The Strength of Tengu...

[SirSpamHammer]

Playing one of these critters. They're actually a type of Japanese Faerie or Goblin with a lot of bird-like features. In fact, they look more like a humanoid bird. In the very first Palladium Rifts game I ever joined that got off the ground. While the actual very first game, I did roll up Tengu named Honzo. Who has every medical based skill at the expense of giving up on ever getting to have their own martial art of Teng-Jutsu or Teng-Jitsu. This game however, did not even start. So, that game I started playing Palladium Rifts in was really the second game. That was the game, where I created a Dog Boy named Baltech, gone astray from the Coalition, who brought him up. He stole one of their Thunderhound power suits appropriating it for his own needs and made it out. He knew how to pilot them. The was what they taught him. Also, know how to maintain it and possibly rebuild one from scratch if need be. You may all be wondering why this was possible, and I will put it down here that some parts of this character were home brewed to give him a wider variety of technical skills to play with. Aside from being weapons and a martial arts expert himself. He was the best nose in our adventuring party as well. He's still alive, but I had to retire him for this new game we are playing now. Yous may have recalled me asking questions about playing a Dog-Boy in the past on this very forum & his creation.

Now, there were two other character's that were created by myself for this game. I know this brings my tally up to three characters, when we were only allowed two. Because one of them I decided to retire early because he just wasn't working out for me. He was one of the Alien Fenodi, who I named Ole-Ben-Fenodi (This little play on words was enough, to give the person running the game a bit of a chuckle...) and my character might have been a fan of original Star Wars after the big Rifts event a happened through archived materials left over from the old world. Hews no Jedi though. I just made him a Pastor from the same book I got him out of. Now Rifts Pastors, turned out to be very dull, particularly because the special artefact staff's used by the Fenodi were not stated in any of the books. Except in Savage Worlds Rifts where this made no sense. The same person running the game decided to just leave it at that without giving anything interesting for Ole-ben the Pastor to use. You all may recall me asking about their artefact staff's. I think they were called a Nymbu staff, but don't quote me on that. In retrospect, I think the real reason this character didn't work out was that I just could play a Pastor who was alien and heavily inspired by Obi-Wan-Kenobi. He also had a Psi-Pony named Summer Breeze.

My third character is a Lyn-Serial Sky knight named AU-Aurume (First after the chemical lettering for Gold and then the Latin name for Gold as well.) As you may all know, they are all golden in colour. I had no real problems with him and I actually had some good gaming sessions using him. He saved a baby, even though it really turned to be fake, from a evil viscous vampire who we later defeated. I may recall a few questions I ask about Lyn-Serial earlier as well. Although I did prefer to play Baltech. Whom I was planning to dual class as Cyber-Knight when he reached about 15th level and it was this goal that eventually disheartened me out of playing him at all. As the game was getting dull for me . Right now, I am retiring him at 7th level.

The character I am trying to create now, is just a normal Tengu pretending to be a human Shinto Priest of Japan. His name is also Honzo or Hondo and his full name would be either be Honzo-Honzo or Hondo-Hondo or a bit of both by mixing them up. I haven't really decided yet. As he rejects technology, wearing no cybernetic implants, or wielding Energy Weapons at all and now hover bike of any kind as well. Except for his trusty sword staff that is also a TK Frost weapon. Because they love magic. He also rides a giant Cockroach named **** (In Japanese words only...) imported from Rifts Australia. But the problem here is that I think he told me that my Tengu couldn't have Supernatural Strength or was that just the Giant Cockroaches?

I don't know, but but the guy running this game, also started playing in my own (More of a surrogate GM for the game actually...) Palladium Fantasy game where this very same player wanted a Gryphon mount with supernatural strength and we should recall how well that turned out. it was very recently that I asked about that one here.

So the question, I'm putting to you all is what type of strength do Tengu possess and while I'm at it. What about the strength of giant Cockroaches?

I know, I shouldn't argue this with the game master, but I going to ask them again, and just imagine if their ruling has ben altered by how much I was giving them in my own game. Really, as much as it is, I'm pleased with what I got what I got from the GM already. I just want to know. As the rule book once again, doesn't say so exactly, or I just missed the small text.

[Curbludgeon]

A Tengu's hand to hand damage is closer to the numbers for Supernatural Strength than Robot Strength. If one goes for the values in the Tengjutsu entry and doesn't try to maximize PS it fits well enough.

The damage entry for Claw Strikes of Giant Cockroaches in Rifts Australia is 1d6+Supernatural Strength. With their effective MDC of 4-5 when at a size large enough to serve as a mount, that does lead to the reverse of the Wormwood human problem if that's a concern. Mutants in Orbit details bipedal mutant cockroaches which are a bit more sturdy, but with being bipedal and on Mars may prove less useful as a potential mount.

[SirSpamHammer]

The GM didn't seem terribly interested, and just said and I quote...

"Whatever the OCC says they have"

My answer was... "this is the best clue I got", with a screenshot from the page on racial description.

"Race : Faerie Folk; Japanese Mountain Goblin - Considered an supernatural being or creature of magic."

[Nekira Sudacne]

They have normal strength.

It's very rare for a supernatural being to not have supernatural strength, but it does happen occasionally. That's why almost every supernatural critter has the note "P.S. and P.E. are considered supernatural" or "P.S. is considered supernatural" or "All attributes are considered supernatural". It's because when it does not happen, it means they have normal strength.

This is further backed up by giving their attacks individual M.D. damage values. They do deal Megadamage with certain attacks, regardless of their lack of supernatural strength.

Lastly, we know that Dragons and Oni have supernatural strength specifically called out, so, it's not just that the writer of the book overlooked the requirements.

They do not have Supernatural Strength, and this was intentional, with the race being given specific Megadamage values irrespective of their lack of supernatural strength.

[SirSpamHammer]

The gamemaster settled on making my Tengu possess Robotic P.S. and his pet Giant-Cockroach possess Supernatural P.S.

[Nevermore]

They have normal strength.

It's very rare for a supernatural being to not have supernatural strength, but it does happen occasionally. That's why almost every supernatural critter has the note "P.S. and P.E. are considered supernatural" or "P.S. is considered supernatural" or "All attributes are considered supernatural". It's because when it does not happen, it means they have normal strength.

I'm a little late to the party, but this too would have been my answer. They're based on birds after all, and relatively small ones at that. Crows and ravens aren't exactly known for their strength, unlike something like say a wolf or great cat.