily decided by the GM without tables, & a lot of times all it requires is dice roll: this means that this happens, this means that this happens. End of story.
As for trade & society & so forth, it really hasn't changed all that much. Just perform a really in-depth study of today sometime, & you'll see how remarkably similar the two worlds are. They all still work by the same basic rules (supply & demand, etc.). The only real difference is that supernatural entities are also players in the politics/trade games.
Now, a big complaint that I've heard is the overwhelming prevalence of ultra-power mega-damage technology & magic. A reasonable & solid explanation is provided in the Ultimate Edition Rulebook, but I'll recap it here: Mega-damage stuff is *NOT* prevalent. It only seems that way because the players are HEROES: it's their job to go out & handle these insane mega-damage threats, just like it is the jobs of mercenaries, standing armies, etc. By that same token, they are *required* to be in constant contact with mega-damage things of all kinds. & if a game is run properly, there will be times when it is not only a bad thing to be using mega-damage weapons/spells/psychic powers, it can have dire consequences.
Here's an example: a human spy has just escaped from his cell, & is making a getaway. You need to capture him alive in order to interrogate him further-he has information vital to the survival of your mercenary company. You chase him for a few melee rounds, until a car pulls up to rescue him. You know that you can't afford to let him get away, so you shoot him with your trusty ion gun. He falls to the ground screaming in agony, clutching the stump where his mangled arm was ripped off & hurled 20 feet away by the impact. The entire left side of his torso has third-degree burns, one-half of his face is ripped away, & the knowledgable can tell that he is suffering huge irradiation from the blast. By the time you reach him, he is dead, killed by system shock & the aforementioned irradiation. Your company ends up getting slaughtered in the next day's battle, all because you thought an SDC pistol/rifle wasn't worth the credits.
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As example of what I'm talking about lets take MD weapons as you suggest. They are expensive and rare. MD monsters however are not. MD beasts are free to predate on any SD creature they can catch. Livestock and wild game people depend on for food are prime examples. New West mentions specifically the cattle (among other things) are major food sources. It was difficult in the old days to protect stock from predators but now you have you have giant, ravenous, supernatural, invulnerable monsters running around the countryside. The most monsters in that book specific mention cattle as a common prey. This is logical as predators, as long at there are not highly specialized, prefer to the easiest prey. They will go after SD critters before MD ones every time when available. What are ranchers to do? Buying you own MD weapons is out of the out of reach of common folk. They could hire out for it this would be a little cheaper but still expensive. Even if the more successful ranchers would have to recoup their costs incurred by raising the cost of their product. I could go on and on and on. I just don't think they think about things like this when they write their books. These are not irreconcilable issues but the depth is in the details and the deeper the setting is portrayed the more roleplaying options arise. I admit I'm a lazy GM I want these wrinkles ironed out so I can concentrate on running a entertaining and engrossing game.
Another more fundamental thing that has always bugged me about game fluff in Rifts is how they portray the avrage humans as helpless isolated refugees, squating in filth, huddled together against the horrors that have been unleashed upon them. The Coalition and similar governments, I'm sure, likes to keep their people ignorant and weak as to keep them dependant on them. The rest of people of Rifts Earth would have to be the strongest, toughest, most resourceful, and downright tenacious humans in the entirety of the Megaverse. Their home is so nasty, if they weren't they'd have gone extinct centuries ago.
These are the kind of things that drive me nuts and for me Rifts has than more than its share. But thats me too. There are lots of other folks that that don't let this bug 'em and enjoy the game immensely. Like i said before I don't have the patience to fix it to my satisfaction these days. Im just finiky.
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I'm not quite sure how you got the helpless refugees impression. Even if that was implied in the storyline, the simple fact that humans are still around-& major players in the game (CS, Triax/NGR, Japan, Russia, etc.)-states as obviously as possible that, while humans may fighting for their lives & souls against all those MD creatures, they are far from helpless. Indeed, save for the addition of those MD creatures, life in Rifts is much the same as it would be in any total-war setting-hard as all fething hell to live a prosperous life, but still possible. Harder still to give that chance to others, but still possible.
In fact, that is the whole point of the main Rifts setting: to make a world where there is conflict, hardships, & opportunities for true heroics. I know that most adventurers like a cakewalk now & then, but most of 'em would much rather have challenges as the order of the day. MD creatures & other such things were merely a way of creating a unique challenge in what would otherwise have been a run-of-the-mill RPG; a distinguished game, with a highly enjoyable storyline & setting, but still kind of "meh-we've seen it before". I'll admit that in a couple ways they went overboard (WAY too many alien intelligences), but overall, the MD thing is not a bug-it's a feature.
For those of you who have played the game SW: Knights of the Old Republic II, you may recall the Telos cutscene where Atton & Kreia are talking while the hero meditates. Kreia says it best: "It is conflict that strengthens us, & isolation & peace that weakens us." Whatever does not kill us makes us stronger: Rifts just took it to another level.
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I don't disagree at all, but this is not how things are written. I think Paladium (and Kevin Simibi...whatever in particular) as so bussy coming up with big cool nasty elements to the world and don't spend enough time thinking how it all works together on a more basic level. They do a good job at that though, they have created the most turbulent, chaotic, and conflict ridden game world out there. Rifts has everything: magic, technology, fantasy, scifi, post apocalyptic, supernatural horror, etc. Thats great, I love settings that have it all. The roleplaying potential is immense. There are a lot of incongruities and holes (non intentional ones) in the world. Its not that they can't be fixed and smoothed out I just don't want to do it. Things like MD are beside the point I really don't mind it. Course now that I think about it I never have played in Rifts. I spent all my time GMing for people who knew nothing about the setting. Maybe had I played w/ a particularly good Rifts GM Id have a diffrent view of things. Who knows.
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Hmmmmmmmmmm.............
That's a good point. From what I've seen, a lot of what we think about ANYTHING-not just gaming-depends mostly on how we see other people interacting with it. A good example is that we tend to judge the intelligence &/or morality of others by how closely they agree with our own opinions. You need look no further than the Democrats & Republicans. Even Hillary & Obama-supposedly on the same side-attack each other with a ferocity that almost rivals a family catfight.
It may be the same with Rifts. If you spent all your time playing games that really didn't live up to the full potential of the game, you may very well conclude that, at the least, the game has many holes. Many's the debate I've heard about Glitter Boys-one of the best suits of power armor in the game, in my opinion-where a surprising number of people said, "It sucks: it's too slow & gets killed really easily". But, as Kevin Siembieda points out, it is really powerful-you just have to use it properly.
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I hate you and your awesome drawing skills. ;P Not really! I love you! Draw more!
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It took a long time to get as where I am. Thanx for the compliments. I still have a long way to go in my opinion. If you ever want any tips, just ask. I like helping out where I can.
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