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el magico -- darklorddc wrote:Another Sneak Peak:

The Bio-Infiltration Unit (A.K.A. Harvester)

"Harvesters", as they are called by the layman, started showing up about 20 years ago on the fringes of known space. They are always humaniod females, and seem to be restricted to races that are most like mammals, such as humans and the Nix. They make no attempt to communicate and they seem to have several puzzling goals: The first is to tap into any computer and download its entire contents. It can be any computer; a home unit, a ship's A.I., a corporate server...anything. The one factor that seems to attract them most is size. The bigger the system, the more they are likely to target it. The problem is that, whether intentional or not, their intrusions are devastating...causing random malfunctions, system failures and lost data. A.I.s get it the worst, often suffering total logic breakdowns, causing them to become completely irrational.
What they do with this data is unknown.
The second goal seems to be to infiltrate and secure advanced medical facilities, particularly those dealing with biomechanics, cybernetics and genetics. An entire team of 1D4+2 will move in, eliminating all resistance, shutting down all communications to the outside world, and attempting to use the facility to breed...something....no one is sure what they are trying to create. Some think they are trying to reproduce, but witnesses say they have witnessed them placing a small, squid-like creature into growth tanks. The military, presumably, knows more about this...as they've stopped all of these projects from coming to fruition, but they have not publicly released any data on their findings or any evidence that was confiscated from the sites.
Finally, the Harvesters at some point will attempt to steal a ship and take it to the Orion Expanse. There's two huge problems with this. The first is that ships are expensive and they belong to someone else...that's obvious. But the second problem is the WAY Harvesters steal ships. They are able to find a hidden, isolated section of the ship, shut down and wait until the crew goes into the sleeper units. They then emerge from their hiding spot and reprogram the navigation computer to a location deep within the Orion Expanse, taking the unaware crew on a one-way trip to oblivion.

The Harvesters seem to be cybernetic organisms using a highly advanced biotechnology. It is clear that they were once members of other species, but there are no records of their identities when the bodies are checked. And their bodies show clear signs that they have never been in contact with their home worlds. No fillings in their teeth, no pollutants in their systems, no vaccination anti-bodies in their blood stream...nothing. Most scientists believe they are being bred somewhere within the expanse. As proof of this they point out that there is no father's DNA. It appears that harvesters are bred by splicing together the genes of two other females...who themselves were bred the same way.

On some rare occassions, after taking damage to the head or spine, harvesters become independent, free-thinking beings. However, they have no recollection of their actions or their lives from before the moment they are severed from whatever was controlling them. Most of their implants, except for their cybernetic spines, can be removed with little difficulty, and in fact, by concentration, they seem to be able to regenerate a new cybernetic suit at will, through the use of highly advanced nanotechnology. Needless to say, they have an extremely hard time adapting to life among humans and other species and most societies have an equally hard time adapting to them.

(stats will be in an update soon)

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I haven't done one desk-top proportioned of her yet...but I will. I have some other images of her, but they're not fit to be linked to the boards.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I haven't done one desk-top proportioned of her yet...but I will. I have some other images of her, but they're not fit to be linked to the boards.

I think I know some of what you're talking about.

Take a look at the newest on my DA page when you get the chance.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I haven't done one desk-top proportioned of her yet...but I will. I have some other images of her, but they're not fit to be linked to the boards.

I think I know some of what you're talking about.

Take a look at the newest on my DA page when you get the chance.

The one I called not creepy at all?

Nope, newer than that.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I haven't done one desk-top proportioned of her yet...but I will. I have some other images of her, but they're not fit to be linked to the boards.

I think I know some of what you're talking about.

Take a look at the newest on my DA page when you get the chance.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:Will the Nine each have a piece of eight?

...I don't get the reference...

DhAkael wrote:

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:Will the Nine each have a piece of eight?

...I don't get the reference...

Third of the 'Pirates of the Caribean' trilogy.
The Nine pirate-lords each had a 'peice of eight' to seal a magical compact. Except in this case their dubbloons were um...not Seriously, watch the movies at least once through. They're good for some giggles and one liners at least (Depp rulz).

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:

Misfit KotLD wrote:Will the Nine each have a piece of eight?

...I don't get the reference...

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:There are four campaign types that can be run. The first is the war. Players could be soldiers in the Protectorate at the start of the second war (or even roll things back and have them in the first war).
The second type of campaign is the freelancer campaign. Firefly, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Farscape...that kind of campaign. This kind of campaign will be set in the Free Colonies and the remnants of the Empire of Many Suns.
The third is an exploration campaign, either as part of a private enterprise or as part of the protectorate military. Missions beyond the Terminus line exploring dead worlds with dark and scary secrets. Star Trek: Voyager meets Call of Cthulhu.
Finally, there's a "cosmic" level campaign with characters being members of the Starfarers or Novaslayers. More details on them in the future. Somewhere in the general neighborhood of power, and motivations, of Cosmoknights and the like.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:The Imperial Consortium is the actual enemy for this universe, and will be in the comic book. I tied it to Rifts to allow it to be immediately playable and have a sense of familiarity for people, but it really has nothing to do with Rifts. Earth is more or less an abandoned slum. Originally, it was post-nuclear, with the colony ships leaving just before the nukes went off. Later, I revised the story where Earth generally went through an environmental collapse and, while habitable still, is a slum that only houses the poorest of the poor. Those who left earth basically rediscovered it, to find that it had become a craphole of a planet...and no one knows what happened that caused the fall of earth civilization (something creepy from the Expanse).
The IC are very much like humans, biologically, and strive to evolve to the next stage of evolution through artificial means, because they've screwed with their genetics so much that they caused themselves to stagnate and degrade. Humans, on the other hand, are still evolving naturally, which scares the I.C. and they fear that humanity will displace them as the leading power in the region soon. They believe that every species in the universe has a place and a job to do, and that they should do it and nothing else. Their species, known only as Imperials because they banned the name of their race centuries ago, has the job of leading and telling everyone else what to do. They've actually convinced several races to go along with them and use them in specialized jobs in their society.

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:The Vorhasi are an ancient race ....
The Vinali are a threat from the Expanse.....

el magico -- darklorddc wrote:I've actually been debating whether to expand on the Arkhon or do a massive reboot sometime in the future and replace them with the I.C. That's one of the reasons the Arkhon made an ideal enemy to start with. Their society is pretty well laid out and it's little different in Rifts Space. They're just like in the books, except with whole planets and space ships. I might do worlds though...I'm undecided on that front.
Let me ask you guys something: What's still needed to be able to sit down and do a campaign without a lot of "filling in the gaps"?
I know planets is one thing. And that's coming. Anything else that just derails its usability?
Oh, and for being patient (just started a new job, but still working on the next update), here's a nice pic I did of a Terran Protectorate colony ship and it's accompanying fleet. They're referred to as "seed ships" often, they are a kilometer long, and generally once one is launched into the depths of the galaxy it is never seen again. They find earth-like planets and colonize and when the colony matures it can choose to join the Protectorate, but they've settled all the nearby earth-like planets and have to go further out in unexplored territory to find new ones. It's believed these new ones will be so far away that, basically, they might as well be entirely new governments on their own. That ensures that even if the Protectorate is completely wiped out, you can never utterly destroy the human race.

Ziggurat the Eternal wrote:I think the SEED Ship is truly epic looking. I would love to see the IC but will probably keep the archon too. I would like to see the variants of the crossbow you have hinted at, along with the new bomber to replace the ballista. Generally speaking, what you have done thus far has not seemed to disappoint anyone. It most certainly hasn't disappointed me, and if you continue in the same general manner, I can't see more than a few people complaining, and only then because someone always will.

Unless ofcourse you decide that the archons or terra prime is really run by an AI as per standard Rifts empire ruling. Then I'd be pissed. That is pretty much the only mistake that could be made. Even if you had rules that stated people have to put goggles on so as to not be poisoned by space gas, and every alien was a painted human on a planet of hats, this would still be pretty good. Or at least average, but only if you could see the strings, and right back up to good if you could target and attack said strings in battle. Thus making the enemy fall below the Cloudline of Doom that floats along the floor of Space, wherein they get sucked down the drain of eternity, to rot with all the discarded hair and lost rings and watches in the universe. wow, I need to sleep. Or watch less anime and bad old b-sci-fi movies.

MikelAmroni wrote:[
DarklordDC: Awesome, was just curious about Earth and the IC Glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought they could stand on their own. And yeah, whatever you decide, unless you completely jump the shark, we'll likely still enjoy it. You've got a good story going so far.

Ziggurat the Eternal wrote: Pretty much what I was trying to say there. Just needed some...I don't know. Comprehension? Btw, do the IC use Archon style weaponry? Super energy weapons I mean. Do they have Force Fields? What sets them apart from the Galactic Norm? I'm sure you'll get to all this I was just wondering what is so special about them in how they are unique. is it just mass numbers of troops and nearly infinite resources?