The Rifts™ Difiicult/Weird Questions Thread

[cornholioprime]

Note, however, I said "people and animals".

And the fundamental difference between a Flesh Pool with a heart and blood and an animal would be......????

[Natasha]

Note, however, I said "people and animals".

And the fundamental difference between a Flesh Pool with a heart and blood and an animal would be......????

The latter has P.P.E.





Eh, I don't know; that's for the GM to determine.

[cornholioprime]

Note, however, I said "people and animals".

And the fundamental difference between a Flesh Pool with a heart and blood and an animal would be......????

The latter has P.P.E.





Eh, I don't know; that's for the GM to determine.

So do other, inanimate and non-sentient forms of life like trees and plants.

[Natasha]

Note, however, I said "people and animals".

And the fundamental difference between a Flesh Pool with a heart and blood and an animal would be......????

The latter has P.P.E.





Eh, I don't know; that's for the GM to determine.

So do other, inanimate and non-sentient forms of life like trees and plants.

Cool.

[Library Ogre]

Summoner + Slaughterhouse = lots and lots of PPE.

[Granpafishy]

Are there special rules for armor-piercing MD weapons in Rifts? And if so, what book & page?

[Natasha]

Are there special rules for armor-piercing MD weapons in Rifts? And if so, what book & page?

If I had to guess (and I do) there are no such rules for mega-damage.

It's already a dangerous world!

[cornholioprime]

Are there special rules for armor-piercing MD weapons in Rifts? And if so, what book & page?

If I had to guess (and I do) there are no such rules for mega-damage.

It's already a dangerous world!

What she said.

I have a strong feeling that in a world of SDC squishies engaged in MDC Combat, that Kevin is rather....uninterested in such a concept.

I am also pretty sure (though not 100% so) that any such "specialized" weapons which in their flavor text say that they are "armor piercing," are in fact nothing of the sort, and are simply awarded an extra die or two of damage.

(I think, for example, that U-Rounds and DU-Rounds [Rifts: Triax and the NGR] are poetically called 'armor piercing,' but only get to inflict extra damage instead of have the capability of completely bypassing/piercing MDC armor and skin and getting to the stuff underneath.)

[cornholioprime]

Does the hand-to-hand attack of a magically-impervious RCC ignore magical armors and force fields cast by the Mage -that is to say, do such attacks go right through and hit the target?

Or would such a strike be essentially absorbed by the magical shield/barrier/armor but also dispel it??

Or would the defensive magic work just as normally against the magic-impervious guy as it does against anybody else??

[The Galactus Kid]

Are there special rules for armor-piercing MD weapons in Rifts? And if so, what book & page?

If I had to guess (and I do) there are no such rules for mega-damage.

It's already a dangerous world!

What she said.

I have a strong feeling that in a world of SDC squishies engaged in MDC Combat, that Kevin is rather....uninterested in such a concept.

I am also pretty sure (though not 100% so) that any such "specialized" weapons which in their flavor text say that they are "armor piercing," are in fact nothing of the sort, and are simply awarded an extra die or two of damage.

(I think, for example, that U-Rounds and DU-Rounds [Rifts: Triax and the NGR] are poetically called 'armor piercing,' but only get to inflict extra damage instead of have the capability of completely bypassing/piercing MDC armor and skin and getting to the stuff underneath.)

i say that AP rounds and special weapons do x3 on a crit like AP missiles. Also, isn't there a rule somewherre for passthrough damage from impacts?

[devillin]

Are there special rules for armor-piercing MD weapons in Rifts? And if so, what book & page?

There are special rules for Armor Piercing missiles, but haven't been able to find them yet. It was something like 18-19 get double damage, and Nat20 gets x3 damage. It was in either GM's Guide or RUE, but I'm coming up blank as to which one.

Edit: Found it. R:UE pg362. Modified total of 18-20 get double, Nat 20 gets x3. Does not carry over to blast area. For my game we use this rule for all weapons that state they are AP (basically special rounds and shells, not railguns).

[Granpafishy]

There are special rules for Armor Piercing missiles, but haven't been able to find them yet. It was something like 18-19 get double damage, and Nat20 gets x3 damage. It was in either GM's Guide or RUE, but I'm coming up blank as to which one.

Edit: Found it. R:UE pg362. Modified total of 18-20 get double, Nat 20 gets x3. Does not carry over to blast area. For my game we use this rule for all weapons that state they are AP (basically special rounds and shells, not railguns).

Thank you.

[cornholioprime]

A question in another Thread brought this question to mind:

If a True Atlantean and a Sea Titan have a kid......what happens to that kid at Puberty?

[Daniel Stoker]

They implode into a micro blackhole?


Daniel Stoker

[MaxxSterling]

Just a quick one... How far can characters jump in this game?

[cornholioprime]

Is it possible to cast an anti-magic cloud over an already existing anti-magic cloud, therefore cancelling out that cloud?

I believe that two different Mages, both standing outside the field of effect (maybe on a small plateau or on a raised platform of some sort), COULD cast the Spell on the same area and have them overlap
(For the sake of argument, let's say that they either cast the spell or use a TW device to get the two castings into the same space at the same time -and that both mages are of equal level.)

But the real question is:

If both Mages go into the area covered by their mutual and combined Clouds, would BOTH of them be allowed to cast magics, per the wording of the Spell......or would BOTH of them be denied the use of their magics, per the wording of the Spell?

[Zer0 Kay]

So which wins the SDF-1 "Destroy's anything in its path" Reflex Cannon or the MK's immunity to energy?

[Tyranneix]

So which wins the SDF-1 "Destroy's anything in its path" Reflex Cannon or the MK's immunity to energy?

It does state very explicitly.. destroys EVERYTHING in the path of fire regardless of M.D.C. If the beam itself didn't kill him the absence of anything breathable (as it burned off any type of atmosphere) or the impact of the beam itself would. 1D6x1 million MD to a planet.. impact damage.. he's toast

[batlchip]

1:Can a Machineman be a Gunfighter?
2:Can a Meltran Ace get the full bonuses of the Robot Slammer?Would she get extra bonuses?
3:Can a sixth timed Ti Hsien be a borg?
4:Do you think the coalition would have API shells and naplam for fighting vamps?

[Tyranneix]

1:Can a Machineman be a Gunfighter?

Depends on your game.. if you allow the Machinepeople to get O.C.C.s then sure.

2:Can a Meltran Ace get the full bonuses of the Robot Slammer?Would she get extra bonuses?

I would, she would make for a NASTY Meltran ace! I'd allow the bonuses to stack.

3:Can a sixth timed Ti Hsien be a borg?

Not sure about this one; what book is this in?

4:Do you think the coalition would have API shells and naplam for fighting vamps?

Already working on stats for these for my CS campaign..

But instead think UV rounds & Silver Sabot rounds

[Qev]

So which wins the SDF-1 "Destroy's anything in its path" Reflex Cannon or the MK's immunity to energy?

It does state very explicitly.. destroys EVERYTHING in the path of fire regardless of M.D.C. If the beam itself didn't kill him the absence of anything breathable (as it burned off any type of atmosphere) or the impact of the beam itself would. 1D6x1 million MD to a planet.. impact damage.. he's toast

I disagree. He's got blanket immunity to energy, not an MDC value against it. Also, energy weapons in Palladium apparently don't transfer momentum, so there's no impact. Lack of air might be a problem though, yes.

[The Beast]

Do evil creatures with the Sence Evil power detect themselves?

[Dr. Doom III]

So which wins the SDF-1 "Destroy's anything in its path" Reflex Cannon or the MK's immunity to energy?

It does state very explicitly.. destroys EVERYTHING in the path of fire regardless of M.D.C. If the beam itself didn't kill him the absence of anything breathable (as it burned off any type of atmosphere) or the impact of the beam itself would. 1D6x1 million MD to a planet.. impact damage.. he's toast

I disagree. He's got blanket immunity to energy, not an MDC value against it. Also, energy weapons in Palladium apparently don't transfer momentum, so there's no impact. Lack of air might be a problem though, yes.

It would kill him anyway.
The fall into the crater would be what does it however.

[Mercdog]

Do evil creatures with the Sence Evil power detect themselves?

Nah. It's like people with constantly bad BO. They get so used to the smell, they don't notice it at all unless somebody points it out to them.

[Zer0 Kay]

Weight-activated landmine; standard/classic Pressure Plate that can be manually adjusted to activate on differing weights up to and including Tanks, depending upon whether or not the Mine in question is anti-armor or simply anti-personnel.

It would go off then. The reason being is that the spell prevents footprints - not the weight that causes them.

/Sub

You sure? As I recall it said all sensors can't detect and as far as I know the pressure plate on a mine is a weight sensor.

[Zer0 Kay]

Taking a look at the Ley Line Walker's innate abilities and I was curious.

If a Human LLW is bitten by a vampire , Does the newly created Vampire still retain the abilities of the LLW Occ ? Or does the newly created vampire lose all LLW abilities except that of the spell casting and its PPE ?

If it's a Master Vampire it keeps most abilities, if its a Secondary Vampire it loses at least half of its capabilities, and of course if it's a Wild Vampire it doesn't matter how much of his abilities he keeps, because he too savage and dim-witted to acces them.

Rifts: Vampire Kingdoms

If a mortal creature is slow killed and changed into a vampire is it then changed to all the vampire stats? What if the creature wasn't human like a centaur? Does the centaur mystically change into a human shape or for some reason just suddenly become slower? Remember that other mortal creatures can be turned into vampires as there are many that specifically state they can not. So... Gromek, heck even Giants. Why are the vampires provided as a template RCC instead of an overlay like this: your stats get + X and are SN? Instead giants shrink, dwarves grow multi-peds loose legs and a host of other changes to make the vampires all human shaped.

[cornholioprime]

According to the information in prior books as well as in Rifts Dimension Book 11: Dyval, Deevils are particularly adept at disguising themselves, rivaled perhaps only by the Raksasha; they can't be detected by physical examinations, psionic probes, or magical means, and can pass every known test that is trying to determine if the person in front of the inspector is who and what he/she/it says it is.


Here's my 1st question:

If a Deevil is disguised/altered to appear as, say, a low SDC human, and inadvertently and unexpectedly falls victim to a lightning-fast attack that would be undeniably and inescapably fatal to an SDC creature......is the Deevil killed in that circumstance?

If not, why not?

Here's my second question:

If I Object Read a possession of the Deevil while he is disguised (I don't know that there's a Deevil in front of me but I know that the item belongs to him beyond a shadow of doubt), will I get a readings from the object that give me glimpses of the "mortal" in front of me......or the infernal as he actually is and appears?

[Mercdog]

1. No, the deevil is not killed, because a MD creature in disguise is still a MD creature. Though depending on the circumstances, the deevil may want it to appear that he has been killed by playing dead.

2. I would rule that yes, you will glimpse readings off of the object, unless the description of their power specifically states that their possessions are also somehow able to resist Object Reading. Of course, I might call for a save vs. insanity too for the psychci if I'm feeling ornery.

[cornholioprime]

1. No, the deevil is not killed, because a MD creature in disguise is still a MD creature. Though depending on the circumstances, the deevil may want it to appear that he has been killed by playing dead.

That's just it -according to Carl Gleba's work, if you somehow subdued one and put it under a scalpel and vivisected it in surgery, everything would be in the right place and it would all be S.D.C.

As described by him, this seems to go FAR beyond a mere illusion.

[Mercdog]

Well, think of it like this. We're talking about a demon. IIRC, they are technically spirit creatures (or negative chi creatures if you go by Mystic China) given form. As spirit creatures, do they really need organs? So then the question becomes just how much control they have over this form. Is it possible that they could assume human form, play dead, allow themselves to be dissected, and then get up and resume their true form after all the humans leave the morgue? Maybe less 1 MDC?

I would say, yes, but that's me. Though I must confess, I haven't been able to read the Dyval book yet, so I'm just shooting out my opinion here.

[The Beast]

According to the information in prior books as well as in Rifts Dimension Book 11: Dyval, Deevils are particularly adept at disguising themselves, rivaled perhaps only by the Raksasha; they can't be detected by physical examinations, psionic probes, or magical means, and can pass every known test that is trying to determine if the person in front of the inspector is who and what he/she/it says it is.


Here's my 1st question:

If a Deevil is disguised/altered to appear as, say, a low SDC human, and inadvertently and unexpectedly falls victim to a lightning-fast attack that would be undeniably and inescapably fatal to an SDC creature......is the Deevil killed in that circumstance?

If not, why not?

Here's my second question:

If I Object Read a possession of the Deevil while he is disguised (I don't know that there's a Deevil in front of me but I know that the item belongs to him beyond a shadow of doubt), will I get a readings from the object that give me glimpses of the "mortal" in front of me......or the infernal as he actually is and appears?

The first one has been answered by many anime before; The attacker starts to do the hero walk back to his ride (or whatever) and then gets the surprise of his life as the deevil responds with something cool like "That all you got?"

Second one should reveal that the person is more than human, if it doesn't reveal the truth.

I don't think that line was intended to cover the two scenarios you presented, although I could be wrong about it not covering the second question.

[The Beast]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

[cornholioprime]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

Presumably not.

Otherwise there would be official instances of Rune Weapons and Items getting tortured above and beyond being trapped in an object for all of eternity.

Or beings like the Splugorth mass-subjecting Good Rune Weapons to places like the Alignment-reversing artifacts at the Azlum Asylum and the Transformation Circle outlined at the back of The Old Ones book to instantly 'create' Evil Weapons.

[The Beast]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

Presumably not.

Otherwise there would be official instances of Rune Weapons and Items getting tortured above and beyond being trapped in an object for all of eternity.

Or beings like the Splugorth mass-subjecting Good Rune Weapons to places like the Alignment-reversing artifacts at the Azlum Asylum and the Transformation Circle outlined at the back of The Old Ones book to instantly 'create' Evil Weapons.

Ah, but there are instances of rune weapons changing their alignments.

[cornholioprime]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

Presumably not.

Otherwise there would be official instances of Rune Weapons and Items getting tortured above and beyond being trapped in an object for all of eternity.

Or beings like the Splugorth mass-subjecting Good Rune Weapons to places like the Alignment-reversing artifacts at the Azlum Asylum and the Transformation Circle outlined at the back of The Old Ones book to instantly 'create' Evil Weapons.

Ah, but there are instances of rune weapons changing their alignments.

There are?

Never heard of it.

Nevertheless, even if there were, that's still not the same thing as somebody messing with them from the 'outside.'

[cornholioprime]

Is it possible for someone who wants to maintain secrecy, to "gift" an item or object to somebody else in an attempt to stop an Object Read from tracing the object back to himself??

[Shark_Force]

Is it possible for someone who wants to maintain secrecy, to "gift" an item or object to somebody else in an attempt to stop an Object Read from tracing the object back to himself??

well, they can read previous owners too iirc, so only to a certain extent.

[cornholioprime]

Is it possible for someone who wants to maintain secrecy, to "gift" an item or object to somebody else in an attempt to stop an Object Read from tracing the object back to himself??

well, they can read previous owners too iirc, so only to a certain extent.

You sure that it works that way??

Now granted I am going off what I remember of the power from Rifts: Psyscape, but I could of course be wrong in my memories.

[Shark_Force]

Is it possible for someone who wants to maintain secrecy, to "gift" an item or object to somebody else in an attempt to stop an Object Read from tracing the object back to himself??

well, they can read previous owners too iirc, so only to a certain extent.

You sure that it works that way??

Now granted I am going off what I remember of the power from Rifts: Psyscape, but I could of course be wrong in my memories.

hmmm... apparently i was indeed remembering wrong.

that said, it still wouldn't be surefire... the images you can get include significant events involving the object, and does not seem to be limited to last owner only, so someone could still see you potentially (though not very likely, that's only one item from a long list of stuff). that said, it would be much stronger protection, especially if you expect the new owner to do lots of 'significant' stuff with the object.

could've swore it let you keep going back further and further to previous owners, but it doesn't look like it does. must be thinking of a different game or something.

[The Beast]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

Presumably not.

Otherwise there would be official instances of Rune Weapons and Items getting tortured above and beyond being trapped in an object for all of eternity.

Or beings like the Splugorth mass-subjecting Good Rune Weapons to places like the Alignment-reversing artifacts at the Azlum Asylum and the Transformation Circle outlined at the back of The Old Ones book to instantly 'create' Evil Weapons.

Ah, but there are instances of rune weapons changing their alignments.

There are?

Never heard of it.

Nevertheless, even if there were, that's still not the same thing as somebody messing with them from the 'outside.'

First one that springs to mind is Merciless Murag from LoB.

[Nightmask]

Are rune weapons effected by spells/psionics/other powers that effect the mind?

Presumably not.

Otherwise there would be official instances of Rune Weapons and Items getting tortured above and beyond being trapped in an object for all of eternity.

Or beings like the Splugorth mass-subjecting Good Rune Weapons to places like the Alignment-reversing artifacts at the Azlum Asylum and the Transformation Circle outlined at the back of The Old Ones book to instantly 'create' Evil Weapons.

Ah, but there are instances of rune weapons changing their alignments.

At least one Rune Weapon was written as having gone insane and as such had two diametrically opposed alignments and power sets, with one personality good and the other evil.

[Subjugator]

Weight-activated landmine; standard/classic Pressure Plate that can be manually adjusted to activate on differing weights up to and including Tanks, depending upon whether or not the Mine in question is anti-armor or simply anti-personnel.

It would go off then. The reason being is that the spell prevents footprints - not the weight that causes them.

/Sub

You sure? As I recall it said all sensors can't detect and as far as I know the pressure plate on a mine is a weight sensor.

I don't know that it says ALL sensors will fail, otherwise they could open no doors that require a push button, etc.

/Sub

[Zer0 Kay]

Weight-activated landmine; standard/classic Pressure Plate that can be manually adjusted to activate on differing weights up to and including Tanks, depending upon whether or not the Mine in question is anti-armor or simply anti-personnel.

It would go off then. The reason being is that the spell prevents footprints - not the weight that causes them.

/Sub

You sure? As I recall it said all sensors can't detect and as far as I know the pressure plate on a mine is a weight sensor.

I don't know that it says ALL sensors will fail, otherwise they could open no doors that require a push button, etc.

/Sub

Page 213 RUE top left. "...makes the spell caster invisible to all means of detection." Now one can argue that a door sensor not monitored by anyone doesn't detect as far as alerting anyone but others may argue that activating any sensor, monitored or not is detection by the circuit. So I'd do that with the doors just to be funny. Or maybe the act of actually willing yourself to press the button or step on that plate is an attack on said object.

[cornholioprime]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

[Nightmask]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

I don't see why it couldn't be possible, if Sorcerers could build a magic into an entire slaughterhouse I don't see why the Diabolist couldn't scribe such a protection circle or otherwise build it into a structure. May need some extra skills in construction or engineering or at least skills that would complement the process of laying out and implementing such a project.

[Zer0 Kay]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

I thought if you drew them in molten silver they became indestructable.

[Damian Magecraft]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

I thought if you drew them in molten silver they became indestructable.

it is silver runes on parchment that render the parchment indestructible.

[cornholioprime]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

I thought if you drew them in molten silver they became indestructable.

it is silver runes on parchment that render the parchment indestructible.

Aye.

I thought that Circles have to be made of certain components, anyway, and not just ink on paper and/or inscriptions into wood or stone or metal.

[The Beast]

The circle in the Place of Magic is underwater, and still works. Granted, it's stagnat water, but still....

[Zer0 Kay]

Am I as a Diabolist allowed to create a Circle, and then build something like a Foundation over it (covering it over somehow first, of course), in order to have a permanently-working Circle that can't get washed away........or does the Circle always have to be 'out in the open' or something?

(I was just running an idea in my mind of dwellings and buildings south of the border that had Protection Circles against the Supenatural and/or Undead permanently in effect so as to stop Vampires from entering.)

I thought if you drew them in molten silver they became indestructable.

it is silver runes on parchment that render the parchment indestructible.

Aye.

I thought that Circles have to be made of certain components, anyway, and not just ink on paper and/or inscriptions into wood or stone or metal.

like they're pretty much the only reason for the magic component price list in PFRPG