Class Elements - What Makes a Class Special?

[Bill]

Kind of a what's your favorite class thread, but specifically I'd like to know what about the class write-up really excites you.

[Athos]

I am not really into the fluff elements of the write up of any class. I don't play the classes as they are written, because I don't like following someone else's script. I am not an actor that needs a director to coach me or a screenplay to tell me what to say, but a player who wants a world to explore. I make my characters do what I think they would do, not what KS or some other writer tells me they want them to do in the write-up.

I tend to like races more than classes, although mages, juicers and cyberknights are typically what I play. The supernatural is what attracts me to a race, since I obviously have no real world experience with magic, it is fun to escape and pretend that my character can actually change reality with his magic/spells and such. Having been a soldier for 8 years and an engineer for another 16, I have a lot of real world experience and I don't generally think the writers always hit the nail on the head with technical or military type classes, so I prefer more fantasy based. That's just me though.

As long as I have been gaming, I try to remind others it is about having fun, not necessarily following someone else's rules. If a writer of a class says the character won't do ABC, I try to think if this is logical, or some lame excuse to limit the class, if it makes sense to me, I can incorporate it in the characters background, but if it is lame, I just ignore it along with most of the fluff. One example would be juicers not using armor. Only a kid who has never been in a fight thinks your ego overrides your common sense when it comes to stuff like this, of course a juicer or anyone is going to use EVERY advantage they can get when fighting to the death. I understand the writer is trying to limit juicers since they are pretty powerful to begin with, but it is such a lame way to try and do it, I tend to ignore it. Not trying to start a flame war, just trying to give an example of where I think the write-up is not very good/logical when it comes to a "realistic" fantasy setting

I love the idea of the juicer though, in spite of that... one of my favorite Rifts characters of all time was a juicer loosely based on the movie Josie Whales. He was a preacher whose dbee wife and family were killed by the CS so he underwent juicer conversion to get even. He chose to die sooner rather than later, since it made him powerful enough to exact revenge. This to me, was a valid reason for someone to become a juicer.

I think the write-ups get so much wrong, that I honestly don't encourage others to really "obey" them. Like shifters are clearly superior to LLW's especially if they follow a god of magic, but according to the fluff write-ups LLWs are the top spell casters. Unless and until Palladium edits their work and makes the fluff match the reality better, I just can't get too excited about the fluff they add to fill out their books.

[Bill]

Incongruence between classes and reality is a better topic to explore in your own thread. Thank you though.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Classes......It is more the concept then the mechanics that make them....because the concepts come with the culture they are arise from. sort of like the differences between the CS Triax UEEG ground infantry classes arise from the culture that they come from.
The concept of the class also dictates what abilities will have, but the culture of where the class comes from will also influence what sub-abilities the class will have. Which will effect things starting spells or psi-powers.

[Bill]

Yes, but what class possesses a particular element that you find interesting, fun, or enjoyable?

[drewkitty ~..~]

Yes, but what class possesses a particular element that you find interesting, fun, or enjoyable?

That talks about personal preference. I for one usually play mages. And when I am feeling I need to feed my inner munchkin I tend to play NightSpawn Mages.

[guardiandashi]

I have made chars based on what was fun to me...

a very early char was a special forces because it sounded cool
I have also done robot and pa pilots because I like the idea of a person augmented in that way.
I haven't played a juicer because I am not into drugs (similar reason I nave no interest in mom/crazies)
I never did a borg, because I kind of feel they give up too much for what they gain.
dragons I looked at really hard but I have issues with the palladium dragons in general.
after reading some web novels I have been on a bit of a mutant animal (dog boy/ cat) kick, but haven't actually gotten a chance to play those chars.
I have issues with the palladium were creatures because I don't choose to play evil chars and having most of them be hardcore evil rubs me the wrong way, similar reason I don't choose to play a standard vampire..

[Bill]

Yes, but what class possesses a particular element that you find interesting, fun, or enjoyable?

That talks about personal preference. I for one usually play mages. And when I am feeling I need to feed my inner munchkin I tend to play NightSpawn Mages.

And what about those classes specifically works well for you?

[grandmaster z0b]

Classes......It is more the concept than the mechanics that make them....because the concepts come with the culture they are arise from. sort of like the differences between the CS, Triax, and UEEG ground infantry classes arise from the culture that they come from.
The concept of the class also dictates what abilities it will have, but the culture of where the class comes from will also influence what sub-abilities the class will have. Which will effect things starting spells or psi-powers.

I think it is a combination of both mechanics and concepts but I do agree in regards to culture.

[Incriptus]

The Player . . . ok thats cheating

Honestly inspiration is often spur of the moment for me.
Often it's a combination of Story & Mechanics, that just slide together for that one moment.

Finding something interesting and backing it up with mechanically sound capabilities (even if I have to bend the rules for one side or another). Its often beings with something mundane until the pieces come together for something that is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Lets take an example.

Recently I've been on a kick to play a T-Monster Man. Inspiration began with the words T-Man & T-Rex. I begin with something as silly as that. I start reading around. I start picking up other aspects. Most T-Monster Men are Ogres, I like that. It's stated that dinosaurs are a treat in the arenas. I start exploring tattos and each one gives more to the imagination. Net & Bola for weapons. His own dinosuars. Power Tatoos that can aid in his job. So as those pieces come together I end up with a "Rifts Character". Korut is an Ogre from a primative world. He was amongst the honored hunters of great lizards. When the Splugorth slavers came he was amongst those who tried and failed to fight back. His skill and knowledge of dinosaur hunting was noticed so he was forced into service on Rifts Earth. None of the individual elements made him special it was a congruance between the Setting, Mechanics, & Fun.

[flatline]

My favorite class is the Temporal Wizard.

Temporal magic offers some of the most fantastically useful spells in the game. Here are some of the highlights:

D-Phase: pass though solid matter. Solid matter (walls, fences, etc) is the most popular method for keeping people out of interesting places and away from interesting things, so having a way to bypass solid matter grants you access to all sorts of places and things that would be inaccessible otherwise.

Time Warp: Send: send anything you can touch (limited by weight/mass) into the future. Stuck in a net? Send it into the future. Need to hide something? Send it into the future (and maybe be waiting for it when it reappears). A big bad guy who was supposed to fall to his doom somehow grabbed a chain or rope and is climbing back up? Send the rope or a chain link or whatever it's connected to into the future. Basically, this spell is a way to get rid of something that is currently ruining your day.

Retro-Viewing: Information is power. Being able to watch a particular moment in time, or to re-watch a particular moment in time from a different vantage point is super useful. Someone read a secret note and then ran off? Go stand so that you can see the note over his shoulder when you look back in time. Learning how to read lips will go a long way with this spell since this spell doesn't come with audio.

Dimensional Pockets: never be limited by encumbrance again! Find something useful or valuable? Stick it in a dimensional pocket so that you don't have to worry about its weight or bulk. Nest pockets for exponential storage space. Also makes it easy to hide something.

Dimensional Envelope: Create a relatively safe place where you can relax and not have to worry about someone sneaking up on you. Since each Envelope is its own dimension, you can target Envelopes with Dimensional Portal to have a way of accurately aiming Dimensional Portals.

Temporal wizards also get their pick of spells from the regular invocations list. Being able to start with Talisman used to be a big deal, but with the changes in RUE, isn't as big a deal as it used to be. Still totally worth it though since it lets you turn any PPE surplus into a PPE battery or spell talisman for use later. Preparing for the future is always a worth the effort. Being able to choose any spell upon leveling also is useful insurance against GM's making it hard to find teachers.

Finally, starting with knowledge of other dimensions and the ability to cast Dimensional Portal (with the help of some PPE batteries) gives you access to the resources of the Megaverse!

They're not combat gods, they're not rock stars, but they're great swiss army knife style characters that can muddle through most anything as long as you don't get them killed.

--flatline

[Morik]

save for later post when not so sleepy.

Alright... I just got to say I love great class write ups like the ones in the black market book, but I always think to myself "How can I throw in some psionics." Information Broker master psychic or mystic looks so much fun to play.

I love almost all the psychic classes even the racial ones like psi-stalker and psi-hound. I like how they specialize and you can still give whatever personality spin you want. Hell even different dog breeds add more options.

I like tech and tech users .........I just fear the toys being taken away or broken. I think that's why I prefer partial or full cyborgs...they keep the toys with them.

I'm one of the players that actually loves level dependent casters (for spell selection). Like the warlock, mystic and shamans. I guess old D&D me thinks gaining levels with casters should feel extra special.

I'm partial to humans/mutant animals as a race, but I will rethink that after getting the D-Bee book. The Coalition is just really scary.

[Subjugator]

The feel of a class is what makes it for me. The CS Military Specialist has more draw for me than does the Special Forces class in Mercenaries, even though they are very similar.

It just makes a difference for me.

/Sub

[Bood Samel]

I played a mystic knight (a real one) and the fluff totally hooked me in. I like a combo of fluff and stats. I tend towards combat oriented classes with head hunters being a favorite. Though I played a bandit til 5th level and enjoyed it quite a bit. The CS classes are great as are mutant animals. Though if I get the chance I'd like to play a zapper.