trying to rift in the Xitiic into Splic

[csbioborg]

One of my firends is trying to rift in the Xitiic in order to delay the machine. and save the colony from the machine. I own Xiticx and I think its a cool idea so I am going to allow it. However he needs to research the matter and I think it should use more than one mage. He's already tested and the Xitixc are MDC in Splicers since there MDC is not derived from magic. However when I do allow it I don't really know how I'm going to allow it.

Any advice on this.

[Damian Magecraft]

Considering the end result of a Xitictic infestation this may not be the best of Ideas.
It is similar to setting the fox to guard the hen house from the depredations of the weasel and then getting a wolf to get rid of the fox.

[csbioborg]

Considering the end result of a Xitictic infestation this may not be the best of Ideas.
It is similar to setting the fox to guard the hen house from the depredations of the weasel and then getting a wolf to get rid of the fox.

I was punching the numbers and there is no way that the Xitiicx could beat the machine. At best they could stalemate them.

[Damian Magecraft]

ok by the numbers you may be correct...
but then according to the numbers the US should still be colonies of the British Empire...
things never go as planned...

Assuming that you (as GM) have no intention allowing the infestation to get to that point, then yes more research is indeed needed before allowing such a plan to go into effect. might even want to drop hints that maybe this isnt the best of ideas that way (make the player second guess himself) give him reasons to question this course of action (maybe even let the players as a party explore a xitictic hive world first.)

[demos606]

Going by the numbers, the US had every reason to beat British troops in the Revolution - logistics, reinforcements, terrain, uniforms etc all favored the revolutionaries. By the numbers, the Xitic may even be overmatched by NEXUS forces because lets face it, losses don'y mean jack to the machine, they'll just activate more of the warehoused reserves or build another few hundred thousand replacements. NEXUS can run a pure war of attrition and grind the Xit into nonexistance plus the Xit get to deal with the joys of the nanoplague, though they won't be near as badly effected as humans are because they're less dependant upon metals for their weapons and armor.

[Damian Magecraft]

Going by the numbers, the US had every reason to beat British troops in the Revolution - logistics, reinforcements, terrain, uniforms etc all favored the revolutionaries. By the numbers, the Xitic may even be overmatched by NEXUS forces because lets face it, losses don'y mean jack to the machine, they'll just activate more of the warehoused reserves or build another few hundred thousand replacements. NEXUS can run a pure war of attrition and grind the Xit into nonexistance plus the Xit get to deal with the joys of the nanoplague, though they won't be near as badly effected as humans are because they're less dependant upon metals for their weapons and armor.

I will agree with you on all but the reinforcements...at the time of our declaration of independance we had no allies we could be guarantied would come. That is exactly what the crown was banking on actually. that they had the Numbers on their side, then things changed.
In every war there is a loser who swears the numbers were on their side.
Remember numbers are orderly and static...reality is not, it is chaotic and ever in motion.

And after some thought I realize i misspoke...I should have used the past tense not the present tense. The numbers said, not the numbers say.

[csbioborg]

to be honest I actually was thinking that if you brought in one entire hive even then you would have to put it into a area similar to the Great Barren Marsh too even let the Xitic have a chance. Mind you I play them like the Antz from John Steakely's Armour novel. (Best book about power armor ever written in my opinion. I'm under the impression their are millions upon millions of robots and they would not give the Xiticx the same leeway as they do human it would be more a scroched earth policy

[Damian Magecraft]

By all means let it happen...
But make the players sweat it out.
Make it a moral dilemma.
Show them worlds consumed by the Xiticix.
Let them find Information (through psionic or magical means) on the Xiticix describing them akin to a force of nature.

Do not make it an easy decision for them.

I love the bugs...I have made them a nasty villain in several phase world games. The idea of an all consuming hoard its disturbing if played right.

[Guy_LeDouche]

Heck yes, drop the Bugs on them!! If your struggling creatively with how to bring the Xitictic, who says they have to be "Rifts" Xitictic? With the rampant genetic modifications in Splicers, you could have a case of parallel evolution. Or, maybe they just showed up, no explanation given. Perhaps they were an out of control experiment by Gaia.

Speaking of Gaia, put the Hive right smack in the middle of a Preserve. This would allow the Bugs to populate in relative safety; Gaia won't permit bots into the Preserves. Undoubtedly, the Machine could handle just about any infestation in a matter of weeks (maybe even days). So, if the bugs get too big, the Machine knocks them back down, but there will always be a main hive in the Preserves, untouchable by N.E.X.U.S. So, the threat will always be there. Thus, if the PCs really do decide to get rid of the Bugs, its going to fall on them to do it.

Mind you I play them like the Antz from John Steakely's Armour novel. (Best book about power armor ever written in my opinion.

That book rules! Your comment made me think of something, however. Aside from this and "Starship Troopers", what other power armor books are there? (Not counting 40K novels.)

[csbioborg]

Well the P.C.s are the one doing it. THey are all from rifts came to get a old friend turned into biotic now fighting to save human colony. THere only experience with the ones on Rifts eaerth since they are rifts earths citizens everyone is part of the Society of Sages

On books I let me get back to you on that I know I have read some other ones.

[csbioborg]

E. E. Smith's Lensman series, (published from 1937 onwards), contains the earliest conceptualization of personal armour with both defensive and offensive capabilities for all environments.
Another early example were the Fat Man underwater suits (with mechanical pantograph arms and a propulsion system), which debuted in Tom Swift and His Jetmarine (1954).
The novel Starship Troopers (1959) details the tactics involved with powered armor. It was also the first work of fiction that widely popularized the concept. The first film adaptation was a Japanese OVA, Uchu no Senshi, produced by Sunrise with mechanical designs by Studio Nue. The later Hollywood version, however, did not use powered armor, opting instead for the Troopers to use simple (but clearly ineffective) body armor. In contrast, the 1999 television adaptation remained far more faithful to Heinlein's original vision.
Powered exoskeletons with arc weapons are used by inhabitants of Northworld in the Northworld Trilogy by David Drake
Standard issue battle armor in Joe Haldeman's book The Forever War is an exoskeleton using logarithmic force amplification.
Powered armor operated remotely by telepresence also feature in Haldeman's Forever Peace (which shares themes with the previous The Forever War but is not a sequel in terms of setting and characters).
The security troops of the interstellar company Zantiu-Braun are described as wearing biological "Skin" armour in Peter Hamilton's novel Fallen Dragon.
Very advanced suits based on nanotechnology and a very advanced computer assistance system are depicted in Legacy of the Aldenata by John Ringo. These suits are notable for being one of an extremely few designs that recognise traditional transparent 'eyes' in the helmet of the armour as being a weakness. These suits are often regarded as the spiritual descendants of Robert A Heinlein's Mobile Infantry Marauder, Command and Scout suits and in fact borrow similar terminology.
Armor by John Steakley, who admits that the work was inspired by Starship Troopers, features powered battle armor.
Dale Brown uses characters in many of his novels that wear a Tin man suit, which is a thin material that has an electric charge that flows though it to protect the user from all but very large explosions and very large caliber rounds. He also writes about CID units in his book, Act of War, which are Cybernetic Infantry Devices which are approximately 9 feet tall.
In Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age, nanotech-derived Hoplite suits are used by modern infantry, and are full-body suits of powered armor.
In Iain M Banks's novel The Player of Games, a veteran wearing life-support powered body armor is forced to commit murder when the control systems of his suit are taken over from outside.
In David Weber's Honorverse and Mutineers moon universe, military units - in addition to unpowered 'skin' suits use powered armour hardsuits for combat operations. In addition in his books Path of the Fury and the later expansion In Fury Born, both Imperial Marines and the elite Drop Commandos of the Imperial Cadre utilise powered armour suits.
In the novel Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card the "armies" in battle school use a version of a powered exoskeleton for mock battles how ever these did not offer any advantages and simply froze soldiers who were "shot"

[Damian Magecraft]

yes! another Lensman fan!
and lets not forget that series also introduced a reason for melee weapons in armored combat.
I loved the concept of the space axe so much; I had to make a variant of it for Rifts.
And then of course I also recommend the series as reading material for any one running a Psionic.

[csbioborg]

The FOrever War introduced me to a good reason for melee combat in a high tech enviorment. I can't remember if I read DeathStalker or Forever War first but while I liked the series DeathStalker uses a very unrealistic plot device as to why people fight with sword (it takes two minutes to recharge a energy weapon.


Anyway back to the mechnics of this how would you get a rift in at least a queen and a few thosand xitiicx into Splicers. How much PPE people spells and take into account the PCs are human supremisnt Society of Sages

[Damian Magecraft]

well the OP already has his method of dropping them in...

He was wondering how much research the magic user needed to use.
I think it should be an adventure in of itself just to get the "gates" open.
And a moral quandry should be involved.

[Guy_LeDouche]

Anyway back to the mechnics of this how would you get a rift in at least a queen and a few thosand xitiicx into Splicers. How much PPE people spells and take into account the PCs are human supremisnt Society of Sages

I'm sorry for sending your thread on a tangent csbioborg. However, I really appreciate the suggestions on reading material. I just wrapped up a series by Turtledove and was looking for something new. I see Lensman comes highly recommended, might have to pick it up.

I think it should be an adventure in of itself just to get the "gates" open. And a moral quandry should be involved.

I've been out of touch with Rifts for a while, I'll have to dig out the books. Opening the rift would be the first big obstacle; with Splicers a very non-magic environment, simply figuring out how to do this could an interesting adventure in and of itself.

Next problem I see is how to get the Bugs through it once its opened.

Interesting scenario.

[Damian Magecraft]

Anyway back to the mechnics of this how would you get a rift in at least a queen and a few thosand xitiicx into Splicers. How much PPE people spells and take into account the PCs are human supremisnt Society of Sages

I'm sorry for sending your thread on a tangent csbioborg. However, I really appreciate the suggestions on reading material. I just wrapped up a series by Turtledove and was looking for something new. I see Lensman comes highly recommended, might have to pick it up.

I think it should be an adventure in of itself just to get the "gates" open. And a moral quandry should be involved.

I've been out of touch with Rifts for a while, I'll have to dig out the books. Opening the rift would be the first big obstacle; with Splicers a very non-magic environment, simply figuring out how to do this could an interesting adventure in and of itself.

Next problem I see is how to get the Bugs through it once its opened.

Interesting scenario.

The bugs are an expansionist species getting them to come through is not going to be the big problem (IMO) it is going to be closing the gate before too many come through.

[Guy_LeDouche]

The bugs are an expansionist species getting them to come through is not going to be the big problem (IMO) it is going to be closing the gate before too many come through.

Ah, true, I had forgetten about that (Rifts-rust.)

Now, would they have to lure a Queen or can the Bugs develop one from an exsisting female?

[Damian Magecraft]

The bugs are an expansionist species getting them to come through is not going to be the big problem (IMO) it is going to be closing the gate before too many come through.

Ah, true, I had forgetten about that (Rifts-rust.)

Now, would they have to lure a Queen or can the Bugs develop one from an exsisting female?

the "gate" would have to be opened for some time to allow a bug scouting party to discover new territory. At which time an Elder Queen would "promote" a young to colony status.

[demos606]

Something else to consider when judging the potential effectiveness of the Xit - magic and psionics are hosed. I'm also curious how your friend plans to get the energy to open a rift for the Xit to arrive in the first place.

[The Baron of chaos]

For the chronicle i think xiticix are IMMUNE to nanoplague, being insectoid.
By the wya at this point why not invite the mechanoids. They would hack NEXUS before the seven AI know what happened. Well and of course wipe out humanoid from face of planet(perhaps Kali would fall in love for them ).

[csbioborg]

outside of the fact we might someday go back to Splicers World how would you trick a bunch of Mechs into a rift

Also anyone logistically know how this is supoosed supposed to work. We will meet agin in two weeks and he is prone to giving me B.S. answers so I want to know in game terms something to compare his to so that ihis is not implausible.

[demos606]

For the chronicle i think xiticix are IMMUNE to nanoplague, being insectoid.
By the wya at this point why not invite the mechanoids. They would hack NEXUS before the seven AI know what happened. Well and of course wipe out humanoid from face of planet(perhaps Kali would fall in love for them ).

Only non-organic are immune, Xit would have a delay before a reaction occured (p13 Splicers). As for the mechanoids, the enviromental limitations on psi would have the mechanoids in a world of hurt; they'd be too busy looking for a way out of the deadzone to care about what little humanity is still on the planet or NEXUS.

*edited for page ref

[bradshaw]

For the chronicle i think xiticix are IMMUNE to nanoplague, being insectoid.
By the wya at this point why not invite the mechanoids. They would hack NEXUS before the seven AI know what happened. Well and of course wipe out humanoid from face of planet(perhaps Kali would fall in love for them ).

Only non-organic are immune, Xit would have a delay before a reaction occured (p13 Splicers). As for the mechanoids, the enviromental limitations on psi would have the mechanoids in a world of hurt; they'd be too busy looking for a way out of the deadzone to care about what little humanity is still on the planet or NEXUS.

*edited for page ref

That would all depend on the nature of the Mechaniods involed. I'm sure their ships would have no problem with the Machine while sliceing the planet up from orbit.

[csbioborg]

he colnies just might be underground possibly thier is a thing called evolution. They get the PPE from thst grue and I'm sure they can bring it with them. Moreover Xiticx are dangerous becasue of swarms many of which specialize in melee combat

I have an issue with thier global network being that high speed if they can't take out the barren marsh

[Exiled_one]

he colnies just might be underground possibly thier is a thing called evolution. They get the PPE from thst grue and I'm sure they can bring it with them. Moreover Xiticx are dangerous becasue of swarms many of which specialize in melee combat

Xiticix 'sludge' however is primarily made up of mashed up mages, psychics and anything else which has a high PPE value, In theory it can (and is) also be made from 'normals'. However I suspect in the magic-poor environment of splicers any sludge they make is going to be very nutrient poor for little bugs to grow on. Problem is the only forces which even have PPE are the alive things (ie splicers, houses and whatever is in Gaia's preserves), which means that - other than from hive expansion, a comparatively long term goal for the summoned swarm - the bugs have no incentive to go after the machine. Retaliate against a perceived threat, yes, but not actively go after the machine as long as it keeps a certain distance away from the lands the Xititcix claim. It probably won't take long for (at least some of) the Machine personalities to realise this - Gaia might even set up a preserve around them...

I will agree that the bugs from systems failure might be a better choice, after all they live on electronic energy and can play havoc with the machines toys, but even so, all it would take would the machine to set up a few powergenerators away from its computer core and the bugs would go satiate themselves there instead of the heavily armoured, prickly combat robots the PCs would rather they went after...

Still the problem remains in even GETTING them there in the first place.

[demos606]

he colnies just might be underground possibly thier is a thing called evolution. They get the PPE from thst grue and I'm sure they can bring it with them. Moreover Xiticx are dangerous becasue of swarms many of which specialize in melee combat

I have an issue with thier global network being that high speed if they can't take out the barren marsh

Having the ability to watch the entirety of the surface of the planet doesn't mean beans when the attack is coming from the sewers below the surface. Remember the Barren Marsh power cell was put in a ruined human city and NEXUS underestimated humanitys ability to attack it effectively. With the removal of that power cell, there's no way (for now) for NEXUS forces to operate en masse in the Marsh.