RIFTS for newbies

[knightMARE]

Hi all, my gaming group is going to be starting a RIFTS game, but the sheer amount of material the rest of the group is using (we have access to all the RIFTS books) is daunting as I've never played RIFTS before, but I am aware of the power creep. I'm looking to play a incredibly fast melee focused character (natural healing and high strength/martial arts is a bonus), but I'm not too sure on the best way to achieve such a thing. I had a quick look at the core book, and saw that juicers/crazies might fit such a thing, but I'm not too sure which one is better, and/or if there is a better OCC for the concept.

Alternatively, if there is a good on-line resource for RIFTS similar to crystalkeep for the d20 system, I'd be very grateful if someone could point me in the right direction if no-one has any ideas for a character.

[Theodoxus]

Do you have access to Hero's Unlimited? The ancient master might be right up there for you... Lots of options with super powers too - fast running, flight, elemental transforms... Depending on the type of game, it could be broken.

[mabriss lethe]

one of the glories of RIFTS is that it can easily be adapted for any of the palladium games. You want a super fast character, check out Heroes unlimited, the rifts conversion book, and the Rifts dimension book Skraypers. slap out a speedster with a few other minor abilities and then arm him to the teeth with rifts tech.

[Malificus]

Dimension book 4 has Skraypers. Sonic Speed makes you go the speed of sound. But makes it so you lose all bonuses to dodge projectiles. ANY PROJECTILES at ALL TIMES. This gives you extra attacks, and if you are a talus, you get even more from your tail.

World book 10 has Hyperion Juicers. They run a more reasonable 58+ miles per hour, and aren't MDC. They have slightly enhanced healing.

Both of these have some auto dodge for an extra bonus. The former is part of the race, the latter is specifically a class.

I play a Sonic Speed Talus Cyber Knight with the Karma super power. At level 10 he has 12+4 attacks. I'd suggest the Hyperion. Only go with the super powers if this is going to be a high powered campaign.

[knightMARE]

Dimension book 4 has Skraypers. Sonic Speed makes you go the speed of sound. But makes it so you lose all bonuses to dodge projectiles. ANY PROJECTILES at ALL TIMES. This gives you extra attacks, and if you are a talus, you get even more from your tail.

World book 10 has Hyperion Juicers. They run a more reasonable 58+ miles per hour, and aren't MDC. They have slightly enhanced healing.

Both of these have some auto dodge for an extra bonus. The former is part of the race, the latter is specifically a class.

I play a Sonic Speed Talus Cyber Knight with the Karma super power. At level 10 he has 12+4 attacks. I'd suggest the Hyperion. Only go with the super powers if this is going to be a high powered campaign.


I'm not quite sure what skraypers are supposed to be. Is it an OCC? And the other party members are using super powers from memory.

Also, are there any advantages to using crazies, and are there any books for them like there are for juicers?

[BobVosh]

Crazies are the alternative to juicers, and can play very similarly depending on what augmentations you get. The main book, and mindwerks have a lot for them. However talk with the DM before taking anything from mindwerks, as it tends to be done by the angel there.

Hyperion and Phantoem Juciers are a lot of fun, imo. I like the second one as they can use autododge in vehicles that can't normally do it. Like tanks.

[Malificus]

I'm not quite sure what skraypers are supposed to be. Is it an OCC? And the other party members are using super powers from memory.

Skraypers are super heroes.There is an R.C.C., but the powers can come from the individual races, which are meant to be used like humans, with an OCC placed on top, rather than integrated with the race.

So rather than a Talus R.C.C., you get say, a Talus with the Rogue Scholar O.C.C.

Bio-Freak is the exception, it is an RCC you put onto one of the skrayper races. to give additional super powers.


Also, are there any advantages to using crazies, and are there any books for them like there are for juicers?

Crazies have auto dodge, which is actually pretty big. Also, there are crazies in a couple other books, like the Ninja Crazy (Japan), the Ultra Crazy (south America 2), and the Psynetic Crazy in Mindwerks

[LibraryOgre]

First off, there's no Crystal Keep, there's no SRD. Palladium doesn't allow it.

Rifts is a kinda tricky game. Power is all over the place, so it's difficult to make a character without input on what other people are making... you might make yourself incredibly weak or superpowered tough, depending on what everyone else is doing. For the base game, a juicer or a crazy are both good options. The juicer tends to be the "live fast, die young" type, while crazies tend to be a bit more loony (but, well, you don't have to play profound and deteriorating mental illness for laughs (http://rpg-crank.livejournal.com/32281.html)). You might also go Borg, but that doesn't have the self-healing thing you're looking for, or a psi-stalker or Dog Boy (which will be "normal" fast as opposed to "You almost teleport" fast).

Outside of the main book? Heck, what do you want? You've got a number of variants of Juicers in Juicer Uprisings, including the Mega Juicer. The Ninja Juicer from Japan is an option. The Maxi-killer (a Juicer-analogue from Atlantis) has self-healing, and you can build a Tattooed man (or a Undead Slayer) as a fast melee fighter. You might go with a Phase World Wolfen Quatoria, which is a humanoid-wolf-shaped regenerating space sheriff borg. You might choose a Sea Titan (mutant human who looks just like a very pretty human, but is essentially a non-flying Superman) who has studied the martial arts, or a Nazcan with rune weapons.

Rifts, needless to say, does best when you've got a bit of guidance in character creation.

[knightMARE]

First off, there's no Crystal Keep, there's no SRD. Palladium doesn't allow it.

Rifts is a kinda tricky game. Power is all over the place, so it's difficult to make a character without input on what other people are making... you might make yourself incredibly weak or superpowered tough, depending on what everyone else is doing. For the base game, a juicer or a crazy are both good options. The juicer tends to be the "live fast, die young" type, while crazies tend to be a bit more loony (but, well, you don't have to play profound and deteriorating mental illness for laughs (http://rpg-crank.livejournal.com/32281.html)). You might also go Borg, but that doesn't have the self-healing thing you're looking for, or a psi-stalker or Dog Boy (which will be "normal" fast as opposed to "You almost teleport" fast).

Outside of the main book? Heck, what do you want? You've got a number of variants of Juicers in Juicer Uprisings, including the Mega Juicer. The Ninja Juicer from Japan is an option. The Maxi-killer (a Juicer-analogue from Atlantis) has self-healing, and you can build a Tattooed man (or a Undead Slayer) as a fast melee fighter. You might go with a Phase World Wolfen Quatoria, which is a humanoid-wolf-shaped regenerating space sheriff borg. You might choose a Sea Titan (mutant human who looks just like a very pretty human, but is essentially a non-flying Superman) who has studied the martial arts, or a Nazcan with rune weapons.

Rifts, needless to say, does best when you've got a bit of guidance in character creation.

Blah, Crystal Keep has alot more of the 3.5 material than what is in the SRD.
And "You almost teleport" fast was what I was aiming for. But you've all given me some good ideas and things to read (but I'm always open to more suggestions), thank you all.

[Grynning]

Despite the books portraying Juicers and Crazies as the fastest guys around, for all out speed you can't really beat a 'Borg at first level. You just spend all your budget on speed and maxing out P.P., wear the lightest borg armor (which is still better than most non-borg character's MDC) and you're good to go. Borgs are also some of the easiest characters to play, although leveling up isn't that rewarding (they're pretty much as good as they get at the low levels, as are most non-magic and psionic characters).

I will put in my usual plug for Battle-Magus from Federation of Magic for a melee character. They're about on par with a Crazy for combat bonuses, and they get SPELLS, which let you do all kinds of crazy stuff. Superhuman Speed, Magical Adrenal Rush, Speed Weapon - all great spells for a super-fast kung-fu guy.

I'd advise against using super-powers from HU. They're just broken. As in, more broken than the rest of the Palladium system, which is saying a lot. Of course, if the rest of the group is already using them, you might as well, they're pretty much superior to any other option out there.

Edit: if you do decide to do Battle-Magus, I made a mini-guide to picking spells for another poster here a while back, here it is. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6184394&postcount=10)