Xerek Hondai, another NPC.
12-8-97
A few notes: His last name is a direct pre-rifts rip-off. In Mutants in
Orbit it says somewhere than many of the people have names after old
pre-rifts brand-names. I thought it was a cool idea, that's how he got his
last name. Xerek is a simvan name given to him after is "adoption" into
the Pervic clan when he was 14. He doesn't even really remember his old name
anymore...
---------------------
Character History:
Xerek was born in a sheep herders village on the southern Texas
prairie. His village was just out of the influence of the Coalition, but
he still saw and heard much of them. He witnessed countless battles
between the frontier forts and the bandits. His village was frequented by
bandits of many types, mainly the Pervic Simvan bands. While still
superstitious in nature, the villagers realized that the Pervic took the
least, and slowly warmed up to them, knowing they would be far better
than the Coalition. Thus, the Pervic also began to view the little
village as a fairly strategic rest-stop on their raids, and they began to
stop other bandits from pestering the villagers.
Xerek had been training to become a traveling operator like his
father, who had set up shop in the village after seeing how profitable
selling his services to the Simvan could be.
His dreams would not last long, as the night of his 14th birthday the
Coalition sent a Seek-and-Destroy squad to raze the village as an example to
other d-bee sympathizers. Most of the Pervic were away at the time, and the
village was completely destroyed. At first Xerek fought against the wave of
invading troops. Soon however he saw he would have to get out as many people
as he could before they were all killed. Running to his family's garage, he
took the old truck his father had driven up in 20 years earlier.
That night Xerek managed to save around 20 villagers and a few aging
Simvan who had stayed behind the main band. Still, everyone else, including
his family had been killed. Everything he had known was gone, as he drove
away from his burning village he could see in the firelight the glints
reflecting off of the invading soldier's armor.
Xerek drove until daybreak, when he finally stopped in an apse of
trees, and collapsed of fatigue.
The few Pervic with him said they should stay near the ruins of his
village, as the Coalition would not linger long, fearful of retribution from
the Pervic. Returning the following day, the Coalition was gone. All that
remained of them was the destruction they had left behind. Most of the dead
villagers lie in the dusty streets, many of them still smoking. A few had
sharp poles driven through their torsos, they sat waving in the wind, the
poles planted in the village commons.
One of those men was Xerek's father, along with a few of the left
behind simvan, and some of the other town leaders and defenders. The message
to the villagers was very clear, the Coalition wanted no D-bee sympathising
settlements this far north. After seeing his father hanging there, Xerek
simply stood, clutching his fists in a desperate, helpless rage. He had
known the Coalition was bad, but this was beyond his comprehension. Always
it had happened to the bandits, never had he heard of peaceful villagers
being murdered like this. His other villagers tried to comfort him, but he
brushed them away coldly. Resolving to put the defiled bodies to rest
himself, he single-handedly buried the 14 villagers up on those poles.
The simvan he left to his companions and their customs. By the time the
main band returned 2 weeks latter after hearing the news, Xerek had been
changed forever.
No longer was he the starry eyed teenager he used to be. Now he had
only a grim look in his eyes. The villagers said he looked old beyond his
years. When Zimchex, the Pervic's leader was told of the boy's courageous
deeds, he asked to speak with him. Rare it was that the leader such a young
human so full of courage.
AFter much consideration, Xerek decided he wanted nothing more to
do with a passive villager's life. He wanted to strike out at the Coalition
that had destroyed everything he had once held dear. When he asked to be
adopted into the Pervic tribe, Zimchex found no problem with it. The boy had
already more than proven himself, and Zimchex needed someone with mechanical
skill for his tribe's few vehicles.
Once adopted Xerek was given his new name, after the name of the
simvan spirit of re-birth. Not simply willing to be the Tribe's mechanic,
Xerek focused on learning the arts of war from his Simvan instructors.
His hatred for the Coalition his fueling energy, Xerek learned faster than
ever, and soon became quite a respected warrior and member of the tribe.
By the age of 25, Xerek grew tired of life in the Nomadic tribe, and
decided to leave. Working independently as a man of many skills, he kept
alive on the harsh lands where he grew up more through shear ingenuity than
physical brawn.
Xerek currently rents out his services to the black marketers in
Ciudad Juarez, he's one of their favored operatives, mostly for his
experience. Many times has he run deliveries for them that no one else would
take.
----------------
Character Info:
Xerek Hondai
Human Vagabond
Unprincipled Alignment
7th Level, 33,450 exp
Hit Points: 43 S.D.C.: 33
IQ:15 Age:35
ME:14 Sex: Male
MA:17 - 45% Weight:170lbs
PS:17 Height:5'8"ft
PP:11
PE:11 Land of Origin: Small village in central Texas
PB:14
SPD:32
ISP:52
Hand to Hand Combat Skill: Assassin
# of attacks: 5 Kick 1d6
+2 to strike
+6 to parry
+6 to dodge
+5 to roll
+5 to damage
Knock Out/Stun on 17+
Entangle
Considered a minor Psi-Sensitive, with Empathy and Sixth Sense
Skills:
Native Language: American
OCC
----
Language: American, Simvan 95%
Cook 80%
OCC Related Skills
-------------------
Automotive Mechanics 55%
Basic Electronics 60%
Armorer 70%
Basic Mechanics 80%
Pilot Automobile 77%
First Aid 85%
Lore: Demons & Monsters 62%
Literacy:American 62%
Radio Basic 70%
Lore: Magic 52%/42%/37%
WP Knife +1T/+1S/+2P
Lore:Dbee 57%
Athletics
Boxing
Pilot Tanks/APCs 57%
Pilot Truck 61%
Running
General Repair/Maintenance 42%
Secondary Skills
-----------------
Prowl 55%
WP: Energy Pistol +5/+3
Basic Math 75%
HTH Assassin (taught by simvan)
Wilderness Survival 75% (also from above)
Equipment:
Simvan Body Armor 45MD, no penalties
NG-45LP 5d6MD, 1200 ft, 8 shots
4 short e-clips
TW Water Cannon 3d6x10 to vampires (gets the job done!) 200ft, 1 blast/ISP
An enchanted dagger (2d6+2MD) that also can cast globe of daylight x3 per day
A Vibro Knife 1d6MD
Items listed in OCC description.
He has around 100,000 credits saved up and has been considering retiring and
buying a ranch lately...
Currently lives in a small garage with the blackmarket of Ciudad
Juarez. He owns a heavily armed and armored Big Boss too.
Other Character Notes:
Xerek is wanted by the Coalition for crimes against the state and associating
with other criminals. He hates the coalition, and would not help even a
dying soldier if he found one. His time with the Simvan jaded him towards
life, he shares much of their mentality and customs, and still habitually
pays homage to their spirits.
Right now he's already feeling age creeping up on him. He
knows it's rare to have lived this long doing what he does, and realizes
that should he continue, he might not make it to see 40. So he's really
subconsciously looking for a place to settle down right now, but he hasn't
quite found one yet, and won't admit that he's even looking.
Around strangers Xerek tends to be gruff and distrusting, he's lived
too long to be naive. Around friends he loosens up a little, but his
disciplined demeanor never completly leaves him, except when he's totally
drunk.
Xerek is known by many through out the plains, all of the Pervic,
and many other Simvan know or have heard of him. He's done business as a hired
mechanic/guide for a few of the bandit gangs also, but isn't in too good of
a standing with any of them (some insults have been exchanged).
Xerek has lived a hard life out on the plains, some times down on his luck,
sometimes not. He has a very "take what you get and don't complain"
attitude, and hates cowards and backstabers.
Banditry is an acceptable pastime, as long as you don't milk the
poor to harshly, and always try to hit the Coalition whenever possible.
Overall, a quiet man, with a determined look in his eyes. He's
really just one of the many people out on the plains trying to live however
they can, and isn't above banditry himself if he really needs food or ammo.
Monday, December 8, 1997
Wednesday, November 5, 1997
Joshua Nile Juicer Professional Hunter
Joshua Niles: Northern Gun Poster Boy, and professional hunter.
11-5-97
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I originaly created this character for a '97 Gen Con game, but the GM
made us all use pre-gens (and lame ones at that). Enjoy.
Character Story:
Joshua Niles was born near a small semi-industrial town between
Iron Heart and Free-Quebec. Thus, he grew up knowing both of the Coalition
and the city-states to the west. As a child, Niles showed an affinity for
hunting, and as he matured, word spread to the out-lying communities of his
wilderness and hunting skills. Joshua was taught everything he knew by
his father and brothers, a group of isolationists living in a small
underground bunker/cabin near town. He and his family
frequently went on hunting trips for pelts to sell.
On the eve of his 16th birth day, a demonic monster of some sort came
rampaging into the nearby town. The monster was seemingly invulnerable to
the town militia's pitiful energy weapons, but Joshua was able to make an
expert shot to it's eye, so wounding it that it was driven off.
The town cheered Joshua for his heroism, and offered him a place in
their regular guard. But Joshua's curiosity had been awaked by the
monster. The d-bee's he and his family usually hunted were mostly harmless
ones allowed to stay so near to the Coalition because of their non-combative
nature. Aggressive d-bee attacks in his area were rare, it's close proximity
to both the Coalition and Iron Heart ensured that any marauders would be
quickly hunted down and killed. Joshua wanted to see what the rest of the
world was like. He quickly grew tired of his simple living hunting the
harmless d-bees. Feeling something he had never before felt when in actual
combat with the monstrosity, Joshua decided it was time to try to put his
abilities to more use than hunting the local Gronk herds.
A few days after his 16th birth day, Joshua trekked to the nearest
Coalition out-post, and requested to work as a scout. Suspicious and
doubtful at first, the leading officer just laughed at him. But, Joshua
kept pestering the man, and after at least a week of this, the Captain
let Joshua show his abilities by acting as a guide through the wilderness.
He was to help a special seek-and-destroy platoon that was hunting a
Tyrannosaurus Rex the Coalition thought was living a little too close to it's
territory.
Joshua proved extremely useful in tracking the beast and observing
it at a distance until the platoon was ready to strike. Given an old
Coalition suit of Dog-Pack armor in payment, he was thrilled to be in
with the soldiers. Watching the ensuing battle between the troops and the
T-Rex, Joshua quickly became convinced that he wanted to join the Coalition.
The captain, was impressed with the young man as he too took pock-shots
at the beast with his old laser rifle, even though the main damage was being
done by the 4 partial-borgs with the heavy weapons.
When the beast managed to rush one of the borgs, catch him in it's mouth, and
basically rend him to pieces, the Platoon was forced to pull-back, the
monster was proving too strong.
Later that evening in base-camp, Joshua put forward the idea of
waiting until the monster was sluggish after a big kill, and then attacking
it. Liking the idea, the Captain ordered his troops to stay on alert in
camp and went out with Joshua to observe the animal. They soon saw it make
a kill of a Tri-Tops, even in its wounded state. Seeing their time to
strike, the next day the troops once again assembled, and after finding the
beast again, managed to slay it in its slower (and wounded) state.
The Captain was quite impressed by Joshua's skills, and when he asked
Joshua if he would like to be part of the Coalition army, Joshua
enthusiastically said yes. After training where Joshua distinguished
himself, he was sent on a number of seek-and destroy missions against inhuman
enemies of the state. He became very good at his job, but would often
attempt to take on bigger foes than he could handle, with out calling in
backup. (he was often allowed to hunt alone, things just worked better that
way). Thus, to him the juicer process came as the logical next step. The
announcement asking for volunteers from his unit to join the new juicer
anti-demon squad caught his attention, and he went down to the clinic the
next day.
After his augmentation, Joshua worked 3 years in Quebec's special
monster containment and extermination squad, earning many honors.
Because of his exceptional work and extra year of service, his family was
given official citizenship and a home in Free-Quebec with a nice government
pension to support them until his father could get a real job. His family's
welfare secured, Joshua thought about a few things.
One, he knew that his Juicer Life-span was running out, but he didn't
want to de-tox right away, he still wanted to see the world.
Two, Coalition life was getting too routine
And three, killing demons and monsters was fun, but he needed
something new.
So, he decided to officially retire from the military (honorable, he
had served more than the required time). Leaving, he first visited the
free city-state of Iron Heart (he had never actually been their before, most
of his life had been out in the wilderness).
His reputation as an experienced monster hunter quickly netted him
much work. But, he was already bored of simple hunting missions, so he
decided he'd try to spice them up a little. He thought he'd take
home-videos of his hunts! After seeing a few by others that were extremely
bad, and of monster-hunts that he could have done blindfolded, Joshua
decided that he could make much better videos. So, after hours of
(agonizing for a juicer) studying and practicing with the equipment he
bought, Joshua found he could make some pretty quality flicks.
Starting with some simple shots, Joshua experimented different
cameras, views, etc. Finally he thought he had a good set-up, and did a tape
of him hunting and slaying a lone Xiticix. Feeling more secure about working
with his camera, he tried some tougher foes, and began showing his local merc
buddies his home-videos. Sort of like nature videos, except gorier, his
friends all loved them, and urged him to show others and make more.
With this support, Joshua set out to make a truly superb film, and
after nearly 2 weeks of work, he has what he thought was a finished copy.
This first film was entitled "Into the Hive". It detailed him actually
prowling into a small hive (while covered in scent glands), slaying the
queen, 10 workers, and around 20 warriors as he fought his way back out.
All of this was captured on his new head-camcorder, with him doing a
remarkably calm narrative of the events. The film ends with him escaping
(barely) with a swarm of about 400 Xiticix in pursuit. He flees to his
hover-bike , and finishes the film back at his lodge with some interesting
facts about the bugs.
This first video was quickly picked up by a movie company "Forgotten
Entertainment". Usually just re-furbishing and selling pre-rifts films, the
company thought his new films might be popular, and agreed to try to
distribute them. Promoted to many theaters in the area, at first "Into the
Hive" didn't catch on. It's fast and brutal style did not appeal to the
finer class who paid the high rates to watch the company's usual ancient
films. But it became popular after time, once the company and theaters
started advertising to the less-educated, and began showing it at cheaper
prices so the common man could view it.
After his first success, Joshua created many other "action"
films. all of which have been big hits. Some of the best include
"Beast Dragons Sure Are Stupid", "Faerie Hunt I", where he stalks a group of
faeries into their circle, but is affected by their magic while they escaped
his infuriated plasma-blasts. (great shots where he lies unconscious and
they tie pink ribbons all over him and put flowers in all of his gun barrels,
"Faerie Hunt II - Vengeance" Here he stalks a female sprite, and managed to
corner her. She begs for her life, and says that she'll be his slave if he
lets her live. He does, grudgingly, and she convinces him she can cook one
night in camp (while he was traveling home). Of course, he ingests some of
her magical food, and while it affects him greatly in numerous ways, (again,
all on tape) she escapes. Giving up on his hunt, he ends the film with a
description of what effects he noticed from what foods.
Other films include "A Thorn In My Foot", "Balrog-Shmalrog", and
"Bugs Don't Bug Me", along with many others. In his films he uses mostly
Northern Gun equipment, and after his 3rth movie he was approached by an NG
sales-rep to do a line of advertisements and official sponsorship in his
subsequent films.
Flattered by their interest, he agreed. Before he knew it, other
companies wanted to cash in on this up-coming star, and he has done ads for
the following products and companies:
o Zoom and Juicer-Zoom brand beer
o The Human Supremacy Organization (he appeared on their talk-show)
o Zaz-Co (makers of fine Coalition stun weapon knock offs)
"See how this new stun baton stops that demon in it's tracks?! Now you
can shoot it's convulsing body with ease!"
o McGrundson's taste freeze-dried rations
"when I'm in the field, I'll only eat McGrundson's, it's taaaastee!"
o Radio Barn "Now with better range than ever!"
o Demon Busters, Inc.
"When a friend asks me where to go for professional
demon extermination, there's only one choice on my mind."
o He even did a 30 minute infomercial for the original release of the NG-S2 Survival
Pack (something's he now regrets, it was really stupid).
Plus he's done advertisements for many of the more popular mercenary
bars in Iron Heart, and countless community service announcements and
pamphlets. These warn about and accurately describe the dangers and
characteristics of at least 20 common d-bee's and monsters. For example,
one reads: (or plays, many people are illiterate)
"Never go out at night with out a cross."
Another gives the handy advice:
"Never leave your scent gland's at home during the prime Xiticix food
gathering periods."
Because of Joshua's extensive media appearances and advertisements,
he has attained a celebrity status among 70% of the local populace, and is
widely known (and cheered) in places where his movies or ads have aired
(which is a remarkably large area, NG is quite widespread, and his movies
have been shipped all over North America, plus there are 1000's of boot-legs).
So most people out of his home area have at least heard of him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joshua's Niles, Human Juicer Scout
IQ:11 ME:11 MA:17 PS:28 PP:22 PE:20 PB:15 SPD:72
SDC:334
Hit Points:76
Age: 25 (currently a 4 1/2 year old Juicer)
Sex: Male Height: 5'11" Weight: 198lbs Origin: Iron Heart Area
Birth Order: 1 of 5 brothers (3rd)--all are currently living in Free-Quebec
Level of Experience: 7th (about 5 years in regular military, +3 as a juicer)
Disposition:
calm and composed, enjoys hunting, hates all non-humanoids, very distrustful
of magic and d-bees, respects the Coalition, a nice guy if he respects you,
a real hard-ass if not. In combat he's a whirlwind, everywhere at once. Merciless towards
his inhuman enemies, he doesn't see them as anything but monsters
(a sad case of Coalition brainwashing)
Joshua is well like by humans everywhere (high MA).
Description:
A young man who's face shows his experience (he's lived hard and fast).
Dark brown hair and nearly black eyes. Ruggedly handsome (no I'm not gay,
it's a description damnit). Fairly tall and heavily built, but very light on
his feet. Always walks silently, it's become second nature to him.
Hand to Hand: Expert
# of attacks: 6 Kick 2d4/1d8/1d6SDC
+13 to damage
+6 to strike
+11 to parry
+11 to dodge
+12 to roll
+4 on initiative
+4 Vs psionics (11 or better)
+6 Vs mind control
+3 Vs magic
+11 Vs toxins, drugs, gases
+30% Vs Coma/Death
Critical on 18,19,20
Paired Weapons
Heals twice as fast
Skills
-------
Radio Basic 85%
Language: American 98%
Detect Ambush 70%
Detect Concealment 65%
Land Navigation 70%
Wilderness Survival 98% -- this boy was born and bred in the wilderness
Prowl 75%
Track Humanoids 65%
Track Animals 65%
Pilot Hovercycle 93%
Lore -- Demons and Monsters 65%
Lore -- D-Bees 65%
Camouflage 55%
Intelligence 56%
Acrobatics (Sense of balance 90% Back Flip 90% climb 83%)
TV/Video 46% -- He was interested in this stuff before going independent
Gymnastics
Boxing
W.P. Energy Rifle - He has +5/+3 on aimed/burst
W.P. Heavy Energy - Also +5/+3
W.P. Knife - +2 to throw, +2 to strike, +2 to parry
Secondary Skills and ones he already knew before training
----------------------------------------------------------
Hunting
Skin and Prepare Animal Hides 65%
W.P. Bolt Action Rifle +5/+3
Cook 70%
-
W.P.: Energy Pistol --+5/+3
Sniper (+2 to strike on aimed rifle shots)
First Aide 75%
Athletics
Math: Basic 75%
Literacy: American 60%
Equipment
----------
MP-10 caseless Pistol w/ 2 clips normal and 2 clips silver
Collapsible Zaz-Co 2000 (copy of the ES-20 stun spear that collapses)
NG-E12A Heavy Plasma Ejector (w/ power pack)
1d6x10MD, 2000ft, 6 short/12 long/42 powerpack
Vibro Knives (3) Silver Plated Swords (2) 1d8 SDC
2 Hooked Vibro Blade Fore Arm Vambrances (2d6MD, +1 to parry, +5% to climb)
NG-Super Plus Ion (3d6MD, 10/20 shots, 500ft, grenades 2d6MD 6ftrad 500ft (14)
4 Frag Grenades(2d6 20ft radius)
4 Heavy explosive Grenades(4d6 12ft radius)
Also keeps a NG-202 on his vehicle (for impervious to energy)
6 long e-clips
MDC Hide pouch (5MDC) with 28 NG-super grenades
Hunting, traveling, and stylish clothing
MO Helmet and Infrared binoculars
Portable Language Translator
Mini PDD-Video/Trideo Recorder, Nightvision attachment, 10 4hr PDD disks
Various cameras and film
10 Smoke grenades
Camouflage Paint and make-up
Vehicles: Owns a number of hunting-outfitted land-rovers.
Also has a NG-480 Turbo (his pride and joy)
Armor:
Either Dragon Super Hide (130MDC, 50lbs, -21% to prowl) or
Heavy Dog Pack (50MDC, no penalties) and an armored coat (16MDC)
Money: Around 5 million credits in Iron Heart, usually carries around 150,000
He can also get most NG equipment for a fraction of the cost, or free if it's
for a movie (he'll be reimbursed after it airs and makes NG look good).
Note: Joshua knows that he is going to die in a few years, and is still not
sure what to do about it. He now curses himself for not de-toxing after 2
years, but now it's to late (the doctors told him of his mediocre survival
rate). He thinks that right now his only way to live is by getting rebuilt
with bionics, something he's not keen on. He would get all bio-systems, but
even then he knows they'd be mediocre in comparison to his current body in
powers and senses. He's heard rumors about the high technology to the east
(Atlatis, all he knows is that it is out east), and may go adventuring to
find it to get his body cloned back healthy and drugless (an interesting
idea for a dying juicer...). But he also might just try the bionics, and
make sure that his new body kicked ass.
Anyway, he's making sure to have a lot of money saved when that time does
come.
11-5-97
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I originaly created this character for a '97 Gen Con game, but the GM
made us all use pre-gens (and lame ones at that). Enjoy.
Character Story:
Joshua Niles was born near a small semi-industrial town between
Iron Heart and Free-Quebec. Thus, he grew up knowing both of the Coalition
and the city-states to the west. As a child, Niles showed an affinity for
hunting, and as he matured, word spread to the out-lying communities of his
wilderness and hunting skills. Joshua was taught everything he knew by
his father and brothers, a group of isolationists living in a small
underground bunker/cabin near town. He and his family
frequently went on hunting trips for pelts to sell.
On the eve of his 16th birth day, a demonic monster of some sort came
rampaging into the nearby town. The monster was seemingly invulnerable to
the town militia's pitiful energy weapons, but Joshua was able to make an
expert shot to it's eye, so wounding it that it was driven off.
The town cheered Joshua for his heroism, and offered him a place in
their regular guard. But Joshua's curiosity had been awaked by the
monster. The d-bee's he and his family usually hunted were mostly harmless
ones allowed to stay so near to the Coalition because of their non-combative
nature. Aggressive d-bee attacks in his area were rare, it's close proximity
to both the Coalition and Iron Heart ensured that any marauders would be
quickly hunted down and killed. Joshua wanted to see what the rest of the
world was like. He quickly grew tired of his simple living hunting the
harmless d-bees. Feeling something he had never before felt when in actual
combat with the monstrosity, Joshua decided it was time to try to put his
abilities to more use than hunting the local Gronk herds.
A few days after his 16th birth day, Joshua trekked to the nearest
Coalition out-post, and requested to work as a scout. Suspicious and
doubtful at first, the leading officer just laughed at him. But, Joshua
kept pestering the man, and after at least a week of this, the Captain
let Joshua show his abilities by acting as a guide through the wilderness.
He was to help a special seek-and-destroy platoon that was hunting a
Tyrannosaurus Rex the Coalition thought was living a little too close to it's
territory.
Joshua proved extremely useful in tracking the beast and observing
it at a distance until the platoon was ready to strike. Given an old
Coalition suit of Dog-Pack armor in payment, he was thrilled to be in
with the soldiers. Watching the ensuing battle between the troops and the
T-Rex, Joshua quickly became convinced that he wanted to join the Coalition.
The captain, was impressed with the young man as he too took pock-shots
at the beast with his old laser rifle, even though the main damage was being
done by the 4 partial-borgs with the heavy weapons.
When the beast managed to rush one of the borgs, catch him in it's mouth, and
basically rend him to pieces, the Platoon was forced to pull-back, the
monster was proving too strong.
Later that evening in base-camp, Joshua put forward the idea of
waiting until the monster was sluggish after a big kill, and then attacking
it. Liking the idea, the Captain ordered his troops to stay on alert in
camp and went out with Joshua to observe the animal. They soon saw it make
a kill of a Tri-Tops, even in its wounded state. Seeing their time to
strike, the next day the troops once again assembled, and after finding the
beast again, managed to slay it in its slower (and wounded) state.
The Captain was quite impressed by Joshua's skills, and when he asked
Joshua if he would like to be part of the Coalition army, Joshua
enthusiastically said yes. After training where Joshua distinguished
himself, he was sent on a number of seek-and destroy missions against inhuman
enemies of the state. He became very good at his job, but would often
attempt to take on bigger foes than he could handle, with out calling in
backup. (he was often allowed to hunt alone, things just worked better that
way). Thus, to him the juicer process came as the logical next step. The
announcement asking for volunteers from his unit to join the new juicer
anti-demon squad caught his attention, and he went down to the clinic the
next day.
After his augmentation, Joshua worked 3 years in Quebec's special
monster containment and extermination squad, earning many honors.
Because of his exceptional work and extra year of service, his family was
given official citizenship and a home in Free-Quebec with a nice government
pension to support them until his father could get a real job. His family's
welfare secured, Joshua thought about a few things.
One, he knew that his Juicer Life-span was running out, but he didn't
want to de-tox right away, he still wanted to see the world.
Two, Coalition life was getting too routine
And three, killing demons and monsters was fun, but he needed
something new.
So, he decided to officially retire from the military (honorable, he
had served more than the required time). Leaving, he first visited the
free city-state of Iron Heart (he had never actually been their before, most
of his life had been out in the wilderness).
His reputation as an experienced monster hunter quickly netted him
much work. But, he was already bored of simple hunting missions, so he
decided he'd try to spice them up a little. He thought he'd take
home-videos of his hunts! After seeing a few by others that were extremely
bad, and of monster-hunts that he could have done blindfolded, Joshua
decided that he could make much better videos. So, after hours of
(agonizing for a juicer) studying and practicing with the equipment he
bought, Joshua found he could make some pretty quality flicks.
Starting with some simple shots, Joshua experimented different
cameras, views, etc. Finally he thought he had a good set-up, and did a tape
of him hunting and slaying a lone Xiticix. Feeling more secure about working
with his camera, he tried some tougher foes, and began showing his local merc
buddies his home-videos. Sort of like nature videos, except gorier, his
friends all loved them, and urged him to show others and make more.
With this support, Joshua set out to make a truly superb film, and
after nearly 2 weeks of work, he has what he thought was a finished copy.
This first film was entitled "Into the Hive". It detailed him actually
prowling into a small hive (while covered in scent glands), slaying the
queen, 10 workers, and around 20 warriors as he fought his way back out.
All of this was captured on his new head-camcorder, with him doing a
remarkably calm narrative of the events. The film ends with him escaping
(barely) with a swarm of about 400 Xiticix in pursuit. He flees to his
hover-bike , and finishes the film back at his lodge with some interesting
facts about the bugs.
This first video was quickly picked up by a movie company "Forgotten
Entertainment". Usually just re-furbishing and selling pre-rifts films, the
company thought his new films might be popular, and agreed to try to
distribute them. Promoted to many theaters in the area, at first "Into the
Hive" didn't catch on. It's fast and brutal style did not appeal to the
finer class who paid the high rates to watch the company's usual ancient
films. But it became popular after time, once the company and theaters
started advertising to the less-educated, and began showing it at cheaper
prices so the common man could view it.
After his first success, Joshua created many other "action"
films. all of which have been big hits. Some of the best include
"Beast Dragons Sure Are Stupid", "Faerie Hunt I", where he stalks a group of
faeries into their circle, but is affected by their magic while they escaped
his infuriated plasma-blasts. (great shots where he lies unconscious and
they tie pink ribbons all over him and put flowers in all of his gun barrels,
"Faerie Hunt II - Vengeance" Here he stalks a female sprite, and managed to
corner her. She begs for her life, and says that she'll be his slave if he
lets her live. He does, grudgingly, and she convinces him she can cook one
night in camp (while he was traveling home). Of course, he ingests some of
her magical food, and while it affects him greatly in numerous ways, (again,
all on tape) she escapes. Giving up on his hunt, he ends the film with a
description of what effects he noticed from what foods.
Other films include "A Thorn In My Foot", "Balrog-Shmalrog", and
"Bugs Don't Bug Me", along with many others. In his films he uses mostly
Northern Gun equipment, and after his 3rth movie he was approached by an NG
sales-rep to do a line of advertisements and official sponsorship in his
subsequent films.
Flattered by their interest, he agreed. Before he knew it, other
companies wanted to cash in on this up-coming star, and he has done ads for
the following products and companies:
o Zoom and Juicer-Zoom brand beer
o The Human Supremacy Organization (he appeared on their talk-show)
o Zaz-Co (makers of fine Coalition stun weapon knock offs)
"See how this new stun baton stops that demon in it's tracks?! Now you
can shoot it's convulsing body with ease!"
o McGrundson's taste freeze-dried rations
"when I'm in the field, I'll only eat McGrundson's, it's taaaastee!"
o Radio Barn "Now with better range than ever!"
o Demon Busters, Inc.
"When a friend asks me where to go for professional
demon extermination, there's only one choice on my mind."
o He even did a 30 minute infomercial for the original release of the NG-S2 Survival
Pack (something's he now regrets, it was really stupid).
Plus he's done advertisements for many of the more popular mercenary
bars in Iron Heart, and countless community service announcements and
pamphlets. These warn about and accurately describe the dangers and
characteristics of at least 20 common d-bee's and monsters. For example,
one reads: (or plays, many people are illiterate)
"Never go out at night with out a cross."
Another gives the handy advice:
"Never leave your scent gland's at home during the prime Xiticix food
gathering periods."
Because of Joshua's extensive media appearances and advertisements,
he has attained a celebrity status among 70% of the local populace, and is
widely known (and cheered) in places where his movies or ads have aired
(which is a remarkably large area, NG is quite widespread, and his movies
have been shipped all over North America, plus there are 1000's of boot-legs).
So most people out of his home area have at least heard of him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joshua's Niles, Human Juicer Scout
IQ:11 ME:11 MA:17 PS:28 PP:22 PE:20 PB:15 SPD:72
SDC:334
Hit Points:76
Age: 25 (currently a 4 1/2 year old Juicer)
Sex: Male Height: 5'11" Weight: 198lbs Origin: Iron Heart Area
Birth Order: 1 of 5 brothers (3rd)--all are currently living in Free-Quebec
Level of Experience: 7th (about 5 years in regular military, +3 as a juicer)
Disposition:
calm and composed, enjoys hunting, hates all non-humanoids, very distrustful
of magic and d-bees, respects the Coalition, a nice guy if he respects you,
a real hard-ass if not. In combat he's a whirlwind, everywhere at once. Merciless towards
his inhuman enemies, he doesn't see them as anything but monsters
(a sad case of Coalition brainwashing)
Joshua is well like by humans everywhere (high MA).
Description:
A young man who's face shows his experience (he's lived hard and fast).
Dark brown hair and nearly black eyes. Ruggedly handsome (no I'm not gay,
it's a description damnit). Fairly tall and heavily built, but very light on
his feet. Always walks silently, it's become second nature to him.
Hand to Hand: Expert
# of attacks: 6 Kick 2d4/1d8/1d6SDC
+13 to damage
+6 to strike
+11 to parry
+11 to dodge
+12 to roll
+4 on initiative
+4 Vs psionics (11 or better)
+6 Vs mind control
+3 Vs magic
+11 Vs toxins, drugs, gases
+30% Vs Coma/Death
Critical on 18,19,20
Paired Weapons
Heals twice as fast
Skills
-------
Radio Basic 85%
Language: American 98%
Detect Ambush 70%
Detect Concealment 65%
Land Navigation 70%
Wilderness Survival 98% -- this boy was born and bred in the wilderness
Prowl 75%
Track Humanoids 65%
Track Animals 65%
Pilot Hovercycle 93%
Lore -- Demons and Monsters 65%
Lore -- D-Bees 65%
Camouflage 55%
Intelligence 56%
Acrobatics (Sense of balance 90% Back Flip 90% climb 83%)
TV/Video 46% -- He was interested in this stuff before going independent
Gymnastics
Boxing
W.P. Energy Rifle - He has +5/+3 on aimed/burst
W.P. Heavy Energy - Also +5/+3
W.P. Knife - +2 to throw, +2 to strike, +2 to parry
Secondary Skills and ones he already knew before training
----------------------------------------------------------
Hunting
Skin and Prepare Animal Hides 65%
W.P. Bolt Action Rifle +5/+3
Cook 70%
-
W.P.: Energy Pistol --+5/+3
Sniper (+2 to strike on aimed rifle shots)
First Aide 75%
Athletics
Math: Basic 75%
Literacy: American 60%
Equipment
----------
MP-10 caseless Pistol w/ 2 clips normal and 2 clips silver
Collapsible Zaz-Co 2000 (copy of the ES-20 stun spear that collapses)
NG-E12A Heavy Plasma Ejector (w/ power pack)
1d6x10MD, 2000ft, 6 short/12 long/42 powerpack
Vibro Knives (3) Silver Plated Swords (2) 1d8 SDC
2 Hooked Vibro Blade Fore Arm Vambrances (2d6MD, +1 to parry, +5% to climb)
NG-Super Plus Ion (3d6MD, 10/20 shots, 500ft, grenades 2d6MD 6ftrad 500ft (14)
4 Frag Grenades(2d6 20ft radius)
4 Heavy explosive Grenades(4d6 12ft radius)
Also keeps a NG-202 on his vehicle (for impervious to energy)
6 long e-clips
MDC Hide pouch (5MDC) with 28 NG-super grenades
Hunting, traveling, and stylish clothing
MO Helmet and Infrared binoculars
Portable Language Translator
Mini PDD-Video/Trideo Recorder, Nightvision attachment, 10 4hr PDD disks
Various cameras and film
10 Smoke grenades
Camouflage Paint and make-up
Vehicles: Owns a number of hunting-outfitted land-rovers.
Also has a NG-480 Turbo (his pride and joy)
Armor:
Either Dragon Super Hide (130MDC, 50lbs, -21% to prowl) or
Heavy Dog Pack (50MDC, no penalties) and an armored coat (16MDC)
Money: Around 5 million credits in Iron Heart, usually carries around 150,000
He can also get most NG equipment for a fraction of the cost, or free if it's
for a movie (he'll be reimbursed after it airs and makes NG look good).
Note: Joshua knows that he is going to die in a few years, and is still not
sure what to do about it. He now curses himself for not de-toxing after 2
years, but now it's to late (the doctors told him of his mediocre survival
rate). He thinks that right now his only way to live is by getting rebuilt
with bionics, something he's not keen on. He would get all bio-systems, but
even then he knows they'd be mediocre in comparison to his current body in
powers and senses. He's heard rumors about the high technology to the east
(Atlatis, all he knows is that it is out east), and may go adventuring to
find it to get his body cloned back healthy and drugless (an interesting
idea for a dying juicer...). But he also might just try the bionics, and
make sure that his new body kicked ass.
Anyway, he's making sure to have a lot of money saved when that time does
come.
Sunday, September 21, 1997
Victor Thurman
Victor Thurman was born and raised in El Paso.
His mother, Diane was a well known singer/saloon girl
in the nicer nightclubs of El Paso. Meeting a Headhunter in
one nightclub, Vic's Mom and dad fell in love and were married
with a child on the way shortly after.
The headhunter she married was one Quentin Thurman,
a known and respected member of his profession, and one who
never had any difficulty finding work, be it in vampire hunting
or the "removal" of criminal leaders and gangs.
Unfortunately, their marriage turned out to be
a rocky one after Diane discovered that being married
to an adventuring headhunter wasn't the easiest thing to
have to deal with while raising a child.
But the two parents did manage to work out a deal with
each other. Quentin compromised with Diane by only doing the
work he loved 4 months out of the year, and living off of the
profits during the rest of the time.
Thus, Vic grew up in an odd family situation. Unlike
most of the other wealthy residents of El Paso, Quentin only
worked 4 months out of the year, the rest of the time he played
"house-husband" with his son, and was secretly (away from Diane's
disapproving eye) teaching Vic to be a man of arms like himself.
After numerous father-son "camping" trips, by the age of 14 Vic
had become quite a capable fighter, aside from his lack of physical
brawn at that age.
But alas, Diane found out after she caught them retooling
plasma mini-missiles in the garage one night, and she was not amused.
Her hopes of Vic learning an honorable trade, and her suspicion of
why he had been incredibly lazy and bored in school correct, she
told Quentin it was over. Exclaiming that she wouldn't let him turn her son
into another gun-toting "hero", only to most likely be killed soon after
his own little "career" got started.
Dazed and hurt by her harsh words about his lifestyle and profession,
Quentin packed up his stuff and said good-bye to his son, moving in with his
brother (another headhunter) who was living across the river in Ciudad
Juarez. Vic was truly heart broken by this, but his mom was adamant about
him NOT getting into such a violent trade.
Quentin and Diane still loved each other, but their different views
on a respectable way of life finally brought them apart, and Vic was put
right in the middle of it (a not so classic divorce story).
So, after a period of rebellion against his mother's more gentle
ideals for her son, Vic finally just ran away from home and went to find
his father in Ciudad Juarez. He was too late however, finding out that his
father (and employer) had been bushwhacked by a band of marauding Simvan
warriors, and had been reportedly killed in battle while holding off a pack
of attacking Ostrosaurus in his re-built enforcer.
The band of scavengers/raiders he had been accompanying had managed
to escape the Simvan, and had told the story of Quentin's heroic deed's
in holding the monsters off until the other vehicles could clear out of a
canyon and onto flat ground where they could escape their pursuers. (He
actually blocked passage through the canyon with his robot's bulk, and by
blowing down debris from above with his rail gun).
So, Vic's dad was considered a hero, but Vic had missed his chance
to be with his father in some "real" mercenary work. Dejected, he moved in
with his father's brother, Lawrence. Seeing no other logical choice, Vic
began his career as member of his Uncle's demon extermination business, at
age 17. Working for his uncle for 3 years he was able to buy his own Samson,
and soon after decided to go into freelance work.
Hooking up with Dan Carlyle, a smuggler he had met during his earlier
disruptive days in El Paso, Vic was able to use his father's reputation (and
his own growing one), along with Dan's connections to net him some higher
paying jobs, and he has recently gotten some black-market affiliations...
Vic currently lives in a nice house in Ciudad Juarez on the south
side of town. His home is notable because he got it extremely cheap, and
later found out that it is haunted with something, but he really doesn't care,
and actually thinks it's an added bonus. The house has a garage for his 2
vehicles, with a specially built addition for his power-armor.
Vic doesn't know how to cook, and frequently eats out or has
microwave-able burritos (or food rations when he's to lazy to shop). He
generally doesn't have a problem with d-bee's, psionics (his mom was a
minor sensitive, his grandma a mind-melter), or magic. But he doesn't think
it's wise to trust something you don't understand, and would rather be pulling
the trigger of his NG-202 than casting some crappy globe of daylight spell.
He usually has the confident aura of a warrior, and acts and is tough, not
taking crap from anyone if he doesn't feel he has to (mostly all the time).
Vic isn't afraid of Cybernetics, Bionics, or any other form of
human augmentation, he just prefers that his own personal augmentations
don't come with any inanities or 7 year life spans.
Vic's associates and contacts include:
Dan Candury - the owner of the Power House Armory in Ciudad Juarez, Vic's
dad was a close friend of the man, and Dan was always fond of Vic as he
saw him growing up. Thus Vic can get his equipment and armor repaired by
the expert mechanics here for the normal price instead of the slightly
inflated ones that are common to a place so far from any of the major
industrial centers.
Opie & Bea's Fix-it Shop - Beatrice, the attractive owner (even at 39 years
old) and operator of the above mechanic shop was Vic's uncle's current
girlfriend at the time of his death in a vampire ambush. Prior to
Lawrence's demise, Bea was basically Vic's aunt, and afterwards she still
tried to look out for him, and they still get together and talk sometimes.
Ascata Medical - A major manufacturer of medical equipment, drugs, and
IRMSS hard ware, based in Ciudad Juarez. Vic has worked for them in the
past, and knows the CEO of the company. The company has links with the
Black Market, and is a major underground drug manufacturer for them.
Vic also knows numerous Mercs and other men of arms that he's met in
bar's and clubs, plus many people know him because they knew his father or
Uncle.
Vic's family history includes his grand-father, a decorated Coalition
soldier who deserted after his wife was killed because of a mishap where
she used her sizable psionic powers to defend a group of harmless d-bee's
against what turned out to be undercover coalition soldiers who were
harassing and torturing them for fun. Fleeing his home in Briscoe America,
his gran-dad settled in El Paso and raised Quentin.
His Gran-dad died before Vic was born, but Vic has several momentos
from both his father and grand father in his basement, including at least
50 framed heads of different demons and monsters both his dad and gran-dad
had killed, dating all the way back to 50PA. There are also boxes and
crates of both of the dead men's old stuff, but Vic hasn't had time to look
through it since they were given to him after his dad died.
Note: Vic's native language is Spanish, but he appears to be
Caucasian, with some faint tinges of Mexican to him. Also, due to his
grandfather's origins in Briscoe America, if he cared he probably could find
relatives there that would be able to trace his lineage back to before the
time of the Rifts. (something that is unusually common there)
Name: Victor Thurman
OCC/RCC: Human Headhunter
Alignment: Unprincipled
Hit Points: 34 SDC: 59
Experience Level: 5
IQ 13 ME 12 MA 15 PS 17 PP 21 PE 13 PB 10 Spd 18
Skills:
Radio Basic 80%, Radio Scrambler 65%, Detect Ambush 60%
Detect Concealment 60%, Tracking 55%, Land Navigation 62%
Weapon Systems 70%, Read Sensors 60%, Pilot Jet Pack 70%
Pilot Tanks/APCs 62%, Pilot Hovercraft 75%, Demon Lore 55%
Robot Combat Elite: NG Samson, American 90%, Spanish 98%
Euro 90%, Gobblely 90%, Optics Systems 55%, Demolitions 87%
Demolitions Disposal 87%, Surveillance Systems 55%
Secondary Skills
Techno-Can Literate 50%, Basic Electronics 50%, Advanced Math 65%
Intelligence 48%, Sniper, Streetwise 36%, Boxing, Athletics
Recognize Specific Sounds/Voices 45% (from Amp-Hearing)
Hand To Hand: Expert
4 Attacks Per Melee, +5 to strike, +9 to parry and dodge
+4 to roll, KO on a natural 20, +6 on initiative, +2 to pull punch
+2/5 to damage on SDC attacks
Power Armor Elite (SAMSON) (total bonuses)
6 Attacks, +7 to strike, +11 to parry and dodge, +7 to roll
Body Flip, Body Block, Kick, Leap Kick, Punch
Cybernetics and Bionics:
Cyber Armor, Universal Headjack (w/ 3 mile Radio), Multioptic Eye,
Sound Filtration, Amplified Hearing,
Bionic Hand and Arm PS 20, w/ Retraceable Vibro Blades & Plasma Ejector
WPs: Heavy Energy, Energy Rifle, Energy Pistol, Heavy, Knife
Weapons and Equipment:
NG Super IGL (NG super w/Ion blaster instead of laser -3d6MD, 500ft
Browning 9mm w/ WI-2E rounds, Silver Knife, CV-213 Laser Rifle w/scope
TX-32 Double Barreled "Pump" Rifle (1600ft, clip 8, can fire double blasts)
Plasma Grenades (3)
Dress Clothing, Commando Clothing, Gas Mask/Air Filter, Tinted Goggles,
Hatchet, 2 Canteens, RMK, IRMSS (3 uses left), Tent, Saddle Bags,
Knapsack, Backpack, 5wks Food Rations, Water Purifier,
Skelebot Hand-Necklace, Explosives Case (20MDC), assorted
land mines and fusion blocks.
Note, Vic's cash tends to fluctuate, but right now he has around 250,000cr
of his original 320,000cr. PA repairs do cost money...
Transportation:
Owns a fully equipped suit of NG Samson
Has a MDC Full-sized van
Has a blue NG Sky-Siren Hover Sports Car
Last Updated 9-21-97
His mother, Diane was a well known singer/saloon girl
in the nicer nightclubs of El Paso. Meeting a Headhunter in
one nightclub, Vic's Mom and dad fell in love and were married
with a child on the way shortly after.
The headhunter she married was one Quentin Thurman,
a known and respected member of his profession, and one who
never had any difficulty finding work, be it in vampire hunting
or the "removal" of criminal leaders and gangs.
Unfortunately, their marriage turned out to be
a rocky one after Diane discovered that being married
to an adventuring headhunter wasn't the easiest thing to
have to deal with while raising a child.
But the two parents did manage to work out a deal with
each other. Quentin compromised with Diane by only doing the
work he loved 4 months out of the year, and living off of the
profits during the rest of the time.
Thus, Vic grew up in an odd family situation. Unlike
most of the other wealthy residents of El Paso, Quentin only
worked 4 months out of the year, the rest of the time he played
"house-husband" with his son, and was secretly (away from Diane's
disapproving eye) teaching Vic to be a man of arms like himself.
After numerous father-son "camping" trips, by the age of 14 Vic
had become quite a capable fighter, aside from his lack of physical
brawn at that age.
But alas, Diane found out after she caught them retooling
plasma mini-missiles in the garage one night, and she was not amused.
Her hopes of Vic learning an honorable trade, and her suspicion of
why he had been incredibly lazy and bored in school correct, she
told Quentin it was over. Exclaiming that she wouldn't let him turn her son
into another gun-toting "hero", only to most likely be killed soon after
his own little "career" got started.
Dazed and hurt by her harsh words about his lifestyle and profession,
Quentin packed up his stuff and said good-bye to his son, moving in with his
brother (another headhunter) who was living across the river in Ciudad
Juarez. Vic was truly heart broken by this, but his mom was adamant about
him NOT getting into such a violent trade.
Quentin and Diane still loved each other, but their different views
on a respectable way of life finally brought them apart, and Vic was put
right in the middle of it (a not so classic divorce story).
So, after a period of rebellion against his mother's more gentle
ideals for her son, Vic finally just ran away from home and went to find
his father in Ciudad Juarez. He was too late however, finding out that his
father (and employer) had been bushwhacked by a band of marauding Simvan
warriors, and had been reportedly killed in battle while holding off a pack
of attacking Ostrosaurus in his re-built enforcer.
The band of scavengers/raiders he had been accompanying had managed
to escape the Simvan, and had told the story of Quentin's heroic deed's
in holding the monsters off until the other vehicles could clear out of a
canyon and onto flat ground where they could escape their pursuers. (He
actually blocked passage through the canyon with his robot's bulk, and by
blowing down debris from above with his rail gun).
So, Vic's dad was considered a hero, but Vic had missed his chance
to be with his father in some "real" mercenary work. Dejected, he moved in
with his father's brother, Lawrence. Seeing no other logical choice, Vic
began his career as member of his Uncle's demon extermination business, at
age 17. Working for his uncle for 3 years he was able to buy his own Samson,
and soon after decided to go into freelance work.
Hooking up with Dan Carlyle, a smuggler he had met during his earlier
disruptive days in El Paso, Vic was able to use his father's reputation (and
his own growing one), along with Dan's connections to net him some higher
paying jobs, and he has recently gotten some black-market affiliations...
Vic currently lives in a nice house in Ciudad Juarez on the south
side of town. His home is notable because he got it extremely cheap, and
later found out that it is haunted with something, but he really doesn't care,
and actually thinks it's an added bonus. The house has a garage for his 2
vehicles, with a specially built addition for his power-armor.
Vic doesn't know how to cook, and frequently eats out or has
microwave-able burritos (or food rations when he's to lazy to shop). He
generally doesn't have a problem with d-bee's, psionics (his mom was a
minor sensitive, his grandma a mind-melter), or magic. But he doesn't think
it's wise to trust something you don't understand, and would rather be pulling
the trigger of his NG-202 than casting some crappy globe of daylight spell.
He usually has the confident aura of a warrior, and acts and is tough, not
taking crap from anyone if he doesn't feel he has to (mostly all the time).
Vic isn't afraid of Cybernetics, Bionics, or any other form of
human augmentation, he just prefers that his own personal augmentations
don't come with any inanities or 7 year life spans.
Vic's associates and contacts include:
Dan Candury - the owner of the Power House Armory in Ciudad Juarez, Vic's
dad was a close friend of the man, and Dan was always fond of Vic as he
saw him growing up. Thus Vic can get his equipment and armor repaired by
the expert mechanics here for the normal price instead of the slightly
inflated ones that are common to a place so far from any of the major
industrial centers.
Opie & Bea's Fix-it Shop - Beatrice, the attractive owner (even at 39 years
old) and operator of the above mechanic shop was Vic's uncle's current
girlfriend at the time of his death in a vampire ambush. Prior to
Lawrence's demise, Bea was basically Vic's aunt, and afterwards she still
tried to look out for him, and they still get together and talk sometimes.
Ascata Medical - A major manufacturer of medical equipment, drugs, and
IRMSS hard ware, based in Ciudad Juarez. Vic has worked for them in the
past, and knows the CEO of the company. The company has links with the
Black Market, and is a major underground drug manufacturer for them.
Vic also knows numerous Mercs and other men of arms that he's met in
bar's and clubs, plus many people know him because they knew his father or
Uncle.
Vic's family history includes his grand-father, a decorated Coalition
soldier who deserted after his wife was killed because of a mishap where
she used her sizable psionic powers to defend a group of harmless d-bee's
against what turned out to be undercover coalition soldiers who were
harassing and torturing them for fun. Fleeing his home in Briscoe America,
his gran-dad settled in El Paso and raised Quentin.
His Gran-dad died before Vic was born, but Vic has several momentos
from both his father and grand father in his basement, including at least
50 framed heads of different demons and monsters both his dad and gran-dad
had killed, dating all the way back to 50PA. There are also boxes and
crates of both of the dead men's old stuff, but Vic hasn't had time to look
through it since they were given to him after his dad died.
Note: Vic's native language is Spanish, but he appears to be
Caucasian, with some faint tinges of Mexican to him. Also, due to his
grandfather's origins in Briscoe America, if he cared he probably could find
relatives there that would be able to trace his lineage back to before the
time of the Rifts. (something that is unusually common there)
Name: Victor Thurman
OCC/RCC: Human Headhunter
Alignment: Unprincipled
Hit Points: 34 SDC: 59
Experience Level: 5
IQ 13 ME 12 MA 15 PS 17 PP 21 PE 13 PB 10 Spd 18
Skills:
Radio Basic 80%, Radio Scrambler 65%, Detect Ambush 60%
Detect Concealment 60%, Tracking 55%, Land Navigation 62%
Weapon Systems 70%, Read Sensors 60%, Pilot Jet Pack 70%
Pilot Tanks/APCs 62%, Pilot Hovercraft 75%, Demon Lore 55%
Robot Combat Elite: NG Samson, American 90%, Spanish 98%
Euro 90%, Gobblely 90%, Optics Systems 55%, Demolitions 87%
Demolitions Disposal 87%, Surveillance Systems 55%
Secondary Skills
Techno-Can Literate 50%, Basic Electronics 50%, Advanced Math 65%
Intelligence 48%, Sniper, Streetwise 36%, Boxing, Athletics
Recognize Specific Sounds/Voices 45% (from Amp-Hearing)
Hand To Hand: Expert
4 Attacks Per Melee, +5 to strike, +9 to parry and dodge
+4 to roll, KO on a natural 20, +6 on initiative, +2 to pull punch
+2/5 to damage on SDC attacks
Power Armor Elite (SAMSON) (total bonuses)
6 Attacks, +7 to strike, +11 to parry and dodge, +7 to roll
Body Flip, Body Block, Kick, Leap Kick, Punch
Cybernetics and Bionics:
Cyber Armor, Universal Headjack (w/ 3 mile Radio), Multioptic Eye,
Sound Filtration, Amplified Hearing,
Bionic Hand and Arm PS 20, w/ Retraceable Vibro Blades & Plasma Ejector
WPs: Heavy Energy, Energy Rifle, Energy Pistol, Heavy, Knife
Weapons and Equipment:
NG Super IGL (NG super w/Ion blaster instead of laser -3d6MD, 500ft
Browning 9mm w/ WI-2E rounds, Silver Knife, CV-213 Laser Rifle w/scope
TX-32 Double Barreled "Pump" Rifle (1600ft, clip 8, can fire double blasts)
Plasma Grenades (3)
Dress Clothing, Commando Clothing, Gas Mask/Air Filter, Tinted Goggles,
Hatchet, 2 Canteens, RMK, IRMSS (3 uses left), Tent, Saddle Bags,
Knapsack, Backpack, 5wks Food Rations, Water Purifier,
Skelebot Hand-Necklace, Explosives Case (20MDC), assorted
land mines and fusion blocks.
Note, Vic's cash tends to fluctuate, but right now he has around 250,000cr
of his original 320,000cr. PA repairs do cost money...
Transportation:
Owns a fully equipped suit of NG Samson
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Last Updated 9-21-97
Wednesday, March 19, 1997
Magic In Rifts Earth: Forcing Power
An ancient rant written before our subsequent conversion of magic and supernatural to x3 SDC and tech gear to x3-7SDC depending on size. I find the new way works better but as you can see from this old essay I was frustrated at magics ineffectiveness compared to tech at the time. Perhapse I was a bit naive in my treatment of magic...
This introduces the idea of overcharging magic spells at a detriment to the user, like the people charging up in anime... also see the following in game books which are the inspiration for research into this area by the original "Forcers" of Rifts Earth... "http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Forcing"
Rumor has it possession of one of the Wheel of Time novela of ancient pre-rifts era can shred insight into the process of forcing which may unlock abilities mentioned later.
Magic In Rifts Earth
11-19-97
Magic: This force has been used in many games other than Rifts, the major one being Dungeons and Dragons. In that game, Mages started out one of the weakest classes, but once they reached higher levels, they were easily the strongest. Is this the case in Rifts? Well, after presenting some view points, I'll let you decide.
The world of Rifts Earth is supposed to be alive with magic energy. It is criss-crossed with ley-lines, and abounds with beings of supernatural and magical power. So, from the many quotes and such from the Main Book, it would make sense that magic is a force to be reckoned with, correct? However, in comparison to some other new developments in Rifts earth, I am sad to say that this is simply not true.
I have always like the idea of magic, it really can be pretty neat and mysterious, but in Rifts? No way, a Mage gets his ass beat hands down in nearly any encounter. Maybe in a medieval setting they are powerful, but in Rifts Earth, the technological equivalents are always much better.
Wana throw a lightning bolt? A commonly available energy weapon can shoot farther, has a higher payload, can be used more than 2 times per melee, and frequently will do more damage than an average Mage's lightning.
Need some armor? Armor of Ithan really does give crap protection, not much more than light armor at the medium levels. Plus, it has a duration, and requires attacks to cast. Mages never truly rely on this spell, it's only backup, or supplementary, they always wear real armor too.
Transportation? Magic does have it's teleport and mystic portal spells, but they require large amounts of PPE and are usually pretty limiting. The flight movement spells are nice, if only for the bonuses, but modern vehicles are what you really need to get from point A to point B.
Now, out of those three main categories, Magic can also do many other things, but most of them are really quite trivial. Magic's sensory abilities are OK, but a Psionic is MUCH better, and decent optics are more useful and long-ranged than anything magic has to offer. The "cantrip" spells, they're mostly amusing or annoying, but never really too useful.
What is my point here? Well, as long as I've been playing Rifts, I've always been vastly amazed at just how much Magic sucks in comparison to its technological equivalents. I mean, sure magic can do some things that tech can't, but does that really matter most of the time? No. I hate the fact that in combat, a Mage is really a joke. He can only cast 2 spells per melee! Common men of arms have at least twice that many attacks. Plus, their weapons usually do MORE damage, and have a HIGHER range. What is a Mage to do against any targets sitting at 301ft away? Nothing with magic, that's for sure. And it's cheesy as hell that Mages should be forced to carry mere energy weapons around with them, they should be mighty enough not to need such toys. So, as you can see, Magic just isn't up to par with anything remotely technological.
Now, I understand that Mages on Ley-Lines and Nexuses DO usually kick ass somewhat (except for range, even doubled or tripled spell ranges still suck). However, off a Ley Line, Mages just don't have the power of most other modern things. Is this how it was meant by Palladium? Well, here is my thoughts on what they think.
Palladium's magic in Rifts has basically just been transported out of their previous books (like a lot of things). Thus, it was originally designed for the Palladium fantasy game, and in that genre, it really was pretty fun to play. Then, they re-released Palladium (2nd addition). The release did help match the older game to Palladium's new rule style (SDC, and PPE, you know). However, they also toned magic and Psionics do wn A LOT. Why? Why? Why? That always bugged me. They just hurt some of the coolest classes in the game. But even then, in the fantasy world, magic was still cool.
The next usage of magic was in Heroes Unlimited (I think...). Here, magic is in a relatively modern world, but it still fit pretty well. Most HU games aren't so violent as Rifts ones, and the world itself presents Mages with certain advantages. But, then came Rifts. Palladium made the world full of magic, but they didn't make the magic worth using. Kurt summed up my disgust in the current state of Magic with these words: "it's like they just put magic in to explain why the Rifts happened". This r eally does seem to be true in some ways.
The world of Rifts earth is truly TEEMING with magical energy and beings, and I hate to see all of those cool possibilities going to waste, powering TW plows, and other lame crap. So, my solution? MAKE MAGIC KICK ASS LIKE IT SHOULD. I want my Mages to look at SAMAS and go: "Just one? No matter, I'll burn it to cinder with a thought." I mean, HOW THE HELL did the federation of magic ever significantly threaten the Coalition? With Fire Bolt? No way, the CS has had some of their bots since that fi rst battle between them, and even a high level Mage would be blown to crap against any power armor or robot pilot with half a brain. If anything, because the Mage could only do 2 attacks, and the Bot pilot gets around 6!!! Even against normal armored fo es, Mages just don't have the same raw offensive abilities. So how did the Mages actually put fear of annihilation into the CS? Not with the standard Fire Ball, Fire Bolt, and Call Lightning, that's for sure. Here's how I think magic should have always been, and then you'll see why the Coalition was scared shitless.
I advocate making magic more powerful in a few different ways. The first is finding a way to make up for Magic's basically crappy range and overall damage capabilities. One method of doing this has already been thought of by someone else (who? I can' t remember). The method is the "stacking" of spells, which allows a Mage to cast a spell multiple times over, to increase the effects, range, and duration. The ruling I saw penalized the Mage for doing so, but why? Even stacked, magic isn't overly powe rful, and I don't think that any penalties are needed. Now stacking magic can use attacks in two ways. Either you can say each stack takes an additional attack, or do what I think is cooler, where the stacking doesn't take longer, it's just like a more powerful, and higher PPE draining kind of the spell. Now, when it comes to stacking magic, Mages do have the ability to cast some pretty powerful magics. The other major problem with magic is it's utterly horrible range. My solution? Well, for most sp ells, I just take the original range, and make that what it increases by per level. With nearly all of the spells, this makes them a little better, but even then most of their ranges are still below that of an average energy rifle (1600ft). The third pr oblem is the pitiful number of magic attacks. I have seen tables devoted to this, but my rule of thumb is that low level magic attacks (1-6) count as normal physical attacks, while mid level ones (7-10) count as two, and high level (11-15)ones count as 3 . Spells of legend usually suck too much to waste all that PPE on, but if you want, I guess they could take 3 attacks too. Even though magic probably should take longer to cast, if it did, mages would be at too much of a disadvantage in any kind of batt le.
Now, looking at the rule changes that I propose, let me outline just what this will (and has in my games) do to magic. A 3rd level Mage can cast a lightning bolt 900ft doing 3d6 MD normally, not bad, but crappy in comparison to an energy rifle. Now s tacked, the same Mage could spend say 30PPE for a respectable 6d6MD going 1800ft. Pretty good, with a worse payload than a normal gun, but as he increases in level, he'll gain PPE, and won't NEED to stack things as much. The other attack spells also get better, and now a Mage can significantly increase the effects and duration of his spells just by using more PPE at the time of their casting. Thus, with these ruling in effect, maybe a Mage can't quite take out a SAMAS too easily, but at least at the higher levels he has a chance in hell.
Update
OK, we have been playing with these rules for awhile, and I have thought of some more things that need to be added in. One is some clarification on what stacking does to effects and such. On spells that do damage or give armor, just add up the damage /MDC. For spells that grant special abilities (invisibility, climb, flight, etc.), just add to the duration of the spell for each stacking. Casting a stacked spell only takes the melee action, but I have put limits on the stacking. A Mage can stack spells at X times his level, for example at first level you can't stack safely, at second you can stack 2 castings into one, etc. A Mage can stack over his level, but he will suffer damage because of his inexperience in channeling so much magical energy at once, a Mage will take either SDC or MDC damage according to how much PPE is spent over the "safe" ammound for the stacked spell. Plus, there are physical penalties according to how much damage is taken from such a "burn".
Burn Table
For SDC creatures only, MDC ones can over-flow four times more before they get penalties (their bodies are much more resilient).
1-20PPE burn -The mage is scalded, he feels tired, and sore. -1 on initiative, -2 to strike/parry/dodge
21-50PPE burn - The Mage is burned pretty badly, and feels like crap. -3 on initiative, -4 to strike/parry/dodge, -1 attack, -15% on skills, -25% to speed
51-100PPE burn - The Mage is broiled alive. He survives, has -6 to initiative, strike/parry/dodge, -2 attacks, -30% on all skills, -50% to speed, looks really red and tender (he is!).
100-300PPE burn - The Mage is horribly charred. He needs medical treatment for his burns, and is at -9 to initiative, -8 to strike/parry/dodge, has 1 attack, -75% to speed, and cannot cast magic for 48 hours.
300PPE+ burn - The Mage is burnt to a crisp. Dead. If he was revived, he would have had his magic burnt out of him forever (a greater god/healer *might* be able to help though.) A save vs. death requires 2 out of 3 rolls...
The penalties are not cumulative unless the mage casts another spell that burns him higher than his current injuries (like after a 15pt burn, he later casts a spell with a 30pt burn, he now has the higher penalties). The penalties go away in 1d4 days per stage, even when the damage is healed (his inner body/soul has also been burned too).
For example: Halgron the Mage is being attacked by a powerful demon. Knowing he has to take it out quickly before he's overwhelmed, he decides to stack a call-lightning onto the demon. Halgron is a 3rd level Ley-Line Walker, so he could cast up to a triple stacked call lightning, for 45PPE. That would be the equivalent of 3 castings at once, and do 3 times the damage and have 3 times range (at his level, 9d6MD, going up to 1800ft away). But Halgron doesn't think that will take down this demon, and needs to kill it quickly. So he decides to go past his "safe" limit of stacking, and cast a five-stacked call-lightning instead. This does 15d6MD at 4500ft, and costs 75PPE. Now, Halgron takes 30 (75 total PPE - 45 PPE maximum "safe" value=30)damage, and is glad he worked out at the gym in training, because now he's smoking and only has 14 hit-points left. But the demon is also reduced to a charred crater, was it worth it? Halgron's body is telling him no, he feels like he's been broiled alive as the barely controlled magic energies ravaged his body, but such is the price of casting magics to strong for his level of experience...
Stacking on Ley-Lines, nexuses, or at other places of power is a more dangerous thing to try. The number of available stacks is reduced as per the increase of power the point of higher magical energy provides, rounded down. For example, if Haldon tried to stack his magic on a Ley-Line, he would find the the extra magical energy was too much for him to handle safely (3 stacks divided by the Ley-Line's double damage equals 1.5 stacks, so he can only cast single spells at double power). A higher level Mage (say tenth) could only stack his spells 5 times on a Ley-line, or 3 times on a nexus. Yes, this means that a Mage will actually miss out on some damage at these places, but the energy flowing around them is more difficult to control than their own personal PPE. Besides, the increased energy reduces the need to stack anyway. Plus, at Ley-lines and Nexuses, the damage is still good, and the Mage can draw on the ambient power to fuel the stacked spells easier (plus the lesser stacks are more potent for less PPE anyway. A 10th level Mage may be able to stack 10 times for 1d6x100, but does he have 150PPE all the time? On a Nexus he could just stack 3 times for 45 PPE and do 9d6x10MD, magic battles at places of power tend to take longer because of this, the mages can cast more defensive and offensive magic. Note that damage taken from "overstacked" spells at places of power is also increased respectivly (due the the higher ammounts of channeled energy)
Another neat thing about these rules is that it allows a Mage to go out "in a blaze of glory". It also explains why Mages can't all just cast the powerful magics, their bodies have to become accustomed to channeling all of that energy. Plus, now a Dragon Mage is better still than a human one, as he can take the burn damage more easily than a frail human, and god's now definitely have magic to be feared (and they can take LOTS of burn damage!)
These rules also tend to make the higher-level mages much more powerful. So now Mages do become the strongest class at higher levels, sort of like in AD&D, which is cool I think. Is this munckin? Pretty much so, but all of the tech stuff is too, and magic needs to catch up damnit.
Remember, magic teachers would try to show their students how to stack intelligently, so as not to kill themselves, but to supplement their magical power.
Update #2
The Federation of Magic Book eases the pain...
That's the only way I can describe it. I bought this new book recently, and after reading it I realized two things. One, the new magic is now more powerful, if you still want to stack spells, only do it with the old ones. Two, while magic still does suck in some aspects, with this new books mages do have a chance. The new tactics, spells, items, etc. help even the playing field some. While mages still can't quite stand up to a frontal assalt, the new stuff lets them use other ways of getting ahead. This is an excelent book, finally some fleshing out of ideas that have been around from the start of the game.
With the new book in use, there are only a few changes I am keeping in place. for one, range increases per level on many of the spells (but not the already long-range ones). Plus, I'm still not sure how to fix mages lousy casting-rate, but some of the new OCC's get the ability to cast more spells per melee as they gain experience. Sounds like a good idea, but why not with the other more conventional mages? I'm working on that.
This introduces the idea of overcharging magic spells at a detriment to the user, like the people charging up in anime... also see the following in game books which are the inspiration for research into this area by the original "Forcers" of Rifts Earth... "http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Forcing"
Rumor has it possession of one of the Wheel of Time novela of ancient pre-rifts era can shred insight into the process of forcing which may unlock abilities mentioned later.
Magic In Rifts Earth
11-19-97
Magic: This force has been used in many games other than Rifts, the major one being Dungeons and Dragons. In that game, Mages started out one of the weakest classes, but once they reached higher levels, they were easily the strongest. Is this the case in Rifts? Well, after presenting some view points, I'll let you decide.
The world of Rifts Earth is supposed to be alive with magic energy. It is criss-crossed with ley-lines, and abounds with beings of supernatural and magical power. So, from the many quotes and such from the Main Book, it would make sense that magic is a force to be reckoned with, correct? However, in comparison to some other new developments in Rifts earth, I am sad to say that this is simply not true.
I have always like the idea of magic, it really can be pretty neat and mysterious, but in Rifts? No way, a Mage gets his ass beat hands down in nearly any encounter. Maybe in a medieval setting they are powerful, but in Rifts Earth, the technological equivalents are always much better.
Wana throw a lightning bolt? A commonly available energy weapon can shoot farther, has a higher payload, can be used more than 2 times per melee, and frequently will do more damage than an average Mage's lightning.
Need some armor? Armor of Ithan really does give crap protection, not much more than light armor at the medium levels. Plus, it has a duration, and requires attacks to cast. Mages never truly rely on this spell, it's only backup, or supplementary, they always wear real armor too.
Transportation? Magic does have it's teleport and mystic portal spells, but they require large amounts of PPE and are usually pretty limiting. The flight movement spells are nice, if only for the bonuses, but modern vehicles are what you really need to get from point A to point B.
Now, out of those three main categories, Magic can also do many other things, but most of them are really quite trivial. Magic's sensory abilities are OK, but a Psionic is MUCH better, and decent optics are more useful and long-ranged than anything magic has to offer. The "cantrip" spells, they're mostly amusing or annoying, but never really too useful.
What is my point here? Well, as long as I've been playing Rifts, I've always been vastly amazed at just how much Magic sucks in comparison to its technological equivalents. I mean, sure magic can do some things that tech can't, but does that really matter most of the time? No. I hate the fact that in combat, a Mage is really a joke. He can only cast 2 spells per melee! Common men of arms have at least twice that many attacks. Plus, their weapons usually do MORE damage, and have a HIGHER range. What is a Mage to do against any targets sitting at 301ft away? Nothing with magic, that's for sure. And it's cheesy as hell that Mages should be forced to carry mere energy weapons around with them, they should be mighty enough not to need such toys. So, as you can see, Magic just isn't up to par with anything remotely technological.
Now, I understand that Mages on Ley-Lines and Nexuses DO usually kick ass somewhat (except for range, even doubled or tripled spell ranges still suck). However, off a Ley Line, Mages just don't have the power of most other modern things. Is this how it was meant by Palladium? Well, here is my thoughts on what they think.
Palladium's magic in Rifts has basically just been transported out of their previous books (like a lot of things). Thus, it was originally designed for the Palladium fantasy game, and in that genre, it really was pretty fun to play. Then, they re-released Palladium (2nd addition). The release did help match the older game to Palladium's new rule style (SDC, and PPE, you know). However, they also toned magic and Psionics do wn A LOT. Why? Why? Why? That always bugged me. They just hurt some of the coolest classes in the game. But even then, in the fantasy world, magic was still cool.
The next usage of magic was in Heroes Unlimited (I think...). Here, magic is in a relatively modern world, but it still fit pretty well. Most HU games aren't so violent as Rifts ones, and the world itself presents Mages with certain advantages. But, then came Rifts. Palladium made the world full of magic, but they didn't make the magic worth using. Kurt summed up my disgust in the current state of Magic with these words: "it's like they just put magic in to explain why the Rifts happened". This r eally does seem to be true in some ways.
The world of Rifts earth is truly TEEMING with magical energy and beings, and I hate to see all of those cool possibilities going to waste, powering TW plows, and other lame crap. So, my solution? MAKE MAGIC KICK ASS LIKE IT SHOULD. I want my Mages to look at SAMAS and go: "Just one? No matter, I'll burn it to cinder with a thought." I mean, HOW THE HELL did the federation of magic ever significantly threaten the Coalition? With Fire Bolt? No way, the CS has had some of their bots since that fi rst battle between them, and even a high level Mage would be blown to crap against any power armor or robot pilot with half a brain. If anything, because the Mage could only do 2 attacks, and the Bot pilot gets around 6!!! Even against normal armored fo es, Mages just don't have the same raw offensive abilities. So how did the Mages actually put fear of annihilation into the CS? Not with the standard Fire Ball, Fire Bolt, and Call Lightning, that's for sure. Here's how I think magic should have always been, and then you'll see why the Coalition was scared shitless.
I advocate making magic more powerful in a few different ways. The first is finding a way to make up for Magic's basically crappy range and overall damage capabilities. One method of doing this has already been thought of by someone else (who? I can' t remember). The method is the "stacking" of spells, which allows a Mage to cast a spell multiple times over, to increase the effects, range, and duration. The ruling I saw penalized the Mage for doing so, but why? Even stacked, magic isn't overly powe rful, and I don't think that any penalties are needed. Now stacking magic can use attacks in two ways. Either you can say each stack takes an additional attack, or do what I think is cooler, where the stacking doesn't take longer, it's just like a more powerful, and higher PPE draining kind of the spell. Now, when it comes to stacking magic, Mages do have the ability to cast some pretty powerful magics. The other major problem with magic is it's utterly horrible range. My solution? Well, for most sp ells, I just take the original range, and make that what it increases by per level. With nearly all of the spells, this makes them a little better, but even then most of their ranges are still below that of an average energy rifle (1600ft). The third pr oblem is the pitiful number of magic attacks. I have seen tables devoted to this, but my rule of thumb is that low level magic attacks (1-6) count as normal physical attacks, while mid level ones (7-10) count as two, and high level (11-15)ones count as 3 . Spells of legend usually suck too much to waste all that PPE on, but if you want, I guess they could take 3 attacks too. Even though magic probably should take longer to cast, if it did, mages would be at too much of a disadvantage in any kind of batt le.
Now, looking at the rule changes that I propose, let me outline just what this will (and has in my games) do to magic. A 3rd level Mage can cast a lightning bolt 900ft doing 3d6 MD normally, not bad, but crappy in comparison to an energy rifle. Now s tacked, the same Mage could spend say 30PPE for a respectable 6d6MD going 1800ft. Pretty good, with a worse payload than a normal gun, but as he increases in level, he'll gain PPE, and won't NEED to stack things as much. The other attack spells also get better, and now a Mage can significantly increase the effects and duration of his spells just by using more PPE at the time of their casting. Thus, with these ruling in effect, maybe a Mage can't quite take out a SAMAS too easily, but at least at the higher levels he has a chance in hell.
Update
OK, we have been playing with these rules for awhile, and I have thought of some more things that need to be added in. One is some clarification on what stacking does to effects and such. On spells that do damage or give armor, just add up the damage /MDC. For spells that grant special abilities (invisibility, climb, flight, etc.), just add to the duration of the spell for each stacking. Casting a stacked spell only takes the melee action, but I have put limits on the stacking. A Mage can stack spells at X times his level, for example at first level you can't stack safely, at second you can stack 2 castings into one, etc. A Mage can stack over his level, but he will suffer damage because of his inexperience in channeling so much magical energy at once, a Mage will take either SDC or MDC damage according to how much PPE is spent over the "safe" ammound for the stacked spell. Plus, there are physical penalties according to how much damage is taken from such a "burn".
Burn Table
For SDC creatures only, MDC ones can over-flow four times more before they get penalties (their bodies are much more resilient).
1-20PPE burn -The mage is scalded, he feels tired, and sore. -1 on initiative, -2 to strike/parry/dodge
21-50PPE burn - The Mage is burned pretty badly, and feels like crap. -3 on initiative, -4 to strike/parry/dodge, -1 attack, -15% on skills, -25% to speed
51-100PPE burn - The Mage is broiled alive. He survives, has -6 to initiative, strike/parry/dodge, -2 attacks, -30% on all skills, -50% to speed, looks really red and tender (he is!).
100-300PPE burn - The Mage is horribly charred. He needs medical treatment for his burns, and is at -9 to initiative, -8 to strike/parry/dodge, has 1 attack, -75% to speed, and cannot cast magic for 48 hours.
300PPE+ burn - The Mage is burnt to a crisp. Dead. If he was revived, he would have had his magic burnt out of him forever (a greater god/healer *might* be able to help though.) A save vs. death requires 2 out of 3 rolls...
The penalties are not cumulative unless the mage casts another spell that burns him higher than his current injuries (like after a 15pt burn, he later casts a spell with a 30pt burn, he now has the higher penalties). The penalties go away in 1d4 days per stage, even when the damage is healed (his inner body/soul has also been burned too).
For example: Halgron the Mage is being attacked by a powerful demon. Knowing he has to take it out quickly before he's overwhelmed, he decides to stack a call-lightning onto the demon. Halgron is a 3rd level Ley-Line Walker, so he could cast up to a triple stacked call lightning, for 45PPE. That would be the equivalent of 3 castings at once, and do 3 times the damage and have 3 times range (at his level, 9d6MD, going up to 1800ft away). But Halgron doesn't think that will take down this demon, and needs to kill it quickly. So he decides to go past his "safe" limit of stacking, and cast a five-stacked call-lightning instead. This does 15d6MD at 4500ft, and costs 75PPE. Now, Halgron takes 30 (75 total PPE - 45 PPE maximum "safe" value=30)damage, and is glad he worked out at the gym in training, because now he's smoking and only has 14 hit-points left. But the demon is also reduced to a charred crater, was it worth it? Halgron's body is telling him no, he feels like he's been broiled alive as the barely controlled magic energies ravaged his body, but such is the price of casting magics to strong for his level of experience...
Stacking on Ley-Lines, nexuses, or at other places of power is a more dangerous thing to try. The number of available stacks is reduced as per the increase of power the point of higher magical energy provides, rounded down. For example, if Haldon tried to stack his magic on a Ley-Line, he would find the the extra magical energy was too much for him to handle safely (3 stacks divided by the Ley-Line's double damage equals 1.5 stacks, so he can only cast single spells at double power). A higher level Mage (say tenth) could only stack his spells 5 times on a Ley-line, or 3 times on a nexus. Yes, this means that a Mage will actually miss out on some damage at these places, but the energy flowing around them is more difficult to control than their own personal PPE. Besides, the increased energy reduces the need to stack anyway. Plus, at Ley-lines and Nexuses, the damage is still good, and the Mage can draw on the ambient power to fuel the stacked spells easier (plus the lesser stacks are more potent for less PPE anyway. A 10th level Mage may be able to stack 10 times for 1d6x100, but does he have 150PPE all the time? On a Nexus he could just stack 3 times for 45 PPE and do 9d6x10MD, magic battles at places of power tend to take longer because of this, the mages can cast more defensive and offensive magic. Note that damage taken from "overstacked" spells at places of power is also increased respectivly (due the the higher ammounts of channeled energy)
Another neat thing about these rules is that it allows a Mage to go out "in a blaze of glory". It also explains why Mages can't all just cast the powerful magics, their bodies have to become accustomed to channeling all of that energy. Plus, now a Dragon Mage is better still than a human one, as he can take the burn damage more easily than a frail human, and god's now definitely have magic to be feared (and they can take LOTS of burn damage!)
These rules also tend to make the higher-level mages much more powerful. So now Mages do become the strongest class at higher levels, sort of like in AD&D, which is cool I think. Is this munckin? Pretty much so, but all of the tech stuff is too, and magic needs to catch up damnit.
Remember, magic teachers would try to show their students how to stack intelligently, so as not to kill themselves, but to supplement their magical power.
Update #2
The Federation of Magic Book eases the pain...
That's the only way I can describe it. I bought this new book recently, and after reading it I realized two things. One, the new magic is now more powerful, if you still want to stack spells, only do it with the old ones. Two, while magic still does suck in some aspects, with this new books mages do have a chance. The new tactics, spells, items, etc. help even the playing field some. While mages still can't quite stand up to a frontal assalt, the new stuff lets them use other ways of getting ahead. This is an excelent book, finally some fleshing out of ideas that have been around from the start of the game.
With the new book in use, there are only a few changes I am keeping in place. for one, range increases per level on many of the spells (but not the already long-range ones). Plus, I'm still not sure how to fix mages lousy casting-rate, but some of the new OCC's get the ability to cast more spells per melee as they gain experience. Sounds like a good idea, but why not with the other more conventional mages? I'm working on that.
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