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Looking through the books I have, I haven't been able to find may monsters at all that have 50 max MDC or less. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd prefer not to load up on the several hundred MDC behemoths that I see everywhere.

I think rifts: Lone Star has a bunch of weaker (and cool) monster/mdc animal types. More likein the 50-100 range though, but you should take a look. Grip Leapers are really cool.

I doubt very highly if most authors felt it necessary to convert the weaker creatures. 5000 SDC just doesnt go very far in MD environment when ya get right down to it. Of coure if you look at "human" opponents they'll all have at least 60MDC (I think) from the lowest quality MD armor available and will most likely have a few hundred if they have better gear available.

Quite honestly, the monsters need the higher MDC to remain "dangerous" to the average character.

Glistam wrote:Looking through the books I have, I haven't been able to find may monsters at all that have 50 max MDC or less. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd prefer not to load up on the several hundred MDC behemoths that I see everywhere.

Use the random supernatural predator tables in the back of the main book to roll up some monsters of your own.
You should probably give them an extra two attacks, though... to compensate for the Two Attacks for Living.

demos606 wrote:I doubt very highly if most authors felt it necessary to convert the weaker creatures. 5000 SDC just doesnt go very far in MD environment when ya get right down to it. Of coure if you look at "human" opponents they'll all have at least 60MDC (I think) from the lowest quality MD armor available and will most likely have a few hundred if they have better gear available.

Quite honestly, the monsters need the higher MDC to remain "dangerous" to the average character.

Not really.
For one thing, you should look at it on the adventure level, not the encounter level. Rifts is not AD&D; the party doesn't get to fight every battle at max strength. In AD&D you can drink a couple of potions, maybe sleep overnight, and start the next battle fresh as a daisy, but in Rifts your life is in your armor. You have to find someplace that can repair it, go there, and have the money available for repairs.
In AD&D, a series of low-powered encounters isn't a big deal as long as you get to rest in between.
In Rifts, a series of low-powered encounters can get extremely deadly because your armor doesn't heal itself.

Next, there is the fact that the Vagabond OCC was made to be a playable character. Needless to say, a 50 MDC monster would be a deadly threat to most low-level vagabonds...
All that is needed for "weaker" MDC monsters to be a threat is to have a party of characters who isn't that powerful to begin with.
Of course, few people make their characters on the low-powered end of things because most of the enemies in the books are on the high-power end.... it's a problem that feeds on itself.
Finally, there is the question of how much damage the monster can inflict. A monster with 50 MDC that does 1d6x10 or more per attack is still an extremely viable threat in most cases. Sure, it might die quickly... but it could take out a PC or two in the process (if attacking in groups, at least).

The Grigleapers are in the New West book, and I agree they are extremely cool, so I have one. But since the monsters that are generated by the monster tatoos come out at max MDC, I was hoping for some cheap ones (50 MDC and less are only 25 PPE, while 51-150 MDC are 40 PPE). So far, in the books, I've found:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, Conversion Book 1)
-Mega-Foot Mastica (44 MDC, Sourcebook 3)
-Dinosaurs from the main Rifts book

This is the selection I've chosen so far:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, 25 PPE)
-Panthera-Tereon (106 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Grigleaper (76 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Gryphon (86 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Demonrunner (110 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Yll-Tree Climber (460 MDC, 50 PPE)

Since this is going to be a low to medium power game, I feel bad having anything tougher than the tree climber there. I was hoping to replace either the Demonrunner or the Panthera-Tereon with a weaker creature. But I find the Mega-Foot Mastica pretty lame, and was looking for other ideas. I guess I can use the random table at the back of the book for inspiration if there's really nothing else out there.

I tried looking around, but couldn't find anything.
Even a stone-ball bug has 60 MDC...

Glistam wrote:The Grigleapers are in the New West book, and I agree they are extremely cool, so I have one. But since the monsters that are generated by the monster tatoos come out at max MDC, I was hoping for some cheap ones (50 MDC and less are only 25 PPE, while 51-150 MDC are 40 PPE). So far, in the books, I've found:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, Conversion Book 1)
-Mega-Foot Mastica (44 MDC, Sourcebook 3)
-Dinosaurs from the main Rifts book

This is the selection I've chosen so far:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, 25 PPE)
-Panthera-Tereon (106 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Grigleaper (76 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Gryphon (86 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Demonrunner (110 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Yll-Tree Climber (460 MDC, 50 PPE)

Since this is going to be a low to medium power game, I feel bad having anything tougher than the tree climber there. I was hoping to replace either the Demonrunner or the Panthera-Tereon with a weaker creature. But I find the Mega-Foot Mastica pretty lame, and was looking for other ideas. I guess I can use the random table at the back of the book for inspiration if there's really nothing else out there.

I'd have went with something that flies which you could use as a mount.

Dr. Doom v.3.1.1 wrote:

Glistam wrote:The Grigleapers are in the New West book, and I agree they are extremely cool, so I have one. But since the monsters that are generated by the monster tatoos come out at max MDC, I was hoping for some cheap ones (50 MDC and less are only 25 PPE, while 51-150 MDC are 40 PPE). So far, in the books, I've found:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, Conversion Book 1)
-Mega-Foot Mastica (44 MDC, Sourcebook 3)
-Dinosaurs from the main Rifts book

This is the selection I've chosen so far:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, 25 PPE)
-Panthera-Tereon (106 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Grigleaper (76 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Gryphon (86 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Demonrunner (110 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Yll-Tree Climber (460 MDC, 50 PPE)

Since this is going to be a low to medium power game, I feel bad having anything tougher than the tree climber there. I was hoping to replace either the Demonrunner or the Panthera-Tereon with a weaker creature. But I find the Mega-Foot Mastica pretty lame, and was looking for other ideas. I guess I can use the random table at the back of the book for inspiration if there's really nothing else out there.

I'd have went with something that flies which you could use as a mount.

You mean like a Gryphon?

Bold emphasis added by me

Glistam wrote:You mean like a Gryphon?

Missed that.
But I'd rather something cooler like a Pterodactyl.

I might change it to a pterodactyl as made from the main book, that way I can put it's PPE cost at 25 (less than 50 MDC). The only thing stopping me is that I don't know how fast it'd be if made that way. I guess I could use the one from New West as an example, I'll have to take a look at it.

Glistam wrote:I might change it to a pterodactyl as made from the main book, that way I can put it's PPE cost at 25 (less than 50 MDC). The only thing stopping me is that I don't know how fast it'd be if made that way. I guess I could use the one from New West as an example, I'll have to take a look at it.

There is also a version in Atlantis in the section on Bermuda Triangle encounters.

Dr. Doom v.3.1.1 wrote:

Glistam wrote:I might change it to a pterodactyl as made from the main book, that way I can put it's PPE cost at 25 (less than 50 MDC). The only thing stopping me is that I don't know how fast it'd be if made that way. I guess I could use the one from New West as an example, I'll have to take a look at it.

There is also a version in Atlantis in the section on Bermuda Triangle encounters.

Just looked it up. 3D6x10 +20 MDC. 80 MPH. Some other stats I won't reproduce here. The MDC doesn't work for my purposes, but I think I'll go with the MDC from the main book and the speed as listed in Atlantis. I dont' see why dinosaurs should have hundreds of MDC anyway.

Glistam wrote:The Grigleapers are in the New West book, and I agree they are extremely cool, so I have one. But since the monsters that are generated by the monster tatoos come out at max MDC, I was hoping for some cheap ones (50 MDC and less are only 25 PPE, while 51-150 MDC are 40 PPE). So far, in the books, I've found:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, Conversion Book 1)
-Mega-Foot Mastica (44 MDC, Sourcebook 3)
-Dinosaurs from the main Rifts book

This is the selection I've chosen so far:

-Fire Worm (24 MDC, 25 PPE)
-Panthera-Tereon (106 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Grigleaper (76 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Gryphon (86 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Demonrunner (110 MDC, 40 PPE)
-Yll-Tree Climber (460 MDC, 50 PPE)

Since this is going to be a low to medium power game, I feel bad having anything tougher than the tree climber there. I was hoping to replace either the Demonrunner or the Panthera-Tereon with a weaker creature. But I find the Mega-Foot Mastica pretty lame, and was looking for other ideas. I guess I can use the random table at the back of the book for inspiration if there's really nothing else out there.

You should add an Unicorn to that list. They are majestic looking, can be ridden, have SN strenght and endurence, and have 100 MDC. Plus maybe you cold trick sombody into buying it and run off before it dissapears! 2 million credits for 40 PPE WOOT! (although there after youll have a price on you head but heay your an escaped slave anyway what do you have to lose?)

I'm still hoping that somewhere out there I can find more monsters that have a max MDC of 50 or less. I have hope that they exist.

Glistam wrote:

Dr. Doom v.3.1.1 wrote:

Glistam wrote:I might change it to a pterodactyl as made from the main book, that way I can put it's PPE cost at 25 (less than 50 MDC). The only thing stopping me is that I don't know how fast it'd be if made that way. I guess I could use the one from New West as an example, I'll have to take a look at it.

There is also a version in Atlantis in the section on Bermuda Triangle encounters.

Just looked it up. 3D6x10 +20 MDC. 80 MPH. Some other stats I won't reproduce here. The MDC doesn't work for my purposes, but I think I'll go with the MDC from the main book and the speed as listed in Atlantis. I dont' see why dinosaurs should have hundreds of MDC anyway.

The Coalition Navy sourcebook has a monster called the Dragonfish, it has 48 max MDC and is both a flier and a fish. I think I've found my new, inexpensive riding animal. I also found a couple more minor MDC creatures in the Megaversal Builder dimension book, under new Shifter familiars. I am satisfied for now, though I still think there should be more minor beings like this.