Bit of Analysis: Rifts

[Ahriman238]

There are other classes that I feel require little explanation. For people who play Imperial Guard in 40K and like the fluff of being just a man with a gun in a world of monsters and gods, there's a mercenary class. There's an Operator who fixes things, the Rogue Scholar classes I alluded to earlier, and for some reason City Rat and Vagabond classes. You'd think they existed to play for a level or two and show what you were before becoming a Glitter Boy/Juicer/master of magic, maybe wring a few more skills from the game, but no. These classes have a full 15 levels. Bizarre.

Oh well, broad overview of the world, magic, psionics, the Coalition, classes. That wraps up the main book! Now it's time for Vampire Kingdoms!




Vampire Intelligence

In realms beyond horror and madness, where still more terrible things sleep fitfully, stalk the Great Old Ones of the Cthulu Mythos. However, not all Old Ones are all that Great, so we must look to these nightmare planes to find the Vampire Intelligences.

Every once in a long while, a VI may send it's demonic familiar, an aspect/avatar which takes the form of a 15-20 foot tall (4.6-6 m) bat with a set of clawed arms besides the wings and all the psionic and mystic powers of the real deal, to another world in search of a soul so corrupted that not a shred of decency remains. This person, if seduced by the promises of the familiar, shall be transformed into a Master Vampire, with all the Count Dracula suite of powers, and be sent forth into the world with orders to create suffering and more, secondary, vampires.

All vampires so created are connected to the originating Vampire Intelligence. Every feeding is a Blood Sacrifice to their unholy master from whom their powers and nature derive, and each vampire is a tiny vessel of the VI's essence, a small anchor to local reality. When a thousand vampires have been created by the first Master and his fledglings, the Familiar can be empowered to create a second Master. When two thousand vampires serve the VI, a third Master may be created and so on. The most senior surviving Master is high general/priest to the VI. When the Vampire Plague has spread to a minimum of 2500 (former) souls, the Vampire Intelligence gains the ability to manifest in our world.

Seen in merely three dimensions, the Vampire Intelligence appears as a great sphere of slimy flesh, 100 to 200 feet (30-60 m) in diameter and weighing 60-120 tons, with a dozen tentacles ending in snapping fanged jaws. It has a single great eye, which seems to take up most of it's internal volume, and is wreathed with a hundred human-scaled eyes that glow with all the colors of fire. In ours or any physical reality a Vampire Intelligence cannot move under it's own power save by teleportation. But it feels no need to experience our reality firsthand, content to see and do through it's link to the Familiar and the Master vamps, and will instead fort down in the most hidden, most secure lair it can find or construct (dungeon crawl from hell.) The VI can sense when one of it's 'children' is killed or confined, but not precisely where, who and how, it can see through the eyes only of the Masters and the Familiar.

Intelligences are Master psychics with all healing and sensitive powers plus Empathic Transmission, Hypnotic Suggestion, Group Mind block, Psi Shield and Psi Sword (manifests at end of tentacles.) They are all high-level casters, masters particularly of summoning and ritual magic,and know much of Rifts, Time, and magics that counter other magic. Most also know at least a few other spells, and some know many more. Their vision is exceptional, extends into the infrared and ultraviolet spectra, and is not in the least reduced by darkness (duh, fathers of all vampires) They can smell blood within 2 miles (3 km) and speak all languages, and regenerate health helluva fast.

Vampire Intelligences have more armor/hitpoints than a tank battalion, or 2 squads of Glitter Boys. The larger ones have more than 12 squads of Glitter Boys, or 10 adult dragons. Vampire Intelligences are immune to damage anyway, except for magic, water, and weapons that are silver, wooden, or holy. Intelligences can not be repelled with garlic or holy symbols and are not harmed as such by the sun, but their strength, stamina, and powers are only a quarter as strong in daylight, half as strong on a cloudy day.

When you go after a Vampire Intelligence that has manifested here, there are three probable out comes. I mean, outside the obvious one involving gruesome death.

Best case scenario, you find and infiltrate the lair of the Intelligence, which must be on a nexus point with a reliable supply of blood to creature and it's defenders both, and slay it. All the vampires that served it are rendered unto dust, and since VIs are as old as the megaverse and do not reproduce, you have permanently reduced the population by one. Happens rarely enough that you may as well throw out the calender and declare year 0.

Next best, on your way to dust the Intelligence you manage to destroy every single one of it's vampires. It needs 2500 to manifest yes, but only one to remain. The vampire threat is gone for now, the Intelligence banished from your world for the next 10 millenia. Though this doesn't stop other Intelligences from trying their luck.

Third and most common form of victory, you track the VI to it's lair, get through all the defenses and menace it enough to make it pull out its secret bug-out move. It takes a couple of minutes to form an unstable Rift back to it's home dimension, and I do not recommend coming along for the ride. It WILL try this when you really start winning, the only question is if you can kill it before it succeeds. In this case, dimensional transport with none of the niceties and preparation will banish the Intelligence for, oh, at least a century and kill around 80% of it's vampiric minions. The remaining 20% will have a few hours to find someplace safe to hole up and hibernate, awaiting their master's return.


Every world and society aware of magic, or any form of dimension travel, have encountered vampires and Intelligences, and are ever wary for a resurgence. Atlanteans in particular have a long history and bitter hatred for the Vampire Intelligences. As was previously mentioned, vampires have taken over the isthmus between North and South America in RIFTS Earth, and at least 3 Intelligences are physically present on this plane, others having their fingers in a lot of dimensions or not caring particularly about this little planet. The CS issues it's southern forces in Lone Star with silver-plated railgun ammo, but appears uninterested in military excursions to the vampire kingdoms, preferring to focus on threats like the Federation and Tolkeen.

[gigabytelord]

Pro Tip: When venturing around in Mexico, don't forget to bring along a squirt gun, I'm being completely serious... The easiest way to kill a secondary or wild Vampire is with a squirt gun.

[AMT]

Pro Tip: When venturing around in Mexico, don't forget to bring along a squirt gun, I'm being completely serious... The easiest way to kill a secondary or wild Vampire is with a squirt gun.

If you got the cash buy a techno-magic squirt gun. And bring silver knives.

Or a millenium tree or rune weapon. I'll let Ari explain what those are.

[Ahriman238]

RIFTS vampires come in three flavors, the master, secondary and wild vampires. Master vamps are the most powerful, and are created when a truly evil person accepts the "gift" of undeath from a Vampire Intelligence's Demonic Familiar. Master vamps are suave and intelligent, and remember little if anything of their pre-vampiric days. Secondary vamps are created by masters or other secondaries, most often by force. Of all vamps, they retain the most of their former memories and skills and can blend in with humanity with some effort. Wild vampires are feral animals.

RIFTS vampires cannot be seriously or permanently harmed except by their weaknesses. A railgun round may knock a vamp off his feet, but will not otherwise harm him. A sword, a flamethrower or getting stepped on my a giant mecha will mess up the threads, but leave the creature itself unharmed. More, vampires have the best regeneration in the game. Decapitation will keep a vampire down for maybe 20 minutes, total incineration could take a whole 8 hours to mend. Vampires are not susceptible to drugs, poison or disease. Vampires cannot be stunned or knocked out, though they enter a healing coma when enough damage is done (more than enough to kill a human.) Vampires are ageless, but not truly immortal.

Vampires of all types and levels can use their own metamorphosis variant and assume the shape of a wolf, a bat, or their mass in mist. Vampires all echolocate, whether or not in bat form. The transformation takes roughly 7 seconds and can be maintained for 6 hours. Vampires can summon and control up to 6 dogs/wolves, 100 mice/rats and 500 flies/gnats per level. All vampires can conjure a heavy fog that covers a square mile.

Vampires need to drink 2 pints (~1 liter) of human blood (animals need not apply) every other night. By the third night without, they develop stomach pains, cramps, shakes and cravings like an addict. By the fourth, they must struggle not to go into an uncontrollable feeding frenzy and kill everything in their sight. No matter how well-intentioned or strong-willed, it is a certainty that they will succumb within 21 nights. If restrained away from blood for 6 months, the vampire, whatever their former status, is permanently reduced to a Wild vampire.

A Vampire makes another vampire with the slow kill bite, by draining the victim completely of blood not all at once, but over the course of three nights, after which they die then rise from the grave three nights later. After the first bite, the victim becomes unusually timid, will be extremely reluctant to leave the area (offering physical resistance if necessary) and will offer no further resistance. People with bionic implants lose them in this transformation, their bodies regenerating and becoming whole, and for this reason vamps can never have implants. If a vampire does not completely drain the victim on the third night, instead of rising from the grave as a vampire, they become an obedient thrall. The only way to liberate such a slave is to kill the vampire. Master vamps may have 2 slaves at any one time, secondaries can keep 1, and wild vampires simply don't have the patience or presence of mind to visit the same victim for three nights and not kill them immediately.

Vampires can mentally dominate each other in much the same way as they do their thralls. Secondaries can command wild vamps, masters and very old secondaries can command secondaries etc. There is a mental battle for dominance involved, and the older, more powerful and experienced vamp usually wins. Even if this fails, nothing stops them from trying again a minute later.


Wood and silver can hurt a vampire, though they can usually regenerate faster than you can shoot arrows at them. If a pointy wood or silver object should pierce the vampire's heart they'll give a great show of screaming and bleeding and withering to a mostly-skeletal corpse. They're not actually dead, but immobilized with their regeneration disabled until you either pull out the stake or move on to the 'dismember and incinerate' portion of the plan. This only works if the object gets lodged into the heart, penetrating shots with a silver bullet will sting like a bitch, but the only net effect will be to piss off the vamp.

Garlic and wolfsbane will protect your home and neck from a vamp, and eating large amounts will make the vamp violently ill. The proximity or shadow of a cross will cause a vamp immense pain and some singeing around the edges, but do no permanent harm. Sunlight will weaken, hurt and eventually kill a vamp, and they sleep during the daytime, on a bed of soil from their homeland (continent.) It doesn't matter if they're living in a basement away from the sun, they have no choice in the matter and cannot stay up late, they sleep during the day. Running water serves as a barrier to vampires unless there is a bridge, even then it takes some psyching up for a vamp to cross, immersion in running water will painfully kill a vamp after a few minutes, while still water will merely hurt a lot. Water damage heals a lot slower than other types of damage and, as gigabytelord says, a super-soaker counts as running water. Better still if you get the water blessed by a priest it does half again as much damage, and vamps cannot enter a circle drawn in holy water.

EDIT: almost forgot, vampires of all types have a very distinctive magical aura that identifies them as such to any psychic or mage that thinks to check. It also creates the illusion of having no reflection. Also, missed a chance for this illustration of the vampire killing process.

[Ahriman238]

Oh, and rain is also quite fatal to vampires. Bring a techno-wizard personal shower, and if you can manage, a spotlight or lantern with a cross over it bat-signal style. Vamps are immune to any magic causing pain, weakness, sleep, or any form of mind control. This also applies to psychic abilities, and extends to pyro/electro/hydrokinesis. Illusory magic works a treat, as does most Mega-damage magic, and even sense-screwing things like Thunderclap. Magic Net and Carpet of Adhesion work exactly as long as it takes the vamp to remember they can turn into mist.

All vampires are psychics with their own unique power- Super Hypnotic Suggestion. They can also use Death Trance, Empathy, Mind Block, Sense Evil, Sense Presence, Deaden Pain, Induce Sleep, Alter Aura and the more mundane Hypnotic Suggestion. Vamps have about the ISP and skill level of 4th level psychics.


Natural and unnatural predators of vampires include dragons, who overcome their limited invulnerability by virtue of being fucking dragons, Psi-Stalkers, who love hunting powerful magical beings like vamps especially since vamps can make it interesting, true Atlanteans, who hate vampires on principle and even have a super badass class of vampire hunters called the Undead Slayer, and robots/combat cyborgs, who have no blood and may or may not be susceptible to a vamp's psychic tricks.

[Ahriman238]

Mexico today.

The northernmost portion of Mexico is home to roving packs of wild vamps. The Kingdoms drive them up there to get them out of the way, and to serve as a disposable layer of defense. At the very least, it keeps the riff-raff out, and it has even served as a useful deception. The CS, studying the vampire threat, has concluded that sapient vampires are a minority, no more than 1 in 30, and vampires couldn't possibly offer organized resistance if the CS were to move in. But where the vampire kingdoms hoped to lure outsiders into an over-confidant assault, the CS has decided they have bigger fish to fry right now.

If you make it south of pack territory, you'll find villages and nomadic tribes, most of whom will have a vampire as chief and/or shaman. The vampire is considered a great protector of the people, and is frequently a demi-god in their mythology, and so their warriors protect him during the day and are compete for the honor of giving up their blood to him.

A bit more and you reach the northernmost vampire kingdom, the Kingdom of Ixzotz (named for the vampire intelligence who rules there.) Ixzotz was the first vampire intelligence to manifest in this world since the days of Atlantis, and now makes his lair in Ixzotz city, once called Aguascalientes. There are 7 cities in the Kingdom of Ixzotz, which is home to nearly 5000 vamps, 72000 wretched human slaves, and an assortment of D-Bees and minor demons, including the infamous cyborg-Brodkil sheriff of Ixzotz. A must-see is the city of Monero, where humans are bred, fed, tagged and kept like any other livestock.

[Ahriman238]

Muluc

The Kingdom of Muluc in the north-eastern part of the kingdoms, just east of Ixzotz, is a fairly traditional kingdom. Every single Muluc vamp has a human thrall to attend to their needs and protect them while they sleep. This is one of their major defenses against a human uprising, to get to the vamps you must first kill their obedient slaves, who are usually good people and may be friends or family. The other secret to their control is beatings and threats, especially the Blood Pool. Every Muluc city has a Blood Pool where hundreds or thousands of people are chained to the walls, beds, or floors while their blood is drained into a central vat for the vamps to drink. Advanced life-support and extensive magical/psionic healing keeps the victims alive, at the edge of death but still producing blood, sometimes for up to 8 years.

The Muluc Kingdom keeps ~70,000 humans, beaten and downtrodden, mosty in the two cities of Muluc and Eltajin. The vampire population is...fluid. Muluc relies on the strength of their vampire warriors, with a small secondary militia of human thralls and a few dozen power armor suits for backup. Consequently, they run the vampire numbers very close to an overpopulation the (human) food supply can't support, and drought and disease can thus hit the vamps harder, proportionally, then the humans. Raiding and border skirmishes with the far more populous and affluent Mexican Empire are common.

With the exception of the aforementioned power armor, 3 shitty Coalition mecha, and the life support that goes into the Blood Pools, the Muluc Kingdom maintains a rural 1950s tech-level.


Mexico Empire

South of Ixzotz and Muluc, centered around the revitalized Mexico City is the Mexican Empire. The ruling Intelligence of Mexico is rather more focused on his holdings and interests in other dimensions, and so holes up in the pyramid of Tula, on top of the largest nexus point in Mexico. There it can access over a dozen permanent portals, to Calgary and St. Louis and Easter Island, to the home dimension of the Intelligences, a dinosaur world, a hell world and more. If it is ever attacked and the standing garrison insufficient, it can phase the entire pyramid to the Intelligence's home.

In the meantime, it leaves the running of empire to its first Master, Augustus Obregon, the Regent of Mexico. Gus is a big believer in the "soft sell" and "harsh, but fair" so while humans are still distinctly second class citizens they so get some rights and protections under the law. In Muluc or Ixzotz, a vampire murdering a human in the street is business as usual, in Mexico that same vamp will be prosecuted and jailed, though how much of a punishment that is to an immortal is debatable. There is a very vocal and violent dissent, about a quarter of the vamp population, that see the law as pandering to their lessers.

Mexico is affluent and advanced, at least early 21st century level in all things. They maintain highly modern hospitals and clinics, and adult human citizens are required to give one pint of blood every 3 weeks, though there are numerous rewards available for giving more. Children are off-limits. This, along with the vamps not flaunting their powers, helps distance them from the monsters that rule the rest of the isthmus. Key personnel in the hospitals, also the military and law enforcement, are vampiric thralls, to ensure everything that needs to, gets reported. They also run 2 silver mines for weaponry, since their greatest rivals are not vampire hunters, but the other Kingdoms.

There are 185,000 humans and 3,000 vampires in the Mexican Empire's 9 major cities. The Mexican Empire is agriculturally self-sufficient. Mexico maintains a standing army of 7,000 regulars, half of whom are garrisoned at Tula protecting the Vampire Intelligence. This army is supported by a 100-strong unit of power armor and mecha captured from enemy forces and piloted by skilled thralls (to prevent mutiny) including 2 Enforcers, 6 SAMAS, and a single Glitter Boy who really picked a bad time to pop open his suit. They are further supported by ~50 mid-level combat wizards, mostly ley line walkers and shifters. Each Mexican city has a regiment strength militia, precise numbers and unit quality varies.


Milta

On the Mexican Empire's southern border is the newest vampire Kingdom, Milta by name. Until recently, Milta was run much as Muluc, with an iron fist. Recently the Miltans have been trying to modernize and are experimenting with giving the humans more freedom. They have even set up a blood tax and incentives like Mexico. In fact, Mexico and Milta have become the first Vampire Kingdoms to sign a non-aggression pact with each other. Mexico is hungry for Milta's oil, and Milta wants Mexico's advanced technology. Mexico wants an untroubled border so it can focus on the threats posed by Muluc and Ixzotz, and Milta is just as happy to have a buffer state between it and them. Enlightened Self-Interest, bringing together blood-sucking monsters since time began.

There are ~60,000 humans and 3,000 vampires in Milta. What? It's hard enough taking census in a semi-feudal society that doesn't eat the census-takers. There are two major cities, Milta, where the Master makes his lair on the biggest nexus in the kingdom, and Minatitlan, where the oil wells, technology and happy progressiveness is.

Somewhere east and within 2 days walk of Minatitlan is a forest home to untold millions of Death Weavers, giant demonic spiders.

Next time, what remains of free, human, civilization in Mexico.

[Ahriman238]

Humans in and around Mexico.

Besides the figures and places listed here, there are about a dozen fishing villages on the coast that go unmolested by the vamps. Call it 3,000 people all told.

Tampico inside the Muluc borders is a heavily fortified oilfield run by veteran mercenaries. They have no idea they're inside a Kingdom, and no more than rumors that vampires can organize. They've hadd to fend off a number of assaults though. About 2,000 people, almost half workers, the rest the merc who hold the walls.

Los Alamo is an isolationist high-tech enclave, much as Perth and Melbourne I mentioned earlier.

New Del Rio is an independent city-state where the rich live decadent and safe lives, while the poor rest in filth and have to live with the constant danger of vampire attacks on the outskirts of town.

Monterrey is the southernmost outpost of the Pecos Empire, a loose confederation of raiders taking up most of the old Utah, Arizona and New Mexico territories, and a bit of Texas besides. Every keeps a cross on their neck and a stake up their sleeve/by their bed. Every now and then a vampire wanders in town, or someone thinks one did, and the townfolk have a proper witch-hunt. Pop. 50,000.

Ciudad Victoria is more a collection of houseboats docked together than anything. Oh and there's a land-based city around them, properly surrounded with irrigation ditches and with sprinklers all about. Late 19th/early 20th century tech, less the odd hover-car and laser pistol. 14,000 people, mostly farmers and fishers.

El Paso is considered by many the last outpost of civilization, a 30,000 soul frontier town that has zero problems with psychics, mages or D-Bees, so long as they don't bring trouble with them. Has something of a gang problem, between the K-9s, Wildcats and Trogs, all D-Bees or mutant animal-people, and the Hammer human supremacists. El Paso is ruled by King Wyatt Halloway, a two-bit punk from the Midwest who found his fortune in silver out on the frontier, Halloway can be petty, greedy and mean-tempered but... ok, no but, petty, greedy and mean-tempered describes him just fine.

Ciudad Juarez, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Couldn't resist, but when the book itself describes the city as being like Mos Eisley I feel justified. The city council and police are absurdly corrupt, the population is mostly D-Bees and the city basically belongs to the street gangs and vigiliantes, the Subs, Psykes, and Guard. Officially 100% vampire free, Juarez is home to a couple hundred vamps, they even have their own street gang and territory based around (what else?) the cemetary.

Fort Reid. The great folk heroes of Mexico and the New West are Doc Reid and his Raiders, a band of vampire hunters, some say they've reduced the vamp population by 90% in the decade they've been riding in their tireless crusade against evil. CS records do dirty the story a touch. Dr. Kenneth Reid ran an illegal body-chop shop, installing bionics up in Quebec till he fled town right ahead of the authorities. His right hand man Raoul Lazarious they say is a great Cyber Knight apprenticed to Lord Coake himself, and it was Coake who expelled Raoul from the order for his brutality and fanaticism. The group's sorcerer is a Necromancer war-criminal from the Federation. One part of the legend is 100% true, in Reid's band are 3 Psi-Stalkers, the only survivors of a clan that took down a vampire nest at 2 to 1 odds.
Fort Reid is home to the group. Sadly Doc Reid has come to believe his own legend, and makes needless martyrs of hundreds of young men, thrown into the thick of it with only rudimentary training, dying to fuel the legend of the Rangers. While the real legendary Rangers are corrupt, sadistic glory-hounds. Reid is heavily fortified, ~70,000 residents in this 'new camelot.'

Reid's Raiders take up a generous bit of the first vampire kingdoms book with their histories and abilities, as PCs will naturally end up fighting them. Frankly they don't interest me enough to go into that level of detail.

Next up, the Yucatan Peninsula.

[CaptainChewbacca]

What about the Pecos Empire/Republic? They've got the Sundance Kid!

[Ahriman238]

What about the Pecos Empire/Republic? They've got the Sundance Kid!

Don't know much about them, they're not in this book, beyond a passing reference of a town being part of it. No reason not to mix books by region if you've got them, though. Any VK campaign will play up the heroism of Reid's Raiders until you meet them, maybe go on a few missions with them and are.. underwhelmed. How violent the fallout of that is depends on how perceptive and principled the players are.


Yucatan

AKA, where the really weird shit in Mexico is.

Let's start with the obvious, the Yucatan peninsula is no longer precisely a part of Earth. It exists partially in another plane, and an aerial view will show no peninsula, only sea. Trying to land or drop on the peninsula, or sometimes taking a boat will just get you lost in a fog that becomes an endless limbo. Only foot traffic from Mexico is a sure way in or out, in fact, most of the world doesn't believe the Yucatan still exists and wasn't sunk. A major ley line runs parallel to the new coastline.

Inside, you have Palenque, where a tribe of roughly a hundred were-jaguars make their territory. Another tribe, twice as large and calling themselves Children of the Jaguar, live near, trade and intermarry with the weres. There are another dozen minor tribes of humans loosely affiliated with these two, some of them led by were-jags. If you can make the tribes like you, you're great, otherwise this is where silver knives come in handy.


Far more fearsome is the 'region of phantoms,' the kingdom Xibala named for the Mayan hell. Xibala has three major cities, rebuilt Mayan, called Tikal, Uaxactun, and Xultun. Each city is ruled by a sort of demon lord (somewhat distinct from all the other demon lords) and Lord Cuchumaquiq rules over all. Xibala is a haven for vampires and monsters who can appear human, and thus lure in victims. The average Xibalan is a red-skinned, pointy-eared humanoid demon with vast psionic powers, the ability to change skin color and to morph into an owl.

Xibalans, as a rule, cannot leave Xibala. This doesn't apply to their lords, and a few others can leave, mostly in a limited spectral form. One exception is the Ti Xibala, also called tree or mirror people. The Ti Xibala are wood golems possessed by mischievous spirits, and generally used for menial and entertainment purposes, but a Ti Xibalan can become a mirror person, copying someone's appearance, memories and abilities through a ritual blood-drinking. The mirror person is a nearly-flawless duplicate, they are "mirrored," scars on the wrong side, left-handed instead of right etc, and remain evil and loyal to Xibala, but are otherwise perfect, and can leave the borders of Xibala so long as they maintain their false form.


Meridia is a ghost town. Literally, it's seriously haunted and many monsters lair there.

Altun Ha houses a small fishing village, pop. 300, which is also the base for a small but powerful group of vampire hunters, led by a disillusioned member of Doc Reid's wrecking crew. Aside from protecting the village, they try search-and-destroy on Vampire Intelligences as the only meaningful victory over the undead. Haven't had much luck, but at least they're trying.

Rio Bec is home to a Vampire intelligence that seems to have almost run out of vamps at some point. In lieu of the usual army of vampires to protect it, the Intelligence has chosen to support the mad, psionically and mystically powerful, leader of a cannibal tribe that worships and defends the Intelligence. This same VI and tribe have killed off 20% of the Altun Ha hunters, so expect to get dragged into their grudge match. Still, this is probably the least defended VI you'll ever encounter.

The Becan ruins are controlled by Death Weavers. One of them is a high-level shifter.

Uxmal ranks with Devil's Gate, Calgary and Stonehenge as one of the most powerful nexus points in the world. Too powerful to be controlled or claimed, it periodically opens vast rifts to spit out alien weirdness into the world.

Chicen Itza is the lair of a Vampire Intelligence that styles itself Camazotz, the Mayan god of bats, night and death. Not really clear if it's actually the inspiration for the Camazotz mythology or exploiting it, either is equally likely. Camazotz is certainly a lot cannier and more powerful than the other Intelligences, especially in the magic sense, it has even developed the ability to assume human form. Camazotz and Chicen Itza are unknown to the other Intelligences, and Camazotz sends out his vampires (except a small security force, it uses zombies during the day) to play the Kingdoms off of each other. Chicen Itza is also home to a very powerful healing spring, the water can even revive the dead under specific circumstances, cures all disease. Can't regnerate, but that seems the only major limit. That and the well is right in the square before Camazotz's pyramid, in plain sight.


Other than that, there's the Children of Cihuacoatl, actually named Vernulians, an advanced race of psychic snakes with tentacles who are divided between those who want conquest and colonization and those who desire peaceful coexistence with the residents of Earth. They and Were-Jags are available races for player characters.

Dybbuks are demon-ghouls built like gorillas with big fanged mouths and large clawed shovel-hands. They shun the light, which blinds and burns them. Dybbuks heal 6x faster than humans, have flawless nightvision, scent like a hounds, and are skilled in digging and tunneling. They can also possess the bodies of the recently (1 hour tops) deceased. Being demonic, they hate all humanoid life (even goblins!) and will try to murder anyone they find.

Succubi/Incubi are scaly, hunchbacked things that can assume attractive human form to seduce someone, right before brutally murdering them. They require human blood to live, and that's all there is to it. In human form, they are undetectable except by their aura and super-strength.

Mindolars are powerfully psionic mind-controlling slugs from another world. They need to bite someone to ensure their control can't be shaken. Sometimes shifters summon mindolars to deal with their enemies, but a mindolar cannot be controlled, only persuaded and bribed with what it wants, chaos and bloodshed, and only if the summoner is appropriately respectful (groveling) lest they wake up with a sore rear and interesting new tattoos.

Agenors are river monsters, the tiny freshwater version of a sea serpent. 60 feet (18 m) tops.


Whew. That's Vampire Kingdoms done. Thoughts, comments, questions, concerns?

Next up, Atlantis.



Different Atlantis. So very different.

[Ahriman238]

Secret Origins of the Atlanteans

Atlanteans come from Atlantis. Big shock, I know. But what is Atlantis? Most know it as the perfect city in Plato's Republic, so is it a city? Ha ha ha, no. Atlantis is a continent about the size of Australia in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and home to both greatest nexus point (and many secondaries) and tallest mountain on Earth.



Try and fit the continents together now.

Having easy access to vast arcane power and dimension travel, the people of Atlantis advanced at an astonishing rate. While the rest of the world was trying to figure out how to smelt bronze Atlantis had techno-wizardry more advanced then modern technology, dimesnion hooping pyramid tech, and had eliminated disease. True, they sometimes found monsters in their exploration of the Megaverse, but that's the price of doing business and they found many friends and allies to.

All this happiness and sunshine Antediluvian Paradise lasted an age, until the respected sorcerer/scientist Pan Dora came up with an idea to open a Super-Rift that could connect to half a dozen realities simultaneously. As you can imagine thing went horribly, hilariously wrong, the Rift expanded beyond all control and containment until it reached both shores of the Atlantic. Tens of thousands died on Atlantis, which was the 'eye of the storm' and human life outside Atlantis was nearly extinguished by the resulting hurricanes and flooding. After three hours the Atlanteans managed to shut down the Rift, but they had to burn basically all the magic in the world to do it. And that's why you never see a unicorn, to this very day.

Well, it actually took a further 2,000 years for all the magic to fade. In the meantime, Pan Dora's Rift had seeded the world with monsters from hundreds of planes. Determined to make right what they'd done, the Atlanteans reinvented themselves as a civilization of monster hunters and if you've ever heard a story of a human hero killing a gorgon or a chimera, that's probably based on the least of their exploits, the ones primitive people could see and understand. Which didn't always happen, lots of Atlantean hunting parties were killed by the people they came to save, since the Atlanteans had never much bothered with exploration, trade or diplomacy on their own world with their primitive neighbors. The Atlanteans came to believe they had been cursed for their pride and the blood unintentionally spilled by their hands.

It was around this time that the Atlanteans met their arch-enemies, the Vampire Intelligences and their undead minions. The Atlanteans were disgusted by the undead and tried to exterminate them, largely failing, and they've been mortal foes ever since.

Unbeknownst to the Atlanteans (but beknownst to us!) Pan Dora's Rift had turned Atlantis itself into a dimensional anomaly, and when the last dregs of magic were drained from a world that no longer had a renewable supply the continent vanished into limbo, though not without a howling energy storm that scoured all life and signs of civilization from it. Again the Atlanteans were struck by disaster, less then 2% escaping through pyramids long dormant (Atlantis had forbidden further dimension travel after the Super-Rift, besides it would have drained to much PPE) while a pitiful couple thousand were left without a home on Earth, and tried to carry on slaying the last monsters and teaching the locals about things like astronomy, medicine and law.


These thousands of years since, the Atlanteans continue as a sort of dimension-traveling nomads. They still believe they're cursed for their ancestor's sin of pride, and have sworn to never try and rebuild their empire. Sometimes an Atlantean will settle on a nice world, becoming a scholar or protector, but never a leader. They continue their crusade to rid the Megaverse of anyone who would abuse the wonders of magic and dimension travel, with the VIs at the top of their list, though rarely in groups of more than a dozen. Every hundred years, all the clans meet at the Gathering to compare notes and see if there's anything evil and strong enough to have all of them descend on it.

Atlanteans are diverse in skin color, the best way of spotting one in a crowd is their height of 6-7 feet. To make matters worse, Atlanteans average 500 year life expectancies and grow another inch a century. Atlanteans average a bit stronger and smarter than other humans, and are a lot more psychologically stable, accustomed to magic and all the wonders and horrors of the multiverse there's no curling into a little ball when they meet something from the Mythos.

Atlanteans recover PPE twice as quickly as other men, though meditating only improves that to 3x as fast. They can sense ley line and rifts for several miles, and have a 'vampire sense' with a quarter mile range, but it rarely gives more useful information than "Vampires! Close!" no precise direction, distance or numbers. This sense also works on VIs and their demonic familiars. Atlanteans can teleport along ley lines like the Ley Line Walker. Atlanteans cannot be transformed by magic, not by shapeshifting, nor shrinking/growing nor can they be turned into vampires or werewolves.

One ally of Atlantis was the Chiang-ku dragons, the only dragons able to a.) hold a shapechange indefinitely and b.) form a stable and lasting civilization. The Chiang-ku civilization was recently destroyed, with less than a hundred survivors a quarter of whom have come to Earth. But the Chiang-ku taught the Atlanteans their secret art for making magical tattoos. Each Atlantean on the cusp of adulthood is given two magical tattoos, his or her Marks of Heritage. On the left wrist is a heart with a wooden stake embedded in it, this provides protection from vampires, their mind contol as well as their bite. Hey, they can't be turned into vamps, but other effects, like thralldom and not being able to harm or resist the vamp can still happen, hence protection. The right wrist bears a flaming sword that lets them manifest a magical flaming (mega-damage) sword in their hand. A true Atlantean is never disarmed until he's dismembered. The precise style of these marks (color, complexity/abstraction and a thousand other details) identify the Atlantean's clan.

Atlanteans as a rule are brave and noble lone wolf figures. Which can be a problem since they can be more stubborn than a room full of dwarves and don't usually work well with others.


Some Atlanteans see the return of magic and alien threats to Earth, along with their newfound ability to visit their lost and revered planet of origin, as destiny, coming full circle to expunge the crimes of the past. Some see it as a sign of the End Times. Some see it as just another job, more innocents threatened by evil. Some return to defend the Earth, some consider themselves unworthy.

[Ahriman238]

Atlanteans have a higher proportion of psychics then most humans, around 15%. And when Atlanteans get into psionics they do it in a big way, usually Mind Melter, or a variant I've not heard of before, Mind Bleeder. Can't forget it was Atlanteans that started the Cyber Knights either.

Atlanteans are usually well-educated and traveled, and a solid Atlantean education includes conduct, literacy and fluency in at least 3 languages, and a solid grounding in magic. Just under 70% of Atlanteans become primary casters, Ley Line Walkers and Shifters are most common, given their dimension hopping ways, Stone Mages are also popular but every caster type is ultimately available.

There are 2 signature magics of Atlantis, which are known to the Splugorth as well as the True Atlanteans: Stone and Tatoo magic. The Stone Mage is an RCC (racial or racially-restricted class) meaning only an Atlantean can take it.


Stone Mages can scoop, dig, and mold any form of rock as though it were soft clay, he can also lift many tons of stone (average strength gets you ~5) in his arms without effort. This last only applies to stone, no other substance and these abilities require a pittance of PPE. He can make heavy stones roll along the ground toward him, or a designated point at the speed of a brisk jog or levitate great weights of stone in the air. Both of these are slow and limited enough to make poor attacks, unless you plan really well. Finally, the Stone Mage can sense the presence and location of supernatural beings underground, water above or below the earth, and secret passages or chambers cut in stone.

Stone Mages can shape gems, turning rough stones into cut and polished masterpieces in seven minutes of meditation. They can create a number of spell-like effects by channeling PPE into a gem, but a gem can only be used for this purpose 3 times (6 if a large stone) before breaking and crumbling, and no, shaving and slivers cannot be used. This is how Stone Mages cast from the regular list, though they don't need to know the spell, just have the stone. Diamonds, for instance can cast 2 spells, Fly as Eagle or Invulnerability, while emeralds produce invisibility, rubies fireballs, etc. Some gems let them duplicate the effects of psionic powers.

Finally, only a Master Stone Mage can create a functional magic pyramid like I described in the bit on ley lines and rifts. Or certain entities powerful and outside our contextual reality enough to cheat, like Splugorth and Vampire Intelligences.

Tattoo magic later.

[Ahriman238]

Okay, tattoo magic. Each magic tattoo has a specific power or powers activated by channeling PPE into them. Inexperienced users need to actually touch the tat with their fingers and focus for a few seconds, while experienced users can activate a tattoo immediately with focus alone. MOST tattoos manifest a physical object or animal when activated. ONLY Chiang-ku, Humans (Atlanteans included) Ogres and Elves can use magic tattoos. Elves have some rather steep penalties for tattoo magic, expending far more PPE for less results. The placing of a magic tattoo is a traumatic event, painful and sometimes debilitating for days on end. You CANNOT get the same tattoo twice. The tattoos can vary wildly in design, so long as the simple idea remains.

Under no circumstances whatsoever do players get the ability to create magic tattoos. That is the road to munchkinry too extreme for even RIFTS and I say this as a man whose played a dragon techno-wizard, in a party with a dinosaur-riding juicer-ninja.

There is an upper limit of 6 tattoos to a customer, and an Atlantean may choose to start with this many, Marks of Heritage and four more. Upon the placement of a 7th tattoo, the player undergoes a dramatic transformation into a magical being, the Tattooed Man, and loses the ability to progress in his previous class. He also loses all spellcasting abilities and it's best not to combine this class with bionics. The Tattooed man is a Mega Damage creature that can laugh off previously fatal damage, HIS upper limit is 50 tattoos, which I think may well be one of each. Even a Tattooed Man cannot have more than six tats active at once. If a tattooed man is possessed or mind controlled he cannot activate any new tattoos but can still benefit from active ones.

There are either two or five types of magic tattoos. There are major and minor tattoos, then there are weapon, animal, magic weapon, monster, and power.

Minor Tattoos

Weapon Tats are images of a simple weapon, as in, not a lot of moving parts. This weapon, basically any medieval weapon, can be made real in the users hand for a couple hours or until dismissed. So right off the bat you can have your knife, sword, ax, mace, morning star etc. Bows and crossbows come with 4 arrows/quarrels. You can also get a tattoo of a shield, anything from a buckler to a tower shield.

Animal Tats are animals that can also be made real. The animal isn't a real beast but a magical construct loyal to the tattooed man. Can be large and strong like a bear, or a little bird that can carry messages and recon for you, a horse to bear you or any number of further options.

Major Tattoos

Monster Tats are like the animal, but can summon Mega Damage monsters. Nothing with supernatural powers, but a simple sea serpent or dragodactyl is fine.

Magic Weapon Tats are like simple weapon tats, but altered to become magical. The following modifications can be made, but with one exception two enchantments cannot be combined on a single weapon tat.

Crossed weapons- small dexterity bonus to attack and parry
Blood-dripping weapon- double damage
Flaming Weapon- Mega Damage (100x the standard weapon)
Flaming Shield- like the shield from a weapon tat, but literally indestructible
Flaming Snake-Wrapped Weapon- Mega Damage and triple damage against snakes and serpents of all kinds.
Winged Weapon- triple throwing-shooting range, weapon returns to owners hand after. Only one that can be combined with others.

And I must say, if you can only get one tattoo (especially if you're a squishy wizard type) get a Bow with Flaming Winged arrows. Yes, it will take a substantial bite from your PPE, but then you have a minimum of half an hour (likely far more) with a triple-range longbow and an effectively unlimited supply of magic arrows that insta-kill anything less then giant monsters, and life is sweet.

Power Tats give you a specific power for as long as the tat is active. Pretty self-explanatory. Some, like the chained cloud or flaming skull give the ability to use a power or powers for that time period. If you are not a tattooed man class, all level dependent effects are level 1.

Chained Skull (or Brain)- protection from mind control
Broken-link Chain- super strength
Chained Cloud- see invisible, float in air, wind rush, call lightning, calm storm, speak air elemental
Cross- turn dead
Dagger Stuck in Eye- blind, inflict blindness, that is.
Eye of Knowledge- read and speak all languages
Eye of Mystic Knowledge- read runes and identify spells
Weeping Eye- empathy and empathic transmission
Triple Eyes- nightvision, see invisible, see aura
Stake-Impaled Heart- protection from vampires
Chained Heart- invulnerability, 75 MDC magic shield. Still vulnerable to magic, psionics, and being trapped.
Small-Winged Heart- super speed, 30 mph + 10 mph/level
Great-Winged Heart- fly, 4000 foot ceiling, 50 mph +10 mph/level
Armored Knight- magic armor, less impressive then chained heart in all ways, but less PPE and more duration
Lightning Bolt- shoot lightning from hand
Rose- healing touch
Phoenix- super healing and full resurrection. Each resurrection has permanent health/PPE cost
Shark (or Dolphin)- swim as fish, breathe without air. 30 min/level
Bat-Winged Skull- animate and control dead
Skull With Crown of Thorns- death touch, single self-use super regenerate
Flaming Skull- throw firebolts, immunity to fire
Ball of Thorns- immune to poison



Maxi-Men

The Splugorth, enemies of the Atlanteans but for now lords of Atlantis are also masters of tattoo magic. They cannot use it on themselves, nor any of their monstrous minions. Can it be they finally found something humanity is good for? The Splugorth take human children no older than 6 and raise them to become their elite Janissaries, the Maxi-Men. The Maxi-Men are absurdly well-trained and indoctrinated, and they can become generals and enjoy other exalted positions, so their defection rate is about nil. Despite the name, about a quarter of Maxi-Men are women, it's just that men sell better. Maxi-Men who live long enough always take their tattoo magic to the limits. Read back over the list and imagine a well-trained man with all of these powers, weapons and allies available to him, and tough enough that nothing less than explosives will even get his attention, and you'll have a small idea how scary these guys can be.

Maxi-Men are available as PCs and starts with 18 tattoos. 2 of each of the first four types, 4 powers, and 6 players choice any category. When a Maxi-Man levels he (or she!) may take 2 new minor tattoos (weapon, animal) or 1 major (magic weapon, monster, power.) This is the standard leveling scheme for Tattooed Men.

Tattooed Men

You know, supply of Max-Men has never come close to meeting demand. So the Splugorth compromise a bit on the Tattooed Men, older children, even adults are brought in and they aren't trained nearly as well as premium warrior slaves that are the Maxi-Men. Still, there are a lot more of the mundane tattooed men, and since they aren't nearly so well indoctrinated they're morel ikely to try and escape or turn on their masters.

Tattooed Men (the class not the magical creature they all are) start with 12 tats, 2 from each category and 2 player's choice. Gain 2 minor or 1 major tat with every level.

Tattooed Monster Men

Same backstory as the Tattooed Men, just more emphasis on animal/monster tats. Starts with 14 tattoos, 1 weapon, 2 magic weapons, 3 animals, 4 monsters, Power I (protection from vamps or animate dead) Power II (magic armor or invulnerability) and 2 players choice. Same progression, 2 minor or a major tattoo every level.


Undead Slayers

The only tattooed men not wretched slaves of the Splugorth or escaped wretched slaves of the Splugorth. Undead Slayers are elite and fanatical Atlantean Vampire Hunters who choose to sacrifice their ability to wield magic and their purity as scions of the Lost Continent to become even better at destroying vampires, able to meet the MDC monsters on better then even terms. Now there's a sentence to tighten sphincters on everyone from the Count to Alucard.

Undead Slayers start with 18 tattoos: the Marks of Heritage (staked heart, flaming sword) plus the cross, chained heart, chained cloud, rose, phoenix, eye of knowledge, and bow or crossbow with flaming winged arrows. Plus 2 power/animal/weapon/magic weapon and 1 monster of the player's choice.

[Ahriman238]

Forgot to mention, Atlanteans as mentioned have a 500 year lifespan but the flow of time is not terribly consistent in all the places they wander, As such, there are nearly 3000 Atlanteans still alive who remember ancient Atlantis and the desperate flight from their homes.

On with the show.

Splugorth

Splugorth (or Sploogs) are Supernatural Intelligences, meaning creatures from another dimension and generally cut from the same cloth as the Vampire Intelligences. Like VIs, Sploogs are mostly eyeball with a lot of tentacles. In fact, they may be best described as being like giant octopi (50 feet across, 100 ft tentacles) with the head replaced with a giant eyeball, and 11 tentacles, 4 of which have fanged mouths at the end like VIs.



Like VIs, Sploogs possess incredible toughness (also, they die at -4000 hitpoints) and magical and psionic powers. In fact, you can safely assume that any Splugorth is the equivalent to a max level Ley Line Walker/Shifter who knows all wizardry (standard list) spells, all Stone Mage abilities, can give magic tattoos, has in the neighborhood of 13000 PPE and a few more magic abilities I'll get to in a bit. They have all sensitive, healing and super powers with the skill and power of a 10th level psychic and are totally immune to all forms of mind control. Splugorth regeneration is somewhat less impressive than a VIs, but far better than most, they can regrow a tentacle in 3 days. They can turn people to stone and back, have some healing powers, can teleport to any world they own, open a rift to any world they've been to, summon platoons of minions, and create and control up to 600 zombies at a time.

They also have perfect nightvision and no need to breathe. They can be comfortable in any environ from a desert to a swamp to tundra or the vacuum of space. The Splugorth can divide their essence and send out 4-16 (depending on age and skill) bits of essence to other dimensions (cannot co-occupy with original body) to possess people or animals, which can be extraordinarily handy plus, yes, Splugorth are among the entities that create witches. Not that there's any reason for them to, unlike others the Splugorth are not sustained by suffering, they're just assholes like that.

Which goes a long way to explaining the Sploog's motivations now that I think of it, they're just assholes like that. Okay, slightly unfair. Where VIs just want bloodshed, Splugorth just want wealth and power, and entertainment. Their whole domain on Atlantis is wired with magical surveillance that would make Big Brother and Friend Computer say "Bit much, don't you think?" and they're not even paranoid. They're just shameless voyeurs who love to watch the ongoing soap opera that's normal life in their domain, even more so if they can manipulate events. Even the resistance is little more than an interesting diversion to them.

We do know that Splugorth, unlike VIs, are not ageless beings created with the universe. They're born, reproduce, grow old and die. Not quite sure when, but at 72,000 years old Spylnncryth, the Lord of Atlantis, is considered awfully young to hold a position of authority. Draw what conclusions you will.

Splugorth are vulnerable to silver and magic weapons. To a point. Other supernatural creatures like Dragons can also harm the Sploogs.

The Splugorth have a vast empire covering a hundred dimensions, and they are a spacefaring race besides.


Bio-Wizardry

Okay, time for the "other powers" I mentioned before. See, the Splugorth have a special form of magic called bio-wizardry, which is the base of their technology and civilization. Part of it is a lot like techno-wizardry, except instead of needing a magic/psychic user to pour energy in they give it a "battery" in a living lobotomized creature that generates PPE/ISP to run the machines or cast spells/powers the user normally couldn't. And that's the least of it.

Bio-wizardry also allows the Splugorth to play the Lego Genetics game, inducing very specific desired mutations. They can give a man functional wings, or a fanged mouth in his gut, or super strength or a chitinous exoskeleton, extra arms, finger blades or a thousand other things. And they love to tinker with the human slaves a bit before selling them. Plus they have hundreds of biotech critters, parasites, symbiotes and microbes they've cultivated with very specific and useful properties, like Purirobes that cause vomiting and diarrhea and otherwise violently purge the body of poison.

Finally, bio-wizardry can be used to rip out someone's soul and bind it to an object, usually a weapon. This becomes a rune weapon with vast powers. As someone said upthread, any over the top abilities of magic swords, from sources ranging from mythology to anime, can be duplicated by the Splugorth in a rune weapon.

We'll discuss bio-wizardy and how it makes the demon-trains run on time more soon.


Splynncryth is Lord of Atlantis, and master of three worlds besides, having settled it around a century post-Cataclysm. There's a story that Splynncryth's first act on this world was to kill a good dragon whose pyramid he popped up in. But in any case, he found Atlantis uninhabited and founded the City of Splynn, now a bustling metropolis of 18 million, all evil monsters, minions of the Splugorth, or wretched slaves. Splynncryth knows he has virtually no chance of world domination when there are so many and so powerful factions interested in the fate of Earth, so he's set up his secure corner of the world and began the economic exploitation of the Earth, selling slaves and magical items he acquires, buying everything he needs and generally having a ball running the Las Vegas of monsters.

[Ahriman238]

Ah. As I have been recently reminded, another world book updated the tattoo magic so a quick addendum and a new class.

Magic Weapon:

Weapon Embedded in Heart- damages PPE instead of hitpoints
Weapon Embedded in Skull- damages ISP instead of hitpoints

Powers

Women Dancer- hypnotic gaze
Black Sun- see in dark (600 ft) cloak of darkness, shadow meld
Bleeding Heart- super strength punch
Cracked Skull- mental attack does great pain to head, touch only. Shuts down psychics hard.
Burning Eye- see heat and heat vision (a la Superman)
Heart in Two Pieces- halve strength of victim
Riveted Steel Heart- Impervious to Fear, bit more resistant to possession/mind control
Heart Wrapped in Thorns- poison touch
Chained Skeleton- paralyze undead
Glowing Eyed Wolf's Head- nightvision, track animals, identify plants, sense traps



Tattooed Archer

Or, the reason Elves are made into Tattooed Men despite the penalties.

After millennia of tinkering, the Splugorth have finally cracked tattoo magic enough to make some magic tats of their own design, I mean, besides the death touch, poison touch and raise dead ones. They decided to explore what they could do with magic weapon-arrow tattoos, even duplicating the effects of some power tats. Unfortunately, ordinary bows shattered when they tried to fire Power Arrows, so it became necessary to design a Power Bow tattoo. Now they were in business, and could modify several tattoos by simply adding four arrowheads to make their effect one that can be used at a bow's range.

The Power Bow and Arrow tattoos have a very high PPE cost, unless the user has the bow and at least 6 arrow tattoos, at which point the cost is halved. Most power arrow tattoos can be combined with the Wings tat that triples range and makes the weapon return. Arrows manifest in batches of four, per normal.

Because the Tattooed Archer is so new, and so good, the Splugorth have not yet begun selling T-Archers, but keep them for their own armies as elite assassins, manhunters for escaped slaves, and anti-vampire troops. Potential candidates are tested rigorously for hand-eye coordination before being moved through the Hawkeye/Green Arrow Academy until they can accurately shoot a bow; while rolling to their feet, aiming one-handed and pulling the bowstring with their teeth, twisting their torso awkwardly and aiming with a reflection at a target they can't directly see, from horseback, from the back of a wildly moving vehicle, while standing on their head or dangling by their feet, at a quick draw, and ricocheting the arrow off another target/surface. Plus, of course, the essential skills of sniping from the limits of a bow's range then disappearing.

Tattooed Archers start with a Power Bow and 6 Power Arrow Tattoos. Plus a Winged weapon modification to one of the power arrows, 2 magic weapon tattoos, 1 ordinary weapon tattoo, 1 animal/monster tattoo, the Triple Eye and Armored Knight tats, and 1 player's choice, any category. Every level the T-Archer can take 2 minor tattoos or 1 major, with Power Arrows being their own major category. Usually this is the choice between adding a new Power Arrow or adding wings to an existing one.


Power Arrow Tattoos
Remember arrows manifest in batches of 4, and hang around for 15 min/level. Other Tattooed men can take Power Bow and Arrow tattoos at a high PPE cost.

Alarm Arrow- when fired into the air, screams like the damned. Can be heard for a mile at least.
Death Arrow- death touch without the personal touch, blows through all but robot armor.
Energy Disruption Arrow- EMP arrow
Fire Arrow- not the same as flaming arrow, turns into magic firebolts in flight
Force Arrow- feels like getting punched by a giant
Lightning Arrow- turns into mini-lightning bolt in flight
Psi-Arrow- great pain in the noggin, same as Cracked Skull tattoo, shuts down psychics
Shadow Arrow- double damage against shadowbeasts, Night Lords, creatures of darkness, and people using shadow meld
Sight-Stealers- blind the target
Vamp Arrow- very good damage against vamps, hit to heart works exactly like staking them
Water-Bomb Arrow- arrow turns into gallon of water a moment before impact, magically extinguishes all fire within 10 ft radius. Very good against fire elementals. Fire into air for 30% chance of rain.

[Ahriman238]

Okay, back to the Splugorth empire occupying Atlantis. You know, it says that the Splugorth consider most human skills incredibly prosaic, yet one of the few they do take is pick-pocketing, which they're apparently really good at. Must be all the tentacles.

Prominent Victims of the Splugorth

Zembahk

In appearance, like an earthworm the length and thickness of your arm, with a single milky white eye on the front tip. Zembahk don't look like much, but they're actually obscenely powerful psychics, equivalent to a Mind-Melter with 3-600 ISP, and a 5th level wizard with up to 300 PPE. I sort of think the Zembahk, who are a playable race, were the result of some GM throwing up his hands and saying "Fine! You can have a Mind-Melter/Wizard AND he can be a minor MDC creature, but he's got no arms or legs!" Zembahk can seem a bit dim, and painfully naive, but they're just used to their powers getting them out of any trouble.

Well, their powers didn't help them out when the Splugorth came to their world, all they saw were ISP/PPE batteries. So they took them, lobotomized them and set them up to run magical machines, particularly those staves Splugorth higher-ups walk around with. Zembahk are bred in captivity, but in every world the Splugorth visit some manage to escape before they can be brain-zapped and installed somewhere. They haven't really gotten away, though, just been turned loose to maybe breed in the wild, and because the look in their eye when they realize they were never really free and will be fed into a machine now is hilarious to the Splugorth and their minions.

Zembahk staves:

Staff of Pacification- standard for herding slaves. Can cast energy bolt, magic net, befuddle, trance, dominate, mute, blind, paralyze and agony.

Staff of All-Seeing- because knowledge is power. Detect concealment, see aura, see invisible, eyes of Thoth, eyes of the wolf, oracle, sense magic, sense evil, tongues.

Psionic Scepter- pretty standard issue for High Lords who form a mental link to their scepter. Can use psi-sword, TK forcefield, mind bolt, telepathy, mind block, sense evil, sense magic, sixth sense, alter aura, ectoplasm and impervious to cold/fire.

Staff of Power (2 Zembahk)- heal wounds, words of truth, sleep, shadow meld, call lightning, energy disruption, mystic portal, negate magic, anti-magic cloud.

All such staves are minor rune weapons, indestructible except for the clear part where the Zembahk are kept. They have usually 80 PPE (the Staff of Power has double) to fuel their abilities. If the staff is out and the wielder needs an ability he doesn't personally have he may channel PPE into the staff. All staves can be instantly recharged at any pyramid.



Orbs of Eylor

The other renewable energy source.

Long, long ago, the Splugorth found a most unusual planet. It was the size of Jupiter, but made of rock, with a breathable atmosphere and stranger still, it registered to all their magic and psionic tests as a living being. For decades they tried to contact this being, and failed. Was it in a coma? Do planets sleep? Can such a vast entity even notice such tiny creatures? Or was it doing the astral projection bit, sending it's consciousness to distant corners of the universe?

Whatever the case, the planet couldn't be reached. But it wasn't a total bust, because the Splugorth found the surface covered in perfectly spherical rocks that looked like eyes, ranging from baseball-size to 50 gallon drum size. These 'Orbs of Eylor' (what else would you name a planet covered in eyes?) are incredibly tough, regenerate damage and automatically protect themselves with an armor of Ithan, and it is trivially easy to tinker with it to make the armor extend around something or someone else. It is also incredibly easy to form a telepathic link with the eyes and see through them, and they see with perfect vision, unhampered by darkness or blinding light, telescopic vision, magnification to the 300th power, and empathy, see invisible, aura, and magic at all times.



If an Orb of Eylor is installed in a complex device, say a car or a gun, it develops a pseudo-intelligence and will not work for anyone besides the owner that formed a link with it. It can teleport or levitate to it's master, or use shadow meld to hide from his enemies.

Orbs are magical, with 150-400 PPE depending on size. Like a strange sort of computer they can be "programmed" with 11-20 spells that can each be used two or three times a day. Orbs can also be immediately recharged at pyramids. They can also carry out semi-autonomous functions as programmed.

If directed by whoever linked to it, Orbs can fly with a 400 foot (122 m) ceiling and a max speed of 35 mph (56 kph.)

Needless to say the Splugorth have been harvesting and using these orbs ever since. It may even have been the beginning of their exploitation of other life, since they've been at it for 50,000 years without a hiccup. Orbs of Eylor roam the skies over Atlantis, are installed everywhere the Splugorth want to see (everywhere) they're made into staves, into helmets, they're a vital component to Slaver Barges etc.

[Ahriman238]

Faeries

Have all sorts of useful magical powers, so guess what? Unlike Zembahk, fairies never get old and die, and they renew PPE quickly and constantly so there's no need to rest or recharge.

Blizzard Staff- two frost fairies inside bottle at top, scream when casting. Casts snowstorm, encase in ice, wall of ice and ice shards. Unlimited uses.

Dark Lightning- large organic gun made from the skin and bones of dark fairies, single bogie inside. Shoots black lightning that burns with cold.

Vinewrapper Pistol- ornate pistol, barrel replaced with a bottle containing a comatose Green Wood Fairy. Pull the trigger and a beam of green light hits the target. A moment later vines burst out of the ground and restrain him.

Floodwater pistol- same deal with aquatic look. Shoots water, the preferred anti-vamp weapon of the Splugorth.

Windstream pistol- Silver Bell or Air Sprite inside. Shoots windblast strong enough to knock most people off their feet and disperse gas.

Faerie PPE Battery- glass jar with a fairy in it, drains PPE as fast as it recharges. (2d6/hour)



Entities

In RIFTS, Entities refers to malevolent magical energy beings. Creatures without corporeal form, ghosts or evil spirits. These too, are useful to the Splugorth.

Bio-Wizard TK Rifle- tectonic entity shoots bolts of TK energy

Fear Pistol- causes fear

Ectoplasmic Net Launcher- bazooka like weapon with poltergeist inside fires net that cannot be damaged save by magic or psionics.

Paralysis Rifle- also exactly what it says on the box, Entity must be capable of possession.

Pain Inducer- must the same idea and construction as the above

Domination Staff- skull-topped staff allows control of possessing Entity within, which can 4 times a day be turned loose to possess someone else, whom you can then command through the Entity.

Kinetic Staff- staff with glowing orb and thousands of tiny hands and/or screaming faces. 3 tectonic spirits within, allows TK bolt, Super TK, and TK Forcefield.



Millennium Trees

The Splugorth love to take wands, staves and other detritus from the Millennium Trees and corrupt them. Yes, the corrupted versions are considerably less powerful, so what? What were they going to do with a Wand of Healing or a Staff of Purity anyway? In the early days of the Phoenix Empire, a Millennium Tree was found and stripped bare, so there are lots of corrupted items still floating around Egypt, and they sold a lot of the remains to Splynncryth. Druids, especially Millennium Druids, will try to take corrupted items to a tree to be absorbed into the Tree and purified.

Millennium Slayer- a sword with a wand in the hilt that becomes especially powerful against the Trees, and anything made from them, like leaf armor or staves.

Serpent Slayer- javelin or trident made from a Staff of Serpents does double damage against serpents and dragons. Screws up dragon's teleport ability.

Executioner's Blade- double-headed ax made from any staff. Death Strike ability deals double damage, strength of the dead gives half the HP of a carcass struck with the ax, temporarily. Both abilities can be used 4 times a day.

Mantle of Power- hooded cloak made from Millennium Leaf allows spells aura of power, charismatic aura, and mask of deceit.

[Ahriman238]

Minions of the Splugorth

On Atlantis, you are either an honored guest of the Splugorth, like a dragon or visiting Supernatural Intelligence, a wretched slave of the Splugorth or a Minion of the Splugorth. Minions are those deemed worthy to serve the Splugorth and participate in their society. They have limited, if any, political power as the Splugorth make the major decisions, but they enjoy privileges and immunities, and protection under the law. So Minions are the closest the Splugorth Empire has to citizens.


High Lords

Origins unknown, speculated to be the first race conquered by the Splugorth, or created by them. High Lords are totally devoted to their Splugorth masters and serve as their wizards, priests, diplomats, and administrators.



High lords live to be 1200 years old, and spend a century or more studying magic before taking up official duties in the Empire. High lords form a strange connection with the Splugorth, allowing them to borrow PPE, and the Splugorth to summon them to his side. A High Lord will have all the powers and spell knowledge of an 8th level Ley Line Walker, the ability to create magic tattoos, and will further specialize in one of the following disciplines: Shifter/Summoner, Techno-Wizard, Stone Mage, Bio-Wizard, and Rune Master. Rune Masters cannot create rune weapons, they only assist, but are frequently given lesser rune weapons.

High Lords have the energy reserves of a master psychic, but only know the following abilities: astral projection, empathy, mind block, read object, sense magic, speed reading, telepathy, and total recall. Well, they effectively have no limit on how often they can use these basic powers.

High Lords have very good eyes, night vision, and can see invisible. They can turn invisible at will, regenerate nearly as well as a vampire, and can teleport to their Splugorth master's side at his call, even if he's in a different dimension.



High Lords are truly excellent swimmers, equal to the best humanity has to offer in this. They learn 7 languages over the course of their long education, and become experts (PhD equivalent) in biology, chemistry, astronomy, medicine, advanced math, computer sciences, and most forms of magic.

As the favored of the Splugorth, High Lords get first pick of gear. Normally they favor a light armor designed just for them and either a Psionic Scepter or Staff of Power. They also really like laser and particle beam weapons, especially as sidearms. But it's their choice and if one wants to bring a Blizzard Staff or Staff of Eylor to a fight, no one is likely to object. Those who have particularly high stock with their master may be gifted with a Helm of Omnipotence containing 7 Eylor Orbs, 1 the size of a soccer ball. Those really on his good side may get a rune weapon, and all long to be one of the chosen three entrusted with the greatest products of that art, the Staff of Calling, Necrostaff, and the Sword of Atlantis.



Conservators

Not everyone is cut out for the life of a scholar/administrator. Some High Lords find in their schooling a predatory instinct that cannot be suppressed or denied. So they get pulled from school before getting further than a 4th level mage, and go into the transmutation tank. When they come out, well...



Lets see, we have armored skin, extra arms, elbow blades, claws, knuckle spikes, a prehensile tail with venomous stinger, maxed out sense of smell, a chemical spray in the mouth that "tags" you with a scent marker that won't wash out, am I missing anything? Right, the Orb of Eylor permanently affixed to their foreheads. Oh, and while they'll only know 8 spells from levels 1-3, they have all the psionic and racial abilities (like invisibility) of other High Lords. Plus the 11 spells programmed into the Orb.

Conservators are the High Lord version of Juicers and Crazies, in fact, a number of them do go insane. They usually stalk the wilds of Atlantis for escaped slaves and interesting monsters to fight, but sometimes go out with raiding parties. Conservators rarely use much in the way of weapons or gear.

EDIT: High Lords are more or less human scale, 6-7 feet tall. Conservators are 8-10 feet tall.

[Ahriman238]

Randomly, after the Edit window closed, while looking for something else, I found the picture of the Helm of Omnipotence, what the stylish High Lord wears.



Okay, so you wear it for the nigh-limitless arcane power, not the look.

[Ahriman238]

Kydian Overlords

50,000 years ago the Splugorth discovered Kydia, a world in desperate straits. You see, Kydians have a gestation period of 6 months, and give birth in litters of up to 6. Their world was seriously overpopulated, polluted, starving. They instituted a death penalty for every crime, euthanasia for every medical condition, mandatory liquidation at the age of 40, and it still wasn't enough. No mention of birth control or sex ed, I assume religious and political leaders objected to it more than the other measures and weren't "that desperate."

After observing for a bit, the Splugorth came down from the sky and said "We're the Splugorth. Swear to obey us forever and you can have the entire Megaverse to expand into." and the desperate Kydians accepted and have never looked back.

Today the Kydians, or Overlords as they're generally known, are the single largest demographic in the Splugorth Empire. Some Splugorth institute birth control on their worlds, others like the idea of having trillions of devoted Kydians, and the Kydians still can't get over living to 140. They're also the most common face in the armies of the Splugorth, since that's where the Sploogs saw the most use for them.

Hard to blame them, Kydians are pretty strong, every adult able to lift half a ton with ease, with insane endurance. They're big too, 8-10 feet of muscle, but they're not dumb, in fact they're quite good at tactics and strategy and the Splugorth felt the need to forbid them from learning magic just in case they ever became a threat. They're also really mentally stable, not prone to insanity even when encountering mind-bending horrors from beyond the physical realms, and very disciplined. Kydians' thick skin is resistant to heat and radiation, and their eyes see into the IR and UV spectra, their night-vision is much better than a human's but subpar for a Minion. Kydians have no native psionic abilities whatsoever.



The Overlord would be the big, slightly purple one. Standard issue for an Overlord is a Staff of Pacification, a jolt gun (don't taze me, bro!) a plasma rifle, a psi-interrogator (latches onto your face and mind-rapes) and Overlord Armor. Overlord armor is about 3x tougher than Dead Boys (about equal to a basic SAMAS) and has a plasma blaster on the right gauntlet, helmet laser, 2 red buttons on the left, and a white button on the helmet just above the left eye. The armor has it's own PPE store, by pushing a red button and focusing the Overlord can cast Fly as Eagle, Swim as Fish, Breathe Without Air, Superhuman Speed and Escape (button A) Shadow Meld, Superior Invisibility, Charismatic Aura, Impervious to Energy, and Energy Field (button B.) The helmet button activates See Invisible, Sense Magic, Tongues, Heal Wounds and Negate Poison.

Kydian Officers and Special Operatives have a lot more options when it comes to equipment, basically everything I've listed for weapons, and a few I haven't, as long as some High Lord doesn't decide he wants it first. Overlord Officers get a Helm of Omnipotence.

Kydians are highly educated in military matters, and not much else. Creating a race of people who can read a map, but not a book, can recite millennia of military history, but can't name the leaders who made First Contact with the Sploogs, who are quite competent in math and the operation of their radios, but can't change the battery on one. Like I said though, the Kydians aren't stupid just... very carefully not shown certain things.

Powerlords

Some Kydians perform a great service for the Splugorth, or just demonstrate the necessary intelligence and commitment to be made Powerlords. These happy few get to spend a few days in the transmutation tanks, and have a few surgeries done. The end result is a Kydian that will only live to 90, and they'll still consider every day past 40 a blessing from the benevolent Splugorth, but will be far more dangerous.



There seems to be this chicken-and-egg confusion about Powerlords so let me be clear. Powerlords are not dangerous because they have superkydian powers, the Splugorth took the most dangerous Kydians and upgraded them. They were always that bit quicker to adjust to changing circumstances, more determined, more ruthless than their peers. In this context the Splugorth don't care about physical strength, they can give and take that with ease.

So, Powerlords always get an MDC transformation (can shrug off sizable explosions) retractable forearm blades (Wolverine claws) and an Orb or Eylor. They are usually further gifted with 2 mutations or symbiotes which can vary wildly between individuals.

All Powerlords are special operatives, the elite of the Overlords, and have access to all the exotic equipment that entails.

[Ahriman238]

Splugorth Slaver

The face of the Splugorth to most of the world, the terrifying figures that swoop in on their flying slaver barges and raid the coasts of Europe, Africa and both Americas for people to drag back to Atlantis. If they have a name of their own, it's unknown to any human, who call it the slaver, minion, minnie, or, to the bulk of uneducated, untraveled peasants, this creature IS the Splugorth.

A slaver starts its life as something sort of like a freshwater dolphin, in the breeding paddies. Then it gets dumped into the transmutation tank and adapted to terrestrial life, it's intelligence gets that extra kick into sentience, etc. When it comes out, it has an eel-like body 20 ft (6 m) long, two arms, and 8 16 foot (5 m) tentacles. So why modify the slaver? It has that predatory instinct the Splugorth love, and can be permanently bonded to its slaver barge. It can swim really well, hold its breath for over 30 minutes and track by scent. It can use telepathy and mind block. The real prize though, is the ability to link with up to a dozen Orbs of Eylor and process all that visual data without error.



The Staff of Eylor lets the slaver see, and use the 11 spells programmed within. The Slaver Barge flies at a leisurely 53 mph (85 kph) with a 500 foot ceiling, it has 5 large Orbs of Eylor, powering it's flight and letting the slaver see in all directions. It's flight is completely silent, and the barge can activate Chameleon to avoid being seen. As the whole barge can be downed if the pilot is killed, the slaver can retract down into the armored healing transmutation tank. It must be constantly bathed in the transmutation slime or die. The barge is equipped with a thought-activated holographic projector. It also has energy blasters, but they're kind of sad, pitiful things, stun weapons. The whole barge can manifest a powerful Armor of Ithan is threatened.

The barge usually has 4-8 Altaran Warrior Women to back up the slaver. Sometimes they'll ferry Conservators or Hawrks. It also serves as a base for 5 flying Eylor spheres, armed with a jolt gun, laser, or plasma gun and carrying spells useful for tracking, disabling and capturing. All of these are controlled by the slaver. The barge also carries as standard 12 stasis microbe syringes, 6 mind slugs, 20 zombitrons, and 12 mystic leeches that disable magic.



Altaran Warrior Women

Conquered 2,000 years ago the women of Altara have been conditioned from birth to accept their place as the lowest of Minions, little better than slaves. Born blind, Altarans have phenomal hearing, scent and a radar sense. Their physical endurance is amazing, nearly at the level of a Juicer. Altarans have the psychic powers sixth sense, sense presence/evil/magic, read object, empathy, clairvoyance and mind block.




There is no such thing as an Altaran male. Though Warrior Women have all the *ahem* equipment for fun, they are sterile in the traditional sense. Instead, every 12 years an Altaran Woman forms a cocoon and 48 hours later 2 nearly identical women emerge, the only difference being that the new clone (genetically identical) doesn't have any injuries, scars, or implants of the old one, and has none of the old one's personal memories just skills and not even all of those. Still, Altarans are literally born expert martial artists. The precise details of this process are a mystery even to the Splugorth, who are more than happy to clone the Warrior Women the traditional way.

About a quarter of Altarans resent their slavery and long to be free. Some of them try and are usually quickly hunted down and killed or dragged back to be experimented on, reconditioned or fight in the grand arena.

The once piece bathing suit is actually MDC rubber, not the best protection, but every warrior woman has an amulet that can activate Armor of Ithan 3 times a day. They're usually given lasers, plasma rifles, jolt guns, net guns, and the plasma blaster gauntlets from Overlord Armor. The weakness of Altarans is storms of all kind, which reduce their senses greatly.



Dragons

Dragons occupy a very strange place in the Splugorth hierarchy. They are one of the few things that could possibly slay a Splugorth one-on-one, and the Sploogs have a healthy respect (fear) of dragons. No Minion would dream of giving orders to a dragon, but they probably wouldn't take orders from one either. Dragons are a part of the Empire, yet not. The second largest city on Atlantis is Dragcona, home to the Dragonwright Church, a cult of lizardmen who worship dragons, and dragons can literally get away with murder so long as they can provide an explanation and don't kill anyone important.

All of this only applies to evil dragons, who hate good dragons more than anything. Good dragons in Atlantis can expect to be tortured, broken and sold to the highest bidder unless they're really good at bluffing, and encounters with the Dragonwrights always seem to end in vast scaly mobs chanting "false dragon!" Go figure.


Kittani

Gorillas in power armor. Now we've seen everything. The Kittani were an advanced space faring race of the overused Klingon archetype- warriors obsessed with glory and honor. Then the Mechanoids spanked them so hard, the Splugorth had to offer succor to the few survivors, who've been part of the Empire ever since.



The Kittani have no magic and strictly limited psionics (sixth sense, speed reading, total recall, read object, mind block and telemechanics) but what they bring to the Empire is their tech. It is the Kittani who provide the lasers, the ion blasters, the plasma guns, a few technical oddities like sky-pods, the larger part of the Splugorth space fleet as well as some really oddball power armor...





The Kittani live to be 120. Their height and weight is Gorilla. They have this cultural obsession with being skilled warriors, particularly pilots of fighters and power armor. They actually start their starship captains on the big heavily armored battleships and work their way up to faster and more agile craft.



Metzla

Flying psychic crustaceans from hell. Totally alien beings with inscrutable thoughts and motives, to humanoids anyway, the Splugorth seem to get them just fine. Seems to operate in a hive system, with a few drone, warrior and leader castes. Enjoy this image of the 30 ft Murex Metzla queen.



Most are much smaller, some are harder to look at. The Metzla have recently been growing restless with the Splugorth controlling their destiny, be interesting if anything came of it.



Sunaj

A bunch of humanoid monsters that have only joined up this last century or so. The rest of the minions love to heap abuse on the Sunaj, while their very existence seems to amuse the Splugorth to no end. There is a reason for that, but first I have to ask if you're sure you want to know. Great campaigns are spoiled with this knowledge.


Spoiler

The Sunaj (Janus spelt backwards) are evil Atlanteans. Specifically the Aehriman (hey!) clan of Atlanteans who long to rebuild their empire to its previous glory, but know the others will never let them. So they entered a conspiracy with their enemy, Splynncryth, to destroy all the other clans through treachery, betraying the clans from within while the Splugorth attack.

The Splugorth love this! Their enemy, the oh-so-noble Atlanteans, turning on each other, and they know no righteous government can come from their acts of treachery and slaughter. Plus they're just tickled by the secret identity shtick, here are the Sunaj, minions of the Splugorth who are killing you, here are the Aehriman, your trusted friends and brothers. Add the delicious irony of making Lord Aerizha kowtow to him and Splynncryth just couldn't stop laughing for days when the Aehriman massacred hundreds of their own to deflect suspicion.

By the way, you will never convince an Atlantean of the truth while any possible alternative explanation exists, no matter how ridiculous or contrived.

Were-Dragons

Not Minions, just thought I'd mention the Splugorth conquered and enslaved a race of D-Bees, hairless skinny and graceful humanoids, who have the power to turn into dragons. Well, they don't get any powers or even a breath weapon, but they do become large flying serpents. Several evil dragons have been buying up the slaves just to destroy them.

[SAMAS]

Warlock

For everyone who enjoyed AtLA a bit too much and has to bring that to the game.

Some people just have a strange connection to the elements and, more importantly, to the Elementals. Nobody truly understands this bond, human or Elemental, but some people are just born with the ability to speak the language of that Elemental's type, to command the respect and love of Elementals, and to wield their magic.

An Air Warlock, for instance, will start with the ability to summon the least of air elementals, Finger of Wind, Thunderclap, maybe Breathe Without Air. He will grow into Gust of Wind, and eventually will conquer Summon Major Elemental (Air) Call Lightning and Calm Storm.

A high level Fire Warlock will be almost indistinguishable from a Burster, the only real differences being that he has to spend PPE to become Impervious to Fire, and can summon Fire Elementals.


I'm sorry, I don't know a ton about Warlocks. Never had them in my one and only campaign. If anyone sees any obvious holes in my knowledge or has an amusing anecdote, by all means share.

One thing that has to be emphasized is the respect and camaraderie between Warlocks and with Elementals (Warlocks are the only humanoids that Elementals even recognize as fellow beings). This is best displayed in how they act when on opposite sides of a conflict. Warlocks on opposing sides will easily sit down to a meal together, discuss the situation, and if a peaceful solution cannot be found will simply shake hands, express their condolences, and part ways. Should they meet on the battlefield the next day, they will nonetheless fight each other with everything they have.

Similarly, Elementals are cordial towards their "Little Brothers". They will not attack a Warlock unless necessary, and even then will first stop and explain the situation. If the Warlock thinks to ask, the Elemental will gladly tell the Warlock who sent/commands them and where they might be.

And on that note:

Elementals

Much like their Dungeons & Dragons counterparts, Elementals are supernatural beings from the Elemental Planes. They have a real Blue and Orange morality, and don't get concepts like Death and Fear. They can be automatically summoned by Warlocks, but Shifters, Summoners, and Diabolists can also call them forth. Elementals don't like being on Material planes, and after a day or so will get increasingly angry. Due to their bond, Warlocks know better than to keep them for more than a day, but the others may not be so considerate. An Elemental kept around for an extended period will start lashing out at things around him.

[Solauren]

I can't wait to read your summary of the Mechanoids...

[Ahriman238]

[Ahriman238]

Atlantis demographics, overall population is around 90 million. You have Splynncryth and 1-6 Splugorth vacationing or just visiting at any one time. Plus-

1,200 Dragons
3 million High Lords
21 million Overlords
~7 million Powerlords
1 million Slavers
6 million Altarans
10 million Kittani
3 million or so Metzla
~30 million slaves of various species, a third of them human
100,000 Conservators
1 million tattooed men
A quarter million (250,000) Maxi-men
half a million (500,000) Gargoyles
12,000 or so Sunaj (there are nearly a million Sunaj total, few on Earth at any given time)

Plus a few million guests and visitors from across both the world, and the Megaverse. These are the resources available to Spynncryth, without his sending out for more. Kydians alone outnumber the New Coalition Army nearly 30 to 1. Is it any wonder that every ICBM the CS owns is pointed at Atlantis?


The Northwest portion (if you imagine Atlantis as an eagle flying towards the Americas, the head) is the Refuge. Here are the three pyramids that serve as the personal residence of Lord Splynncryth and his personal guests. Splynncryth has forbidden any development or exploitation of this area, and it has consequently also become a haven for escaped slaves and the resistance. Squads of minions sweep the area to exterminate unauthorized creatures and beings, but it's probably still the safest place on Atlantis for humans.

The westernmost part, or wing of the continent is the Preserve. A heavily forested area, roughly the size of Mexico where monsters get to partake in a favored activity, hunting. In particular, humans and other slaves are allowed to escape to the preserve to be run down later, or form hidden communities that last sometimes for decades before discovery. The preserve is the special domain of the Conservators, who act as game wardens and park rangers.

The Great Stone Mountains divide the Refuge and Preserve from the rest of Atlantis. Home to wild dragodactyls, gryphons and manticores, there is a semi-autonomous Gargoyle Kingdom in the south, that nonetheless pay tribute to Splynn and keep Atlantean law. The Kingdom is centered arounf the city and pyramid of Alvurron. The haunted valley and mountain north of the area near overflows with entities, hellhounds, ghouls and vampires. Being rivals to the Vampire Intelligences, the Splugorth offer a million-a-head bounty on vamps, 10 million and a rune sword for the location of their lair. The Great Stone Mountain itself is sacred to Warlocks of all species, the one place on Earth where elementals freely cross over and can exist without discomfort, and where they gather in large numbers.

In the middle of Atlantis is the Valley of Wonder, home to the 7 major cities of Atlantis, as well as 20 smaller cities and over a hundred satellite villages and towns. In no particular order-

Azlum the Asylum is where High Lord researchers accidently opened a permanent Rift, they know not where. All they do know is that whoever so much as looks at the rift gains psychic powers or a boost to existing ones, switches alignment entirely, and goes a bit crazy. Research is ongoing, and the prison-city is filling up with minions who are now paragons of virtue, or just bughouse nuts.

Dragcona is the birthplace of the Dragonwright Cult and home to their Cathedral. Dragons are treated as demi-gods, none more so then Styphathal the Corrupter, who founded and rules the city in Splynncryth's name. Styphathal is Splynncryth's most devoted follower and loyal friend. One of the few places you can find dragons willing to cooperate and function as something like a society.

Ki-Talan is the city of the Kittani on earth, a future-tech city in contrast to the neo-greco/roman look of most of Atlantis.

Metzla-Xm, just, never ever go there, okay? It's really just a mountainous hive, like a termite mound, and a (very large) collection of shacks for the humanoid slaves to live in.

Splynn is the capital, home to the Imperial Pyramid, largest on the continent., and a city larger than (and as populated as) pre-Catalysm London or New York. Splynn is absolutely spotless, thanks to magic, and done in the traditional Greco-Roman style, with many stone gargoyles, statues, busts, dragon and lion heads as decoration at every roof, corner, ceiling, door handle etc. Many contain hidden Orbs of Eylor, aside from all the invisible roaming ones, for observation. Most of these statues can be animated at the command of a High Lord to report things seen or pursue a fleeing slave, or just to attack intruders. The lions breathe fire, the dragon's heads have breath weapons and basic spell-casting abilities.

Splynn's dimensional market covers some 200 sq. miles. Here you'll find all manner of weapons and artifacts, slaves, poisons, etc. You can also find some pretty harrowing quests, like fetching water from the Well at Chicen Itza, or fetching the Skull of Osiris.

No Splugorth city is complete without a gladiatorial arena, and Splynn's Arena of Champions is grander than most. Here slaves are thrown to the monsters and champions fight for a purse, and sometimes bio-wizard transmutation or even lesser Rune Weapons. Human adventurers are really popular as the villains in these bouts. A few crowd favorites include; Well-Fed the Fool, a Cyber-Knight who begins and ends every match with a diatribe against the Splugorth's evil and a promise to defeat Splynncryth one day, Sight-Stealer, a woman Tattooed Archer who likes to fight nearly nude and favors blinding attacks using her sightstealer arrows, blind tattoo or her cobra tat. Rahu-crusher, a giant whose had his strength and durability maxed out via transmutation, had 2 arms added and wields a crystal fire rod. Momus the Atlantean, is actually a Maxi-Man dressed up and billed as an Undead Slayer. Finally the Demon of Splynn is a Bio-Borg and subject to many experimental enhancements.

The Splynn Zoo is home to animals from across the Megaverse, as well as bio-wizardry gone horribly wrong.



A few more slaves of the Splugorth.


Adarok

40 feet (12 m) tall and looking like demonic gargoyles, Adarok are actually quite gentle and peaceful. They're also quite strong, have basic earth-magic and minor psionics (telepathy, mind block and sense evil) which makes them useful to the Splugorth.


Erta

Nasty things, snake-like body with humanoid torso, four arms and a really large wickedly fanged mouth. In their natural setting, Erta are ambush predators. They have a natural ability to dig through and mold stone like a Stone Mages, in fact they have all Stone Mage powers except for gem magic and the ability to make functional pyramids. Which lets them create hidey-holes to leap out of. The Splugorth mostly use them for mining and construction.


Shaydor Spherians

AKA Stilt People. Powerful and curios psychics who look like balls perched awkwardly atop stilt-like legs with 4 tentacles, two of which end in grape-clusters of psionic sensors. Peaceful explorers, merchants and adventurers before being conquered by the Splugorth, they specialize at an early age becoming Healers, Sensitives, Explorers or Warriors.


Shaydor Intel

AKA, the other stilt people. Basic humanoid shape with long stlt-like arms and legs, and a housefly's face. Rivals of the Spherians from the same world, incredibly resistant to psionics and mind control.


Hawrks

A species, well, genus of bird-men from the same planet as the Zembahk. The only natural predators of the Zembahk. Hawrks are about tribal pointy sticks level of technology and have no magic whatsoever, and minimal psionics. They are valuable to the Splugorth for one reason, they are completely immune to all forms of magic. Hawrk-duhks are Duck-men, flightless and great swimmers. They are extremely easy-going and docile and usually used for labor, particularly in cursed or haunted areas. Hawrk-ohls are owl-men, and built like gorillas or trolls, fierce and territorial they make ideal guardians. Hawrk-ka are hawk-men, the only Hawrks that can fly, also the most aggressive and most likely to respect the SPlugorth and their minions, for their power if nothing else. They are frequently used on raids against Fairy Kingdoms, since they're mobile and can't be stopped with magic.


Humans

Funny creatures, weak and squishy bipeds, only a handful are psychic or magical, technology unimpressive, racial abilities subpar, yet somehow the dominant species of their world. A world now possessing great strategic value. But how to make the humans themselves productive and valuable?

Well, humans can receive magic tattoos, so raising them to be Maxi-Men is an option. If that sort of time is unavailable, ordinary Tattooed Men can command a fair price. Despite their low tech-level, they stumbled into something elegantly simple with their Juicer Conversion, the Splugorth have reverse-engineered that process and created a symbiote that has the same effects as a Juicer harness. Human slaves given this symbiote go through the same raising/indoctrination as Maxi-Men and are called Maxi-Killers. So far Splynncryth has refused to sell any of his Maxi-Killers, preferring to keep them for his own forces.

Humans can be transmuted in a variety of ways, though as usual there's an upper limit on how many times this can be done. They can also be host to a variety of symbiotes and parasites, creating a Bio-Borg nearly unrecognizable as human, or a partial conversion Bio-Borg with, say, a black claw and Eylor eye. If a human slave has no special skills and goes on the auction block in an hour, you can expose him to the transmortifier virus, which will cause him to bulk up in a hurry and grow a rhino's thick skin, in exchange for becoming an increasingly misshapen wretch and dying in 20 years or so.


What worth a human life? Well, the Splugorth market is very flexible, based on haggling. Low-ball figures.

Soldiers/Warriors- 3,000 creds
Skilled Warriors (special forces, martial artists)- 10,000 creds
Cyber-Knights and other paladin types- 10,000 creds
Power Armor/giant mecha pilot- 20,000 creds.
Cyborgs- 30,000 creds
Crazies- 40,000 creds
Juicers- 50,000 creds
Medical Doctors- 30,000 creds (strong European market once the NGR starts using ammo Gargoyles can't heal.)
Scholars- 1,000 creds
unskilled humans- 300 creds
Mages of all stripes- 100,000 creds
Warrior Mages, Techno-Wizards and Temporal magic users- 200,000 creds
Clerics- 100 creds (who wants to piss off their patron gods?)
Psychics- 100,000
Mind-Melters- 30,000 (distrusted as mind-controllers themselves, considered risky buys)
D-Bees and mutants- up to 20,000 for useful powers, less than 2,000 otherwise