Astral Lord C.S. Manhunter

[Aermas]

Theoretically you can have an Astral Lord born on RIFTS Earth.
Theoretically an Astral Lord can be born in the C.S. & besides the stigma of being a Psychic, go far in its hierarchy.
My question becomes, how would an Astral Lord benefit the C.S. the most? Merely resource creation? Transportation? Sheltering high ranking C.S. personnel in Astral Domains safe from nearly all threats?
And the most important question of all! What color should their cape be?

[Grazzik]

In my headcanon...

The problem with Astral Lords in the CS is that, unless they expend most of their PPE in creating an Astral Domain or reconfiguring material for the Astral Plane, their high PPE will constantly be an alarm to Dogboys, Psi-Stalkers and other sensitives on the lookout for magic users. No matter how fancy the cape, there will always be a suspicion that they are a magic user pretending to be a psychic. Great personal dilemma to play through, but becomes annoying every time you get stopped by a random patrol and have to explain yourself.

That said, the gameplay for an Astral Lord is orders of magnitude greater than any CS-based campaign. We're talking "Doctor Strange helping someone reprogram a VCR" orders of magnitude. I've played an AL a few times in Rifts and every time the CS simply becomes a setting flavor that informs how the PC interacts with NPCs, not an underlying campaign theme. AL campaigns tend to be more oriented to moving/hiding people between planes, exploring the unknown megaverse, dealing with beings of all kinds, and recognizing one's own limits.

Even Earth-centric campaigns are global in nature as an AL can flit at incredible speeds for extended periods of time, crossing oceans. Sure, they arrive at their destination naked, unless they reconfigure clothes, but why waste the PPE on clothes? Just travel naked and, when you arrive, pop into your domain for a quick costume change in your personal walk-in closet the size of Rhode Island, perhaps into a slightly offensive take on local traditional garb.

Anyway...

Any CS citizen indoctrinated in CS propaganda would struggle as an AL to ever achieve a fraction their true potential without either abandoning State-imposed values, turning to self-hate, or suffering delusions/psychosis in an effort to cope with their untenable situation. So, my recommendation is to relegate ALs in the CS state machinery to seriously damaged individuals who are abused for the power they provide to others. Any CS-oriented PC who finds themselves somehow released from the metaphorical basement should be seriously hobbled and suffering significant penalties due to their upbringing and their self-image wrt their place in CS society. They are very likely not wandering the streets of ChiTown in a fancy cape, browbeating lowly Dogboy patrols.

[Aermas]

Why would you think they would be so abused? They are nonmagical & a human that has truly the master of their own world.

[Aermas]

Why would you think they would be so abused? They are nonmagical & a human that has truly become the master of their own world.

[Grazzik]

Why would you think they would be so abused? They are nonmagical & a human that has truly become the master of their own world.

Magic users are humans too, yet they are hated. So, species is not a criteria of acceptance. Assuming, we're not talking about some shady black-ops off-book outfit, it comes down to ensuring fealty to the Prosek regime and upholding the principles of the State.

- ALs can literally make worlds in a realm outside of reality that only they control, not the State.
- ALs have on average ~10x the amount of PPE a normal person has (on par with techno-wizards) which can be used to literally change the very fabric of matter so it can move between planes.
- ALs can bind astral entities to their bidding, a traitorous act just like what Summoners / Shifters do.

In a society based on fear, the AL is as dangerous as any magic user. They may not cast spells, but this level of personal power in an authoritarian society would be unacceptable to the normal humans in authority who have few means of controlling the AL. ALs arguably have powers exceeding Mind Melters or any other master psychics that might be assigned as minders. Instead, the use of drugs, surgery, psychic manipulation, or trauma would impair the AL's sense of self and make them more malleable to orders / suggestion.

[Aermas]

Well... you can have that opinion, I don't agree with it but let's just operate under the idea that the CS wants this guy, & they will treat him like any other valuable Psychic.

[Grazzik]

Well... you can have that opinion, I don't agree with it but let's just operate under the idea that the CS wants this guy, & they will treat him like any other valuable Psychic.

Fair enough... as I said... headcanon. Would love to hear other opinions.

As to cloak color - magenta with light blue starbursts and a black border?

[Orin J.]

the very fact they can pop into their personal astral plane-space would by the CS's own understanding of things make them a D-Bee (in this case a being from another dimension that simply tests as human, their otherworldy power is proof enough of their evil!) and enemy of the state for the CS, i can't really find any argument besides "i want to ignore the lore for my Cool Dude and have him with the techno-nazis!"

they'd put a bomb in him and the moment he actually USED those powers they'd blow him up the moment he was back. they wouldn't give him a cloak either, the best they'd see out of that guy is "living weapon"

[Aermas]

Fair enough... as I said... headcanon. Would love to hear other opinions.

As to cloak color - magenta with light blue starbursts and a black border?

Very vapor wave.

the very fact they can pop into their personal astral plane-space would by the CS's own understanding of things make them a D-Bee (in this case a being from another dimension that simply tests as human, their otherworldy power is proof enough of their evil!) and enemy of the state for the CS, i can't really find any argument besides "i want to ignore the lore for my Cool Dude and have him with the techno-nazis!"

they'd put a bomb in him and the moment he actually USED those powers they'd blow him up the moment he was back. they wouldn't give him a cloak either, the best they'd see out of that guy is "living weapon"

Not interested in that discussion. How about we say he is republican then? He is Republican, working for the Republicans, they like him. How would a military best use him?

[Grazzik]

Very vapor wave.

Indeed... kind of reflects the surreal feel of the astral plane I imagine it has.

How would a military best use him?

So, regardless of alliegance, what could be some military applications for an Astral Lord? Here are some ideas I have off the cuff...

Industrial capacity
When involved in an armed conflict, supply becomes paramount. Whether that is ammo, materiel, or troops. An astral domain operating at an accelerated timeframe could provide almost instantaneous resupply of everything as long as there are the raw resources provided. Dump a few tons of silver through the astral portal and immediately get back perfect silver knives lovingly crafted by the artisans that spent generations in the astral domain making each and every blade. Troops? You could go with clones, or simply have a breeding / training facility to churn out unlimited troopers that know/believe only what you teach them. Similarly, the domain could be an "instant" hospital returning wounded to the war effort as fast as they can be pulled off the battlefield. The only limitation is resources...

Trade without blockades
...which brings us to megaversal trade. A core domain could be linked with subdomains that act as clearinghouses, either branded or not, depending on who you trade with. Heck, you could even set up a white-label clearinghouse to trade directly with your enemy to get the resources you need and, unbeknownst to them, slowly deplete their economy through aggressive trade tactics. Sieges are a thing of the past.

Oubliettes and Torture chambers
Don't have the heart to mist a traitor? Think you might need a unique individual contributor sometime down the road? Stick them in a domain with no passage of time. No need to siphon resources to feed or sustain the prisoner... the perfect deep freeze. Add in some nasty physical and/or psychological features that cause inescapable pain to either satisfy the need to scratch that war crime itch or gather unreliable intelligence. Or construct the domain in such a way that it reflects a place that the prisoner knows and lead them to believe they never left there in order to observe their behavior and learn passcodes, signals, or other information that could contribute to a covert operation.

Couriers and Transport
Move people and materiel point to point via hub domains. An AL simply zips in their phased form to where they need to establish a familiarity, spend some time attuning to the locale, set up a portal to the hub domain, and Bob's your uncle - you can now move troops and war machines via the domain straight into the heart of enemy territory. The only defense would be if the AL could be detected in their invisible state and attacked with the appropriate means. But if the enemy is a techno-state with little understanding of magic or psionics, then easy pickings.

Similarly, a hub domain would establish a network across terriotories to allow easy commmunication and movement between territories, even if in different dimensions or realms of existance. This could also serve as a backdoor escape route if a territory is overrun.

Neutral territory
If a diplomatic solution is an option, a domain could be shared between the AL and mages/psychics from each side in the conflict. This would establish a neutral zone with imaginative controls that could prevent either side from attacking opposing delegates or to identify/neutralize any subterfuge. The use of time-bending qualities could allow for extended negotiations without the loss of life in the meantime.

Household appliance, Doomsday weapon
Generate a micro black hole in a domain and start feeding it. Cause the singularity to grow in power through the addition of mass (fatter POWs first... more mass). Establish portable portals to the domain that could be small or large. Then open and close the portals to act either as a handy way of vacuuming the carpet or sucking entire cities or planets into oblivion, depending on the size of the portal and the strength of the singularity.

Rehabilitate / neutralize
For POWs or turncoats, offer them the choice of contributing their PPE reserves to the domain in exchange for better living conditions or even a chance for freedom. Design the domain in such a way that they would not have access to the domain on release and would have no particular powers within the domain. Store the gathered PPE in the domain as some sort of feature - PPE storage features, like blocks of PPE-constructed stone. This means that when the POW dies (whether due to natural causes or an unfortunate accident before release) the domain's PPE storage feature could be deconstructed by the AL and their PPE repurposed for some other goal. Of course, not all POWs would be eligible for this option, particularly those that could travel back to the domain under their own ability.

[Aermas]

Thanks for the assessments. I had stumbled upon Astral Lords & when I read about them I thought it would be fun if Prosek was secretly one, & that was the key to his success. Plus I like the idea of him forcing D-Bees & traitors/captured mages/etc. Into adding their PPE to his Domain & then killing them before they can do anything with it.
The reason no one has be able to assassinate Prosek? He's hiding in his Domain
The reason the CS still hasn't run out of resources? They are mining his Domain
The reason he has good trade with NGR? Domain
Heck, he can even make Astral copies of himself to help give out orders & coordinate the war effort

Just a fun thought experiment. Plus I figured at least one Astral Lord had to have been born in the CS & was thinking about the implications