Crafting a RIFTS character

God help me, Alex is finally getting a chance to run the RIFTS game he's been wanting to run for a few years now.  And yes, I'm playing in it.

Yet another reason I haven't been blogging much this month!

Anyway, I had a concept I wanted to try out (a cyborg commando), but it wasn't nearly cool or overpowered enough for the game Alex wants to run.  This game will be the sort where we're taking on demi-gods and alien intelligences and demonic ancient vampires and whatnot (so I'm told).

So after looking at the sheer number of titles available for options to sift through...yes, just literally only looking at the number of  books available for RIFTS (not to mention the Palladium system as a whole, from which things can easily be ported/grafted on), I gave up in frustration.  As the meme-makers like to say, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Well, turns out Alex actually DOES have time for that.  He's graciously stepping in and helping me.  He scoured various sourcebooks for something close to my concept, but at the power level of the game.  He gave me some options.

I sorted through the options, and I've got my character basically sorted out.

I'll play an Oni Ninja (from the Phaseworld Sourcebook) who is also a Mystic Ninja (from RIFTS Japan) to boost his psychic powers, and who practices the version of Ninjitsu found in Ninjas and Superspies.  So I'll have mega-damage martial arts along with awesome psionically powered ninja skills.

Close enough to the Solid Snake meets the $6 Million Dollar Man concept I started with, and I can play a pseudo-Japanese culture without breaking a sweat.

HOWEVER, now I've got to sort through the Oni Ninja special abilities, Mystic Ninja abilities, Ninjitsu abilities, and also decide if I want magical or technological equipment (and what, of course).

Oh, and reacquainting myself with the Palladium system, since I haven't actually played a game since I was in high school.  P.E. and P.P. and all these acronyms...  There's definitely something to be said here about system familiarity and ease of use.  Luckily, this game will be a PbP game, so I'll have plenty of time to look up rules if they become relevant.

Alright, I'm off to read through some character options before my next class.  Excelsior!

You got your chocolate in my peanut butter! (March Madness Day 22)

22 What is the most gonzo kitchen sink RPG you ever played? How was it?

I've never played a true “gonzo kitchen sink” RPG like RIFTS, although there have been times when I almost got into one. A couple years go, Alex wanted to run an actual RIFTS game. He suggested I get in through a Heroes Unlimited PC sucked in, since I was more familiar with that system. But it never went anywhere. Jeremy tried a kitchen sink type setting as a playtest of one of his simple home-brew rule sets, but again it didn't go very far.

And what's the reason why I'm not so keen on RIFTS?  Megadamage.  Pure and simple, hearing reports of badass characters from Palladium Fantasy or Heroes Unlimited or whatever transported to RIFTS land, and all their massive powers are worth nothing so they get a megadamage pistol and megadamage bulletproof vest to survive, stuff like that.  Ruins it for me.

Again, file this one in the “one of these days” box for me.

Rolling Up Characters

I've got nothing to say about this week's OSR shield debate.  And I've had limited time for gaming stuff. 

Besides working on some edits of Flying Swordsmen (thanks, Matt and David!) and arranging for some art (thanks, Dylan!), I've been pouring over various Palladium books to try to figure out what sort of character I want to play.

Palladium's biggest problem as far as I'm concerned, is that everything DOES play well together (well, maybe except anything with megadamage).  Still, after going through most of Ninjas & Superspies, and returning to TMNT and Heroes Unlimited (still haven't cracked open Mystic China but I may be OK without it) I think I've figured out what I want to play out of the hundreds of options available.  I'm not sure when Alex is going to get his game prepped and ready to play, but I'm more or less ready to roll up my guy.

I'm also going to be rolling up some sample characters for Flying Swordsmen today and tomorrow.  I'll maybe do a few playtests with them, and I'll be using them both for examples in the rule book and as characters in the flavor text. 

So I've got character generation on the brain, not shields.