Favorite Published NPC

[Voodoolaw]

Did a search and didn't see this one, though it sounds kinda familiar. Of course there are so many "favorite" lists. Anyway...

Have to go with Vyur Kly and The Confessor.

Vyur because up until I read VK (original), CK's were my favorite class. I was all excited to read up on this Raoul Lazarious when I got the book and then my hopes were dashed to find him an evil scumbag. Flipping the page I find the group portrait with standing behind Carlotta and I think to myself, "He even looks kinda lame for a cyber-knight," and deemed him not worth my attention. But lo, only 4 pages later I read about this drinking and partying psi-stalking bad-ass who fought off a vampire horde on Eagle Peak and I was hooked. I could see those two flaming swords at work. I was 13 and 1993 was a good year for me (Please don't ruin this fond memory for me Vampire Kingdoms Sourcebook).

Love The Confessor because of the grungy hardboiled look and the all evil must die zeal.

[finn69]

THRAXUS from 3 galaxies......he has PANACHE

[Ravenwing]

Favorite Publish NPC?

Umm...Ironically not many of the publish NPC's interest me. Prosek while a character that could have intense depth and better usage is washed over by his 'I'm a nazi and meglomaniac' **** that the writers saddled him with. Joe II is alot of the same. Published NPC's for the CS(my faction of choice if I'm not playing in the New West) are all pretty light on anything approaching a personality, or real motivations beyond kneejerk nazi cliches. General Holmes should be dead and so I don't include him, as I still disagree with the notion that he and his troops survived.

King Creed ironically was interesting, but they tried to parallel him to much, so he turns from an interesting NPC to a Prosek carbon copy(Oh yes the irony that he's a magic user isn't lost on me, but still he's just a copy of Prosek)

I hate Erin Tarn, just because. That extends to anyone associated with her.(Like her Cyberknight 'bodyguard', Pluto, Etc.

IDK, it's less whose my favorite, and 'which NPC do you least detest?' in that case it's a toss up between Katrina Sun, or perhaps the Sargent in the story of Tolkeen.

[Giant2005]

I like that Dogboy that is pretending to be a God in Pantheons.
A factory-standard Dogboy who thinks he is capable of keeping up that ruse is awesome .

[Gamer]

Doc Rodriguez 'Roddy' Heston and 'Shakes'.

[Voodoolaw]

Doc Rodriguez 'Roddy' Heston and 'Shakes'.

Def like Shakes. A crazy who loves using explosives and has no skill in them is pretty awsome. And he has that sweet sweet bowler.

[random_username]

Don't have the name available but its an Unprincipled Coalition States officer from WB13:Lone Star. Essentially he is considered a 'saint' by the other officers, who are mostly Aberrant or more evil alignments. He is slowly going mad from all the evil he is expected to do as a CS officer. Basically its a great example for anyone looking for an essential insight into the literally 'evil' nature of the Coalition States.

[Ravenwing]

Don't have the name available but its an Unprincipled Coalition States officer from WB13:Lone Star. Essentially he is considered a 'saint' by the other officers, who are mostly Aberrant or more evil alignments. He is slowly going mad from all the evil he is expected to do as a CS officer. Basically its a great example for anyone looking for an essential insight into the literally 'evil' nature of the Coalition States.

Col 'Ironside Buck Murphy (IIRC on the name.) I'd say he's my least favorite CS NPC, primarily because he's so very cliche.
The man is a soldier, soldiers do bad things to bad people, sometimes good people get caught in the middle. The Colonels story made me shake my head and go 'Yeah thats not a CS officer.' and then promptly ignore him.

[Galroth]

My personal favorite is Inglix the Mad.

[The Galactus Kid]

Gabriel Prescott Davenport III, mainly because he was a former character of mine.

[zaccheus]

Mines always been Archie. Sourcebook one has also always been my favorite rifts book. I bought it with the RMB, I thin that was almost 20 years ago

[Dustin Fireblade]

From Rifter #34, Operation Holy House (which is all official source material for Arzno btw): Yankee Team

From Arzno itself: Manheim's Man-Hunters



Also like -
Lone Star: Lianna the Wild (became an integral part of my CS game years back)
Final Siege: Corin Scard (mainly because I had a character with a grudge against him)

and from the Siege series - Deon Canton

[The Galactus Kid]

From Rifter #34, Operation Holy House (which is all official source material for Arzno btw): Yankee Team

From Arzno itself: Manheim's Man-Hunters



Also like -
Lone Star: Lianna the Wild (became an integral part of my CS game years back)
Final Siege: Corin Scard (mainly because I had a character with a grudge against him)

and from the Siege series - Deon Canton

I forgot Operation Holy House was official. I need to go re-read that.

[EnlightenedVagabond]

Essai Ramirez and his "Dark Minions of the NIGHT!!!!" loved using him against my first PC group ever, was an amazing over the top combat.

[Secondhand Smoke]

Desmond Bradford.

Without a doubt, has to be this man right here.

Cana the Blind is a distant second

[The Beast]

Archie

[Jason Richards]

From Rifter #34, Operation Holy House (which is all official source material for Arzno btw): Yankee Team

From Arzno itself: Manheim's Man-Hunters

Cana the Blind is a distant second

Was searching for something else and came across these. Made my day. Thanks for the love, and I'm glad you dig them.

As Dustin is aware, his favorites are homages to my favorite Rifts game ever, which he greatly participated in.

Cana is one of my favorites as well. In a book where all of the villains, for the most part, are in some way "backwards," I loved writing a soothsayer whose prophecies make him cynical and complacent instead of wise.

[ffranceschi]

General Micander Drogue & Lt. General Kira Moss from Coalition Overkill, SoT.

[Akashic Soldier]

Gabriel Prescott Davenport III, mainly because he was a former character of mine.

Really?!

I hate him so much. Thats nothing on you GK but I really really do not like him or the leader of the White Rose Knights (Colt). They're the only NPCs in all of Rifts that I actually sat back and thought "How can I come up with someone evil who could manipulate the Player Characters's into fighting these guys and would they be capable of killing them."

I love the White Rose Knights (though I feel a lot of their power is not justified as I do with the Mystic Knights) but their Leadership seems... not good. Maybe it was just the way I was reading them or something but I LOVE Madhaven in a BIG, BIG way but yeah... those two NPC's (not what they have done but who they are) irk me and I do not feel either are well-suited to running a secret organization of do-gooders.

Please, refute me. By no means am I hung up on this belief as religious fact. Its just Grabriel especially stank to me of someone who would inadvertently be responsible for exposing them and the collapse of the order.

[The Galactus Kid]

Gabriel was a character of mine when he was a HU2 character. His Rifts incarnation is a little different.

Just so I am able to provide clarification:
What in particular do you not like about the characters?

What makes one or the other more likely to expose the group?

[Akashic Soldier]

Gabriel was a character of mine when he was a HU2 character. His Rifts incarnation is a little different.

Just so I am able to provide clarification:
What in particular do you not like about the characters?

What makes one or the other more likely to expose the group?

Gabriel is a lunatic that believes he is an Arch-Angel he glows like the sun and is uncompromising in his convictions, to me it was rather clear that his loyalty was to his own personal delusion... THEN to the Order and as someone who is suffering from a mental illness anyone with a little bit of experience being a manipulative bastard (a half dozen Mystic Knights raise their hands) should be able to play into that delusion to get information out him. Even if that was not his intention. Also, because he is barking mad and it specifically says that he cannot be convinced that he is who he was (presumably your former PC ) he is going to react violently to anyone trying to bring him back to reality. The Arch-Angel complex (I refer to the psychological condition) is very dangerous and more frighteningly unreasonable and the longer he indulges his belief the worse he will become until (unless he already has) he is completely lost to his delusion wherein he will begin formulating his own sense of right and wrong in service to the greater good which is where serial killers come from and as we know serial killers leave behind a mess and on top of everything he is not going to be subtle about it and is powerful enough that he does not NEED to be. That was my main issue with Gabriel. He seemed like "a good person" with an interesting past who is now thoroughly batsh!t insane and no longer grounded in reality while commanding vast power (I refer to other Knights and not his superhuman abilities).

As for Colt, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY liked Colt and I thought that he was cool and then I read he was magically M.D.C. and had the girls which were the only known modern rune weapons and it ruined it for me. I felt like he was already really really interesting and cool and had a great motivation and there was just no reason to stack more onto him. I do not believe he will compromise the security of the Order to the same degree that Gabriel can (and inevitably will as he spirals ever-deeper into his madness) but the fact that he magically transformed with no real reason is the kind of thing that said to me "He was replaced by something and that's not really him anymore" or "Forces beyond your ken have bestowed him with power" which never comes without a cost. At least that is how I run Rifts... especially where Orsis is involved (if only ever-so subtly). I was most slighted by Colt who from his write up went from being really cool to PET NPC without any real justifiable explanation. He was already awesome--so why give him more? Is the only way you can be cool in Rifts to have Supernatural Strength and MDC? (rhetoric)

Needless to say, I don't agree.

Anyway I hope this has helped. Again, Madhaven is my favorite setting book (more so than Atlantis just slightly because players can be intrinsically involved with what is going on there more easily) and that is where I run my game. "Paradise City" was set in Madhaven and that was the central hub of my game from the first session I ever ran. I love it. So just because I do not like the two NPC's do not think I don't LOVE the rest of the book. Well, besides the fact that I do not agree with how powerful the Order is... though that is more a product of the Mystic Knight than you guys. I also do not agree with that. If the Ley Line Walker is not immune to the harm from a Ley Line Storm and Ley Lines are his WHOLE thing "mercenary fighter-wizards" should not be.

[The Galactus Kid]

Ah ok. Check your PM box in a bit.

[DhAkael]

Desmon Bradford.
Why?
He is Morgan Freeman, amped up to 12 (on a scale of 5), with Lex luthor from the WB animated Superman mixed in.
THEN we add in his intelect and Xanatos-Speedchess tactics.
Seriously, I may HATE the CS (Siege of Tolkeen CS anyhoo), but THIS one? Yeah, He outclasses the Prosseks by a factor of 10-to-the-quadrillionth power
No superweapons, powers or rampaging hordes of neo-nazi mooks either (aside from base security).

[Akashic Soldier]

Desmon Bradford.
Why?
He is Morgan Freeman, amped up to 12 (on a scale of 5), with Lex luthor from the WB animated Superman mixed in.
THEN we add in his intelect and Xanatos-Speedchess tactics.
Seriously, I may HATE the CS (Siege of Tolkeen CS anyhoo), but THIS one? Yeah, He outclasses the Prosseks by a factor of 10-to-the-quadrillionth power
No superweapons, powers or rampaging hordes of neo-nazi mooks either (aside from base security).

Was I that transparent?! *pulls at his collar*

[Nightmask]

Desmon Bradford.
Why?
He is Morgan Freeman, amped up to 12 (on a scale of 5), with Lex luthor from the WB animated Superman mixed in.
THEN we add in his intelect and Xanatos-Speedchess tactics.
Seriously, I may HATE the CS (Siege of Tolkeen CS anyhoo), but THIS one? Yeah, He outclasses the Prosseks by a factor of 10-to-the-quadrillionth power
No superweapons, powers or rampaging hordes of neo-nazi mooks either (aside from base security).

You never know, he may have been slipping a 'serve me above all others' gene into the Dog Boys and have a ready-made slave army if he ever had to regrettably turn on his fellow 'god'.

[Dr Megaverse]

I can't recall her name, but she is a member of one of the mercenary groups, Robot Control maybe? She has been alive since long before the Cataclysm. As far as I know we never get any information about what race she is, but she has always inteigued me!

Another, this sort of qualifies, would be any Temporal Shaman character

[Nightmask]

I can't recall her name, but she is a member of one of the mercenary groups, Robot Control maybe? She has been alive since long before the Cataclysm. As far as I know we never get any information about what race she is, but she has always inteigued me!

Another, this sort of qualifies, would be any Temporal Shaman character

She's with the Demon Busters actually, I can't find the book but offhand I think she's called 'Beautiful Dreamer', effectively immortal and while her offshoot race isn't given a name they give quick-roll stats for other members of the race a GM decides to introduce.

[Ice Dragon]

I can't recall her name, but she is a member of one of the mercenary groups, Robot Control maybe? She has been alive since long before the Cataclysm. As far as I know we never get any information about what race she is, but she has always inteigued me!

Another, this sort of qualifies, would be any Temporal Shaman character

She's with the Demon Busters actually, I can't find the book but offhand I think she's called 'Beautiful Dreamer', effectively immortal and while her offshoot race isn't given a name they give quick-roll stats for other members of the race a GM decides to introduce.

The "Lost One" is the race and "The Dreamer" is the only given name.

[Nightmask]

I can't recall her name, but she is a member of one of the mercenary groups, Robot Control maybe? She has been alive since long before the Cataclysm. As far as I know we never get any information about what race she is, but she has always inteigued me!

Another, this sort of qualifies, would be any Temporal Shaman character

She's with the Demon Busters actually, I can't find the book but offhand I think she's called 'Beautiful Dreamer', effectively immortal and while her offshoot race isn't given a name they give quick-roll stats for other members of the race a GM decides to introduce.

The "Lost One" is the race and "The Dreamer" is the only given name.

So wasn't too far off in remembering. I wonder how they manage to hook up and reproduce (and why do writers seem to always have it that immortal or nigh-immortal beings have a nearly zero reproductive rate).